Confession time: I pulled a seriously boneheaded move this evening, just one day after I called out a fellow cyclist. I was crossing a parking lot entrance that is opposite a street, and there was a Fedex truck who was proceeding from the street into the entrance. I blew through the stop sign/ crosswalk without stopping, and without considering that he might be going straight across because "no one ever does" - I felt like such a jerk. A reminder to myself that I need to not get complacent. Just because 98% of the cars will be turning onto the street, not entering the driveway, it doesn't mean I don't need to give due consideration to the 2%.

I was wondering about whistles just the other day -- I seem to recall lots of bike couriers use them when riding in traffic, and I suspect they might be useful for getting the attention of the sleeping motorist who is drifting into the bike lane without looking, or other stupid motorist moves. I just can't figure out how to keep it close without keeping it in my mouth, and I think that would get old fast.

Sad.

I took my sorry bike, with mangled derailleur and all on to a rush hour N train.

Somewhat surprisingly, people were very kind. I think I stared just woefully enough at her injured gutty works to elicit a measure of sympathy.

I dropped my bike off at the shop where she was purchased and got a service ticket.

My Alivio derailleur should be delivered Friday.

If the LBS has my dropout in stock, and the delivery of my derailleur is on time, I should have my bike back Friday night.

Best part of all this; my father told me he would pay for the repair as a belated bday present!

I should have gone for the more expensive derailleur!

Shove that tube into a bucket of water and pump it up a bit. You'll find the leak. I had a monster of a time trying to find a slow leak in a whole slew of tubes from Cutter. I didn't think to dunk the entire tube for about a month. Then we realized the *valve* was leaking. They replaced the whole lot.

Depending on which way the wind is blowing, the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant underneath Riverbank State Park on the Hudson is a bona fide whiff of honey on my way in. The wind was with me today, thankfully, but we had a weird bout of intense fog. I had to take my glasses off after moisture was building up on them too quickly which was a shame, since I'd just mounted my Messenger Mirror and was eager to try it out. Fog + near-sightedness = couldn't take full advantage of the tail wind.

I got my first taste of slightly slippery road/leaf conditions. I need to finish my touring build quickly if the roads stay this slick and build up some hefty wheels with really good traction.

A warm fall morning at 51f (11c). The fog is really thick, and viisibility in some places was nill; add intersection bright street lights, and all sight is gone.
I felt as if my glasses were foggy the whole way. One driver coming off a highway ramp did stop for me, which is unusual, because many of them blow off that ramp within inches of my front tire. There are times when I just stop.

Smokin' fast because of a nice tailwind. I hit a yellow light, pushed a little bit, made the light, then looked down as I was slowing and my speedo said 28MPH/45KPH. I hadn't maxed out on cadence, so the Soho's internal 8-speed hub seems fine for speed.

56F/13C. Overcast today. I think we're about to lose the warm (and dry) weather we've been enjoying for the last several days.

Another beautiful day despite forecasts earlier in the week for rain today, but regretfully I drove. My legs just needed a break and you gotta listen to your body if you want to avoid injuries. Since my commute distance increased to 30 miles/day, I've really been piling up the mileage -- more than 200 in the past week alone. I've also been walking 45 minutes to an hour at lunch. Took advantage of having my truck to bring some food and clean clothes into my office and will return with some laundry to wash. Tomorrow is a holiday, so hopefully I'll be able to get in a nice ride around the hood.

Yep. My main fear was, not finding the leak or cause that I was missing a wire or tiny glass in the tire and would flat again on the way home. Which with the rain, leaves and sticks everywhere, after working late and my headlight battery dying and having forgotten my helmet and extra co2 it seemed like tempting fate. But it held up and with my new Forte Strada-k now on it all is well (good cheap tire).

-5C with a 30km/h headwind. I decided to go with the respirator and goggles again due to the headwind. A few times while I was stopped at a light with my goggle raised, the wind was really searing my eyes. Having bar extensions on my mountain bike makes it a lot easier on my wrists. I don't have as much control using them, so I move back to the flats when I get into tricky sections.

I got my new Smith Variant snowboard helmet yesterday. Its a bit tight with the liner in and loose with the liner out. I think I need to dig out some of my spare bike helmet pads to make it a good fit.

Warm this AM as fletchh pointed out. 50F when I left home. Perfect riding temp. Shorts and short sleeve tee shirt were perfect for the ride. Barely sweat. Nice low cloud bank/high fog to shrowd some of the far off/taller structures, etc.

Rode in to work about an hour earlier. Lots more traffic, esp. bike commuters, than I normally see. Also had to deal with school traffic... I say this all the time, but when did this whole drive your kid to school $#!+ start?! I'm only 34, but I'm about to sound like an old man... IN MY DAY everyone either walked, biked, or rode the bus.

Oh well. Nice ride anyway. Strong gusty winds predicted tomorrow. Glad I'm off work! Hope to get in a nice Sunday AM ride though...

33F, foggy. My last intersection was down to one lane again (ordinarily 2 lanes, a bike lane, and a turn lane going my way, today it was down to just parts of the bike and turn lanes).

Glad I made it in at this temp w/ no ibuprofen for my sprained wrist/hand, but I think I'm going to take some now.

I think I saw him...

About 7 am, temps around 39 to 43, but FOG, lots of FOG. The 7 miles to the subway was a bit challenging. Ground damp, and the blasted fog. Lights on front, rear and on my foot, along with safety vest. However, one fool took the double yellow and passed me within a foot. I alway advise others to COOL down when something like that happens, but it seems I can't follow my own advice. I took out after the car, and I am glad I didn't catch them. That gave me time to cool down..
Looking forward to the sweet ride home..

overdressed the top this morning, the bottom was fine with wind pants over levis. would have been warm on bottom after another mile or so. still trying out different face warmers in the morning.

Put a set of ritchey speed max cross tires on last night, the rear tioga city gripper the bike came with is bald except for the edge. The cross tires have some vibration in the corners that I'm not thrilled with, but will probably need the extra grip in the next week or so. The chatter is worse than the kenda qwik crosses I have on my nishiki frankentour bike. OTOH, the kids at the bike shop have them on their bikes and said they are long lasting, so I will reserve any more judgement until I have a few hundred miles on them.

I thought of exactly that seen when I saw the original post re: the whistle.

"Ten foot rule... Oregon state law - ten feet." = Priceless.

Bicycle rights!

Shouldn't have listened to the weather report today. It called for rain and I don't have full fenders or rain-appropriate tires installed yet, so I was on the A train today.

Not a drop has fallen and I just had lunch outside in short sleeves.

The fog is mad crazy, though. Doesn't happen here very often.

Winter is nearing. So those who ride in winter, do you have a car?

I wanted to ride all year long, but when the weather started to turn, I'd just drive. My wife and I agreed to sell our second car and now riding in the winter is easy and requires no motivation. I just have to.

Are you able to ride in bad weather and have a car readily available to you? If so, props!

45 degrees, clear and sunny. It's that weird time of year where it's too cold for normal street clothes, but not quite cold enough to bundle up for real.

The lady and I just went down to a single car this fall; sold off the Metro and the Tacoma and picked up an Outback to replace them both. There's 3 inches of fresh snow outside with the forecast calling for up to eight by this afternoon, so today the lady drove and I took the bus. Tomorrow should be clear, so both bikes will probably be in use and the car left at home.

Between several bikes, one car, and a bus pass, getting around is a non-issue.

Wear normal clothes, then pedal harder to stay warm.

The main issue is that my commute is ALL downhill in the morning, except the last 1/4 mile or so. So I usually end up wearing a thick insulating layer and a windproof layer, and put the insulating layer in a bag on the way home. Right now, it's too warm to put on 3 layers, but still really chilly on that downhill.

Rain at 11am they were calling for. Not a drip anywhere to be found. My Kilo is sitting at home and was prepped to ride today.

Good ol' weathermen.

Co-worker: I saw you today riding to work. How fast were you going?
Me: Depends, where did you see me?
CW: at XYZ about a mile from work.
Me: Oh there, probably about 24mph.
CW: Really, so slow?
Me: Ummm, that's really not that slow. I would have been even slower without the tailwind.
CW: Yeah, I know I could never pedal that fast, but you looked so much faster than 25mph. You were really only going 24?

Rode my son's bmx bike due to mine being on the DL. I liked the compactness when it came time to transport, but it sucked having to actually ride it. 20" wheels spin up pretty fast, but don't hold their momentum worth crap.

Hahahaha I can't stop laughing!

I commute to work and back here in South Brooklyn. I leave my bike at exactly same place every day. Someone took handlebar grips off my bike along with other parts. Went home angry and realized I am putting myself at risk for those stupid miniatures...
I guess they could not take my bike, so they just take it apart...

For the most part both the roads and MUP on my commute route have melted down to pavement. Through the park my choices for lane positioning have been reduced to left tire track or right tire track, trying to ride in any other position would be extremely precarious.

I decided to order a larger pair of Lake winter cycling boots and sell my old ones as I needed a bit more space in them. However when they arrived today, despite going one size larger and from regular to wide width, they were actually smaller than my current boots. The last thing Lake needed to do was start making the MXZ302s even smaller.

I sent those ones back and will just stick with my old ones this winter. I got a Hotronic foot warmer on clearance last spring. Since they can generate between 158-168F on the highest setting, that should keep my toes warm with a thinner sock.