Too busy to post yesterday, but it was a heavily overcast morning with a bit of sun breaks at the very end. During lunch I got some replacement tubes and some legwarmers from the REI. It was only partly cloudy in the evening when I left and pretty cold so the legwarmers were welcome. Had a strong tailwind for about 2/3's of the ride home.

Today, also overcast and windy, quite windy a times with a constant low mph headwind. Wore the legwarmers and a fleece type sweatshirt. Was a little cold, especially on the arms as the fleece didn't seal at the wrists. A surprising amount of people on the trail considering the wind and ominous black clouds. Perhaps it was that I was about 15min earlier than normal, or that it was partly sunny early in the morning.

That ended this morning - not that it bothers me unduly. I just claim what I need.

I'll have to take a slightly different route for about three days, possibly a week. Still, at least I'll be able to go through Surfers at more than walking pace -- nobody else will.

Uneventful ride this morning, except that the legendary Queensland traffic lights lived up to their reputation as Australia's slowest. Still, a nice headwind and a forecast storm to look forward to this evening. Bring it on!

I thought that honour was held by Melbourne.

Did some riding in Melbourne last year. They don't even come close to Brisbane or the Gold Coast in that respect. I'm thinking it might be a hangover from the Joe Bjelke Petersen days.

Ok commute home last night. Light wind and warm temps.

Ride in this morning I got some rain. Nothing major just some light sprinkles. Warm morning temps.

Anyone drink coffee on the ride in? I started doing it this week and love it. I have to wait for a long smooth section to drink it. I keep it in a cheap plastic travel mug which fits snugly in the seatpost downtube bottle cage.

Hi,
did my 3rd week, commuting by bike 4 days out of 5. Next week I think I will start trying longer ways home.
Unusually warm last couple days, 40's in the morning and 60's in the PM.

This Morning
 

Finallly a morning w/o much fog... :D
Seems this time of the year it's still warm, but you can tell the season's changing. But still in a sleeveless jersey on the way home (at 75deg) :)

We're back to the warmer weather, nice morning no wind, heavy traffic. Nice ride in and we should have a nice ride home.

Second day commuting in the Mango. It was 46 F when I headed out. I only had to wear a biking shirt and shorts. I was way toasty. I was also able to bump my average commute speed up to 19mph over 9 miles.

Driving the Mango this winter is going to be a treat due to the added weather protection and a fully enclosed drive train.

I have successfully commuted car-free every day this week. Three days on bike, two running. It feels good, but my legs will probably hurt on the way home tonight. It's a good hurt...

Getting colder wore my rain jacket over my sweatshirt both last night and this morning. Fully overcast this morning, with a bit of variable wind. Saw several families biking the trail today which I thought was a bit interesting. Don't these people have work/school (of course they could be visitors from the Marsyville district who have been on strike for 38 days)

My ride in today was from my daughters' high school for 13 miles. Seemed really short compared to the 20-miler I do from home.

It was very chilly, too, for these parts. I think it was 52 degrees when I left. I should have worn knee warmers or running pants but couldn't find them quickly enough.

BTW, I saw the second-ever stupidest cyclist move today. This idiot was riding along on busy Lafayette Blvd, northbound above El Camino where the lanes get narrow and the traffic heavy and fast.

He was in the left lane against the curb. The damned fool was lucky that none of the screeching-to-a-stop motorists nailed the dummy.

Of course, no helmet, no visibility gear, nothing.

(The dumbest-ever move was the idot who waited for the light to turn green and then proceeded to turn cross-traffic.)

First commute in four months.
 

Today, I did my first 45 mile commute since my shoulder surgery in late June..It felt so good, even if my arm is probably half way through my therapy. It has been awful, the jersey must have shrunk, making the gutt look far worse.
Ashamed I let that happen. Felt I had a little more trouble on the hills, but I did ok. Did not loose it all.
Calves still have respectable muscleture if that means anything. Had a pretty steep 1.5 mile hill, went up it about 6 mph. Not sure, my doctor would not think it a little soon.
Keeping the arm straight actually made it feel better. Has a tendency to be drooped and bent. Now have enough stregnth to manipulate the handlebars and pull the arm up fairly fast.. Wore my new Jersey, "Bike to Work" with a car beneath the circle with diagonal line through it.. Weather, not like summer,but some sun. Of course I had to miss out on the nice summer weather. My average speed was down to something like 12 mph. I must certainly be careful for now.
Oh, yes.. told my orthopedic doctor of my gaining almost 20 pounds, higher blood pressure, and greater cholesterol values... He congratulated me, said glad I was behaving his instructions.

Nice ride in today, stopped at the bike shop to visit on the way home, threat of rain but no actual wet stuff. All is well! Glory be to God! :D

Not officially a commute, but had to run a little errand to South Tweed Heads today, mostly following my old commute from last year. Beatiful ride next to the South Pacific (a particularly enticing shade of blue) on a beautiful day. The only downside was that I got sunburned just before tomorrow's century.

Chris, Lots of aloe tonight, lots of sunscreen tomorrow. I hope you finish the 100 in the position you desire. Nice ride today, overcast, not to hot. Pretty decent folk out driving today, I guess all the NUTS stayed home today.

Yep, plenty of that, and kept the arm-warmers on for the whole century (a challenge in itself at this time of year). Should have gone the sunscreen on yesterday's errand. The century itself became something of a battle for surivival as a massive south-easterly wind sprung up just after Mt Tamborine. It was great fun turning it aside gradually.

CZ it's good to see you are able to ride again. Be extra careful, the speed will come back as long as you don't fall during your recovery.

Unusually sore this morning after yesterday's epic, particularly my arms, which I assume is from the (at times) monumental effort it took to just control the bike in some of those wind gusts yesterday. I want to do it all again.

Great weather for the ride home on Firday! Nice commute the traffic was pretty light also.

The weather for this upcoming week looks like it is going to start cooling down again.

Hi Folks,

Slow start to a cool morning's commute today. Eventually it turned into a nice ride, there are lots of autumn colours on show at the moment. Time to watch out for slippery wet leaves....

Cheers,
Ed

Forgot to post re: Friday night's ride. Took the long way with the monster hill. Saw many deer and there was a tarantula crossing the road at the steepest part.

I took the day off from work today, but rode into town to run some errands. The foliage is at peak and there was a stiff headwind (10-15 mph). It was my first day riding in wind with the Mango and I was impressed how easily it sliced through the wind. I was able maintain 21 mph on the long stretches without any effort.

It was also my first time going up any really steep hills. You really feel the 70 pounds of this bike on such hills. I dropped into the lowest gear and crawled up the hill out of the downtown at a whopping 5 mph.

Nice ride this morning with cool 38 degree temperature and a slight tail wind. Cranked the 18.5 miles in 1 hour flat. I guess the weather is forcasted to turn for the worst in the next couple of days, should make riding interesting.
Question for TCHAZZARD.
Is the mango seal from the bottom will you get wheel splash from below in the rain? Looks like an interesting vehicle, I'm looking forward to reading your updates and experiences with it.

Cooler ride in today, and more beautiful autumn colours. I'm still managing to ride in short sleeved jersy and shorts though. It has to get down into the single figure centigrade range for me to need a jacket on the 1/2 hour commute ride.

Cheers,

Ed

"Question for TCHAZZARD.
Is the mango seal from the bottom will you get wheel splash from below in the rain? Looks like an interesting vehicle, I'm looking forward to reading your updates and experiences with it."

There are cutaways in the bottom to allow one to push themselves backwards. This said, there is no wheel splash as the wheels are outside of this cutout area. Another benefit is that the entire drivetrain is enclosed. This will dramtically decrease winter maintenance.

Ride in this morning was nice. It did not get as cold as they said it would. Supposed to rain today so I will probabaly get wet on the way home.

Kinda cold this morning, overcast but windless. A fair amount of other humans out on the trail today, but also a Great Blue Heron which while fairly frequently sighted is always welcome.