7am this morning. I live in south San Jose and it can be very chilly there after a clear night.

MV to LG ... that must be a nice commute. Do you go on parts of Foothill Expwy? Me? I deal with Senter and Tully and 1st and other pothill-ridden streets !!!

I like the commute very much. Foothill is just out of the way of my route. Basically I use Sunnyvale Saratoga and Los Gatos Saratoga roads for my comute. Mostly good roads.. One set of RR tracks to cross, and some rough spots.. Mostly though, its a smooth ride with some hills to keep it interesting.

Today starts the several months of night riding home.

Two words: Abosolutely perfect.

Ever feel like you're not operating at 100%? That's me today. I did the 20-miler home but I was really beat.

Tomorrow I'll do only one way. Need to back off a bit in order to be fresh for the century I'm doing this weekend.

I was the opposite. Best times to date in both directions.

So, our clocks went back 1 hour to Greenwich Mean Time at the weekend. Now it gets dark one hour earlier, so I figured that some preparation was necessary for night-time cycling. I had all my light batteries fully charged in readiness.
As we left the house yesterday, my Fiancee thoughtfully asked "Now, you do have your lights don't you?".
"Of course I do, but thank you" I replied.

>>Fast forward to Monday evening >>

Hmmmn, can't find that headlight... hope I didn't drop it anywhere... panic as I realise it is pitch dark out there, and the first mile of the ride home is on unlit country lanes. Finally find a torch in the toolbox, and fix it to the handlebars with floor marking tape. I made it home safely, and found the headlamp waiting for me where I'd left it after putting stuff in the attic at the weekend :rolleyes:

The problem is that the headlamp is better than any torch :)

On a bad note, it seemed that a cyclist had been involved in an accident on my least favourite roundabout in town last night. There was an ambulance in attendance when I got there, just hope it was not too serious. Time to complain to the council about the stupid road layout again - considering the number of cyclists that use this part of town the design is insane.

Be careful out there!

Ed

Nice to know it's a better cycling week for you than last week.:)

Clear and heavy ice on the beard when I got to work this morning, nice ride in with a slight head wind. The weather is suppose to turn cold and wet for the rest of the week, it may snow tomorrow and thursday. I may have to throw in the towel for a while, they put a lot of salt on the roads during snow storms and I don't like to ride in it, the bike really takes a beating. The first snow fall is my trigger to move the road and touring bikes into the basement to get them ready for next year. During the winter I only commute on dry days, it's easier to clean things that way.

27 F when I headed out this morning. Encountered some moderate head winds on a long gradual climb. Other than that, the sun was shining brightly, many colorful leaves are still in the trees and the smell of wood burning was in the air. Perfect day for riding.

Looking forward to a 10-20 mph tail wind on the ride home.

:cool: Very cooool ,Not to say it wasn't cold 26F,The first 1/2 mile was cold.But after that sweeeet. I LOVE WINTER.

Good thing I didn't listen to the weather report and rode in today. Now they have changed their minds and aren't calling for snow anymore! :D This morning's ride was great! It was warmer than forcecasted, 37F instead of 27F. And there was hardly anyone on the road (did I miss a holiday or something?). Looking forward to the ride home.

If there's anything I've learned since I started bike commuting, it's "Don't trust the weatherman." :D

Tim

Hi Folks,

I seemed to spend a lot of time chasing around this morning, First to the library (a couple of mies), then back home to pick up my high-vis jacket that was forgotten in the rush, then off to the laboratory (about 8 miles). Weather was not too great, it is cold and rainy. There is also still a lot of debris on the roads (tree branches, sticks, leaves etc.) from the bad storms we had at the weekend. A good portion of this sticks to my legs on wet rides :)
I still would not swap my bike for anything else.

Cheers,

Ed

I agree wholeheartedly, Tim! I bulked up on clothing this morning based on the forecast, ended up perspiring more than I wanted because the actual temp was 4 or 5 degrees higher. Had a nasty headwind/crosswind on the way in, I'm sure the wind will change today so I have headwinds on the way home, too!
Nice to see a hint of sunrise over Lake Ontario on the way in with the time change to standard time. Last week it was just plain dark, but this week it's pretty well just plain dark all the way home.

I was a tad reckless last night on the ride home and almost rear ended a caddy. Cars at my only busy intersection were backed way up, with the cars in the right lane blocking the bike lane (which they often do). So I made my way down towards the light by slowly riding inbetween the two lanes of cars. The light turned green just as I neared the head of the pack. I motioned to the car to my right that I wanted to pull in front of them. They gave me the nod, so I blasted off to pull in behind the caddy. The caddy locked up its brakes just as I pulled behind it. I still am not sure why, other than they wanted to plant me onto their trunk. I humped on the brakes and lucky for me, the 60 lbs in my Burley kept the rear wheel pinned to the ground. I stopped with two feet to spare.

My next incident occured towards the end of my ride. I turned off an side street onto a more heavily traveled road. I almost ran head on into a pack of college students who were out for a run. None of them appeared to have reflective clothing on and my helmet LED was just about out of juice.

I am glad this morning was calm and relaxing.

Last night's 20-miler: dark.

This a.m.'s 13-miler: bright.

As usual, great rides. Last ride before my weekend century. I may back off a little afterwards, maybe to 2 times a week. Start running a little.

Yesterday the Mrs. called right before heading out. She needed something brought to her work she left at home, so a nice 5 mile detour. Gave me the chance to go up a steeper hill than on my normal route.. and since hills and I don't get along much yet, I am paying the price today. I felt exhausted the whole route, but it was still enjoyable.

The night rides home are always fun.. I'm enjoying the new Nite Rider Digital Pro. Much better than my old NR Trailrat.

Have a fun Century Andy.

errand day, drove the truck today, this has to stop, I miss my bike. The weatherman needs to take a course on weather forcasting, they are never accurate.

Nite Ride Pro has saved my keester many a time. The blinking front light, which I use at night, too, lights up a whole city block. Signs radiate with energy!! It is very noticable, the amount of attention you get with this safety device.

On the century ... I can't wait !! Thanks.

okay, so I am new to panniers. Now I know to really check them before riding. Tonight going home, I was making good time and one popped off while going downhill. Heard it hit the ground and slide. The car coming up behind me gave me a courtesy honk.

Everything was fine, hooked it back up and continued, but it definately is both frustrating and embarassing. :rolleyes:

Otherwise I love this weather. Too bad it can't last forever.. Oh wait, this is california :cool:

So the guy on the radio said it'll be fine all day today with some rain coming in tonight. Why do I believe these guys?

I got a few drops on the way in to work and it's getting greyer by the moment.

I should have brought the spray jacket.

I rode yesterday, but there wasn't much good to say about it. Nothing remarkable about the trip in, and the way home was cold and long (and Pete, pushing my glasses down just moved them closer to the Thermal Exhaust Ports, and they fogged worse! :D) To make things less fun, the paved shoulder on the busiest part of the highway has had tons of gravel poured next to and on it, so you really have to watch, and swerve into the lane to avoid gravel piles. I went to bed listening to my lungs playing a bagpipe chorus. Gotta love cold-air asthma.

Today was much better! It seemed to be a little warmer at night, and my glasses fogged less. What's more, I experienced an amazng lack of car traffic. :) That always makes a ride better. I also got to enjoy the occasional lit-up Jack-o-lantern.

A black cat crossed my path again, three miles from home, but nothing awful happened this time. I figure this cat was retroactive 'cause I ripped my pants 5 minutes after starting work and had to lurk behind the library desk the rest of the night. :D

Today was HOT. There is no other way to describe it. It was good to get a headwind on the way home though.

Heck, it's 9pm here and it's still to hot to go to bed and have any real hope of getting any sleep. I might go and have a cold shower in a minute.

last nights commute was dark, rainy and cold - not pleasant - this is my first year continuing to commute during the winter and I can't believe how different it is, particularly how much 'darker' it seems to be when you're on a bike

does anyone have any suggestions for keeping feet warm - I wear running shoes and socks when I bike but its clear thats not going to work once the temps get into the 20s

Last night would have been fine for me except my shift cable managed to unravel itself inside the shifter, causing me to lose all but the top 4 gears. Things worked quite well on the downhills and flats, but I was really working hard on hills and away from stoplights.

When I reached the bottom of the hill where my home is, I stopped, put my hand on the Nexus' shift lever, and shoved it into low gear. Once home. after a half hour of pulling bits of broken wire out of the shifter and smoothing what was left of the cable, I was able to get all the gears working, although it will need a trip to the LBS for a new cable, since half the strands in the old one are broken. I was pretty beat from all the high-gear climbing, but still able to carve my daughter's pumpkin.

For Brennser: I wear dress shoes with Totes over them. As long as my feet are dry, they are warm enough for Washington winters. Get the high top Totes: the low ones will collect water. Do you have fenders? Fenderlesss bikes can be truly miserable in rain or slush.

Paul