Cooler weather is defiantly here! 54 degrees is kind of cold for Austin and there was a bit of wind as well. No sandals this morning! I was surprised to see 5 other cyclists out in Austin's first cold snap. The temp. should be prefect for the ride home.

Have a good weekend!

No commute today. Taking the bike on a camping trip tomorrow and I won't have time to clean it up and let it dry before tossing it in the (borrowed) car, so, with today's nasty weather, the bike stays home. I don't mind the day off, seeing as I hope to be riding this weekend.

Beautiful this morning, with a nice warm wind. There wasn't even any frost! Very little traffic even when I got downtown, and I felt very fast. Today is Chocolate Friday at work, so someone is bringing chocolate to my desk right now...

Was a bit brisk on the way in...27degres F. Wore a hooded sweat [hood under helmet] and lined nylon wind pants. Got a bit chilled on the initial downhill, but not cold enough to stop and put on the rain shell.

I think I need some sort of head/face cover for anything colder. Performance triflex tights are on the list for when I get paid next week....maybe some other goodies as well.

No wildlife out this morning... must all have been in the house where it's warm.

Don

Hard rain yesterday evening and this morning. And yesterday with a stiff wind to go with it. The good part is that I'm slowly figuring out what works and what doesn't for routine daily cycling in different kind of rainy conditions.

On my commute today, I hit a top speed of 87 mph, it took 1:09 hrs and averaged just under 40 mph. Of course, that was in my car. While stuck in traffic along the West Side Highway, I looked over to the Hudson Greenway and noticed alot of people commuting by bike. Some of them had the same ***** eating grin I get when I blow past lines of cars stuck in traffic. It'd be nice if I had a nice, smooth bike trail like that to get to work instead of the rocky road that is Lexington Ave. Anyways, I missed riding to work today.

P.S. I saw a car right hook another car today. We're not the only ones getting right hooked. We're just not as well protected when it happens.

I know it's been said before, but riding in the rain is FUN. Especially when the next stop is home for a shower and late lunch. I've still got to head back into the drizzle tonight for some social events, but my friends know to expect "less" out of me so they won't complain if I show up a bit damp.

Had the rain commute today as well. Just misting on the trip home, raining on the way in. We got 3/4th of an inch. Need every drop we can get so I do not mind riding in the rain.

I rode around all day...ALL DAY...I was so tired...still am, and all burnt up from the clouds, too. It was fun, for the most part. Went to the bike shop and got some cables adjusted. Then on the way home, walking up the bridges since my hamstrings were on the verge of seperating from my femer someone pulls up in a truck, nearly hits me (I was walking in the grass) and offered me a ride. Then he wanted to make sure my bike was okay. Then he told me to "get rid of that cigarette and pedal that bicycle!" That was...interesting. He's a road biker and said, "there's no reason not to ride the bridges!"

I haven't ridden in a while, it's hard to maintain hydration and a straight line, man! Sheesh!

Commute home sucked. Took 2 hrs. and I got rear ended by a driver. My car's fine since it happened at a red light and we'd both already come to a complete stop. He must've dozed off. Before you flame me, I already know this has nothing to do w/ bicycle commuting other than I saw a bunch of cyclo commuters and missed my bike.

Took a ride through Central Park at 10 pm and felt great even though it was drizzling and the roads were wet and I found the problem w/ my new Apex fenders is that the water kicks up off the front wheel and when you're going over 15 mph, the water hits me in the mouth and face. And now for some haiku...

Central Park at night
Moonlight over the castle
At peace with strangers

It rained all day today. I rode on the freeway on my way home this morning. Going back to work tonite I saw a near car-bike collision developping before my eyes. It's dark and raining a lot, me, a car and another bike riding the sidewalk, against traffic, with no lights, are going in the same direction. The car passes me, then passes the other biker, arrives at an intersection with a stop signs and turns left. Guess what happens? The car doesn't make a complete stop, the bike doesn't stop at all. Both finally stopped about a foot from each other. It was weird because it all happened in slow motion. Both were at fault.

fog. whoo-hoo, i'm getting a taster pack of all the weather this week. fairly heavy fog on my way in, but not heavy enough to be either cold or choking. no sweaty completely-waterproof jacket today. sunny all day and then still clear with some high cloud forming as i came home at around 7pm.

i was late getting myself to work today. slept in until nine and peeled myself out of the shower and into the job by 11 am. not a very serious day at work anyway. i kept deking out to the lunchroom all day to keep an eye on little world series fragments. saw boston make their almost-comeback and then start to lose it again to chicago, and then the yankees making a definite almost-comeback against la in the 4th later on. still don't know what happened with the later game, since i left at the top of the 5th.

got to see boston's knuckleball pitcher, though! kid came out of his room like a gopher when i got home and called the magic word through his door. really cool, that was. too bad chicago had a handle on him - all those looping outside pitches. oh yeah, biking.

nothing much, really. good times (for me) both ways in spite of some inflammation here and there, but i'm kind of bagged and i felt it on the way home. glad it's a 3-day weekend. i'm pretty used to making the transition over and around the cloverleaf for the Right side of the bridge coming home now. tried staying in the road for the killer uphill once i was over it too, but nah. that just isn't safe, so it'll be sidewalks again. maybe later when i'm able to go up it all the way to the easier part. i did this unkosher but sneaky passive-aggressively-fun thing of setting off the pedestrian lights any time i felt ready to try another block, and then merging into a miraculously empty street while the cars all sat there.

one other thing i've noticed. the inflammation wasn't a problem but my quads have been hurting a bit today - not the usual burn that just calls for guts and prayer, but the trembly near-cramp kind of weakness thing. not sure what to make of this but i discovered that if i get to that point where i just can't do it anymore at the easier pace, i can kind of push through it for a while if i pour it on instead. it's like you sort of come out on the other side and going hard feels better than nursing the muscles along. that was fun too, in a morbid kind of mad-scientist way. pretty sure i'm going to be pretty sore tomorrow, so i almost managed to drink some of the awful whey-protein stuff when i got home. might even have kept one or two mouthfuls down.

this weekend i think i'll get on the phone and start mooching around mutual baseball friends for some living-room time. i'll even buy them pizza.

October trial bike commute---

Day Five:
Broke a rear spoke Thursday afternoon. :( Still had a great commute Friday. On the way back I hooked up with a pacer/drafting rider for about 3 of the 7.5 mile commute. Didn't know I could ride that hard, and was trying to take it easy on my rear wheel, as it still had the broken spoke.

This morning ran to the LBS to get a tool to remove my Suntour freewheel and a new spoke. Replaced the spoke along with some adjustments on my rear brake. Ready for Monday. Also got a bunch of gear arriving next week, long sleeve alertshirts, knee warmers, lighting equipment, rear rack, rear trunk back, frame bag, thermos bottle, ...

Goal next week is to ride the 10.5 mile each way commute all next week. Driving only 4 miles each way.

SharpT

Got splashed by a HUGE sheet of water today on the 65th St. CP transverse by a cab. Completely soaked. And I was having such a good day running errands today.

Call me a wuss, but there is a point where I draw the line. Based on the weather forcast below I drove the Jeep to work. The Cannondale looked sad as I walked out the door.

...HEAVY SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED LATE
TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. SNOWFALL INTENSITY SHOULD
DECREASE SOMEWHAT MONDAY AFTERNOON. NORTH WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH...
WITH GUSTS 35 MPH...WILL CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING
SNOW AND WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AT TIMES.

COLORADO SPRINGS AND LOCATIONS NEAR THE MOUNTAINS WILL LIKELY SEE
TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 INCHES OR MORE. THE HEAVIEST
SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS IN SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY WILL OCCUR OVER
NORTHERN AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF COLORADO SPRINGS.

STRONG WINDS AND REDUCED VISIBILITY CAN BE EXPECTED DUE TO HEAVY
SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. IT IS ADVISED THAT YOU DO NOT TRAVEL IN
THE WARNING AREA.

A beautiful ride in, chain sounded nice and smooth after last night's cleaning and lube session. Decided to celebrate the pleasant sunrise by drafting a large dump truck, hit 36 mph easily, but lost my sweet spot going uphill. A good start to what I hope is an excellent day.

Rode to campus in a light, misty rain. It was darker than normal at 8:00 a.m. , so I hooked my blinkie up.
I commuted on an old Triumph cruiser I recently refurbished. I loved the ride... moseying along on an English cruiser through the rain put a big smile on my face. It's Fall Break here at Duke, so lots of the foot traffic on campus is gone. Just an all-around good ride in.

Broke out the blinkie too this morning. Wonderful ride!

Cool this morning in the mid 50s made riding easy this morning. Wore a short sleeve shirt cuz it's not cold enough for a jacket. Felt good.

Beat the rain on the way in...it will be gone by quitin' time. Even so this is one of those days where everybody is asking, "How can you ride on a day like today."

Had a good long weekend vacation to Durango CO. area this weekend (thursday-Sunday), but REALLY missed my bike. Kept seeing all these people riding there bikes in the crisp fall weather they were having Friday and Saturday and wished I could have brough my with me. Got back home yesterday at 5:00 and took an hour long ride INTO a storm, it was coming south, towards my house, and I rode north, just because I could, and call me crazy I like riding in the rain.

I rode till it started raining on me, then turned around to ride home, turned on my blinky when I turned around, and somewhere between there and home it fell off :-( So if anyone is in Albuquerque and found a blinky on the bike path on Tramway, between Manual and Central, shoot me an e-mail, I'ld like to have it back :-) ben_inglis@hotmail.com

Ride in this morning was pretty cold, and sweaty. I'm still waiting on my Pearl Izumi Vagabond Jacket (should get here tomorrow) I can't wait to have something nice and breathable to wear. Right now I'm wearing a crappy windbreaker that is more like a sauna once I start riding. Bike mount for my photon fusion should be here today or tomorrow as well, but i'm kinda used to haveing it on my head...i like pointing it at people :-) I might just see if I can modify my bike clamp to mount to my helmet, as the "head mount" is kinda cumbersome. I did wear my "hot noggon" skull cap under my helmet today, and BOY was it nice. I bought it as an afterthought, but I'm really glad I did.

Cooling down in Vermont. This morning was my first sub-50F commute. (Jacket and shorts.)

On Friday night I had an unscheduled after-work pub visit and it started to rain while we were inside, so I got nice and wet on the ride home. Fun ride though. One guy on a bicycle was heading the other way on the trail. No lights. No reflectors. Dark clothing. I'm glad one of us had lights or who knows how hard we might have hit one another? In hindsight I should have yelled at him. Oh well.

Good ride in. Took it easy with a friend. Barely broke a sweat. Had to give a guy a patch.. he'd walked his bike a few miles because he didnt have a way to fix it. Bet he wont do that again :)

soggychillywet.

still beats driving.

It's been under 50 F lately for the morning commute. Something sick in me really likes the cold weather riding that is around the corner. Then again, now it takes more time to get dressed for the ride and I hate that. I also look even more ridiculous in tights than I do in bike shorts!

Missed my Saturday morning recreational ride the last two weekends. I can really tell the difference on Monday morning. The last two Mondays have been sluggish to say the least.

I'd hate to see that! :D Missed you at RAGBRAI this year. We had a great time!

good ride home... all alone! Made it home 25 minutes faster than when my friend was riding with me. He was supposed to ride home too but said he couldnt because of "an injury he couldn't discuss" :lol:

Later he told me his nuts were just way too sore to ride. :roflmao:

He might try to ride in with me again in the morning. This is the third time he's bailed on the ride home. He's seat hieght/angle looks ok.. so I'm not sure what the deal is. He's going to look into a saddle to help with his "problem." he's been riding with me a few times and this is the first I've heard him complain of this. If he really is in pain I hope he gets it resolved.

Welcome, halfstep!

Dark, dark, dark this morning. I'm gonna have to break down and get a brighter light. It was garbage day in the neighborhood I ride through and guess where they all put their garbage cans? Yup...in the bike lane. It sucks! But I didn't hit any of them...I came close a couple of times. Why do people think I'm strange for riding in the dark? There are so many other reasons to think I'm strange! It's one of those things...am I strange because I ride in the dark, or do I ride in the dark because I'm strange? ...ummmmmmm

Coming home was another one of those too cool, too warm days. I didn't suit up...I'm glad.

Well, this is my second commuting post here though I've been commuting for about 4 months now. This morning, there was this shiny sun, rode to downtown with a smile in my face... a cutie blinked her eye at me...

Afternoon was cloudy and rainy. Anyway, I took my bike and headed home. Almost hit a 100 years old pedestrian which was walking in the bike path. A mile after that another old lady was complaining about bikes being in the sidewalk. (Note: the bike path is on the sidewalk). Oh, and a driver insulted me...

Even with all that, I'd ride instead of driving anyday.

Ricardo