Nice ride in, but quite foggy. About 100 yards vis. in spots. I had the blinkies going (LD-500+LD1000), and most of the traffic gave me plenty of room. My glasses and mirror would fog over completely at every stop though.

Getting darker. sun just rising as I start my ride.

The "Data Loading Guy" is back from vacation now, so I was able to ride in at 6:15 instead of the 4:45 I have been doing for the last couple of weeks. Wow what a difference! Fargin cars everywhere... and none of them have had enough coffee to be driving well. It was really nice on the earlier commute because the roads were pretty much abandoned. Oh well, catching the sunrise and having some ambient light was almost a good trade off.
Temp was a brisk 34F again, so today I added a long sleeve base layer under my hooded sweatshirt. I also used a neck gaiter. The addition of these 2 pieces made a huge difference although somewhat too warm on the uphill. Performance Triflex tights are on the shopping list for this weekend so I can ditch the floppy nylon pants. Time is short for getting the cold weather gear sorted out.

Don

My commute is getting quicker and quicker. Next week I will be trying a different route. It should double the distance I bike. Hopefully, it will enable me to get home quicker. Consequently allowing me to ride daily.

I also decided I was being an idiot and picked up a pair of cycling tights. These things are awesome. Stupid idiotic modesty.

Word, luck. WORD.

I feel a TON better just b/c the freakin' SUN is out. Sheesh! I spent the better part of a Sunday a few weekends ago working a rusted handle out of my woodstove. This morning I biked to a local welder w/the door to the stove in my chrome bag.

I must say... I am a fan of the chrome bag. HOLY! That was a heavy load for a decent distance (6 mi.), but I survived it and I don't know if I could've said the same with my other bags.

The welder, a man who's owned the shop for 82 years, looks at me on my bike and says "Where the hell's the door?" He had a nice laugh when he realized it was on my back.

Rainy. Had to ride through 8 inches of salty flood water for about 100 feet. Then later got a flat from a glass shard. Replaced tube with spare & got filthy from road grime.

I decided to patch the punctured tube when I got to work only to find the glue in my patch kit was completely dried up. Great.

From now on, I'm carrying two spares & checking my patch kit more frequently.

The ride in was great even though it was a little on the cool side. I didn't even break into a sweat today.

The 7 day forecast says that the morning temps will be in the 50s next week. I guess I'll break out the base layer stuff and arm warmers soon.

How many weeks till April?

It has been somewhat snowy and icey the past few days. Good thing I got my
studded tires on.

hard rain this morning, so I drove...beautiful fall day this afternoon, so I wish I had riden.

I drove to the NJ office today to pick up the MS donations from my co-workers for Sunday's MS Ride. It was raining all day, but I still saw bike commuters on the Hudson River Greenway (oboeguy's MUP) this morning and this afternoon. I notice I get more frustrated at drivers when I'm driving than when I'm cycling.

the woman in the cube beside me is an hr contractor. all day long i get to hear her say 'what are your long-term goals; where do you see yourself two years down the road?' into her phone. i can answer that one in my sleep now. 'getting up and out of the house by 7 am, so i can be at work before 9'. good thing she's not asking me, i suppose.

nothing much to report either way. fell down in the last 300 yards of the morning ride; my own silly fault, not harmful, and i was just glad nobody was around to see me do it. then fell down in the shower; don't ask. managed to get home without falling down, but instead i had something strange come to pass with my chain so i had to get off and muck around with it for a while. still, i rode all the way there and all the way back, and i think i can do tomorrow as well.

oh. and i put air in my tyres on the way home. haven't been checking them for softness this week, because imagine how disappointed i would have been if i hadn't had that explanation for how tired my legs have been getting this week. but they were, actually. i should do something about that inverted protestant self-obstruction ethic sometime. it's probably a sign that i'm bored with my job.

songs: me and julio down by the schoolyard, paul simon, and soldier's joy, michelle shocked.

Broke a rib nearly two weeks ago......can't cycle......major bummer. This thread makes it worse !

Lorcán.

Cool morning, mid to upper fifties, cold rain, wind 12 mph from the north. Lost a couple of hours of sleep to my little one who was feeling unwell, so I was a bit tired and running late. Saw another rider in full kit a couple of blocks ahead of me drafting a garbage truck, was jealous. Of the draft, not the kit, that is. Upon arriving to work, I was surprised to find out I'd made excellent time despite the lack of sleep and motivation. In summary, coffee good, fire bad.

I get a deja vue ride fairly regularly in the mornings. I hit a STEEP short hill almost right away, gets things pumping. Then a long downhill. At the right time of morning, like earlier this week, there's a slight fog towards the bottom. I can feel myself hit the chill, a taste of the lake to my right. Then I hit the woods, with the trees joining overhead, and a sharp relatively high-G turn to the left, the low point. That particular stretch always feels calm and graceful, dropping into the air off the lake. But when that little bit of mist is there it is really magical.

My ex-wife smashed up her new blue SAAB on that corner years ago, driving badly as usual. I think that was about the last straw - one of those passive aggressive things. She did in lots of cars and did other bizarre things. So the turn at the bottom is my friend.

There's the 1/4 mile of gentle riding by the dairy farm. Often birds of prey zoom over. Far away, across the fields and woods, generally with a bit of Tennessee mist in low spots, the Smoky Mountains rise against the morning glow in the east, just the outlines, with fence posts and cedar trees flashing by in front of them, the old and broken road chattering under the Paramount's tires. This can be a really dreamlike experience. I never get tired of that little section, and Lulu at the end of it. She's old and a bassett so I have to slow down to give her a chance at me. I often laugh making the next left, whipping through the countryside with a hound baying at my heels.

Now this week I had a call come in late, and I was already late to be leaving work. So I left at dusk, turned on my flashy taillight and was glad for the reflective panels on my messenger bag. But there was plenty of light really. I climbed quickly up to the stretch by the dairy farm. To my right were the cattle, and fields, and woods, purple tinged and dim, the perspective mainly provided by my movement. And in the distance, purple mountains with the tops crowned in hot pink. And to my left, crimson and pink clouds in the distance, probably over the plateau. When I think of moving somewhere more sensible, memories of scenes like this let me know I'm already home. No point in looking elsewhere.

Mist on the river
Golden eyes peer from tall grass
mtb tires hum

If the rain comes
they run and hide their heads
They might as well be dead
If the rain comes
If the rain comes

When the sun shines
they slip into the shade
and sip their lemonade
When the sun shines
When the sun shines

Rain, I dont mind
Shine, the weathers fine

I can show you
that when it starts to rain
everythings the same
I can show you
I can show you

Rain, I dont mind
Shine, the weathers fine

Can you hear me
that when it rains and shines
its just a state of mind
Can you hear me
Can you hear me

Cagers stare helpless
Freedom blowing through my hair
I am One Less Car

What's with the haiku?
How was your commute today?
Let's get back on track!

This morning it was so foggy that I had to take my glasses off half way to work. When I got to work there was water dripping from my beard.
This afternoon it was a beautiful fall day. Not too hot not too cool. I seem to make better time when it is cooler.

Back on track?! The haiku describes my commute. The river trail was wreathed in foggy mist. The yellow eyes were either feral cats or raccoons in the woodline, shining in the glare of my helmet light. It was like being in a Scooby Doo cartoon - all you saw was the eyes in the grass. My roadbike died yesterday, so I was back on the mtb, hence the humming tires...

Personally, I enjoyed the poetic break and since it started off a new page of posts, I was hoping everyone would follow suit with haiku, odes, sonnets, etc. Oh well, maybe a separate poetry thread would be more suitable.

sneaky.

new rule for this thread
three lines per person today
it's haiku friday

must have been feeling bulletproof yesterday on the way home. sang 'the barnyards of delgaty' most of the way.

oh i can drink an no get drunken
i can fecht an no get slain
i can lie wi' another man's lass
an i'll be welcome to my ain

guy at the intersection just after the bridge gave me a funny kind of look. some bikers have no sense of humour at all.

Tires crunching through the snow.
Snow flakes gently falling down.
Fog is slowly moving in.

All haikus have three
lines, five, then seven, then five
syllables in them

It's not haiku friday today.

October trial commute.....

Well I made it through week 2....

I'm consistently averaging 15+ now on my 11 mile commute, and with some persistent knee stretching, I think my knee can take this.

Started laying out my homemade lighting system today. Once the time change hits, it will add a layer of difficulty to the commute.

Also ordered new wheel hubs for my other 126mm bike, so I can have a backup bike. Wish me luck on wheelbuilding next weekend.

SharpT