Great ride in, not much traffic to worry about, no rain, no wind, but dark. Arrived later than I wanted for a 7:00 am breakfast meet up with a co-worker and missed her. I did wear the heavier leggings today as it was about 42 when I left the house. Should be good for way home w/out rain jacket...oh wait...wrote that too soon! :notamused:

I did switch out my wool shirt for another day since the dreaded "snow shower" forecast is out there for later this week with highs only into the upper/mid 40s. It'll be of better use then.

CptJohnC - yes, brake pads usually have wear marker lines on them...they can get pretty low before you hit this mark (look down at your brake pads, you should be able to see the little line - clean off the dirt if you can't see brake pad clearly). If pads look good a little scrub to the pad surface with sandpaper can help as can keeping rims clean, especially wiping them down after a rain ride.

Not bad today, tired out the new rain jacket I was unsure on the fit but fits like a glove. Morning was 45 afternoon 61f soo pretty much perfect

It was chilly as I rode to work at dark-thirty this morning, 39 degrees, but the wind was light, and it warmed up to 77 degrees for this afternoon's ride home. I ended up with 614 miles in October, my lowest mileage month since April. That leaves me needing 1,000 miles to make my goal of 7,500 miles this year. That may be challenging if the weather turns bad these last two months.

A tad warmer this morning at 45F (7C). These days switching from chilly weather to not too chilly gets old trying to remember what to bring.

Well, I have all the more incentive to bike commute since my office moved downtown last week. Although the distance is farther, I actually cycled to work in less time this morning (55 minutes) than it took me to drive home (1 hour) from work yesterday. I plan to cycle most days but signed up for a parking space because I usually have to drive at least once a week to run errands, go to appointments or avoid foul weather. Yesterday was only the second time I've driven since moving to the new office last Monday, and I was surprised at how long it took compared to cycling. I can ride my bike right up to my building and the bike rack is right by the entrance. However, the parking deck is a block away and my space is on the 9th floor, so it takes at least 10 minutes to drive up (or down) the deck and walk to my building. Leaving in the afternoon is even worse due to traffic backing up at the parking deck exit.

I am tempted to give up my parking space (which costs $15/month) if I can find a free spot to park within walking distance of my office. There are free spaces available downtown, but they disappear fast in the mornings. This morning, the closest block of free parking spaces (about 2 blocks from my office) was all filled up at 7:15 am except for one space. Not sure if I can rely on that.

I enjoyed the ride this morning, it was pretty quiet with courteous drivers giving ample space. :thumb:

Despite the chilly temps this morning, my additional pair of socks and the addition of two plastic bags (over the socks, in my shoes) seemed to help. Bit ghetto perhaps, but it did help.

I'm looking forward to putting the clocks back an hour this weekend and getting a little light back in my ride for another couple weeks. Then back to total darkness and perhaps some snow. :twitchy:

Cheers

Nice, cool (4C). Oddly quiet roads.

hi, i'm new to the sight and a new collector. i have a what i bekieve to be a 1967 stingray 5 speed. the serial numbers dont seem to match up. i see on the schwinn serial number sight kfc. mine starts with kc only. it is kc 60312. cna anyone help me?

Beautiful ride in this morning, though a bit windy. 53f with 15-25mph winds from the south. There is finally snow in the forecast! Tonight will be dedicated to truing my wheels and swapping out the studded tires. No snow should stick around for long as the ground ought to still be pretty warm, but we've been getting plenty of mornings around freezing so I gotta start watching out for patches of ice.

Coldest commute yet this morning - 32F - but dry so it was a great ride in. I had to break out my running tights, long sleeve, windbreaker and gloves. I'll have to figure something else out for shoes - right now I'm using running shoes with 'breathable mesh' so my toesies got a bit chilly.

Nice this morning. Upper 30sF. I left a bit late and wound up playing a little game of leap frog with bus, but it was fine. Also, lots more cars. It's funny what a difference 10 minutes makes, traffic-wise. Stopped behind a commercial truck at a stop sign. Truck was turning right. I positioned myself behind him but visible in his side mirror so he could see I wasn't on his right side like a ninny. He still made a lot of effort to watch me as he was turning. He gets a thumbs up. :)

35F and foggy. Gloves definitely good for my sprained hand. My legs are really tight now apparently from diving back into commuting after a month off.

Double commute..Motorcycle and bicycle.. ;) Temp at about 35 degrees.
At 6 am, I do the 34 mile round trip commute to the gym on the motorcycle..Do a 1 hour leg workout, and then I haul it back home, parked the motorcycle. Shed motorcycle gear, shower, don bicycle gear, pick a bike, Ironman Expert this morning, and off to the 10 mile commute to work..

The feeling, PRICELESS!! ;)

I think it was about 3C colder at home than it was at my destination. Weather site said -1C which seemed right for the 2nd half of the ride. A few km from the university I felt the need to show off to another cyclist I encountered at a light, by accelerating very quickly away from them. Thinking it would be embarrassing if they caught up with me, I kept on mashing the rest of the way :) . I've been averaging about 26kph on my morning rides lately. I haven't been resetting my trip meter before the ride home, but those are usually slower due to the wind.

Yesterday I stopped by the LBS on the way home and picked up a new rear rack, the new dual rail Bontrager Backrack Deluxe. I rode home with it strapped upside down to my trunk bag. It was a very easy install, but the j-tube for my rear v-brake contacts the rack while braking. Now that I have a spare rack to put on my Defy 2, I might bring it out of the basement for a few more rides before the snow arrives.

Somewhere between 45 and 50 when I left this morning - a bit cool for shorts and t-shirt at first, but the first couple of hills warmed me right up.

Brooks Haters
 

So I am stopped at a red light in the bike lane. Two road bike guys decked out in lycra (I only say that because they did not appear to be commuting) come up behind me just as the light turns great and I start pedaling. One of them says: "Well, you should only have about another 20,000 miles before you break in that Brooks saddle. Those things are brutal." The comment surprised me more than anything, since I am so used to people ravings about the Brooks saddles. I guess I have been talking primarily to commuters. I just told him that it is already an improvement over my stock saddle and left it at that. They ended up being pretty nice guys and we had some small conversation, but I was definitely a bit taken-a-back by the comment. What gives? For some perspective, here is my current setup:

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...w/DSC_1088.jpg

That was NOT a fun commute home last night...rear tire flat upon time to leave work. No patch kit with me (reminder to put this back in my panier!). End up getting a new tube after walking to nearby shop. Ride about 5 miles, flat again. Seriously? Walk about 1 mile so husband can pick me up. Go to bike shop. My rear tire has a deep cut that slices it almost in half. And these are "flat resistant" tires...needed to be replaced anyway. Put on new rear temporary tire until my new Soma Xpress Reflectives arrive.

Then, on my way TO work my Superflash front light pops off (the lens, not the body) and crashes down the street. It's hopeless to find it in the dark and those suckers BOUNCE. At least I had my helmet light still. Now I have to go buy a new light on the way home tonight and maybe try to find that front piece on the way home...:mad:

A little warmer this morning than I thought it would be (I think it was 50). The ride was still stark, quiet and windless on the deserted streets before sunrise. My car is rusting . . .

Had a tough morning commute negotiating icy, leaf strewn stretches and downed tree limbs on the MUP forcing me to walk the bike in some areas.

The ride home was much nicer after the day's thaw, but experienced my first near collision. 4 way intersection. I had the green and started through. Young male driver in sporty VW facing me on the other side decides to make a left instead of waiting for me to go through, and I nearly collided into him. I made sure to tell him I had the right of way. Geesh.

Ride to/from work felt a whole lot colder than the thermometer indicated. Snapped this pic a few miles from home, right when a few snowflakes were just starting to fall.

http://www.gravelbike.com/wp-content...11-01-2011.jpg

Todays commute was uneventful, just how I like it. Today was the first time I actually felt a little cold. Winter is on my doorstep.

:)

I saw a new bike in the cage today (which makes 3 of us now). Looks like they switched to their winter saddle. I've never seen a fuzzy saddle before.

http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/a.../IMG_1219b.jpg


I saw this bike several times, always locked like this. I'm thinking about leaving a note. The whole bike front tire and all could be stolen with just a 15mm wrench.
http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/a.../IMG_1218b.jpg

Ride in was fine, 25º and 2 inches of fresh snow over the half inch packed base from the last few days. Got to the trail before the walkers churned it up too badly, so it was mostly smooth riding.

Most unpleasant ride home in a while; steady 20 mph winds with 50 mph gusts. Most of the ride is pretty sheltered, but after class I had some errands to run downtown, which is essentially a grid of wind tunnels. Was blown to a complete halt once, and between the car-churned, wind-blown snow and the wind itself I had a heck of a time keeping the bike in line. Hillcrest hill was an uphill spin through churned snow and 5 inch wind drifts, with a 20 mph cross wind (there was a tail wind at the bottom, which was the only reason I started up it, but the wind switched around about a quarter of the way up).

The last 3/4 mile down Forest Park was almost worth it, though; straight tailwind and freshly plowed and wind polished road. There's a little hill in the middle that I flew up in the top gear, wind gusts making my 55 lb. bike feel like a 15 lb. bike.

My grandma had a fuzzy saddle on her old three speed; I think it wanted to be like a sheepskin seat cover or something. As for poor lock jobs (you see a few on campus, and the inevitable stolen bike posters that result) I just shake head and happily park next to them; I feel more secure leaving my properly locked bike next to some easy pickings. If you leave a note, someone other than the owner might read it and "correct" the problem.

A tad chillier than yesterday, but warmer than Monday at 35F (2C). It's just that time of year, where you wake up and see what the temps are.

Cold knees!

Yep it is hard to decide how to dress these days. Otherwise a pleasant early ride in.