Went into the garage on Thursday morning and found a flat rear tire. I think my 5th flat in a month. Decided it was time to look at liners or a kevlar tire maybe, so I left the shop a little early in a light rain. My luck, I flatted on a bridge and had to walk a ways to find a safe place to pop in the spare tube. By the time I was rolling again, the bike shop was closed.

Wow. The fall weather does not want to give up. I rode into town today under bright skies and temps which crested 56 F. Not bad for the week before turkey day.

Here in Finland the temperature is in both sides of 0 C, yesterday we had a nice little blizzard and today the roads were full of packed slush. I lost balance once and almost fell because of the trails formed in the packed slush -got into one and didn´t get my front wheel out. Also part of the road was in suc a condition that I had to walk until I got to the bigger road that was free of slush. I have a "training racer", I don´t know the proper term, and Nokian studded Hakkapeliitta´s, which barely fit there. No sun visible, just cloudy, cold and wet

Well, that was interesting. Leaving work and heading straight into a headwind. Well, it was a cooling southerly, so all was good. Then it got even better, it started raining. It got heavier through Surfers Paradise. Thunder and lightning, this is getting to be really good folks. Then the hail came at Broadbeach. Now I was really enjoying it.

After this I had, not so much a near miss, but an undamaging (for me anyway) collision with a car that not only failed to give way (that I could have dealt with), but then decided to stop in the middle of the freaking road at 90 degrees to the flow of traffic. Still, me and my bike were totally unharmed, so that's all that counts. I hope he suffered some hail damage though.

Then, just as the hail started, just as I started to enjoy it, it stopped. Even the rain stopped. Oh well, I was just about home by then anyway. BTW, I ate a hailstone tonight, what's the nutritional value of that?

Then I went to the shops. I hadn't expected anyone around here to steal a light battery, but that's just what happened. Funny, just when you think people around here can't get any stupider, they suddenly do.

25 degrees, slight head wind and clear skys, I had a great ride in, Mondays are my heavy load day, I loaded my panniers, trunk bag, and bar bag with my clothes for the week and off I went. My average speed was 15.5 miles for the 18.5 mile ride to work. The forcast for the afternoon is high 60's and sun, I brought shorts and a short sleeve jersey in anticipation of a great ride home. The Lake MXZ 300 shoes are really as warm as they say, so far I'm very happy with them.

Sluggish ride in this morning for me. Not enough sleep last night, a headwind and a slightly flat rear tire (not flat enough to make me stop and pump it up) However it was partially sunny but not too cold. It clearly had rained all night and cleared up in the A.M.. Everything was glistening and the scattered clouds in the blue sky were pretty. If only I could have raised my head more ;)

Well, it's been a while since my last post. Let's see ... hmmm ... how were the recent commutes?

I can't remember any except this morning's commute which was by far the coldest of the season. Dang chilly for these parts.

Coldest by far for me this year. It was 23 deg F when I rode in. I was warm though, had plenty of layers on to keep me warm. The only problem I had was that my back tire was low and made for some struggling and a little lower speeds.

The roads were wet from the night rain and the temp was 33 degrees, when I got to work everyone was talking about the black ice on the roads and how the cars were skidding all over, I never felt the ice, I just rode to work as usual and never slipped a wheel. I guess it's time for the studs, I was planning on putting them on Saturday anyway. Last night I replaced my big ring, chain and derailure pulleys. The bike shifted like new again, The forcast for the day is the temp is supposed to drop so the ride home should be on the cool side.

Ya, it was for me too, maybe not 23, but below freezing. I had forgotten how you can get an "ice-cream headache" descending steep hills in the cold, before you warm up!

But as always, my first good climb warmed me well. The only thing cold on me when I got in was my feet, which seem to gradually get colder as the rest of me gets warmer. I might try the plastic bag trick next time it's below freezing.

Great ride!

:)

Dang!
Back to cold mornings...
Well, not like most of you have tho. Was 38 deg this morning, at least no wind like we had on the weekend out here...

Lovely ride in this morning. Weather seems to be playing its usual tricks,alternating between extremes of temperature over a couple of days.

On my return, I thought I would make things interesting by taking one of the longer circuits home riding a couple of miles out of my way to pass Low Barns, which happens to be the family home of Jonny Wilkinson.

In case you do not know he is the latest to attain super star status from his exploits for England in winning the Rugby World cup.

Passing their home, although there were loads of Media people hanging about, Jonny had not been seen since arriving through Newcastle airport.
Talking to one of the Reporters they think he had avoided the Paparratzi (sp) by helicoptering over to Slaley Hall...
To far away for me to cycle that way, as I had put in a busy tiring morning at work and wanted to get home to relax....

Cool this morning, but the frost that set in last night had lifted by morning, so it was not as chilliy as I expected.

I was also pleased to see the street sweeper truck clearing autumnal debris from the bike path.

Cheers,

Ed

I didn't ride yesterday (Monday) because they hadn't plowed the streets where I live and it was pretty messy with the six inches of snow. I did however ride this morning, the roads I rode were all hard pack ice/snow but with my studded rear tire I just boogied right accross it... it was a hoot! It was a little warmer this morning then yesterday (26F/-3C today, 8F/-13C yesterday). It's kind of pretty out there.

Strange yesterday. Nice morning. Rode home in t-shirt and shorts. Was 64f with winds at 20mph gusting to 40. Just started to rain when I entered Chittenango. It cut loose when I just got into the garage. Twenty minutes later, the temps went down to 40f. An hour later it was snowing.

It rained pretty hard early this morning and broke just before I headed into work. The sky turned deep blue in about 15 minutes after the rain stopped....a fast moving storm for sure. The temps sat at 39F. A very nice riding day.

Wow! A quick drop from Fall to Winter!! Same thing pretty much happened out this way a day ago, nice cool evening then WHAM!! down went the temp and we have winter. He flipped the switch!

Hi folks,

It poured (and is still pouring) with rain today. Fortunately I'm prepared with dry clothes, but it is a pretty grim, cold experience.

I hope it clears up before the ride home!

Cheers,

Ed

Rode straight into a gail-force headwind this afternoon. Haven't seen one that strong since the Great Ocean Road last year (and that includes the 70km/h jobs last February). Finally got some statisfaction from Schoolies' Week when some kid got knocked clean off his skateboard by the sheer force of the wind - and he wasn't even going against it! After the events of Monday night, I drew some statisfaction from that!

Ra!

Nice cool ride this morning, no head wind and 20 degree temp. I rade fast and got to work in 55 minutes. Day off tomorrow, visiting relatives so no ride for me. I'll be back on Friday.

Decent ride home last night, traffic was pretty heavy due to trains blocking the roadway. I ended up taking some side streets to avoid the bunch of cars. Besides that it was warmer then the ride in 40 degf.

The ride in this morning was warmer then yesterday wih temps in the mid 30's. slight wind, but nothing to severe.

With all this riding I will be able to eat a lot tomorrow for Thanksgiving!

Ouch!
33 deg this morning...
7 layers on top, 3 below, double gloves.
How do you cold region riders do it?

Your on the right track. LAYERS, LAYERS, LAYERS.
I would have to ask what you are layering with. Even when its around ZERO F I don't have 7 layers on the top. ;)

Seven Layers is a lot to me. But everyone's body is different. This morning at around 38 degrees I wore midweight poly-pro long john tops and bottoms, rain pants and windbreaker. Add gloves for the hands and I was fine. It just takes a few minutes to warm up but once thier the set-up is perfect for my metabolism. Make sure you are wearing gloves, extra head warmth such as a balaclava, and warm enough socks or shoes, as the warmth gets sucked out of those areas quick. And perhaps make sure they are wind proof and not just knit if that would help, though I seem to be all right with just the knits. Dont worry about your thighs or tummy as much!

Once the temps start dipping into the 20's and below though I will make some other adjustments, perhaps a fleece vest to start out, and def put on my balaclava, and overboots for my feet.

Stats:
 

Top:
(2x) long sleeve thin shirts (Nike "ACG" brand) 100% polyester.
(1 pair) of Supergo brand arm warmers (kinda thin) 85% nylon, 15% Lycra.
Very thin tank top (usually used for hot summer day's by itself). 100% polyester.
Old Pendleton Jacket. 100% wool (Kinda thick).
Thick tank top ("Champion" brand, 100% cotton).
Wind-breaker, tank top (Adidas brand, 50% cotton, 50% nylon).
(Even used my "Artic 180" ear warmers this morning)

Bottom:
Thick 100% wool socks.
My old pair of 6oz riding shorts/tights.
Standard 100% cotton long underware.
Thin Coolmax knickers ("Everlast" brand) 60% Cotton, 30% Poly, 10% Lycra.

This is my first week with the new computer, I've been able to measure my speeds, times & such:
Into work:
5.5 miles, 19 minutes, 17mph ave, 30mph max (That's when I get cold, on those DH runs!)
Here's the DH Stretch:

WHOA... everything is still green, and you have leaves on your trees! Quite a contrast to what we have here in Minnesota right now.

Very similar ride in this morning to the commute I had on Monday. I wasn't able to commute on Tuesday as I had to deal with car emissions and registration. I tell you cars are such an albatross around ones neck. If there was decent public transportation between the Eastside and Seattle I'd sell it right quick. Anyway, today was partially sunny, not too cold and with a bit of headwind. About halfway through my ride the sun disappeared into this ominous cloud bank (which seems to have taken over the whole sky now) and the temp dropped a good 5 degrees. On the whole, a decent ride and the end of the commuting week here in the US.

Misty day, coming and going. At least the forecast high wind didn't happen (Yeah, I know Chris L, I'm a wuss). In fact the evening turned out to be much warmer than forecast and I was overdressed. Staring into the cone of reflected light from my headlight I was wondering, do those lights that let you swivel the light to where you want it work as "dimmer" switches in fog and mist? Anyone have any experience with them under those conditions?

The temperature this morning was much higher than forcasted so I had to stop and shed clothing three times on the way into work. Nice morning to ride, slight headwind and ocercast skys. The traffic was light and everyone seemed to be taking their time going wherever they were going. The temp. is forcasted to drop as the week goes on so winter riding is upon us. Well i didn't get the studs on this past weekend, I spent my spare time on the bike, although cool, it was a great weekend to rack up some fall miles.

Rain rain rain today!

At least I have a sure way to keep my feet dry and therefore warm on the 1/2 hour ride. Warm socks (2 pairs if its really cold here), bike shoes, plastic shopping bags tied about the ankle and finally neoprene "booties". The key to sucess here is the plastic bags - booties on their own do not keep out much water.

Cheers,

Ed