42F with a quartering tailwind. The top third of the Adirondacks were purple in the morning sun. The ski trails on Whiteface stuck out in bright white. The weekend storm left a lot of snow at higher elevations.

Someone let all the cute women out of their nests this morning. Bicycling and running. :o

Today was my first commute after some unexpected maintenance earlier, with cool temperatures and a couple of loose dogs to worry about. Nice ride, and the woman in the SUV who made a right turn on red in front of me without looking didn't bother me. I knew there was no way I could be as important to her as her phone call and stayed safely away.

The commute this morning was AWESOME to say the least!! :D

I commute to the gym and to work ..So, this morning I did something different. I commuted to the gym on my motorcycle. Then the urge for the bicycle was so strong, that I called in that I would be a little late for work, and shot back home parked the motorcycle, showered and changed up, grabbed my 85 Raleigh Competion, and off to work. This is a double dose of FUN...:D..

Now, if somebody would ask me which one is the most fun to ride? It is a toss up!! :D
http://www.cehoward.net/newral130.jpg

http://www.cehoward.net/pretty1.jpg

^Nice bikes. It was a good commute this morning at 48F and partly cloudy with winds from the W @ 7mph. Commuted on my new ride: a recumbent trike. My average speed was pretty close to what I was doing on my recumbent bike (15mph), and I had headwinds this morning. I would imagine that the more I ride it, the faster I will get. I think I'm going to modify my route home because for about 1/4 mile on one of the roads, it is still ripped up waiting to be paved. They should have had it completed by now. Hopefully they have it done soon.

Another enjoyable autumn commute with all six senses atingle.

Brought in clothes for tomorrow, when the plan calls for running to work. I don't particularly enjoy the act of running, certainly much less than I do cycling, but I'm looking forward to running the 10k into work.

Was my first commute of the year that was truly dark when I left.
I miss daylight, luckily it will come back in 5 months!

44F, foggy and sunny depending

That the idea, stay cool and navigate smoothly away from the danger!! :thumb:

-4C with a light tailwind for the ride in this morning, so I got to experiment with some cooler weather clothing. I tried a Helly Hansen baselayer shirt by itself, which was warmer than my Axiom shirt, but the wind goes right through it. I had to stop after a few km and put my rain shell on to block the wind. I wore a thin polyester balaclava which was great except for the fact it was difficult to breathe through, so I kept it pulled below my mouth. My jeans weren't keeping my legs adequately warm so I have to do something about that.

I wanted to get some studying in before a test so I left while it was still dark and got to enjoy sunrise in the park. On the way back someone had their poodle on a 20 foot leash stretched across the path in the park, which I didn't see until a bit too close.

I'd like keep biking this winter, but I want to see if I can handle a few -15 to -20C days before I buy studded tires. I'm also waffling on whether I should use my mountain bike or touring bike in the snow. I'm leaning towards using the mountain bike as I feel it gives me more low speed control.

Yep, the motorcycle training pays off here again. I've been wondering how you were doing with bicycling, it sounds like you're doing fine - keep up the good work!

That Raliegh is a beauty.

Great commute home this afternoon at 59F and partly sunny with winds from the NW @ 16mph. I saw one other bike at the rack today, which is sad. When school first started, there were about 10 bikes. Changed the route a little to avoid the ripped up road that's waiting to be paved, and it worked out great.

was 44f at my house when I left but it had to be 40f or less down in the valley I run though on my way to the work. My shins were hurting from the cold. Still warm in the afternoon so I really trying not to break out the pants yet. LOL Think I may invest in some lend and arm warmers and I may be able to stretch my shorts weather into November.

I normally do not ride sidewalks but with the cold and how idiot drivers seem to be pinching me to the curb on a curve in a climb out of the above mentioned valley I decided to take the less stressful but slow sidewalk through the valley. About got a jogging ninja couple at 6:40am. Both in dark gray sweat pants and navy blue shirts. Even with my Night Rover headlamp I wouldnt have seen them till I was about to hit them even at the slow pace I was going. :rolleyes:

GA is REALLY bad about side walks on only one side of the road so I was actually on the against traffic side since it is the only complete sidewalk through the area. The woman was using a iPhone as a flash light and that's what I saw just in time to get stopped and not run them over.

Had a car pass me close enough that if I had wanted to, I could have just leaned my elbow on the roof of her car. 84F on the way home, but forecast says 20 degrees cooler tomorrow with 70% of precip... (and I don't have proper rain gear yet :()

It was my first commute in about 3 weeks due to some maintenance coupled with laziness. Great first day back at it.

Low 50s and perfect skies.

My bike has been suffering from severe neglect. I guess you really do always hurt the one you love. I use this bike so much and it really takes the abuse well. BUT today I decided to give it some TLC and wow did it open a can of worms! Started with a bit of wobble I noticed in the rear wheel- had a broken spoke. Fixed that. Then realized that despite the trued wheel it was still rubbing on the brakes- needed adjustment. But that meant the brake cables needed to be pulled and lubed, they were so dry they were sluggish. Threw on new brake pads while I was at it.

Since I'd gone so far I decided to deal with something I'd been ignoring for a couple of years- a worn out bottom bracket. I'd picked up a replacement cartridge a year ago and still hadn't gotten around to pulling the old one and putting the new one in to replace it. Oh, this was intense, the bike is about 10 years old and I've never pulled the cups. The plastic cup, despite a touch of lube (yes, I did turn it in the correct direction) shattered as I attempted to turn it. The drive side, steel cup was wedged in so solidly it wouldn't move. Soaked it in lube and had to take off to work on my folder.

Got home tonight and picked up a bolt (8mm x1.0 x 30mm) that could hold the remover in place while I torqued it to the max. Well, after a lot of persuasion it worked. Pulled out the cartridge, cut the plastic cup in half (w/out damaging the threads) and cleaned up the threads, put in the BB and I'm all set! The bikes all cleaned up and lubed and I can't wait to ride in tomorrow.

BTW, the folder was amazingly efficient, made great time.

When I woke up, it was thundering, with lightening and pouring rain at 40 F ( 4 C). I went about my normal routine and after a bowl of oatmeal and a pot of black cardamom tea, the thunder and lightening was gone, but it was still pouring. By the time I got my lunch together and dressed for the rain, it turned light, and stayed that way my whole way. Just wet is always better than soaked. I love it when I get lucky.

Back into my daily commute routine after missing several days last week due to a cold and work. I had taken one of my bikes to the shop to get the rear wheel trued and tensioned and picked it up over the weekend, so I'm riding it again this week. Yesterday, after leaving for work I noticed that my position felt off on the bike. After a mile or so, I realized that the mechanic must have test-ridden my bike and moved the saddle. So I had to ride 22 miles to work and back with my saddle in the wrong position. When I got home and checked it, the saddle was about 2 cm too low. I'm lucky that I didn't injure my knees. Note to self: measure saddle after picking up bike from the shop.

Low 30sF, and fast, with a light headwind. Something was shadowing me. I was doing 20MPH for a while and it wasn't dropping back. Very unusual. I was dressed for the temperature, and after about 2 miles of fast cruise, I started to overheat. Eventually I pulled over to take off my gloves and unzip my jacket. The shadow went by. Turned out to be a roadie in full lycra with a messenger bag. (Compare & contrast with my 35 pound dualie MTB with fat all terrain tires) I then shadowed him until we went different ways. He was fast. Possibly the fastest rider I've ever encountered on the MUP here.

I am advancing so well in bicycling, that I am learning how to sneak a bike pass the wifee!! :D

Also, today I found out I need a beater bike too.. Nasty and rainy weather this morning. No way I am going to commute on one of my beauts in this stuff. :). Going to pick up something real cheap from the thrift or CL, for days like this..

Be safe,

Was riding home last night on my normal route and witnessed a car crash at a 4-way stop. I was approaching the intersection and was on heightened altert as I always am at this intersection. I was maybe 50' from the stop sign when I noticed the car approaching on my left didn't seem to be slowing down. My eyes followed it into the intersection where a pickup truck who had stopped was now pulling into the intersection.

A healthy crash insued and the car proceeded over the curb in front of me narrowly missing an above ground natural gas valve station. The driver of the car that ran the stop sign was an elderly woman who said she didn't see the stop sign.

Stay alert fellow commuters. There are too many drivers out there that have no business being behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

38F pea soup

Revise that note to yourself to instead carry the tool necessary to set your seat to it's proper height.

Nice couple of days. Flat going home yesterday. Third or Fourth pinch flat in as many weeks. Fairfield road is getting so bad it's nearly impossible to avoid traffic and stay clear of pot holes and loose pavement.

Rebuilt my light mount last night, basically 1 inch alum angle barcket but I riveted a doubler in the middle where it broke at the oint it bolteds to the front rack.. I'm going to have to rethink the design to try and deal with the vibration.

Decided to ride the whole way home yesterday after work. I usually take the light rail from downtown and about a 7 mile ride home from there. Very nice out, about 85. Definetely not the fastest, groggy Monday. Otherwise, very fun.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53549910

Nice fast comfy ride in today. The hills were feeling easy today after doing hill repeats on Sat and then taking a couple of days of rest.

Beautiful ride in today. My favourite riding weather; clear and cool and early enough that there was little traffic. Unfortunately, when I arrived at work I discovered that I had left my keys at home and therefore had no way to lock up my bike. After a few failed attempts to phone my wife to ask her to bring my keys I rode home (nice ride back, too), managed to wake my wife up to let me in, called in late for work, and drove the car in so that I wouldn't be any later. :mad:

Nice ride in this morning. No issues other than a minivan driver who stopped to drop off a passenger in a no-stopping zone by the sky train station, then proceeds to pull a 3-point turn in the middle of the road which is marked "no-stopping" on both sides of the street. This part of the road is on a slight gradient (station at Cambie and Marine coming up from Kent Ave) and as I stopped my bike and shook my head at his three point turn, he got all riled and upset. So he honked at me as I waited for him to complete his 180* turn. A pedestrian woman walking by also shook her head at his decision.

After he honked, I turned around and told him off something along the lines of "Are you kidding me? Doing a three point turn on a road marked no stopping on both sides?". I then pointed to my helmet and said, "Use your head!" At this point, he, a short Filipino man who obviously objected to my evaluation of his driving decisions, unclipped his seat belt. But I was done and it was time to continue my commute. If you know that section of road, you'll know why there is no stopping along both sides of the street by the skytrain station. But since there is no enforcement, cars and vehicles stop along that section all the time especially to pick up commuters alighting off the train after work. <sigh>

Be very careful if you ride downhill towards Kent. Between cars crowding and blocking the bike lane as they merge to turn west along Marine, pedestrians who cross the intersection on their red light as you are coming down the hill on your green light and cars waiting for passengers in the No Stopping zone, its a veritable death trap or an injury waiting to happen.

I think I've made it to one full month of commuting! Cool crisp and just a sprinkle of rain in DC as I was nearing my office. I went to my local bike shop for some deluxe chain oil this past Sunday and now my old bike is quiet as can be.

Wonderful ride in and back! 51f in and 78 back.