Upper 30s / low 40s. Crosswind. It's getting darker & darker every week. I went with full leg covering this time, and my heavier-weight long sleeves. No jacket.

There was some old ratty mountain bike lying on its side in the middle of the MUP. I stopped, picked it up, and put it on its kickstand off on the grass next to the MUP. No bodies seen nearby. :p

Saw a couple of cyclists heading the other way, both regulars. Squirells too numerous to count.

Warm.... really warm, like almost 80.... this morning, and plenty humid. I started out and there were broken clouds but as I rolled into work a few of those great big drops that come with thunderstorms were starting to fall, and there was lightning on the horizon. The storm still hasn't blown in yet, but I think it's coming.

I rode for several blocks with a fellow commuter. He said he used to live in Austin and found that Fort Worth drivers are far more polite and accommodating than they are in Austin. :thumb:

Yeah, been awhile since I had such a fast tailwind on the morning ride. I left 2 minutes late and got to the station 2 minutes earlier than usual.

Supposed to be pretty stormy for the ride home - high winds, hard rain, lightning and large hail....

I agree that, in the main, Ft W drivers are more considerate of bikers than any other Texas city I've ridden in.

Really? I've had mine for a while now and frequently switch between bikes, and no problems (yet). If you have any piece of the light, even just the clip, and you bought it at a brick-and-mortar store, take it back. They might give you a new one (this happened to me with a different brand and the LBS took care of me).

Pretty windy here today and yesterday. Ride home last night was superfast, but still only makes a few minutes difference in travel time. Slower ride in this morning. Morning sunrises are great.

We also have pretty wide temperature swings between morning and evening, so I'm lugging a bunch of gear home each night.

Finally, I'm having some issues with my shifters in the colder temps. I may need to replace the cables and housings.

Paul

Count me as one of the ones who've NEVER had any issues with PB clips (superflash, rack blinky 5, helmet 3 or any others)

Woke up to an inch of early season snow on the houses, grass and cars. Streets were wet. 34-35 degrees F (2C) and cloudy. Schools were out today, which was nice since I left the house later than usual.
I rode most of the way in with a guy on a Specialized Sirrus with a flat bar, and we kept a strong pace the whole way in. He showed me a route that includes a series of lights that are timed PERFECTLY for a 23-25 MPH cruise. It was GREAT! I'd say we hit about 8-9 lights on solid green, and he told me it works every time - it is one of the few streets in the city that still uses timed lights. I will now use that street every morning.

I placed my order last night with J-G in portland - jacket, pants, helmet cover and booties. I'll be damned If I let another 40 degree rainy morning keep me off the bike ;)

caged today, 2 of 4 of us home sick, stayed home too late to verify all that and still bike in. Trusting 8 yr old to have put down his DS 20 min ago and walked to school.

Maybe this has been posted on the forums today, but if not, this is as good a place as any to post it. Today's Yehuda Moon comic strip:

http://www.yehudamoon.com/images/strips/2009-10-01.gif

Disclaimer: I'm sure Rick Smith does not condone that kind of game coming to real life. But it made me snork.

Yeah, saw that this morning... thought it was awesome.

I didn't think I was going to cycle in today; I had knee pain yesterday and the evening before due to some hasty adjustments I made to my handlebar and seat positions. I should have known better. Thankfully, when I woke up, my knee felt fine. Just in case, I kept myself in a lower(?) gear and spun up slowly so there were no strains on my knees. I went pretty slowly, and aside from the fact that my 12 mile commute took me 1 hour and 20 minutes today, I didn't have any pain. I have to stay healthy because my car was sold and I'd have to borrow one to get to work otherwise so my bicycle is now my primary form of transportation. It's okay if I can't ride in, but I'm trying as much as possible to be self-sufficient. I love that my friends will offer to drive me home when I visit, saying "you don't have to ride the bike home tonight, don't worry..." as if they are saving me from such a horrible fate.

I got it from Performance so I just might do that.

Today in Dallas was about mid 70's in the morning at 6:30am, now at mid day it's down pouring with rain. I threw my rain parka just in case without much thought now I'm so glad I did. I'm looking at a nice wet ride. To me it's a little spice and challenge away from my cushion office job. Face the elements and power threw some inclines. lol

None today. My wife had an early meeting and left it to me to get the kids to kinder. Timing didn't work out that we could ride to school, so we did the minivan thing. Bleh.

35 this morning, rain forecast for this afternoon. Dug out the rain gear. Looks like a good test for my DIY lights, curious if the new LED bulbs will work in rain.

On the way home, temp was 18C, dark out there but all city stuff except the last little bit. The moon looked good through the clouds. Reminded me of werewolves. Told my wife a werewolf story when I got back, she told me to shut up.

Got new batteries for rear light. Been riding without an airpump. Better fix that for tomorrow. Little traffic when leaving later in the evenings. Thinking next week I'll start using the Tricross (I've put it off long enough).

Felt like bike needs lubing so I'll do that this weekend as well as give bike a wash if have time, but def clean/lube chain.

The ride home today made me feel like R A N T W I C K. Rain, wind, the rumble of thunder, more rain, wild temperature swings. I love it.

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/x...1091745-00.jpg

The blurriness is a testament to how wet the cell phone was.

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/x...1091748-01.jpg

Cats & dogs...

Little chilly this morning at 49f. Nice on the way home. :thumb:

On vacation starting tommorrow through next week. Planned a dental cleaning at 11:30am so that I could ride to it about 10 miles away. Visit my mom one day so I can get some miles in.

Glorious weather for the ride home today. 47 degrees and blue, blue sky with brilliant sunshine and a lovely blanket of fresh snow on the mountains.
packed all of the cooler weather gear into the panniers and donned my shorts, wicking tee and wind jacket for the ride home.

Stellar.

42 in Columbia seems awful cool for this time of year>
I lived down there about 10 years ago prior to moving back to Maine.

Meh... Feeling under the weather. Experienced closest buzzing in a few months (albeit not at very high speed).

It was 53f when I headed to work at 3:20 pm today with a 30 mph headwind gusting to 45! It was my first time commuting when it was so windy. Felt like I was riding up hill the whole way. First time I've been gald my commuting was only two and a half miles. Hoping the wind will push me on my ride home at 12.

on the way to work, it was pretty nice, an unusually low number of close calls with idiots (boston college students are terrible drivers.)

the trip home though was awful. 3 exceedingly close calls.
1) Idiot pulls out of his parking space (well technically he pulled out of where he parked in the middle of the bike lane) and didn't see me coming, which I had properly expected...so i pull out into the lane to pretty much the dotted yellow line in the center...assuming this would be more than enough space for him to pull out...well apparently this guy was terrible at both parking and driving all together so he keeps his wheels turned until he's managed to not only miss me by a few inches but also put half of his car in the oncoming traffic lane causing an oncoming vehicle to screach to a hault narrowly missing captain bad driver

2) Some dimwith dropped their cell phone out their window while driving...screached to a hault and the passengers and driver proceeded to run a chinese fire drill in the middle of the road. In other words, I almost got doored by 2 passengers.

3) MIT shuttle bus driver apparently was in too much of a hurry to stop, so he guns it past me, slams on his brakes and cuts over the bike lane, WITH NO SIGNAL, to pick up ONE FREAKING PERSON missing me by a foot or so. So I ride up next to his window...tap...proceed to yell at him while a cop drives by. Explained what happened, and thankfully the police officer gave the big mean bus driver a ticket. One thing I'm quite happy about is that since the mayor started biking around the city, there's been a HUGE increase in friendliness of police towards cyclists, especially in situations of an argumentative nature.

OK....so theres my rant. On the positive side, it was perfectly cool out today, shorts and jacket cool with no sweat...absolutely perfect weather.

Humidity must be up, because it was a warm 44 F ( 6 C) this morning. I started off dressed warm, but
quickly ditched everything into the bags. It started to drip, but it didn't keep it up, but there is rain
in the forecast. Yesterday afternoon going home was the typical displays of road rage of people
trying to get ahead of everyone else in their cars. Sometimes not paying attention to someone riding
a bike as close to the right curb as possible. Nothing new, but it does make you skittish sometimes.

Yes, it has been a cool summer and an earlier fall. I don't know what the means for winter, but I'll be
riding in it regardless of the temps. You would probably not recognize Columbia anymore. They are
into building on top of everything that is already built. Rouse's vision seemed to die with him. They
are now discussing developing symphony woods into a park and of course more buildings. One has to ask
what is wrong with a small patch of woods in a densley populated area that it has to be made into a park?

No ride for me. Did my 2.5-mile hike to the bus instead. Going out to the local dens of iniquity after work.
:beer:

However, yesterday, I came upon an old bike lying on its side in the middle of the MUP. I stopped and moved the bike off the pavement. Here it is, 24 hours later, right where I left it. I wonder how long it'll sit here.

It was pretty gloomy out so this picture is grainy.

It was brisk this morning - 42°, so I layered up with leg warmers and a jacket over short sleeve jersey, long finger gloves and an ear band. Worked out fine. The ride was pretty uneventful. I broke a spoke on my summer rear wheel, so last night I swapped on the fall wheels with cyclocross tires. I definitely felt the extra resistance but the ride was softer. It's probably a good idea to ride on the fall tires starting now anyway, because they will get me used to the extra resistance as prep for the winter/studded snow tires.

Coldest day of the season so far at 32F (0C). I wore my warmer tights and cycling jacket and was fine.

One bit of excitement coming to the light at Niwot Road. The pickup truck saw the light turn yellow and gunned it to get through the light. Then he noticed the sheriff's deputy sitting at the light. He tried to brake but started skidding through the intersection. The deputy immediately pulled out and busted him.

Interestingly it was the same cute female deputy with an British accent that had busted me for speednig a few months earlier.

Paul

Woke up with a bit of a sore throat and some congestion (I typically get a cold at the change of seasons, so this must be it). Decided to sleep in and drive to let the cold pass over the weekend, then hit it again Monday.

I had a couple crumpy drivers try to "Teach me a lesson" today. First, I'm in the right turn lane and this lady pulls up alongside and in front of me. She was essentially cutting in line, and I would have to wait for her to turn before being able to safely turn myself. So I scooted in front of her and gave her a look. She wasn't happy and revved her engine but didn't actually do anything.

At this turn I end up heading straight to the far left lane (6 lane divided city road, 30 mph speed limit, not a ton of traffic) because I make a left turn in 2 blocks. I usually maintain about 25 mph on this road with the biggest issue trying to time the one light I go straight through. In the left lane I get an SUV that accelerates very quickly then comes flying up on my ass and lays on the horn. I look over my shoulder, ask him what his problem is. The light turned red at this point, and he's in the left turn lane so I roll up to his window and he tells me I don't belong on the road. He tells me I should be on the shoulder, to which I ask "what shoulder"... he then says to get on the sidewalk... I tell him that is unsafe and obviously a place for walking not riding (side.. what? is usually my reply) then he tells me it's illegal for me to be on the road. I disagree and tell him to ask the police officer behind him about it, as they not only recognize my right to the road but that it's the best place for me.

The light turns green, he gives me the bird.