Messy ride in today. All the rain during the weekend, plus the progress of autumn has left the bike path section of my ride covered in wet leaves, now enjoying various states of decay. The downhill section usually is good for a 30+ mph blast, but not on that surface... so I had to take it carefully.

Got a new light at the wekend to match my existing Cateye halogen rechargeable. I also splashed out on an extra set of really high capacity "AA" NiMH batteries for the new light, though it was supplied with NiCads. In theory the NiMH batteries should give double the burn time of the ones supplied. I have old lamp to use as a spare, now fitted with new NiCads that came with with the new lamp. No excuses for being in the dark now!

Cheers,

Ed
Cheers,

Ed

Snow!!!
 

Well, we are getting our first snow fall of the season, I made it to work before I started but it's coming down pretty heavy now. It should make for an interesting ride home. The roads are just wet but it's accumilating on the grass, it's 26F/-3C so I don't think it's going away right away. I'm just glad I've got my winter bike today. Oh, tchazzard, you talked me into those lights last year and I've never regretted it, they work great!

Gorgeous day! Mid 50's, not a cloud in the sky. Not even the school busses could ruin this day.

The clear and cold weather continues. It was a really cold weekend, and as I rode in today the grass was so heavily frosted that it looked like a light snow. The sun is nice but to be honest I long for the warmth some clouds will bring. My car is a bit under the weather and I'm doing everything by bike right now, so I'd welcome some warmer weather.

Anyway today was clear and cold, with ice and frost everywhere. I saw one other commuter and at one point a gaggle of around 12 women.

Disappointing wanted to commute to work today..Because spent all summer getting over shoulder surgery my annual mileage stinks.. 30% chance of rain today..
First possible rain..Roads are oily and slick. Better not..Can't afford chance of fall yet..Wanted and planned upon it.Maybe on PM shift tomorrow afternoon.

Still haven't started commuting again myself. I may need to take it easy for a while, The grapefruit sized lump just over my navel is gone now, but I'm still very sore. It's like every muscle in my body is connected to my abdoman, when I move more than moderatly I feel it. Don't rush it cyclezealot, they say re-injury is worse than the first.

The commute today was great, thanks for asking ;)

This morning I was treated to a nice, crisp 25 F, and clear skys. Traffic was light this AM in Spokane, maybe becuase everyone was afraid to go out in freezing temps. I got a few looks of disbelief from motorists freezing in their cars. This evenings ride brought light snow, but not enough to cover the roads. I found myself wishing the commute was longer. I might go back out tonight for some more snow riding.
:beer: to the snow!

I am scared... :rolleyes: After a beautiful fall ride in last night the temperature has dropped to 37f, probably heading to 35f by morning. It was 90f 8 days ago, it is just too cold too soon for us. I packed my new PI foul weather jacket though so I be warm upstairs :D , light tights may be a little chilly down. Saw a bobcat the day before, first time I've seen one in many years, very cool.

Saw the sunrise over the Forth this morning, but luckily could conserve battery power on my lights after that as my commute time leaves me marginal on battery run time.

Cool but calm this am with only the many dropped leaves and hooligans with fireworks (Guy Fawkes) to provide any excitement.

45 degrees with light rain and a slight head wind, My ride took me 1 hour and 5 minutes. I didn't wear my rain gear, I just got wet, the forcast for this afternoon is cloudy with no rain, we'll see.

I can't believe the great weather we have been getting here! Tempature has been way above normal. Today's ride in was warm and nice. Around 45 deg F. The ride home is supposed to be in the high 70's low 80's.

Of course today maybe the last day of it. The rest of the week it looks as if a cooling trend is coming.

I put full fenders on my bike last night. Rode in a 45f drizzle. Arrived dry.

Now rainy days will not stop me from riding!

Back on the bike after a week on standby, last night on the way home the legs felt like I hadn't been on the bike for a month! It was +7C, 46 F and steady rain, but I was comfy and dry for the most part. As a reward, the bike got to sleep in the basement to dry everything out.

This morning's ride in was a bit of a chore with a 30 mph northeaster (partial headwind) blowing off Lake Ontario, but the rain had stopped for a bit. A much more interesting trip to work than last week's driving was.

Chilly but gorgeous. A blanket of mist like a layer of cake frosting on the meadow along the river trail. Makes me very grateful to be alive.

Not to sound like a broken record, I'll just say that the conditions persist: Cold (upper 30sF), totally clear, frost and some fog. (The fog rising out from the Sammamish river is pretty cool). However my route was a bit different as I put my bike on the rack, drove my ailing car to the shop and biked in from there. About the same distance, as the shop is parallel to my Apt., just across the river. However I wasn't riding the trail, for 50% of the ride, and the gentle slope of the route I took, warmed me up a little faster. I enjoyed the variety, and look forward to riding back to the shop.

looks like the ride home yesterday is going to be the last good one weather wise in awhile. Colder temps are coming in at the end of this week.

Very nice ride home last night. wind at my back for once!

Yesterday's ride was interesting, since I was unprepared. I guess I'm not a good Boy Scout. Beautiful, warm temps in the a.m., but the misty air turned drizzly enough to get me wet down to my shoes. I never mind getting soaked, in fact that morning it was just what I needed, a perfect cooling.

But as I said, I was unprepared. I didn't have a change of shoes. I stuffed towels into them and wrapped my wet socks in a towel, too. As the day wore on, they dried bit by bit, but occasionally I had to leave my desk wearing my other drier socks without any shoes, and when I had to go further away from my desk, I had to put the wet socks and shoes back on.

Yuck.

Well, they were dry by the end of the work day. When I showed up at a local bike shop to bum some air on the way home, I was wearing my dirtier, now dry, socks (why in creation did I do that? :confused: I guess I was trying to spare my clean socks in case it rained again, but when I got to work this morning, I had left them here, Boy Scout that I am) I guess I looked genuine with all my road grime painted on.

Yuck.

But I enjoyed every minute of my day, strangely enough.

:)

1st commute in about a month, between vacation, moving, etc. It was a good ride, but it seems to have gotten dark and chilly in the last few weeks :) I need to get some glasses with changable lenses!

My daughter's school bus was not running yesterday and I had left my car at the airport. Consequently, I had to break out the InStep trailer to bring Catherine to school. Since it would block the view of the tail light, I chose to remove the blinkie from my backup bike and attach it to the trailer.

I wasn't sure how some of the steep hills on the route would work out. However, we both had a great time! It was simething of a workout for me, but an enjoyable one. She has decided that it is much more fun than the bus.

This morning was less fun. After walking Catherine to the bus stop, I found I had a flat tire. Switch the blinkie back to the backup bike, pump up the backup's tires, and off to work.

Paul

last night was another rough commute - over the past few weeks I seem to be getting to way too many close calls with cars and its not as if I'm riding aggressively or illegally - last night I'm cruising up 14th St when an SUV (what else) pulls right out in front of me to turn on K - the light was green I clearly had the right of way - as I slowed down he then compunded it by stopping in the middle of the intersection - this caused me to suddenly stop but my front wheel went into a hole from some road works and I keeled over before I could unclip and ended up in an undignified heap right in the middle of one of DCs busiest interesections - only a cut knee but I'm pretty mad at drivers right now

Last night I was traveling in the center of an 8 foot bike lane and had plenty of lights on. Two trucks passed me, way too close. The first one yelled obsenities, while the next threw a beer bottle at me, which struck the rear of my bike. I was none to happy, but was unable to catch the license plate number. Luckily the bike survived, without even a single scratch or crack in the fiberglass shell.

Today I was greated to 33 F (.56 C) and steady rain. Once again, the Mango proved to be a great foul weather bike. I wore a long sleeve shirt, light fleece vest, gortex pants, no gloves. I was still way too hot and had to remove the vest, unzip the legs of the pants and roll up my sleeves. I did not get cold until I stepped out of the bike at work.

Brennser-

Is it just me, or have you noticed a lot more man-made potholes in downtown DC intersections. I come from NorthEast and work at 15th and Eye. I swear the city is indiscriminately cutting up intersections and forgetting to refill the holes (15th and H comes to mind), or at the very least softening up the edges with asphalt. Taking the fixie through this mess is a daily challenge. I don't remember it being this bad.

schiek

its terrible - I don't know if they're laying cable again or what but there is about a 4 block stretch going up 14th street that has loads of long narrow holes running perpendicular to me that have not been well filled in - I'm amazed I haven't had a flat yet

I had a cloudy, gloomy but nice ride in this morning (day eleven without sun). The ride home should be nice, the clouds are finally breaking up. It's chilly though (27F/-3C) and I'll have the wind in my face, but hey, that's all part of the adventure.

Same as it ever was: Cold, sunny, windless. Wore wool socks today and a scarf and was a bit warmer. Where is this Seattle rain I've heard so much about ;)

Ah yes it was bitter cold here in Woodville. I took a spill on the bike trail. 1/2" thick glare ice...no way to break...just had to slow down and let nature take it's course.

BRRR

Well, I was about to tell one of my best buddies at work (we get along so well we can almost finish each other's sentences) about what it feels like to get to work under human power. Why was I stunned when he cut me off and changed the subject?

Well, I ended up telling him that I listen to him when he get boring, so why can't he do that for me, too? He laughed, and I was glad for the endorphins keeping me mellow from the ride in.

I saw a fellow cyclist a quarter mile ahead of me as I got closer to downtown, but he got away from me at the red light. I wanted to talk to him/her. Oh, well.

The ride was good. Nothing unusual, just the same great feeling after riding for an hour. I wish I had the stamina to do this everyday.

Nice ride today - we're having a warm spell, plus sunny weather, which seems quite odd.

Bike path is still covered in leafy sludge, so my bike is filthy, but it is pointless washing it until the situation changes. This also makes me worry about grip.


Cheers,

Ed

Temps rose through the night last night. So was greated to temps in the 50s F and partial sun. A nice change from the onslaught of rain we have experienced over the past few weeks.

So I've been keeping quiet about my latest ride: a Terry Col de Madeleine. Got her Nov. 1. She now has 104mi/166km, and definately is a keeper. When I picked her up, I also got some of the new Cateye LED lights on zip cords. They can easily be attached to handlebars, bike frame, or arms and legs. Putting them on your arm makes turn signals more obvious at night. They aren't cheap, but cars seem to avoid them. Some people decorate their yard with lights, I decorate my bikes.