Haven't posted here in awhile as I now work from home. But today I rode with my son to his elementary school. We have a fairly dicey overpass and busy intersection to contend with, but Lucas is very sure of himself and an amazingly careful rider for a 7 year old. I couldn't be more proud.

And then after locking up Lucas' bike, I took off for a 30 mile spin down towards the Delta. What a way to enjoy the lovely autumn weather.

A neighbor was biking up with her daughter to our kids' school and the mom told us she was asked if she was our daughter's mom (because of her bike helmet).

I didn't ride to work this morning. I sat up much too late watching the Rangers keep blowing that game last night, so drove to work so I could sleep in a bit later. I did ride to work the rest of the week though, including yesterday, when they were calling for a 100 percent chance of rain in the afternoon, but it didn't rain more than a few drops here until just after I got home.

2011 days ridden to work: 185
2011 commuting mileage: 4521.3

It was a somewhat chilly ride home.

This time of year can be tricky when gauging what clothing to ride in.

Viewing the forecast last night I decided to travel with three outfits.

Morning was below forty degrees, my limit for shorts. I used my new turfer rain pants for their wind breaking properties only wearing a chamois underneath, was perfect for my legs. Terramar base layer and elite barrier over it worked well in tandem. The only problem was my feet, they were not too terribly bitten by the cold but I can tell it's going to be an issue.

Then, of course, work clothes.

For the ride home I used the shorts that go with the chamois and a long sleeve cotton t shirt of the common variety.
Again feet were chilly, my left foot (no movie references please) cramped a little once I got inside.

I need to start doubling up on socks again or find better sneakers than these cheap cross trainers for winter temperatures.

The actual ride home was ok. Two guys decided to say their goodbyes standing in front of an open cab door right in a bike lane on a busy avenue on rush hour. I told the guy how much I appreciated it and he very sarcastically apologized.

When I got home I found that the el330 cat eye in my side mesh pocket was flipped on at done point in my ride. Pointing straight up like one if those spot lights over a party I'm sure. This have me a chuckle.

A taxi came to a complete stop, and patiently waited for me to enter the streetcar lane when my bike lane ended. Guess there are some good eggs out there!

Flood in Thailand made it uneasy for commuter, but we still able to do it.


https://picasaweb.google.com/1156608...InThailand2011

At least a half foot of wet, slushy snow today.
A rare day when I missed cycling. : - (

We'll start off with fridays ride. I had something to take care of on the upper east side of Manhattan which is about 15 miles away from me. I hopped on my trek 7200 and got there with no issue. coming back however was a different story. i was going down second avenue when a car starting honking me. He then pulled up on the side of me and said "Find a bike lane a-- hole". I didn't think anything of it and kept going. Further downtown where there is a shared lane I had an extremely wreckless cab driver get very close to me numerous times. As i got further downtown I caught up to him again and he decided to cut off a block of traffic by trying to drive in the protected bike path. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing all the way home.

Tonight was my first real winter commute in snow this year. I took the 7200 out again and got myself to work. Other than a few honks it wasn't a bad ride at all. I just get so tired of these NYC drivers who don't give us any courtesy at all.

Hope you are safe in Thailand.

Had a commute of sorts today...all over DC following a friend in the Marine Corps Marathon. Cold as could be in the early hours.

32/0 when I rolled out this morning. Strange, using one less layer on my feet I had warmer toes than yesterday with wool socks and liners. Face was pretty frigid rolling down Capitol Hill.

Next purchases: decent balaclava and lobster claw gloves.

Had my Ortlieb panniers filled to the max with stuff for the work week. Can't belive I went so long without them.

First chilly ride since April, 30 F ( -1C). I dressed well. My glasses stung going down hill, but other than that, I was warm.

Low 30sF today. (~1-2C) Left before sunrise but after twilight so it wasn't dark. All weekend I was trying to come up with a good costume for riding today, but it just didn't coalesce.

54 this morning. I didn't want to go the rack and panniers route but I have to hall to much stuff back and forth si rack and panniers it is. At least I won't have to carry this mornings clothes home in a backpack this afternoon when its 85 outside.

Brisk today, weather said 28F. Waiting on some winter bike tights to come in, but until then I'm considering trading in my shorts for some jeans, and maybe a jacket. Not bad though, did a few extra miles as the roads were not as busy this morning. Had a great ride!

Nice brisk weather in the mid-30's in the Atlanta area. There are just a few hard-core commuters out now, but we have to be more careful of the deer now that the paths are more quiet. I scared up three groups of them this morning.

definitely chilly today; tights were appreciated, and I am awfully glad I put on the beanie under the helmet. I stuck with thin gloves, which made for cold fingers for the first 4 miles or so. Wasn't sure about my decision to leave off the midlayer fleece, and run with only my base layer under wind layer, but I warmed quickly enough, and it meant a rare not too sweaty arrival at work.

The fun of today's commute, though, were the two separate trees blocking portions of my route. Had to lift my 50-60 Lbs of well laden commuter cycle to get over them. Definitely could have passed on that part of the adventure. Also, my front brake (mechanical disk) is squealing pretty badly -- does anyone know if bicycle brake pads have 'wear indicators' like car brakes sometimes do? I started noticing it on Friday's ride home, but it was much worse today. I have about 3200 plus miles on the bike, original pads, and I ride pretty heavily loaded (190 lbs of me, 35 lbs of bike plus rack/accessories, and 20 plus pounds in the panniers on a regular basis) so I would not be at all surprised if it is time to replace them. They look somewhat 'thin' but they've always look thin to me (compared to car or motorcycle pads).

0C with a bit of a tailwind made for a nice ride. At one point I had a car tailing me in my blind spot. I thought I could hear one but couldn't see it until I rotated my head to bring it into view. He was one of many cars I saw driving before dawn with his headlights off.

I built two custom camera pole mounts on the weekend, one that can attach to racks and one that can attach to thicker tubing. A few more finishing touches and I can take them for a spin. I spent a lot of time wandering through a couple hardware stores looking for a suitable clamp and ended up getting one of these hydraulic hose clamps. I also got a piece of square aluminum tubing and a GoPro tripod mount (attaches with 1/4" 20 thread bolt). I just need some longer bolts, if I get the kind with a thumb tab I'll be able to install it without any tools. I'l probably wrap a piece of old tube under the clamp area for additional friction and less chance of paint scratching.

Sweet ride this morning! It was cold too.

Four Layers, up top, and four Layers down the bottom, I was ready for the cold morning to say the least!!

I am 6'3" and I weigh about 135lbs. Almost no body fat. So, I learned how to deal with the cold from riding the motorcycle in the cold. I put on LAYERS.. Really dark this morning at about 6 am..Light on my helmet, two tail lights. Also, I noticed that since it is dark out when I start my commute, I need to cut the speed down a little. I am moving at a quick pace, and I noticed, if I roll over something at this pace, I am in trouble. I cut the pace down..The 7 miles to the subway was sweet, and I was warm in the 35 degree temp. I exited the subway, ate at my favorite breakfast spot, and ready for the short miles to work. I got a flat.. No problem. My work shuttle showed up across the street, I hitched a ride. I got a spare tube, tire irons(plastic)and a mini pump with me.. I will change the flat at lunch time..

Tell me life isn't sweet!!

Note: I am in Maryland too. I just noticed a lot of MD commuters..

40F, sunny, clammy. Wore shoes and socks instead of sandals today for the first time since I can't remember when; June?

Also wore full gloves instead of fingerless; might not have done so for the weather, all other things being equal, but it seemed to help my sprained wrist a lot, I never had to stop and think about how much braking/shifting hurt, so that was nice.

Chilly ride in this AM. 33 when I left home. Kept with the shorts, but had three layers on top... two t-shirts (one long sleeved) and a fleece. Took a mile or two to really warm up, but by the time I got to work I was almost ready to shed the fleece. A little colder and I would have had to get out the full fingered gloves.

Foreshadowing of what's to come!

First time in a couple weeks. Looking forward to the time change next week as it's getting tough to pull my biscuits out of the sack in the dark!

32/0 when I checked the phone this morning. I am coming to realize I would much rather ride the fixi that the the MTB, so I took the Kilo off the wall to ride in. Packed my stuff and was on my way. Cool morning and it was a great ride with the new helmet also. Actually tried going a different route in the morning and was lost for a bit, but again I never minded it.

As a bike rider, I do understand I need to be aware of everything around me even more then everyone else (learned this concept when I started riding motorcycles), but I cannot deal with people who cross the road at angles and are not paying attention. This guy this morning on 30ish st and 2nd Ave did almost a Z walking across and since I had traffic on my right side and was stuck in the bike lane I couldn't avoid him. Obviously I notified him abruptly and at a high enough decibel level that he would not need coffee to start his day.

Woke up to the perfect amount of fresh snow yesterday, the first of the snow of year; a sweet 1.5 inches, just enough pretty up the scenery and to silence the studded tires. Nobody's out on Sunday mornings when I head in to work, and the snow, the dark, and the silence made for a really peaceful ride.

Slept in through my biology lecture today (oops), so I'm just about to head out through another inch of fresh snow, with more still coming down. 22º and snowing; it's good to see winter again.

Fairly crowded with parents in a hurry to get home. A few trick-or-treaters were out already.

I will miss my daughter's first Halloween but the ones that are important are the ones that she'll remember ... at least that's what I'm telling myself tonight...

Getting cool in the mornings even in Far West Texas - so I bundled up pretty good. The ride was cold, quiet, stark, windless - -