I took the scooter today. I feel a bit ashamed, but I rode 75 miles Saturday trying to keep up with some faster guys and my legs are still feeling it today. I lead a club ride tonight, so I want to save my legs, for whatever that's worth.

Ain't no shame in your game...

Whatever dissatisfaction or funk was hanging over me seems to be letting up.

Rode the Plug with the light bag on the rear rack and took the trail to trail route. I was eager to check-out a new center stripe painted on the Greenway trail that I saw in the local news. It also had the words "Slow Zone" stenciled on the pavement.

At 48F It was a little warmer than the last few mornings but the bike and my body felt a little stiff. Climbing the steep hill between the house and the trail I thought it was going to be a trudge al the way to work. But I looked at the speedo and I was doing pretty good. Then somewhere before the 2nd mile the bike and my body felt loose and fast. And I felt good mentally. So much so that I was immune to the usual annoyance triggers along the way.

I made it to the new stripe and was prepared to hate it and its smug attitude, but they actually did it it in a smart way with the stencils and additional signs at narrow points and underpasses where they're needed. There were also signs warning people not to gather on or clutter up the underpasses. I'm hoping they stripe the narrow, blind underpass/chicane on the Rock Island trail where this one homeless guy sleeps on the trail as well as the underpasses by the office.

Work was busy but kinda fun with even more new AI tools to explore which will make my job easier.

The ride home was pleasant with a temp around 60F. Right when I got to the new stripe I encountered some sort of grade school or middle school track club with dozens of kids jogging all across the trail, ignoring the painted stripe along with the sheepish apologetic looks on the faces of the adult chaperones. And yet, I remained chill and up-beat, and really felt satisfied and content at the end of the ride.

Oh, and I tried to sprint again on the way home. I managed to go from 12.1mph to 18.5, which is so much better than the previous two attempts where I managed to only up my speed 1mph.

Whatever was pulling me down emotionally seems to have evaporated.

I'm looking forward to tomorow's ride which should start off in the mid 30s.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2221:

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I didn't sleep well for a good chunk of the night. After I got up my wife, who spent most of the night in her recliner in the family room, informed me that an alarm had been going off since 2 AM downstairs in our utility room. I couldn't hear it from the bedroom. I went down to the basement to investigate, and it was the water alarm that was sounding.

There was a small puddle of water under the alarm sensors, but the remainder of the basement was dry. The only thing I can think of is that the floor drain (about 2 feet away) backed up for a few minutes enough to reach the water alarm. My wife said that she waited until I got up to tell me, as she didn't want to disturb me while I was sleeping. I felt conflicted, appreciating her consideration for me, yet mildly annoyed that she waited four hours to tell me the alarm was sounding. I gave her permission in the future to wake me up in the middle of the night if an alarm was sounding, as the intent behind an alarm is to give us early warning of a pending problem before it gets worse. Thankfully there was no flooding or damage.

Part of the reason I didn't sleep well was because I could hear the wind howling all night. It's not unusual that hearing the wind will make me sleep a bit restless, knowing that I'm going to have to deal with the wind during my morning commute. After I silenced the flood alarm and my wife went to bed, I sat for a few minutes in my chair listening to the wind and dreading the ride.

When I left the house, the temp was 44°F and the wind was averaging 20 mph steady with gusts approaching 50 mph. It was dark, cold and blustery. I had to ride mostly into the wind for my eight mile ride to the office. I took my road bike, which cuts the wind better than my other bikes, but I still only averaged about 10 mph. I had to dodge a lot of sticks and branches that had fallen due to the winds, which would suddenly appear in the beam of my headlight and require evasive maneuvers.

By the time I reached the office my bare legs and my hands were pretty numb. Despite the temperature being well above freezing, the wind chill was averaging right around 32°F. In February this will be a nice, balmy day, but as of right now I don't yet have any winter skin.

My first ride since Friday the 10th, I think. I must have turned off my alarm but don't remember. By the time I got up at 6;20 I knew I'd be late for my 7am meeting (9am for most on the call on Central time.) Nevertheless I forged ahead because if I stayed home to call in, I'd be doing it during the kid scene, which is my wife's turn today. I made a pretty rich coffee drink so there'd be something in my bloodstream despite skipping breakfast. I brought my gloves today but didn't think I needed them at first. I put them on about halfway there. I didn't see the sunrise. Ultimately was 15 min late for my meeting.

Yesterday here the length of daylight went under 11 hours. The time change is next weekend, the night after Halloween. Charge those lights!

Sunrise and sunset times in Folsom

NYC Schools and other institutions are recognizing the Hindu holiday of Diwali, so yesterday (Monday) was a day off for us.

Today's ride was uneventful as usual. Nice weather, slightly cooler than before. I wore cycling gloves to prevent my hands from getting too cold. I have a rehearsal tonight until 9:30 or 10, and it might rain then. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Planned for 35F this morning and both weather apps and the outside thermometer agreed on 35F. Wore long cycling pants, windbreaker over 'magic' long sleeve poly shirt over wicking tee. Wore my long fingered bike gloves. Took the big bag so the balaclava and heavier gloves were with me if needed.

The bike sits in an unheated shed and the bike thermometer even said 35F...until two blocks from the house when it read 30F. I felt warm enough, but a mile from the house the bike thermometer said 27F and stayed there for the next 5 miles. Eventually my hands became cold-ish, but not enough to stop and don heavier gloves. My face wasn't cold, but my ears became a little uncomfortable so I pulled my Halo headband over them. The rest of me was comfortable, so I didn't want to put on heavier gloves and ruin the equilibrium.

I took the my main commuter, the Plug, again and again it took about 2 miles for me and the bike to loosen up.

Like the last few days I thought about taking the 2 mile longer south route variation I had been considering, especially the part where it allows me to avoid the construction zone where my perfect little pedestrian bridge over Fountain creek used to be. (It's being rebuilt).

Long story short, I was running late and ended took a usual route, but modified the last 3/4 mile to take me south to the pedestrian bridge behind Walmart. That adds a half mile, but it was more pleasant.

It was still only 30F when I arrived at work, but I felt fresh having not broken a sweat despite the quick-ish pace.

No work commute today, as I took the day off for my birthday.

After a relaxing morning, I decided to drive 100 miles north to explore a town I'd only gotten a glimpse of 20 years ago at a previous job. I threw the Forte in the back of the car and headed up.

The weather didn't cooperate much. It was as windy as could be and it rained off and on. I cut my ride short, because it looked like it would rain steadily for hours. But the wind was blowing so hard, the storm blew over in about 20 minutes. It was sunny and nice by the time I got back to the car.

Here's my favorite pic from the day:

I rode through the tail end of that storm when it passed over town. (from the left)

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2222:

That's a fancy number!

Woke up in a better mood today than I did yesterday. Still had some sleep trouble during the night, but there were no alarms ringing or wind howling to put me in a sour state.

Temp this morning was 31°F which makes this the first sub-freezing commute of the season. I thought I would feel really cold, but I dressed appropriately for the temp and was quite comfortable as I rode. I think it helped that the wind this morning was only 4 mph vs yesterday's 50 mph. It was so nice I actually tacked on a couple extra miles just for fun, even though it made me a few minutes late for work.

Today I realized that both yesterday and today, in the mornings, I passed zero cyclists on the Brooklyn Bridge going in my direction, and both times, only one cyclist passed me. I do a reverse commute from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and there are plenty of bikes going into Manhattan. I'm sure that the numbers of people going in my direction are not that low. It could be that we are spaced out and going at roughly the same speed. Of course, I don't stand a chance against people on e-bikes.

This was my 2nd Wednesday commute in a row since I decided to leave work a little early on Wednesday so I can bike home then drive to improv rehearsal. Rode the 84 Nishiki 12 speed. Lovely, but uneventful ride.

Each day, I'm feelin' my oats more. My previous commutes were so long that I rode gently to conserve energy. There's no need for that here with a route that's less than 4 miles and has no steep hills. In fact, I might have conserved too much even on those rides since going hard can build strength and endurance.

Today I had a headwind. It wasn't strong, but I used it as a motivator so I pedaled a little harder than usual. I had a feeling of "I can do this!" that was stronger than it's been in a while. I guess I've had a subconscious feeling of self-doubt, entirely irrational. And the result is that I passed people along the river. It was like the old days when I passed most people going in the same direction.

Okay, one more commute. Maybe tomorrow too, we'll see. Teacher's strike is still on, so I still have no excuse not to ride other than my own inertia and not wanting to get all geared up for the cold mornings. I couldn't even use that as an excuse today, with the temperature being a balmy 5C/41F, warm enough - barely - for shorts even. Still wore a jacket, bandana, gloves, and toe covers. Started after the official sunrise, but the sun was behind a cloud for the first bit, and all the cars still had lights on, so I turned on my blinkies. At the halfway point, the sun emerged when I was riding straight towards it. I was on a dirt trail at that point, so at least I didn't have to worry about blinded drivers behind me.

I probably told this story before, but I rode the Brooklyn Bridge once back in 2017, back when pedestrians and bikes shared the path. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in April, and the path was thick with pedestrians across the whole path, width and length. Somehow, I found myself behind a seasoned New Yorker, who incessantly rang his bell and yelled at the crowd to move out of the way. I tucked in behind and happily dinged along. It was a memorable experience.

Have a great day, everyone.

Got to work with no badge and almost rode home. But I racked my brain first and remembered it was in my computer bag. Whew!

Well the Brooklyn Bridge certainly is an iconic thing with a spectacular view, so sure, that was memorable. People here are often harsh and direct because there are so many of us and we live so close to each other.

I'm glad you can still ride for a little longer. As I've said many times, I'm concerned about the climate but I'm enjoying the weather. We've had spectacular weather nearly every day since mid-August. It's very unusual. I wonder if I'll be able to tolerate bad weather when it eventually comes back. Well, I'm sure I will, but it will be a shame. Bad weather is pretty normal for this area.

I know that feeling well.

One of the nice things about commuting across central Colorado Springs to the "new" job of three years is the variety of options and path variations. Yesterday I took and old route that took me down a sidewalk through the heart of Colorado College. I think I've only ridden that one a couple times in the last year. And on the penultimate mile riding home I chose a street I haven't ridden in over two years.

The San Miguel to Tejon Street route through the CC campus adds almost half a mile to my 6 mile commute. It was my main route for 26 years to the old job 9 miles away. It took me a minute or two to remember why I chose this route over a more direct route all those years ago. It was because it was the flattest route with the least amount of cross traffic...at the time. With the growth of bike lanes in town, upgraded, connected trails and shifting traffic patterns, it is no longer the best route, but nostalgia and variety call me to it every now and again.

The alternate street I chose home, Uintah, was busier than I remembered, and without a bike lane, but I remembered it being wide enough...well, I remembered wrong. I kept expecting the road to widen but it didn't. Why, then did I ride it and when? I now remember it was a flatter alternative after returning to daily commuting after my neck injury and year off 15 years ago. It took me an extra few months to get the strength back to pedal non-stop up the big two block hill at San Miguel and Union. I think about that every single time I ride up it. And yesterday I did it on my 43lb RockHopper albeit in the granny gear.

BobbyG you got me thinking: why don't I find and take alternate routes? Why am I so obsessed with efficiency, especially on the way home? I'll ponder that a bit.

No ride today but two laps yesterday and one went further to the grocery store. So my saddle was sore, and I wasn't too upset I wasn't able to ride today. Here though is why I missed it.

I came downstairs this morning to find the entire downstairs TP'd. Thinking ahead to how SWMBO would react, I decided to just clean it up. It only took a few minutes. She has been funny about being at least one box ahead on TP since Covid, and she buys the good stuff, and she'd be upset about being attacked... I wanted to just head it off. As I was cleaning it up, I found 11yo asleep on the couch. He woke up and the first thing out of his mouth was, his little brother and sister didn't get to see it! He was being a spider in his web, and he'd been inspired to the prank by watching the Casper movie with Christina Ricci. As I was making breakfast I chatted with him about why he'd been in a mood the night before - and overcooked my bacon, and had to start over. Between a 10 minute snooze, picking up the TP, and redoing breakfast, I wasn't going to be able to ride in time for my 7am meeting. When I got to work my 7am meeting had been canceled at 645.

Ah yes, raising kids is a never-ending string of frustrations. I wish you peace and strength. And actually, you did pretty well.

Uneventful commute today except this makes two 5-day commute weeks in a row for the first time in a long time. And I started out loose and feeling good from the get-go.

I brought out the folder for my commute yesterday. Though it’s slow, I really like it. For the same reason people like cruisers and Dutch bikes, but it swaps the super smooth ride for portability and nippy handling.

Since my commute is only two miles each way, the lost time doesn’t add up to much.

I ordered an inexpensive rack bag for it; all my others are made for much bigger racks.

This is the bike I plan to take on my 83 mile trail ride in a couple weeks.

ZiZZO Forte, shown here with a too-big rack bag.



Kenosha County Multi-use Trail

I upped (and lowered) the gearing on my Dahon Boardwalk and added bull bars and it's as fast as my main commuter and MTB commuter (also with upped gearing).
Success! Neos Derailleur Replacement with Adapter

I think my faster bikes are faster than your faster ones. (not saying this in a snobby way)

• 1977 Schwinn Suburban: About the same as the 20" folder, as it's darned heavy and quite upright. It does roll easier though and is more comfortable, with its mattress saddle and 27 x 1-1/4" tires.
• Priority Apollo 11 gravel bike: Faster. I tend to commute at 13 vs. 11 on the folder.
• Trek Domane road bike: I don't commute on this one, but the few times I did, it was about 1 mph faster than the gravel bike

Nice job on the repair. I'll have to look into a local co-op, but I don't think we have one anywhere closer than Milwaukee...

Fantastic ride in this morning! Inspired by Smaug1 I rode my 20" Dahon Boardwalk folder to work. I also chose to take the south Greenway route I had balked at twice the last two weeks!

First the weather was just perfect... Clear skies and low wind. The internet and bike thermometer said it was 37F, but to me it felt more like 44-ish. And by the end of the ride it was 44F. Fall colors and leaves everywhere and the sun had just risen so the streets were in a soft, bright twilight while above it all Pikes Peak was ablaze in golden sunshine which later spilled down to the foothills.

I decided to start out with the first leg of my old South Circle route which I know I haven't ridden in 5 years since the old job ended. Nothing much had changed except Tia Juana Street had been repaved which was nice. I would then take Bijou Street all the way down to Prospect Ave where instead of continuing through the heart of downtown I would turn south and take prospect down further south...but that is where I copped out the last two times. So Instead I decided before the ride to make an earlier turn and ride through Memorial Park and along the lake there. And that was spectacular with the skateboard park, the ball fields, the Olympic Training Center velodrome, the geese and then the morning sun setting the lake ablaze.

The next decision would be a couple miles away at Dorchester Park. The more direct route would be to stay on Las Vegas Street to Tejon Ave and turn south to the Greenway Trail entrance...or even stay on LAs Vegas till it ends at the trail further on. But I decided to exit Las Vegas onto a short one block section of Weber I used to take that ends in an alley that takes me up to the sidewalk of South Nevada Ave and puts me at the Highway on-ramp. It adds a couple hundred yards, but it lets me relive my old route as far as I can.

I checked Google satellite view to make sure the sidewalk I needed to connect from there indeed existed, and it did. From there I hopped on the Greenway heading north and took the bridge to the highway underpass that spills out into the Walmart parking lot a few blocks south of the office on 8th Street.

The big surprise was that the total length was 7.45 miles instead of the 9 I was expecting. It took 34 minutes which is about 4-5 minutes slower than my usual shorter routes, and the 8.5 mile trail to trail route. I averaged 13.1 mph which is a little faster than my more direct routes, but not as fast as the limited interruption trail-to-trail route.

The 20" folder is such a normal experience compared to the 16" folder, and when I'm stretched forward on the tips of the bull-bars the riding position is very road-bike like.