Worst commute in a while

Just a lot of little stupid things to deal with that made the trip aggravating.

Better off forgotten.

Where's that motivation thread...?

A chilly, but decent ride in at 50 F (10C). Too much traffic this week, and I can't figure out why.

My wife took me to a new Mexican resturant last night. I am sick, but I think the ride made me feel a bit better.

Really enjoyed the ride in this morning. Wonderful weather, and ended up riding in a group of five for several miles. Just imagine the thoughts of the packs of joggers -thinking they can avoid the cycling groups by running before sunrise. We showed them they are never safe from us .

The "peloton" blew apart on the hill.

Temps hovering just above 32F/0C. Sun coming up. Very pleasant. I saw a guy riding the other way wearing a winter coat, hat, gloves, etc. I don't know how people ride in heavy clothing. I think I've worn actual winter-weight stuff once, and it was below zero F, and I overheated.

Temp about 4C (38F), no wind, nice ride. Wore shorts and a jersey under a heavier-weight long sleeved jersey, legs were bright red at the end of the ride, toes and thumb/fingertips were numbish. Need to find better gloves and a shoe/toe cover. Afternoon forecast is 22C (71F) so the ride home will be nice.

Just like vtjim ^^^, I saw another cyclist in winter coat, toque, gloves and wondered also if s/he would be too warm.

Excellent ride, Mid 50's, Fall colors and fall smells. Traffic was light as the cooler weather seems to keep the "MUPsquitos" away.

(MUPsquito = the swarms of aimless trail users who promptly disappear after the first frost)

Dark and moonless, 51 degrees, calm. Back to Tshirt, Reflec. Vest, Shorts and gloves...Turned over 4000 miles on the bike commute for the year...I am about 1 month ahead of last years mileage...Another beautiful day for a bike commute! :-)

I finally got some full-fingered gloves and a long-sleeve jersey. The ride was much more comfortable. Now I'm thinking I want clipless on the commuter.

My bike fit yesterday ran longer than I thought so I missed a class.

The temp this morning was nice, but I got caught in a rain shower then had wet roads for the remainder of the ride. This was the first rain I encountered so far this semester. It was short lived enough that I was able to get away with not having a rain cover for my trunk bag.

Next week will be colder, so I think I'll track down some tights this weekend. I tried a large sized specialized ones but they were too small.

Finally installed fenders that I've purchased and let sit in the laundry room (you use what you can for parts storage in an apartment) for about 3 months. Must say today was the most fun I've had on a wet commute, which granted does not happen very often around here.

Unless there's freak incidents of snow again like last year, I should be set for the winter.

Battled a ~15mph headwind for most of the way home. I was spinning in one of my lowest gear ratios, trying to not fall over. Then the wind changed directions and blew me about 3 feet over, to the other side of the (deserted) MUP. This happened twice.

Took the "long" way home. Adds about half a mile onto my 1.8 mile commute. Mostly lakeshore riding. One of those glorious autumn days. Not terribly warm, but bright sunshine. Tomorrow I'm walking to work.

After work is this...

The 4-8 mph ESE winds on the ride home were more like 20-25 mph from the south. Accuweather isn't terribly accurate. The wind took 3 mph off my typical average.

Got yelled at today...it's been a while since somebody honked or yelled at me. Was thinking people don't even see me any more.

Think she was mad at me because the accident scene probably cost her 10 minutes of sitting and I rode up the line of cars like nobody was there.

Today I was on the MAX train that got sent back to the barn. Got on at the Beaverton Transit Center, and mechanical problems forced everybody off at the Sunset Transit Center. Decided that waiting for the next train full of people and bicycles was just going to be too much of an inconvenience. Rode up to Hwy 26, up and over into PDX.

Tonight the train was delayed by the Occupy Portland rally. So, I decided to do the reverse trip. I didn't know that SW Canyon doesn't go through a tunnel (outbound) until today.

I was following another cyclist (who opted to go through the zoo), but stopped to prune those *%$##&!!! black locust weeds that were hanging out into the bike lane approaching the bike route to the zoo, and still managed to catch up to the guy before we got to the Sunset MUP at Sylvan.

Lots of hot, noisy, damp miles today, but I made it.

No photos, my camera's on the fritz again... could be the batteries, but really, both at the same time?

I had a great ride in this morning but I am realizing that in the dark morning with only street lights (some of which are off which was especially unnerving on a recently paved, extra black asphalt street), I should invest in more than the bright flasher I have on the front, one or two decent lights. It was 6C (42F) but I rode extra hard (I haven't checked my computer so I don't know if the effort will show up in reduced time) and enjoyed the ride more than usual.

It was slightly misty/foggy at parts and strangely so. Earlier this summer, it was an especially foggy day but only in the low areas (especially on the roads around St Charles Lake where I could barely see the road beneath my wheels): the higher areas were clear. This morning, it was the reverse where the top of hills were foggy and furthermore, the fog was warmer than the clear regions. At one point on the unlit 1km dirt road between a residential area and the university, it rises to a hill and for about 3-400m(yds), my glasses were so fogged up, I had to remove them because I couldn't make out the road and my front blinky wasn't helping light up the path at all.

Looking forward to a nice warm (23C/73F) ride home in the sun.

Beautiful fifty degree morning ride with moderate head winds on the triboro bridge. Arrived at the 103rd street bridge to find the gate locked again and had to wait for the guy with the key. I had arrived after 6:30.

Last night I found the web page that said the 103rd street bridge is supposed to be open at 6 a.m. until it closes for construction november 21st, this same web page had an email that I could send questions or comments to, so I sent a carefully worded respectful email asking for clarification as to the operating hours and date of closure as there is conflicting information in this regard. I will be surprised if I get a response.

We've had perfect weather all week, so I had my first 5-day commute week in a while. My legs are feeling pretty tired as a result because I've ridden 13 days in a row without a break (including weekends off).

I pulled a bonehead maneuver riding to work this morning, but no harm resulted. Several of the traffic lights on my route will not trip unless a car is also at the light, so I am forced to wait there indefinitely or run the light (after stopping of course). Unfortunately the light is also at the top of a blind hill so you can't see the approaching traffic until they get pretty close. I did my usual stop-and-look this morning, but then a clump of fast moving cars came up the hill as soon as I pulled out, so I was forced to ride down the center turn lane for about 1/4 mile. Not a good situation, and I really need to call the city about that light. There are two of them on my route that will not sense a bicycle, so will not change from red to green unless a car trips the sensor.

NYC DOT actually responded to my email.

The wards island/103rd street bridge officially opens at 6:30 a.m. and will be fully closed november 21st. At which time it's back to the fifty ninth street bridge or try to figure out the route from 125th street probably adding close to another two miles to my morning commute.... Hmmmm.... We shall see.

Edit: I received another email that now states october 31st is the last day the bridge will be open.... *sigh*

Dark, 14c and rain this morning, but it was still a nice ride. I tried my shoe rain covers for the first time. They kept my feet dry until I hit this massive puddle near the end of my ride, then they were soaked.

It was 68F in the Twin Cities this morning, 6 above the average high for this date--shorts and jersey weather, simplifying logistics. :-) Today marks my 2500th commute, dating back to 1991. That's over 70k miles saved on the cars. I'll get blown home this afternoon with a wind advisory in place--in my favor. :-)

New commuter this year but the wind has been kicking me in the rear this week. I'm heading directly South into 35-40mph head wind gusts this afternoon in the Twin Cities. Wish me luck!

Hey Welcome to the forums Wally! I got to deal with the big winds last Thursday - They practically stood me up a few times.

They were insane last Thursday, I chickened out and stayed home from work. But then I figured it would be good training for winter, so I went out riding anyways! LOL