Wow. Spatial reasoning fail. (Or something) At least it's not a quick-release.

33F/1C this morning. Getting darker every day. I shocked a motorist by stopping at a stop sign and waving him through because he was at the intersection first.

Then there was the guy riding a MTB in full winter clothing.
The wrong way.
On the sidewalk.

Coldest commute of the season so far with temps hovering just above freezing. The weather is hard to dress for right now because there are such huge swings between morning and afternoon temps -- about 30 degrees most days. Looks like my 16+ mph commutes are over for now, due the cold mornings coupled with my new route. The extra 4 miles in the morning is all hills with a bunch of traffic lights, and it kills my average speed.

I had to put a rack on my bike so I have some place to put my clothes from my morning commute. I can certainly feel the extra 4 pounds when I pick up the bike but not so much when I ride. It doesn't look too bad but I really didn't want to put a rack on my cool little speedster. I'm shopping for another fast bike right now.

I took monday and tuesday off of work for fun and relaxation.

did 18miles sunday to end october with over 260miles total.

42 degrees this morning, little to no wind.

I'm glad i decided on wearing just shorts, as my legs were not cold.

fairly uneventful ride, traffic was subdued, and only maybe 6 other cyclists seen on the bridge.

it should be a nice 50 degree ride home this evening.

Still getting used to the cold here, better than Monday (33) but cooler than yesterday (47), I think it was 37 when I left. I'm right on the cusp of pulling the tights out, but I only have one pair and they're quite well-insulated/wind resistant so I think they're still a little warm until it gets closer to 30. Knee warmers are good, but the 4-5" between knee warmers and socks gets pretty chilly.....maybe I need some stylish tube socks

A little later this morning since inertia took over after I ate breakfast, but tomorrow will have to be back to 6am out the door since I have to give an exam at 8am....

32F when I left the house in VA this morning. It took me forever to find the beanie in the morning. I took some candies (small packages of M&M with peanutts) and they were frozen an hour into the ride - very crunchy.

Nice ride even though I was running low on steam. I took the MUP down and up a valley I usually ride around; it was nice not dealing with the cars for that stretch.

Been a few weeks since I posted. Still riding though. Commute this morning was cold, and also dark for the first half of the ride. Usually feel under-dressed for the first couple of miles until I get warmed up. The getting "warmed up" part took a few extra miles this morning. Temps are supposed to be closer to 60 for the ride home. That should be nice.

28F (-2C), calm, clear, dark. I could see the ice on the parked cars that I rode past, so black ice season is almost here. I think I'll put the studded tires on within the next 2 weeks.

25F and foggy. Wrist definitely coming back OK. More pain at the end of the ride than last couple days, but a lot colder too.

I love this last week before daylight savings ends. Best pitch black morning commutes (the periods in Dec when we have only 7-8 hrs of gray sun-up I mostly stay home w/ the kids on their holiday break). Although navigating this heinous construction site the block before work is trickier when it's not bright enough yet for the flaggers to be out.

Definitely chillier this morning; the mist seemed to be close to frozen on the bridge. I wore my 'heavy' gloves because I left my lightweight full finger gloves at my mom's house on Monday. Wasn't too bad for the ride this morning, but would have had really sweaty hands if I had to go much further. Hopefully it will be warm enough to wear fingerless on the way home.

Drove a little farther and rode my short route because I was running late, but not sure I gained much as I spent an extra 10+ minutes in traffic. I wish there was somewhere to leave the car between my usual spot and my 'short' spot, but I haven't found a good option yet.

Monday's tree was still lying across the Towpath, so I had to lift the bike over. But it is promising that I passed a park service pickup a little further down the trail heading that way , so hopefully it will be gone by the time I ride home. I felt really slow on the CCT, too. Hard to even maintain 17-18 MPH. I wonder if my front brake is dragging a little since I adjusted it to get rid of the squeal, or if my rear tire pressure is low... or maybe my legs are just weak!

There was also some extra activity in Georgetown, including a stage with a huge flag -- presumably some kind of campaign event? Because of the excess of law enforcement personnel (yes, indeed, this is a low stage of moral development at work), I was a bit more conservative in obeying the stop signs, even when there were no cars approaching, waiting or otherwise impacting the intersections, but many of my fellow cyclists felt no such guilt.

Got a couble brad right through the tread and out through the sidewall. First flat since May on my Delta Cruisers. Had only one patch left, but thankfully it covered both holes. Changed it in the hot-dog stand parking lot where there is a comfy bench and treated myself to a breakfast hotdog.

-4C I was caught off guard by a headwind, I would have worn another layer if I knew the wind was going to flip from north to south that fast.

The first snow of the year is forecast for this Sunday, but it doesn't look like it will be on the road more than a day if we get it at all. I potentially have 2 days this week where I'll be able to wear shorts for the ride home.

~30 this morning... but I LOVE commuting in this weather. I can wear normal clothes and not have a sweaty butt. Gotta look good when you ride...

Chilly and damp last night but nice once I got warmed up. Even nicer.... no wind.

A bit crisp, and blue skys. I guess my legs are tired, the climbing felt harder today.

Clear morning, about 45F at home and 66F at work. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and stop driving to work. Used to have a great 12 mile one way commute, but we moved and I'm now about 25 miles one way. However, I can cut 10 miles off that using the bike/train/bike method, giving me 30 miles a day. This makes for a bit of a long day, more time-wise than mileage-wise, and also I'm not really saving any money because the train is not cheap. What I spend for the train, I'll save on gas/car maintenance, and moreover on sanity/mental peace not being on the freeway.

Today is day 3 of returning to the bike commute, first time in almost 2 years I've bike commuted 3 days in a row. I'm freakin' hungry! Legs have just the right amount of soreness.

Great ride home. 57F/14C. November 2nd, in Vermont. Hmm. I took the lakeside bike path just to enjoy the nice day. It adds about a mile onto my ride, but that's okay. Also saw some trail hotties out running.

The TV and the Weather Channel told me it was going to be in the high 30s for my ride this morning. But when I got on the bike it was 69! The ride home was very windy, but hey, granny gears!

I was having a nice ride home this evening when, something unusual happened.

Starting from a complete stop in my usual gear, there was an odd dull pop sound followed by a completely free forward spinning chain. I found that a heavier gear would crank and I quickly realized that whatever the problem may be, it was something I had not encountered before. So, I altered my route to include my LBS.

The shop owner shows me my rear cartridge, an entire gear (the number 5, on the right side shifter) was gone. Somehow I managed to crack the gear in two with a bash of my hoof.

The rear cartridge and chain were both replaced for the first time in mid august.

The owner then proceeds to tell me that this is because I am heavy (260 lbs), and that I should alternate gears more to preserve the cartridge.

He put a new cartridge in (my second replacement in a year, this time free of charge), and took down my bikes serial number to file some sort of claim with Giant. The other mechanic checked my chain and recommended that I invest in a more robust chain (he named a German company), and cited 20% longer life for something twice the price.... felt like an "up-sell" to me.

I'm hoping this is a fluke, but I think it could also be inferior parts used by the LBS.

The cartridge the bike (Escape 2) came with lasted approx 2000 miles of heavy bashing in all conditions.

Mid-20's and sunny, a little windy in the morning but downright calm and pleasant for the ride home. Good pack on the trail, not too bumpy, although every stay at home mom and her two year old was out on the MUP at 4:00 today:



That happened to someone else in the commuting forum this fall, and I had the same thing happen last winter (and I'm not a heavy guy at all). Probably a manufacturing defect.

Wow, okay, so I guess I got 700 "free" miles out of that last cartridge.

Bad luck for my first replacement cartridge. :\

Really cool picture, btw.

Nice ride in at 39F ( 4C). Yesterday, going home two teeth from hightest gear on the rear cassette broke off. Traffic was heavy in one area, and who knows why, but usually, I either hit that circle going up, or stop at the begining to yield to others, but with cars backed up into the circle I got stuck in the middle and I was still in high gear. The circle goes up hill at that point, and the cars took off a bit quicker than I anticipated, so I pushed down and knew right away what I did. I am on my MTB, which is a favorite for the rest of the week.

Another crisp ride in. I'm breaking in my new OTG goggles, my eyes tear up in even modest cold.

Cool and nearly windless, 47 degrees. Shorts, and a long sleeve cotton tshirt was all I needed.

The battery in my mini speaker died before the bridge. Bummer. It's charging for my return trip as I type this.

Ive felt rather strong while riding the last couple of days.

I made good time compared to my average.

Is it time to ride home yet?