Anohter normal ride in at 38 F ( 3 C ). Afternoons are still about mindless drivers driving as if it's all about them. When they get out of line, I just take up the right lane and let them beep.

Low 20sF. One suicidal squirrel. Only a couple of pedestrians on 5 miles of MUP. Reeled in a guy with an electric motor on his MTB. Second time this week. The motor doesn't seem to do much except make noise. I want to tell him if he took it off, the weight savings would let him ride just as fast, but under his own power.

37F, sunny, dripping wet

Cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold! It's time to dig out my WileyX goggles.

Late late late late late, and then I realised that we'd forgotten to take son's football kit (Soccer to most of you) with him to school. Detour necessary on the bike to deliver said kit...

Later later later....

Later,

Ed

This was supposed to be a pleasant and productive day, two errands separated by an 8 mile stretch of hills. But the best laid plans can run counter to conditions.

Left home at 8:15 for a V A appointment at 9 the temperature was 50 degrees, the sky overcast and a little windy. Within a mile of the V A as I was climbing a hill I was blasted by a 20 mph gust of wind and quickly downshifted to my 32 inch gear (34x28) and still struggled to maintain 5 mph!

Finishing up at the V A ( my recent chest X Ray was free of defects) I looked forward to catching a tail wind for my planned trip to Wally World. EXCEPT that a fine mist of rain was falling so I opted for repeating my route to the V A that would have permitted a jump off to get to WW if conditions improved. They did not, so my jump off was in the opposite direction and home.

So what should have been a 16 mile ride ended up being a modest 9.41. Cold and wet on the home leg, I reminded myself that it often takes days like this to appreciate clear, sunny days.

Stats
Weeks miles: 57.78
Months miles: 140.81
Year Since June: 950.15
Bike: Trek 620 w/44x34 crank, 14x28 cluster and 32-630 tires.

Good commute this am... on DC Metro . Back is still freaking killing me from broadsiding Bambi yesterday on the way in. Bike's fixed... but I'm not yet.. boo.

Nice ride, but my legs felt weak. Upper 20sF. Sunny. Very light headwind from Lake Champlain.

The scared puppy I mentioned earlier this week was out again, but this time it wanted to play! Its human had to restrain it. I guess the cute little furball is desensitized to bicycles now.

Had a great ride home yesterday evening - biked all the way, 22 miles, 2h13m. I changed my route to avoid some traffic - the revised route is hillier. (I'm trying to train for a tour that'll have many, many hills, so this is good.) The new headlight battery performed well - it lasted up to its stated runtime and a little beyond it.

I went back to the folding bike/train commute for this morning. My train pulled into work around 10 minutes early, cool.

Back on the bike after a few days driving. I flat wussed out from the chilly ride in yesterday. 50F and clear this morning.

I'm trying my Showers Pass Touring jacket out as a shell to see how breathable it is and if it's suitable as my only jacket for a spring tour thru the Rockies and Sierras. So far, I'm not liking its bulk and noisy fabric, but I was pretty warm with just a long sleeve wool/cotton jersey under it, and I didn't get any more humid inside than in a normal Pearl Izumi jacket.

I barely reached 7 mph on my way home tonight. I was glad to make it to my alley after battling the wind.

These are the pics from my commute home last saturday. I love riding in the snow.

Riding in the snow looks like fun, i still have yet to do it. When there is snow on the ground, everything seem quite, and as it should be. peaceful. Even in a blizzard.

Rubbish.
Conditions for the morning:
Overcast
70 degrees
10 m.p.h. headwind
Volcanic ash limited visibility to 50 feet and made it hard to breathe.
START COMMUTE Wore my green Castelli rain jacket. Got a slot in traffic almost immediately. Road was mildly damp to slick in the roadway depressions
Braking surface was wet and nearly lost it when a parked car pulled out going against my direction of travel which was with traffic (the car was parked facing the wrong way ) I whipped through a mild right turn and saw this dude 15 feet away. No initial braking response so I ditched right into the grass hitting a rut and jarring myself badly. Motorist waved me forward at a stop. I returned with a thumps-up although it makes me a bit nervous. Admiral Farragut blew past my left side as I was signaling to turn (to the left) and stopped nearly in front of me. END COMMUTE

Conditions on the return:
85-90 degrees
START COMMUTE Maneuvered bike between parked cars. Rolled out toward the exit and accelerated. After perhaps 10 feet bike locks up inexplicably and I roll over my right shoulder. No injuries aside from sore knees and hip. Spend next 10 minutes attempting to straighten two binds in the driveline and have walk it home over my shoulder for my mile which was painful. Left brake lever and hood are out of alignment. Bar tape is shredded. Dork disc has self-destructed and the chain has found its way of the lower lower jockey of the derailleur. Brake pad alignment is screwed up. Wrong Way cyclist nearly takes my ear off.
END COMMUTE

in the predawn darkness I lost my H20 bottle going over the RXR tracks! I heard something thunk behind me. it's usually clip on lights that fall off. I turned to look and both tail lights were still there and then I noticed the bottle missing. opps. could have been anywhere back there. scanned the area with the Helmet light and bingo off the side of the road 20 feet or so in the dewy grass. glad I had my booties on but I still got water inside (through the vents on bottom of shoes.... :-( Slipped the bottle back in the holder and continued on my way. wasn't till I got to work that I noticed the bottle was muddy. wondered what that extra tangy flavor was in the drink.... ;-) otherwise nice ride at 39 deg for Atlanta this is a tad chilly but I was dressed for it. Just right.

Finally a bit of sun this week. Mid 40's, light wind. Stopped to clean up a broken bottle that cost me a tire, and two flats.

left for work last night in 45degree F with some sun for a change. just outside of town some guy threw a supersized cup of ice and soda at me just missed my front tire. Headed home this morning 30 degrees F and found my new lights work great. Got a flat caused by a really sharp chunk of glass. Changed the tube in the mud. Rolled into home about 10 minutes later than usual. STILL BETTER THAN DRIVING!

Beautiful sunny day after two days of rain. Might buzz off work early today and enjoy the weather.

Mid 30's, sunny, not to windy, perfect snot rocket at the dog that was chasing me. Does it get any better?

Overdressed today: the weather has been damp and gloomy all week, but today it was bright and much warmer than it looked. Rode in wearing rolled up sweatpants and a thin long sleeved baselayer with the sleeves pushed up. Got going fast enough to want to shift into the big ring, and I usually avoid that when I'm trying to take it easy on the way in. Another good day to ride!

Cool, light rain, but fairly relaxed and putting the new fenders to good use

It was very strange. NYC was mid 60's today and sunny. I was sweating in shorts, and a t-shirt. BUT, i came in a bit late. The commute home is gonna be in rush hour down 2nd avenue in the dark. Oh Boy....

Must have been something in the stars because the idiots were out in force today. I have not been screamed at in weeks and both going and coming from work I go "get on the side walk" crap.

Despite that still enjoyed the ride. little chilly on the way in but mid 60's on the way home.

The morning ride was cool and damp, quite a bit of fog; but traffic was light. The sun is sinking down pretty early now so I work at getting on the road as close to 5 as possible. I had a nice ride home after work and made good time. Here in North Florida the weather has been nice this week.

Put in four days this week. Drove Monday to let the weekend snow melt a bit. It's been melting during the day and freezing up again at night, so I've dodged ice all week. Almost got hit by car Tuesday morning, my fault ... lesson learned ... look real hard before rolling thru an intersection. Saw her at the last minute but I looked like a tool. All in all a good commuting week for mid-November.

About a month until winter starts! I've got Dec. 21 in my sights because that's when the days start getting longer.