15º and gorgeously sunny today, and since I've got late classes on Tuesday I got sunshine both coming and going! Tomorrow, class starts before sunrise and Thursday it gets out after sunset. Work spans the entire day, so on weekends I get no daylight at all.

10 inches total from the recent storm, so no biking on the MUP for a while (although it did get groomed for skiing ). Plows have got most of the streets and some of the sidewalks (I can hear them finally getting the road outside of my apartment right now), and it was fast cruising through midtown over scraped ice today.

Last night I put the rear wheel back together for the cruiser after a service and oil bath for the Alfine; quite a bit quieter on the stand, but I can't really tell the difference on the road. It's nice having the upright bike to bust through the occasional snow berm; although it feels like every time I change bikes, I get really stoked about how much I love how it rides compared to the other bike. When I get back on the upright bike, I'm all: "This is the most comfortable bike EVER! I love my grandpa bars!" And when I get on the race bike, I'm all: "OMG! It is SO much fun to go fast and put the hammer down! I love my drop bars!"

Whatever, I just like riding bikes, I guess. Now off to wax some skis...

The super annoying thing with scenario three (which is a very likely cause of the buzz; just because you're easy to see doesn't mean that they're looking) is that the driver has no idea that they almost hit someone, and if they see your one-fingered-salute, they have no idea why you're pissed. I want auto makers to install an eye-tracking camera/computer combo that screams bloody murder any time the driver's eyes leave the road for more than 5 seconds.

It was just a chilly ride in at 36F (2C). Going down a hill this morning, the street lights at the bottom were dressed in a mist, and I was waiting for Bela Lagosi to come out from behind a pole.

Yep, I know what you mean about switching bikes, although I still feel that my MTB handles the hills in a more smoother manner.

My chain popped off as i began my ascent up the 59th st bridge.

I thought I could push the derailleur in throw the chain over the smallest front gear and pedal forward until things aligned themselves....

there was some grinding when i began to pedal and i realized something was terribly wrong.

i look back to see my derailleur twisted up in what would almost be a mirror image of how it should be.

i walked my bike back off the path on the bridge and turned her over on her seat and handlebars.

i tried twisting it back into position with my hands and the whole derailleur popped off from its threads, dangling by the chain.

extremely upset with myself for destroying my derailleur i begrudgingly carried my bike up to the queensboro platform and loaded my bike on to the N train.

google search for Shimano Altus 8 speed derailleur shows they go for 15-22$, thankfully.

I'm going to call and visit the LBS near my office and see if maybe they can either fix the derailleur I have or install a new one to ride home tonight.

I would really love to have the same exact brand and model put back on....

I guess I should start a thread for some suggestions.

Heavy fog this morning, which is unusual around here. They were talking about it on the weather forecast, but it didn't look foggy around my house so I figured it was the usual weatherman hype. I found out the fog was for real as soon as I headed to work, and I had to stop and wipe off my glasses several times along the way. I rode my fast commuter bike expecting to make good time today, but ended up very close to my usual time due to having to ride slower in the fog.

I pulled a bonehead move and almost paid for it. After sitting at a traffic light for a while, the light finally turned green but the lady in front must have been texting or putting on makeup and she just sat there. So after waiting 15 seconds or so, I came around her on the left -- at which point she finally woke up and began moving. Unfortunately, she also decided to take a hard left and pull into a parking spot along the left curb (one way street) and almost took me down. Fortunately, I somewhat anticipated her move and avoided any contact. Lesson to myself: Better to miss a traffic light than get run over.

47F/8C(!), sunny, no wind. Very humid.

One guy in a city truck thought about passing me in the oncoming lane as we approached a red light. He thought better of it and pulled back in behind me though.

Yesterday's ride home was warm and enjoyable weatherwise. But the warm weather made the conditions of the road very inconsistent. I was almost constantly encountering transitions between different types of snow and ice. The transistion areas can be very sketchy, and cause your front wheel to shift and twist suddenly. Its nice when the weather starts staying below -10C because the roads become more consistent and smooth.

I was surprised that the MUP on the west end of the city had been plowed already. Its pretty bumpy in some spots, but packed enough to maintain a decent speed.

This morning it was -10C with a 17km/h tailwind. A huge difference over yesterday as I could drop a layer. In some spots the snow had melted down to the pavement, so I was able to ride fairly quickly. The trip took 51 minutes which is 9 minutes faster than yesterday. A few roads with u-shaped icy tire ruts slowed me down.

The highs for this week are supposed to be just over freezing. All the snow on the main roads should melt, but the unplowed side streets will likely remain icy with deep tire ruts. MUP will probably be completely free of snow by the end of the week.

34F when I left the house this morning. It was quite damp and foggy at some spots which make it feels a bit more cooler. Trying to get over a nagging headcold but it was a beautiful comute to DC as ussual.

Great commute home yesterday at 68-63F and sunny with no wind. Took my chances and went Old Boston Rd to 20 thru Wilbraham instead of going thru Ludlow. To my surprise, the shoulders on 20 in Wilbraham were in great shape and were much, much cleaner than the shoulders in Palmer. If I had gone thru Ludlow, I would have had to dodge fallen branches most the time. Of course, once I got into Palmer I was playing the dodge branch game.

Great commute in this morning at 43-46F and dawn to sunny with no wind. Usually I go through Ludlow in morings, but I was so impressed with the roads in Wilbraham yesterday that I changed up my route and went that way today. I had messed with my cleats a few weeks back and since then, something just hasn't been right. I got fed up and about 1/2 into the commute, I stopped and put the cleats back to where they were before. After that, my speed increased and everything felt great.

Also, went over 5,000 cycling miles for 2011 on the ride in and am at 5006.1 miles currently. This is now the most riding miles I have ever done in a single year.

Spend 1-2 hours cleaning Alfine 8 after use it under water for few days last week.



















Everything seems to be ok, Shimano Labyrinth seals did a good job.

Great riding weather this morning. 35 when I left home. With shorts on & two shirts (one long sleeve) I felt the chill for a mile or so but then got really comfortable. Wind calm, so no headwind, but not tailwind either. Still rode along very quickly this morning, though.

One more day until the long weekend!!!

It was really bad when I was riding home yesterday. I left the office about 15 -20 minutes later than I had on Monday, and it was astonishing how different the ambient light situation was, so I was not surprised how many ninja types I passed.

Also last night, I was riding through Georgetown to the CCT and I had stopped at a stop sign (as the law requires, though I will admit I don't always stop if there's no one waiting), and there was a car oncoming waiting to turn left (She pretty clearly had right of way -- she was already stopped at the all way stop, right?). Another cyclist decide to blow through the stop sign completely - he wasn't running lights, reflective gear or anything, so I'm not entirely sure why he thought she'd be able to see him in the first place, and she surely had right of way. It was pretty boneheaded. I gave what I hope was a good-natured chastisement ("Hey man, she had right of way, you know?" he just said "Thanks." and we went on our way).

This morning was a bit warmer than I was expecting, evidently, so I was just a touch warm. Not sure what change would have been 'right' as I was dressed the same way yesterday, and it worked just fine. I really need to do laundry, as my light weight, full fingered gloves are waiting to be washed. I made good time, though, despite heavy car traffic on Chain Bridge Road. I also loafed on the towpath/CCT, never getting much over 18 MPH.

Flat this morning around 8 miles out, and I had trouble making my co2 pump work with the wrong size cartridge. I couldn't find the leak and it was only half deflated, and couldn't find anything in the tire which makes me worry that I'm about to punch a hole in my new tube also. Can you get an invisible slow leak pinch flat? The tire is shot and I'm replacing it tonight - I booted an almost worn through spot with vinyl tape and I think it will hold tonight.

Left the house @ 6:45 and it was 23f. That's the coldest I've ridden in this year, but it didn't feel too bad. Fitted some additional tail lights last night, and will try out a couple of different auxiliary headlights on the way home tonight.

29f Nice morning, been hauling the laptop to and from work and not used to the extra weight but didn't effect the ride.

21F (-6C) - I only saw a couple of other people on bikes on my way in. I crossed a couple of patches of black ice, which means it is finally time to mount the studded tires.

Sometimes the feedlot stinks. I ride 20 feet from the run off collection basin.

Late post, caught in meetings most of the day. First commute today for me since the DST change, looking forward to testing out the full light kit on the way home tonight. Pretty cold this morning, should be closer to 60 on the way home. Nice fall weather.

First chilly ride of the year; 43F at the start. Nice brisk ride, clear weather and a 15MPH tailwind. Can't complain too much.

15º at home, 8º on campus. First time this semester that the bike rack out front of the science building wasn't full; it was only 3/4 occupied when I rolled by this morning, and half empty when I locked up to it 20 minutes ago.

Could be worse, could be a pig farm.

I pass some part of the wastewater treatment system on my way to work. It isn't the "treatment" center proper, as that's out on Point Woronzov (and boy howdy does riding by there stink!), but some collector building or something. Whatever it is, it smells like **** most days.

My route follows a meandering MUP through a forest and then a meandering road through a forest. This route is also popular with joggers. With the time change the route is pitch black when I go home. The past two days I've almost run down some joggers wearing dark clothes with no lights. Last night I told some to get lights, and the guy replied "Well, I can see you."

It might have been the coolest crispest morning of the fall season. It was made cooler by a complete lack of cloud cover; just blue skies and a brilliant sun too far away to add any real warmth.

Lately on my brief run on our MUP at the start and end of my commute I’ve had the pleasure of not having to dodge the sleeping homeless. They are all on the other side of the river levy, now in tents, as part of Occupy Santa Cruz.

Hey, I’m all in favor of it if it means I don’t have to dodge sleeping bags, trash and dogs on my morning commute.

Excellent commute home at 68-65F and sunny with head/crosswinds from the SSW @ 9-14mph. I pulled into my church parking lot with about 2 miles left of the ride to make a slight adjustment before climbing the hill to my house. Not sure when I picked up the piece of glass, but while I was making the adjustment I noticed that my right front tire was really low. (I did notice that I was slower than normal coming thru downtown Palmer, but I'm not sure when it actually started to go flat.) The weather was beautiful and I was safe in a parking lot, so there was no stress at all. After I got the tube off, it was a little difficult to find the hole because it was so tiny. Once I did find it, I patched it up and finished the ride home.

Well done

Flatting on the way home this time of year with so little light makes the tire repair process a bit hurried for me for I don’t have good enough lighting to be dropping out of our mountains in the dark. If I’m down off the mountain and in town, no problem.

Amazing day, it was 38 for the ride in before sunrise which is really a very nice riding temperature. I locked up at the shopping center where I catch the bus for the rest of the trip.

Who's the Whistle Guy??!? Every morning I lock my bike on a bike rack in front of a busy Albertson's, then walk over and sit for about 10 minutes waiting for the bus. I give myself 10 minutes just in case I flat and need a quick tube change to continue the trip. Every morning while sitting at the bus stop, this guy rides by about a block or so away: looks like a big urban bicycle, and he has a trailer attached - always loaded. He has lots of lighting (pro level stuff like Dinotte and NR) and he has a whistle, just like NFL refs have, that he blows while crossing the intersection. Some day I'm gonna ride down there on a weekday off and meet him.

We Got Yer Back - So today I got off the bus in the afternoon and walked over to my bike, started unlocking/putting on lights/putting on skid lid/checking tires and QR levers/etc. when a guy that looks like a Cholo walks up and says "Nice bike, man!" I said "Thanks!" and he said "I see you ride in and lock your bike every morning at about 6, man that light you got is bright!" So we stood there and talked for three or four minutes, and I find out he works for the shopping center in maintenance, and has for 3 years. When I was ready to take off, he closed the conversation by saying "Hey man, don't you worry about your bike when it's here. No one's gonna touch it, we're watching it for you." Made my day!

+2

Awesome.