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Rainy. 45 degrees or so. Slower ride. Almost lost control over one of the drainage pothole covers :P
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Originally Posted by daijoubu2k8
(Post 11730112)
Tuesday afternoon was the worst bike ride I've ever had! Apparently Conti Ultra Sports are only good for 2900km on the rear. That little tiny hole I had on Monday night caused a blowout on the way to MEC and was the size of a dime before I got home. I couldn't even get 30 km on the tire. Good thing I'd picked up a spare at MEC. To make the trip worse, my freewheel locked up and wrapped the rear derailleur around the axle! :( Nothing like major repairs at the road side. I converted my bike to a single speed and swapped out the tires just to get home. Stopped at the Bike to Work Week commuter station by Metropolis for some coffee and a banana. Thank goodness for them, the brightest spot in the ride! Made it to Bonsor in time to join my son for his last preschool soccer class. I don't know why people like riding single speed. Either you're grinding up a hill in a gear that's much too high, or you're pedalling like mad going nowhere on the flats. What a horrible thing to do to a good bike!
No commutes for today. Played hookie today and ran around town looking for a new RD. Shoulda gone to New West Cycles first. Grabbed a good used Deore LX rear derailleur and a 7 speed Shimano freewheel plus shifter cable for $20. Everything is back on the bike and I'm looking forward to riding with the extra gears and a long cage derailleur. I know, why would you put Deore parts on a road bike... I works and it was cheap! I could've tried my hands with some old Simplex derailleurs! |
Interesting commute this morning. In the 40s when I left the house with a 10 mph headwind according to Intellicast, although it felt maybe half that as I set out. An hour later, the wind had increased a bit to 12 mph, but according to Intellicast, there were gusts up to 20 mph. It was really odd; at first there was a barely perceptible headwind, then about halfway through it felt like I was riding into a gale.
That same wind should chase me all the way home, so that'll be fun. This time of year requires a different mind set. Usually I have the wind at my back in the morning and I can ease into the commute, then I have to fight it coming home which is okay because it's usually much warmer. This time of year, I have to steel myself for the ride in at the coldest part of the day and into the wind, but afternoons are easier (but still chilly). |
Around 2C/36F with a southeast wind that helped when heading north and hindered when heading east.
I took my favourite park route today for the first time in over 4 months, only to discover that it may not really be my favourite route anymore. It's very quiet and safe, but it's also slow, especially in the dark. Maybe I just need to get used to it again, or beef up my lights a bit. |
Originally Posted by fletchh
(Post 11730625)
Yep, it is a good thermometer on my deck. I usually check it around 5am, as I head out at 5:10. The air temp was colder than the day before.
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Had a wet ride in through the rain and the headwinds. Despite that, it was a fairly enjoyable ride in... that is, until I pulled up the door at work and heard "psssssss" made all the more audible by the wet concrete and the rain water on my tires. My practically brand new Vittoria Randonneurs (front to be specific) had a rock about the size of a pencil eraser lodged into it. The rock had a gnarly sharp-pointed end reminiscent of a shark's tooth or an arrowhead that made it all the way through the tread and into the tube. So, I guess I have a lunchtime project to work on... going down and changing and/or patching the front tube. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that even new, high quality tires are suceptible to flats, but dammit anyway!
Here's the stone: http://i1210.photbucket.com/albums/c...2010095620.jpg |
Originally Posted by EKW in DC
(Post 11731936)
Had a wet ride in through the rain and the headwinds...snip... I guess I shouldn't be surprised that even new, high quality tires are suceptible to flats, but dammit anyway!
My commute this morning was awful because I had to drive my car. Working in Baltimore today, and an hour plus in the car, in the rain was just awful. I suppose I can be happy to be relatively dry, though I still got damp walking from the edge of the parking lot to the entrance to the building. I'm really not looking forward to the ride home, as that runs over an hour and a half without rain -- with rain? Who knows! Hopefully I'll be back on the bike tomorrow. At least on the bike, the pace is mostly controlled by my legs. |
Originally Posted by CptjohnC
(Post 11732038)
Sorry to hear about your flat. I am not anxious to find out what its like to change/fix a tire outside in the cold. Sounds like the timing was about as good as you could have gotten, though -- better at work than halfway to work.
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40F, sunny
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Stunning moon this morning, hovering over the city as I left. Just a sliver away from new, but the dark circle was clearly visible, silhouetted I suppose by the ambient light of the city as it was 90 minutes before sunrise.
Another lovely commute on the road bike. Forgot to mention yesterday while crossing the Lions Gate bridge I was passed with a sonic boom by a guy on a hybrid, the first time that's happened to me on my road bike. He was going quite phenomenally fast. |
92F for the ride home yesterday, fantastic fall weather.
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lol 92f
that'd be one of the hottest days all year for up here |
52° and raining today. Century jacket held up just fine keeping my top half dry (except my head). Everything from just above my knees down to my toes, however, got wet, stayed wet, and was cold.
Thank goodness I brought two extra pair of socks - one for wearing at work, and one for the ride home. Unfortunately, had a lunch with some friends (none from work), so I used up the 'ride home' socks at lunch. Not that it matters - my road shoes have so many vents that my feet will be soaked in 5 minutes anyway. Plastic baggies over the fronts of my shoes would do wonders, and a shower cap on my helmet isn't out of the question. I'm holding off on any clothing purchases until after Christmas, as I need to leave something for my wife to gift me. Edit: 2nd day in a row I had a rear blinkie try to commit suicide. First one was recovered, but will never clip again. Second one is none the worse for wear. However, both of them have now been placed under restraints 'for their own protection'. That is, zip-tied to my seat bag and helmet. |
uuuggg woke up late, damn cat took off with one of my warm gloves so i wore my summer gloves it wasn't to cold out this morning thankfully about 38f. But the combo of waking up late and a thief for a cat has put me in a bad mood all day so far.
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-7C for the ride in, and +10C with a tail wind for the ride home which of course made me have to ride fast. I wish I had packed my shorts. I'm going to miss the afternoon rides home where I can wear just a baselayer shirt and no balaclava.
I just passed 3000km of biking for the year, 2040 of that was commuting (avoiding 2732km of car driving). I've got 1300km on my new touring bike and the rear v-brake pads are worn out already, and I thought the front provided most of the braking power. |
Ride home was terrible. Fought a 28 mph headwind/crosswind. I'm beat.
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sorry to hear about all your bad weathers. it was great here today, in the low 70s :)
rode a new route home, about 17m.. the bike path took us thru the rail yards where i snapped this pic: http://distillery.s3.amazonaws.com/m...f06fcca7_7.jpg one of the reasons i love being on bike, seeing things you wont get to via car/bus/teleporter |
Awesome commute this morning at 44F with rain and winds from the N @ 3mph. Tried a new route today and I really enjoyed it. I think it will be my new route to school. Unfortunately I can't take that exact one back home because one of the roads were a one-way, so I'll have to find another way around that road.
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Nice morning 40f, loving the mellow weather that ive been having, if it keeps up ill still be wearing shorts through mid nov. :)
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Sad to report that I popped a rear, non-drive side spoke about half a block from home last night. That after 3,000 miles on the wheel. So, I left the bike at home today, took metro, and will go get the spoke replaced and wheel retensioned as soon as I get a chance (which, sadly, might not be this weekend as I'm headed out of town for at least Saturday). I'm just hoping that this was a one off. I know it's likely it's not, and that the same built up stresses that popped this one will lead to other spoke failures, but I'm really hoping they don't.
I was really bummed I didn't get to ride in today, because it's absolutely gorgeous outside, but the metro ride was about as tolerable as a metro ride can be, so I guess I should be happy on that count. |
Weird day temperature-wise. On the radio, they said it was 12C/54F. Checked the thermometer on my house, it read 5C/41F. That presented a bit of a conundrum for how to dress, but I opted to dress for the colder temps at home. Good thing, because through the river valley parks, it was even colder, feeling closer to freezing. By the time I got downtown, though, I was quite toasty.
There is a stiff north wind forecasted for this afternoon which will make this evening's commute home chilly. Remember to set your clocks back this weekend, everyone! (except if you live in Saskatchewan.) |
50F, gray inland, then fog off the Sound
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Originally Posted by EKW in DC
(Post 11737537)
I was really bummed I didn't get to ride in today, because it's absolutely gorgeous outside, but the metro ride was about as tolerable as a metro ride can be, so I guess I should be happy on that count.
As EKW says, weather was nice! Low 40s to start, and I probably could have been in shorts, though I wore tights under baggy shorts. The ground was still wet in many places, though, so I think the tights were wise. I grabbed a PB Century II jacket on sale earlier this week (for $5 less than the present sale price), which made a nice, inexpensive, hi-viz wind layer. It seems a bit more 'billowy' than I was expecting, but that's likely a factor of my needing a larger size because of my less-than-svelte body shape. Perhaps I'll invest the $$s in a better cycling jacket sometime, but I need to 'prove' to myself that I'll ride enough in late autumn/ winter before I invest too heavily. Had a nice chat with another commuter about my bike -- based on the conversation, he's clearly a tourer, as well as a commuter. He was disappointed to find that the Dew was aluminum (CroMo fork, though). :-/ As 'proof' of the near perfection of conditions, I averaged 13.4 MPH over the course of the ride, which is definitely better than my usual 12.5 MPHish on the way in. Unfortunately, Monday and Wednesday are already spoken for as driving days, but that leave T, R and F :-) |
it got real cold here in chicago all of sudden, it was by far my coldest ride of the season thus far. the thermometer said 37 F when i left home and the fact that i had to battle a 25mph headwind RIGHT at my 12 o'clock for my 15 mile ride up the lakefront made that 37 degrees feel closer to 20. i still rode it in shorts anyway because i can be pigheadedly stubborn in my utter refusal to acknowledge that winter has begun. that was a mistake.
winds are supposed to stay strong and from the NNW for the afternoon, so the ride home could be really fun and fast. |
Originally Posted by HardyWeinberg
(Post 11737974)
50F, gray inland, then fog off the Sound
http://distillery.s3.amazonaws.com/m...9930a176_7.jpg |
-2C in the morning and +10C and a nice tail wind for the ride home. Brought shorts with me today and had a fun, fast trip home. +17 forecast for Sunday, so I should go for a long ride.
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A drizzly, foggy, moribund morning.
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Sucked, bunny hopped a curb only to plant my front tire into a hill sending me go tits over tail. Luckily my helmet was all that slammed into the sidewalk and the rest of me landed in grass. I'm sure the guys driving the cars behind me got a great story to tell at the water cooler today.
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The weather has really changed in NC as well. Two weeks ago, I was commuting to work in 70+ temperatures. This morning, it was in the low 40s and it's supposed to drop below freezing over the weekend. We got a bunch of rain this week, which was very much needed, but it made bike commuting more difficult. I wimped out and drove a couple of days, but I needed to restock supplies and bring home some dirty clothes, so it was all for the best.
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