Boy was this week harsh, rained on the trip home, if it wasn't raining it was windy as all get out. But the ride in seemed wonderful, though windy, but wind makes us stronger riders, and after last week with the cold, it was nice to have decent weather, for riding.

Yesterday morning I was coasting along, watching the flock of 13-14 wild turkeys I've been seeing regularly this fall, when they started running and taking flight. I was suprised because I was silent and they've never been disturbed by me before. Then I saw the hawk swooping after them. It was a very optomistic hawk as it was only half to 2/3 the size of the turkeys. Good ride. The rain on the trip home was the first with a fully dark ride. As usual, my headlights hitting the spray from my front wheel made me feel like a kid running around with a sparkler. Good rides, both of them.

Not so good today. I fought a heavy headwind all the way in. It started raining as soon as I got to work. I puttered around on the internet after work, waiting for the rain to stop (too cold to get rained on.) Rode home in the dark against a headwind AGAIN! (And it was uphill both ways, too! Er, wait--did I say that out loud? ) It was cold, too.

Tomorrow is supposed to be really freezing, I will probably drive. :/ Bah.

I discovered this week that riding in sight-seeing mode has consequences. I was riding through a nice residential area on my route and took my eyes off the road for a moment to admire a particularly handsome house...and promptly rode over the raised edge of a manhole cover. Thought I'd lost the fillings in my teeth! I deserved that, tsk!

-Rob

It was a beautiful day to commute. About 40 with a strong wind blowing and a light drizzle. I could have just walked next door to work (my part time job) but I decided to ride down to the park and then down by the river where I seen 3 deer getting a early morning drink. After watching a half dozen squirels run around frantically trying to gather acorns I started back. The last half mile was uphill into the headwind but was well worth the morning trip to the park.
Andrew

Hi Folks

First day back after a week off because of a work trip to a conference. Unfortunately the weather did not seem well disposed to welcoming be back to cycling. It was pouring with rain, cold and windy... but still good to be back on a bike

Cheers,

Ed

If only every commute was like today's! The roads were empty because of the holiday. It was almost like riding through a ghost town in a few places.

A bit chilly. Anyone have any suggestions for keeping toes warm other than getting new shoes?

Mrfix, I took your advice and returned that cheap front light (it kept falling off the handlebar mount anyway). I bought a simple NiteRider 10W light, and what a difference!! I can see the road much better, and it's strong enough to light up street signs.

Tim

Cold, clear morning 25 degrees when I left the house this morning, I dressed well and styed warm all the way in, I guess we're into the winter season already. I guess it builds character.

A chilly morning 2C, 36F - I overdressed a bit to sweat off Sunday's turkey dinner (our Thanksgiving weekend + I spent 15 hours driving this weekend, no biking). Tried out new neoprene gloves, hands nice and warm, but not too warm.
The usual non-eventful ride in, 12km short commute. Almost collided with a sidewalk bike commuter, he had on the vest, flasher, no helmet, but didn't look to his left as he was going from sidewalk to road through the crosswalk. I kinda figured he would do that, so it wasn't such a close call.

Hi folks,

Ugh, no improvements here, I can tell you. I got soaked on both journeys yesterday, and today is shaping up the same way. This morning it was wet and there was a headwind. These almost always turn around during the day, so that I get a headwind on the way home too . It was also getting colder, about 10°C (thats about 50F) so it was time to try out the arm warmers.
Perhaps this is punishment for not riding last week...

As I write, the sky is getting darker and a huge rainstorm has hit... Good winter training

Cheers,

Ed

Hi; This morning was my first ride of the season in below freezing temps. I over dressed a tad bit, so had to stop to tear off some layers. It usually takes me a while every late fall to figure out the upper body layers. Other than that it was a very nice ride with lots of color in the trees. Fall is finally here in Southern Maine.

Zoomed all the way home (20 miles). Chilly. Brrrrrrrr. I was rested from Sunday's 90 mile training ride, so I half-sprinted the whole way.

Today was clear and crisp, with a tailwind that whooshed me into town in record time. The fall colors were very bright!

The wind was still blowing some when I came home, giving me a cold headwind. After riding 3 blocks, I stopped and put my jacket on. I guess the T-shirt season is over!

My fingers got a bit numb, but warmed up on my first uphill. I turned off the highway to take the backroads--everything was lit up by a bright half-moon. Stared to feel bonkish, and ate an oatmeal raising cookie I had in my bag from the library bake sale.

It was a great ride--sleeping cows by moonlight, raccoons (or something) rustling through the corn. I was chased by the Hound of the Baskervilles, and terrified a cat who was trying to cross the road.

It was no fun to put my fingers on the icy brake levers as I pedalled into the driveway. I checked the thermometer, and it was around 38 degrees F. (That's about 4 c for you metric types.)

My ears are burning, but the rest of me is still cold!

Cold, dark, cold, dry......did I mention it was cold?

First day of the year with two long sleeved layers on top, long fingered gloves, and cycling longs on top of my shorts.

Oh, and it was cold!!

It was cold, but not as cold as I'd dressed for! Actually, I'd dressed for cold rain, so I wasn't actually wearing that much, but waterproof is almost always a little warm.

I'm expecting a serious headwind on the way home, not to mention rain. Lovely!

Ellie

Brrr. Definitely colder this morning, but OK once I got going. Thank goodness the rain has let up for a while Two days worth of soakings was starting to annoy me, but not as much as the traffic, which has been terrible since the new University term started.

Cheers,

Ed

Mornin everyone, The weather man/woman scared me this morning I drove the car, They're predicting high winds, cold temperature and heavy rain throughout the day. I'm using the excuse of have errands to run that have been accumulating for a couple of weeks. I'm telling myself that I can do them all in 1 day and be able to ride from here on in with a clean conscience. What a whimp hey, if I were any kind of a dedicated cyclist/commuter I would have ridden in to work today. Have a great day.

Sounds like my story. I need to drive north tonight (88 miles). I would typically ride my bike to work, then home, grab the car, and head north. But as with you, the high winds convinced me to just drive the car to work. Rain, ice, snow and really cold temps do not bother me a whole lot, but I hate high winds (anything which is supposed to gust above 20 MPH).

Call me a whimp.

I believe the proper spelling is "wimp" as in wimpy. Easy for me to agree with you guys today, it was +10C and overcast, but no rain when I left this morning. I gave serious consideration to staying home today (basement bathroom reno started in February, scheduled completion date was March, still not finished!), but I persevered, rode the 12km short commute and am a better person for it!!! Mrfix, what are we supposed to do with all this excess character we've been building???
Slept in this morning (alarm didn't go off) sprinted to work, still took 2 minutes longer than my record. Just shorts and tee shirt + long sleeve tee shirt, comfortable ride in. Supposed to be showers this afternoon, always looking forward to the ride home!

Whimp? I guess I had chimp on the brain. Ah well...I am one of those people who can benefit from a spell checker. Thanks for setting me straight.

Rain, sleet and snow here - it melts away as soon as it hits the ground, but early mornings (slightly below 0C) can still be very slippery. My commuter slicks are pretty worn out, barely adequate for rainy conditions and my winter bike is not up to the task just yet (needs some minor adjustments). So I've commuted by bus for a couple of days now. Wimp, I know.

--J

57 F 14 C, raining, wind 22 mph, gusting to 25 mph here in DC. It really is starting to turn into Fall. It was cool enough so that I was comfortable in my rain gear.

I've decided that it is a good idea to have my lights on by day when it is raining...since my bike has a generator, this is easy to do. Anyone else using daytime lights?

Paul

I have been using my lights during the morning and evening commute. Although it is not completely dark, I run my headlights in blink mode so approaching drivers can see me better.

Pinerider, thanks for the spelling lesson, I'm a wimp. The character you're building can be turned in later to compensate for days like the one I'm having, full of lame excuses. I should have ridden my bike, the day has been a rotten one so far. When I look at the empty corner of my office where my bike usually sits I feel a sadness, like my best friend is missing, I hope it's not too upset with me for leaving it in my dry garage, all lubed up and ready to go. What kind of example am I setting here, we don't make excuses, we are not wimps, we are more dependable then the U.S. mail carriers,---- We are bike commuters--- maybe I'm just getting old and soft, What can I do to get over this weak slump I'm in. I know, I can move south, anyone got room for me in a place where I can be wet or warm or wet and warm? A place where I won't make excuses to not ride so I won't be cold and wet. The thing that is really going to tic me off is when tonight comes and the wind and rain didn't happen at all, today, at least at this point doesn't look that bad, still air and a light drizzle with the temp in the mid 50's. It loooks like the weather man could be wrong as usual, that'll teach me to watch the weather. Well have a good, healthy and productive day everyone.

Well, I felt like wimping out today but STUCK WITH IT !!!

20 miles. Chilly. Cloudy. Fast at first then hit every stop light San Jose has to offer. If I were a car my gas mileage would have dropped big time.