The gloves and fleece vest are on almost every morning now, and despite the sun and the wind blowing on the patio at work my socks are still damp by the end of the day. Today was fantastic, though. After a week of headwinds both in the morning and in the evening (funny how the winds like shifting like that), there was a spectacular 15mph north wind coming off the Hudson that sent me shooting down the trail. Maxed out at just under 30mph on the flats according to Google Tracks. Felt like butter.

It's getting colder now.
And it wasn't supposed to rain today...but it sure did this morning so was caught w/out any rain gear. But I was wearing almost head to toe wool so was toasty.
And one of my rear lights gave up the ghost this morning when the "on" button completely fell off. It was something like 8-10 yrs old and I only used it in the dark months. You know, like today. So have to replace it this weekend so I have a steady light in addition to my superflash!

Should be a decent, if colder, ride home.

The evening rides are just barely T-shirt & shorts weather, still. The mornings are definitely winbreaker, two T-shirts, gloves, beanie under the helmet, and shorts weather. Not long now until I'll need something longer on the legs.

Today was windy but nothing really comment worthy.

Almost cold in the dark morning (41 degrees) but very comfortable - a lot more cars on the side streets that I ride than usual, but they were no danger or bother. The evening ride was 70 degrees (almost hot). Both rides were windless, which is odd for El Paso. Almost cold, almost hot - -

I rode to work all five days this week. It was a windy week, and the 28 degree temperature on the ride to work this morning was the first freeze of the fall. I got myself a more upright seat for it, and switched to the Xstream for commuting. It's a lighter, faster bike, and my feet are much more behind the fairing on it. I can tell it's going to keep my feet warmer. I’m getting the Xstream dialed in pretty well now, and am really enjoying commuting on it.

2011 days ridden to work: 190
2011 commuting mileage: 4643.8

My new commuting setup


Here was the old Xstream setup

Well said.

Due to my work I end up riding in a lot of different cities and every one of them has it's own unique rhythm. New York's a little funky because the cross streets have one pace (slow, like threading a needle) the avenues another (swifter, more fluid but with sudden stops and turns), the West Side path has a nice consistent roll to it but can have some really unexpected hazards- from rats to dump trucks. I'm getting used to it and am actually enjoying it but as you point out a 6" (or less) margin of error can mean the difference between a good day and a bad day.

That said a nice ride uptown this morning to have breakfast with a friend then back downtown on the W.S. Path with a very friendly tail wind. Caught a co-worker on his bike on the cross town ride. After work went way downtown and then back up into a still strong headwind to end my day.

47 F and cloudy ... i was alittle over dressed .... sporting a new 100% merino sweater ... my forearms are much warmer now ....

suppose to be 38 F when i get off work ...

Balmy 44 degrees this morning. Enjoyed the quiet, dark am commute, all the motes and dust illuminated in my lights, the distant moon.

Low 50s coming home, but felt colder against the wind. Wicked sun glare. Extra careful at intersections.

Thanks. That must be very interesting; familiarizing yourself with the different traffic algorithms and attitudes of a variety of cities.

I think the Manhattan patterns are basically part of my DNA. It's one of the reasons I had even considered cycling to work.

Speaking of which.

I rode home making good time, as I had left a little ahead of rush hour.

My brother was testing for his next belt at the martial arts school he trains at.

So I decided to cycle from Astoria to Whitestone to witness the test.

I stopped home, showered, made and drank a smoothie consisting of two bananas, coconut water, a 1/8 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a half tray of ice cubes. And, off I went.

Google maps bike directions put me on an MUP that abruptly came to a complete dead end as it was under construction.

This was right behind Citi Field where the roads are absolutely brutal.

Long story short, I got lost, got turned around, went at least a mile out of my way until a friendly cop pointed me in the right direction and what should have been an hour long trip, took almost two.

Coming home I made my own route which wasn't perfect, but was 100x better than what google chose for me. Also, my feet were cold.

SportyPal now shows 319 workouts for total of 2,024.53 miles since mid February.

Yay.

Did it get colder as the day went on? I was standing around on a cold storage loading dock in Brooks all day and kept getting colder, but I thought it was my imagination. I had to drive my pickup to go collect a new brush cutter in Keizer, so couldn't ride my bike. It will probably be the last dry day for riding for a while.

Looks like winter arrives tonight for me. Upwards of 10cm of snow followed by a week of below freezing daytime highs. Its not going to be too cold so it might just end up a slushy icy mess. I'll have to do a couple snow rides tonight and tomorrow to enjoy the fresh undisturbed snow before it gets messed up by the cars.

It was a bit cooler this evening. I brought the recycling to work in the Wike trailer, thereby amusing my co-workers.

Seriously, though, if I can do this, anybody can.

Yesterday I came downtown on the greenway from 181st till Warren and that wind had me cruising at 20 or more most of the way with barely any effort. The Brooklyn Bridge was the usual mess of tourists though.

Gorgeous Fall weather for commuting today. Savored each minute. I accidentally ran over a mouse.

Whipped down the West Side Path with a wild wind this morning. Did the cross town weave to work. Shot back over to the path, wound my way round downtown then back up to the village for dinner with a friend then a fast folder ride home along the river tonight. Part of what I'm getting used to in NYC is commuting on the folder. I'm finally getting accustomed to the feel of the folder as my every day bike and I must admit I'm liking it.

FREAKING COLD.... 23 degrees when I left work for home. Only 4.5 miles so it wasnt to bad. First time riding in that kind of cold. I need stuff for my head/face and some warmer gloves. Other than that it was amazingly quiet and still.

43F ... light drizzle .... got complimented by another peddler on my lights .. nice ride overall

i was thinking the same thing earlier today while looking at the forecast

Lack of sleep before work + utility ride in to work + 15-hour shift + headwind = tough ride home this morning.

On the way back in, still not enough sleep but a decent ride back to work, none-the-less. First DST commute; for now it gets dark as I ride (but soon enough, it'll be dark for the whole trip). Gotta stay on top of those rechargeable batteries.

Speaking of rechargeable batteries, I just put the cheap batteries that came with my 1W Bike Planet Blaze headlight on a meter and they are still at 60%. They were supposed to have 5 or 7 hours run time on them. They must have 30 or 35 hours on them. I put a charger at my bike stand at home and another in my office and haven't touched those batteries yet.
I had to check. It's going to be dark when I get off work tomorrow.

In the upper district water is decreasing but surely not here.





But stress help nothing, we better smile and look optimistically.

Moved to my new sublet today. Took 3 trips with tons of stuff on the folder and then did the last of it- one huge suitcase (and the folder) in a cab. Amazing how much I could move with that little bike and back packs.

Hang in there. Better days ahead.

21º and 3.5 inches of cold, fresh snow. I really thought that the plows would've been out in greater force this morning; had secondsies down the trail at the Hillcrest hill, and scored first tracks all the way up N st. this morning, although I had to push up the hill at 13th after spinning out in bottom gear and dumping all of my momentum. Seven minutes to work yesterday on smooth ice (and out of the saddle pumping as I was running late), 20 minutes today and just as out of breath.



Snowed on and off all day, but plowing was decent enough so that I could spin through the automotive churn over to a friend's house after work. Another 2 inches fell while I was there to make 7 inches all day, so I hopped onto the recently plowed sidewalk and built enough speed up to be able to cut over to the road and hammer through provided I kept the front end loose and kept on the gas.

Shouldered the whip (snow was too deep to push) and walked back up the Hillcrest hill, ripped and skidded down freshly plowed Forest Park Dr., and walked the last half block of separated pathway, shown above. That track on the far left is a fat bike track, notably with an absence of footprints along side it and a nice straight track. Even with skinny tires I was able to ride 80% of the way home, and got some serious balance training and fishtail practice to boot. Big fun, but with another 3 inches forecast for tonight and 2 more tomorrow morning, I'll be riding the bus to school tomorrow.

Not so bad at 35 F (2 C) after looking at the above pictures. Yep, I love the delicate balancing act we all do in the snow and ice. I rode in with a new rear cassette today, a nice shiny stainless steel packet of sprokets. It was a little noisy, but I will adjust the oiling when I get home. Hopefully, my
chain doesn't slice itself on new addition to the bike.