No commute today. I stayed home with the kids since their grandparents are galavanting in Vermont to see the foliage and visit cousins. But I've had a couple of good days this week. On Tuesday I rode in with a coworker who I've been encouraging for awhile to try commuting. She liked it so much that she rode in on Wednesday without me.

And yesterday, as I'm leaving the office, I see an attractive woman who looks a lot like Mrs. Caloso. In fact it was! She works in a building near mine and she was able to leave a little earlier than usual and was walking to the light rail stop. I walked with her and told her I'd meet her at the stop near our house. It's only 3.5 or 4 miles but I made all the lights and had a tailwind so I was waiting at her stop with a good 5 minutes to spare. Then we walked the 1/2 mile to our house. A very nice day.

first commuter report here. suprisingly it was NOT raining this morning - God is watching over us here in the NW after all lower 60's. the usual 6-mile ride up the hill + one crazy distracted lady driver who didn't see me coming behind her nor did she somehow communicate her intention to turn right, right in front of me.... Rickwilliams, i think this is another case, of "ask yourself: How would Jesus drive?" ) i'm also seriously considering puting it on a t-shirt... i wonder if people will get it

Warm commute home and it may be the last one for a while. Looking forward to what ever the weather might bring.

Nice ride in this morning.....cool at -6C. The fog off the lake was pretty cool. Now it is 10C. Hopefully it will get back to our average highs and lows soon. The farmers need a break to finish harvesting. Once that is done I will look forward to snow and winter....I love that first ride in fresh snow when it is still falling and no tracks ahead of you.

I was just about to leave the office to rush home to park my car for tomorrow when my boss called and asked me to cover for her in NJ tomorrow. ARGH! Now I have to drive to NJ on a Friday which sucks. So I turned my computer back on, finished off a project and left a little late. Took the scenic route home past the UN and the East River and amazingly, my legs felt fine so I flogged it up the hills in high gear.

On a brighter note, Bryant Park is installing a portable ice rink at the end of the month so I'll be able to ride the few blocks over there, go ice skating for free during lunch, then ride back. And if I'm not doing anything after work, like parking my car, I can go back and skate some more. Awesome!

Nice ride this morning, riding into the sunrise. The mountain ash and cotoneaster are bright orange-red under a canopy of golden elm.

Brutal day at work.

The ride home was okay, except for the strange creaking coming from my stem. I had to use 5 pop-can shims to get the handlebar to fit, so now I'm worried.

I have no idea what that means.

Leaves are pretty.

Raining like god's tears today (my birthday!). Had a nice ride despite it-I was safe in my MEC Gortex and my clear biking goggles. Plus I got that self-rightous groove all day, so I could yell out things like "YEAH!" and "I OWN the rain!".

Good ride both ways today. Coming home it was too warm for pants and coat, too cool for shorts and t-shirt. 1 mile into my ride I was glad I didn't "suit up". I got home, let the dog out, and just sat down to relax in the back yard when it started to rain. It's been raining ever since.
Tomorrow I am going to the beach with my Bible study group. Have a nice week-end.

October trial bike commute---

Day Four:
Road the full 15 home yesterday. Felt great. Just over 1 hour.

Today parked a little further away, so rode 11 miles each way.

Based on feedback here, I've started to take the lane more. Confidence is building.

Problems: Nothing to mention....

SharpT

Yesterday I wore a sweater under my rain gear with winter gloves plus booties over my shoes, made for a hot commute. This morning was so nice (53F) I just pulled on a wool sweater over my work clothes & hit the road. My new batteries came yesterday so I had the 3 watt generator driven light plus a 10watt & 15watt headlight. First part of my commute is on dark country roads so the lights were great. Light traffic but still lots of careless drivers & had to take evasive action a couple times. Be careful out there.

Commute was trashed today - ended up driving into work and re-justifying all the reasons I've been biking instead. Had to drive in so I could drive out and pick up a sweet deal on a Travel Trac Fluid Plus trainer at $75 (!) I found on Craigs List close to the airport ... and didn't think my rear rack would like that on top of it along with the two UPS units I salvaged from work that have been sitting in my drawer for a month now.

Still, I sat in traffic right along side the EMPTY Mount Vernon Trail or I crawled along at 15-20mph ... which is my bike speed ... had to drive around the building for half an hour searching for a non-residential zoned parking, gave up, tried the garage which I had to fight to let me in since I didn't pick up the parking pass option for my company (they re-imburse me taking the subway instead) ... basically 40 miutes by metro, hour by bike, hour AND A HALF by car & the fear of getting ticketted if I don't get back to my car in time to move it! I really missed my bikes today!

I guess its okay though, I'm +1 fluid trainer which doubles pretty well as my only maintenance stand, and +2 UPS units so my clock doesn't reset if the building brown-outs like it does at least every two weeks

happy birthday!!

doing that rain thing here today too. perfect timing - it started just as i was bringing my bike up to the street. i got to drop the bike and (finally) try out my fancy-pants new waterproof breathable rain pants that i bought last week. yee hah!

and they rock. totally comfortable. they're waterproof all right, and they must be breathable because all i had on underneath was an old silk jumpsuit i'd never wear in public, and it was dry as a bone when i got to work and climbed out. so cool; i'm just thrilled with them. the silk has just the right amount of extra warmth too. i am a happy puppy.

rained more or less all day, and i kept looking at it out the windows and thinking 'i think this is what we call heavy rain. right?' by leaving time it was bouncing back off the road in that two-inch-deep haze of small drops that's kind of a clue, so i was pretty sure. but it doesn't feel like it when you're on a bike somehow. i don't really understand how that works. i started climbing back into my outfit at 6:30 and kind of delayed a little, but by the time i got to the bridge, the cars were still backed up all the way around the cloverleaf. it was really fun. i slipped by them all in the bike lane, and i could just imagine they were all probably looking at me and thinking variations on the poor thing/maniac theme. but it wasn't like that at all. i guess rain only looks super-heavy to you when you're behind glass and you can see it falling on you.

it also seems to be good for you if you're on a bike. i just couldn't believe how much faster i got to both destinations today - and i wasn't trying. i can't be in that much better shape than i used to be. went to the bank and deposited a cheque, rode home on the 'real' roads with the 'real' traffic and practiced my traffic sense, and i feel like i could wrestle a python and win. i rode home in indisputably, officially, dirty weather, and it wasn't just manageable - it was one of the most fun days i've had so far.

songs: the obvious child, paul simon; christmas in prison, john prine; gallant murray, traditional.

i can relate absolutely, tokolosh. it was raining pretty heavily while i was on my way home. didn't have my waterproof gear through (except for a jacket) 'cause it was sunny and nice in the morning. however, it was one of the most exhilarating rides i've had: the rain was worm, i kept passing by the same cars, my adrenaline was up, and when i got home my roomate looked at me as if "thinking variations on the poor thing/maniac theme" and i was grinning like an idiot

Wore a COTTON T shirt on my ride to work today- unbelievable in NH. for this time of year. Seasonal temps in AM are high thirties. Even though I am longing for the crisp star filled skies of Autumn, I'll take it while I can. I haven't burned a stick of wood in my stove yet either.

I had it pretty easy this morning as far as incliment weather goes: the temperature was in the low sixties with heavy rain. Felt great riding in, and if it weren't for the cars, it would have been outstanding.

Hey, everyone! First commuter post, though I've been commuting for years. Today was the first inkling of the cold weather to come and I had to break out the flip-top gloves and ear wrap. A light jacket kept me warm enough as I was already wearing a sweater vest for work. Yes, my wife and sons rolled their eyes as I walked out the door smiling like they do when they go to the beach.

The new guy at work asked me if I missed my bike today, assuming I'd driven due to the "cold" weather. I just looked at him, realized he hadn't been with us long enough to know I commute year-round, weather-be-damned, and told him the ride in was great. I'm sure he doesn't have a clue how not cold it really was this morning as he drove cocooned and all alone in his five passenger, V-8 powered behemoth.

One more detail, but maybe worth writing about. I found a great new place for the bike. Inside. Out of the way. Visible every time I walk past the lobby doors, which is not unheard of as the men's room is on the other side. Maybe that will be motivation to keep hydrated!

Phoo.

Cold (1st day in the 40's - two days ago, it was 92), I can handle, wet, I can handle, dark, I can handle. Cold, AND wet, AND dark, AND my current inadequate light system, though - well, I'm passing for today.

New lights should be in by Tues. or Wed. next.

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.