45 degrees when I got on the bike this morning! I love cold, but wasn't quite prepared for the teeth chattering the first mile or so. Great ride in regardless. Got yelled at by a jogger for my headlight being "too bright" so I promptly told him that it's so I can see idiots like him that jog in the dark wearing black clothes. That ended that.

-R

45F and clear. No wind. Quite a nice ride. No cyclists spotted except for one guy right as I was walking into my building. The same guy I've chased down a couple of times. I don't know if he was ahead of me or behind me on the MUP. I never saw him. He takes a slightly different route than I toward the end of the ride.

Yesterday I geocached on my ride home and found two hides in the woods. Yet something else that's easy for a bicycle commuter to do! :thumb:

Sounds like all of the East Coasters are having the same nice weather. I had a great commute this morning, dry with temps in the low 60s. Wore a t-shirt and arm, leg warmers for the first time in months. The coolness felt great and I barely broke a sweat. Still caught every freakin red light, however. Some things never change.

I think it was close to 50 degrees. Great ride. Many people spoke to me today, several joggers, other commuter x2 and even a guy in a car. They were all nice. Weird.

Commute #18.

Was really dreading this morning's ride. Two days of thunderstorms = no riding. Then three days of cold kept me off the bike. Forecast calls for another week of cold, so I figure I have to learn how to deal with "cold" cycling.

48 degrees when I rolled down the driveway. Layers: bike shorts + sweat pants; bike jersey + arm warmers + my red plaid "farmer" overshirt + yes.... THE ORANGE NERD VEST saw its initial run today. The sun was not yet up, so fired up the blinkies as well.

Body was OK, but fingers were cold toward the end of my commute (an hour). Have been wearing fingerless gloves for the padding, now I want to find something that will keep my fingers warm yet give me firm grip on my handlebars and give me the flexibility to change gears and grab my brakes.

Saw a small field of corn that had been freshly harvested.

Toward the end of my commute I saw two cyclists heading the opposite direction. I think I've seen them before in roughly the same place. They are heading down a hill and look like they are heading off to have some fun; I am struggling up a hill on my way to work.

Ahh, but this afternoon it will be 72 degrees and I will be heading down the same hill! :)

Kind of chilly to start out so I threw on a windbreaker layer, which came off about 20 minutes into the ride. Happy September and Happy Fall! There is also lots of new smooth pavement along my route too which has been pleasant.
:)

The perfect draft.
I was slowly passed by a large mobile crane. I slipped in behind and caught the perfect draft. He accelerated smoothly and slowly. I found my self starting to spin out... I tried to shift to a higher gear, but there was none. I stole a quick glance at my computer and saw that I was going 62kph, I literally had no idea I was going that fast.

46 degrees and sunny- beautiful but toes were cold by the time i got to work
list of apparel: bibs, basketball shorts, knee warmers, dayglo green shirt, dayglo green windbreaker over top, mountain bike gloves (too cold for fingerless),

chilly and getting darker these mornings. I haven't put the wind shell on just yet, but soon......

I need to be better about keeping my earlier schedule. I've been sleeping in about 30 more minutes lately (still get to work on time), but the traffic is significantly worse than my preferred time.
I REALLY need to dust off my niterider light! Thing is, the last time I used it (several years ago), the battery was only good for 30-40 minutes. Certainly suitable for my morning ride in, but not adequate once it becomes dark for the ride home. I'll cough up the $150 for a replacement battery sooner or later.

Generally uneventful ride in. I did get yelled at by a dude in a *** older pickup truck - I was in the turn lane on the last portion of my ride to work, and he yelled "you're in the wrong f$%&^ng lane!!!!!!". :rolleyes: Hopefully he saw me turn.

:thumb:

No kid duty today. Was going to ride fixed but w/ drizzle decided to stick to fendered (geared) bike.

Took a 17 mile detour out to the day lot at SMF to pick up my parents' car. They took an early flight to Chicago for a family event. I convinced them do drive the wagon to the airport so I could just ride out there and throw the bike in the back. Nice ride with a tailwind most of the way. Rode the FG and told myself just to spin along leisurely.

took some extra time today to drop off some dry cleaning and go to the bank on the way to work. Not as humid as yesterday... saw a babe on a bike, she smiled politely at the old man...:love: saw three other commuters.

OMG I don't know how you guys ride in such frigid weather. It was 80 degrees with 90 percent humidity when I left the house at 6:30 this morning. I consumed the 24 oz bottle of gatorade on the ride. Then I drained three more 24 oz bottles of water this morning before lunch. My challenge is not staying warm, it is staying hydrated.

I finally figured out how to adjust the rear brake pad so it stopped rubbing. My goodness its amazing how fast you can ride without the brakes on!

the body acclimatizes. I've lived in a variety of climates (Raised in Austin, TX...... lived in eastern Saudi Arabia for 7 years........ lived at 10,300 feet elevation in Colorado for 2 years ....... lived in Calgary, Alberta for 1 year) and was outdoors year round in each place. After the initial acclimatization, each place became quite livable.

I'm lucky now, because the Salt Lake Valley has 4 long seasons - hot dry summers, spectacular chilly autumn and spring, and moderately cold winters with somewhat frequent snow. I have mini-acclimatizations throughout the year.

I must say, though, that I can deal with the cold far easier than with heat and humidity (in combination).

A cement truck offered me about 17" birth at 40-50mph today. That was pleasant :rolleyes:

Freaking global warming! It was 62f on the way in and 70f on the way home. I tell you we are going to roast in flames! thank god Al Gore is on it.

Normal temps is mid 60's for the low and mid 80's for the high. Tommorrow is supose to be colder....I might need a jacket. :lol:

Other then being overcast all day and the head wind on the way home it was a delightful fall day (1.5 months early)

The commutes went well today... I started my day by riding my girls to school and due to some massive road construction we took a detour which has proven itself to be a nicer route that only adds about 5 minutes to our 25 minute trip.

My 9 year old dropped a guy about my age this am... he was moving along at a nice pace but with a ring of her bell and an "on your left" she blew by him.

:)

When I picked them up after school / work I brought my 1948 Rudge as it has been too hot to go fast and then we all pootled home on our English three speeds as they both ride old Raleigh 3 speed bikes with the full commuter package of fenders, chain guards and lights.

The ride home was wonderful, almost magical.
I ran into a buddy of mine who was biking home from work too.
Fun times

speedy ride home, no kids. Supposed to be the last week pushing 80, but instead 60s and drizzly.

Beautiful weather, but it brought out sheer insanity on the trail. Walkers, joggers, parents and kids. No point in even thinking about going fast, although there was the certain contingent of totally inconsiderate roadies trying. When you hit a street crossing and you're the tenth bike back when usually it's one or maybe 2 you know it's busy.

Just took my time, minded my manners and got back safely. Added a whopping 10 minutes to my commute. That was just 10 more minutes in the nice weather.

Fine into work and fine going back. I pulled over just outside work to close my chin strap for my helmet, passing cyclist dinged his bell and gave me a peace sign.

Another chilly morning 55 F (12 C). I wanted to yell going down the first hill, and living in a densley populated area, no one would have noticed anyway. Lots of darkness, and chilly weather. Summers
are just too short.

Yet another great morning this morning. Took it totally easy and just enjoyed the glorious 55 degree air.

-R

Ah finally.... 64 deg and fair. sweet ride. love to ride with the lower temperatures and humidity. :thumb:

Yesterday on way home from work, encountered large but friendly dog. Dunno what kinda dog it is, looks like a poodle but it's much bigger. Dunno anything about dogs, maybe it's just a big poodle. Anyway, waas going at walking pace coz saw the dog on MUP (owner was re-adjusting neck collar on dog). I was gonna call out but figured the dog looked obedient enough and I wont surprise it since I was going at (by this time) a slow walk pace.

Dog heard my bike and lunged for me! I fell over. Dog owner was most apologetic, I told him dont worry about it, no big deal. He kept apologizing. I kept saying dont worry wdont worry...

Clear, Low 50s, no wind. Yet another fine day for a ride. Passed 3 riders and saw 3 going the other way. Yesterday someone broke a beer bottle on the MUP. :rolleyes: This morning someone was stopped and was sweeping it off to the side. I thanked him as I rode by. He said, "Some @$$hole broke a beer bottle!" I said, "I know, I saw it." (I'd have cleaned it myself but I had nothing with which to sweep.)

The only problem is: Just sweeping it off to the side doesn't help those of us who sometimes ride on the dirt shoulders. :eek:

And someone here keeps locking his bike to a rack with a U-lock. Around his seatpost. With a quick release. :p I'm torn between just taking his bike, or finding him and explaining to him the error of his ways. ;) Bike theft isn't much of a problem here though.

Would last 5 minutes in DC :P

So, in the last 12 miles I've seen 2 car wrecks, I'm thinking my route is not the safest..but it is the fastest

Another beauteous morning.
I wore a light sweater over my wicking tee this morning, took me a little bit to warm up and then the sweater came off. I love this time of year because of the layers you get to wear.
On the ride home yesterday I ran into a buddy of mine who was riding the same route, and while we were talking, all kinds of bike commuters were zooming by, it was great. I have seen more bike commuters in the last few days than I have all summer.