Bit chilly today, but no wind. A little fog in the low spots. Wore my rain gear in light of the forecast showers so I was a bit overdressed. A railroad crossing is closed on my route so I have to detour a couple of blocks. Traffic gave me no room so I had to ride in the lane and got stuck behind a dump trunk in the line waiting to get through a stop sign. Phew.

Bleagh! It was about 3C when I left the house, with sort of a pelting intermittent rain coming down. I actually had to zip my jacket all the way up. Nothing eventful on the way in. I made most of my lights and my new shoes are breaking in nicely. The walk to my office involved more rain, but it was refreshing rather than icky. People tend to scurry and/or huddle in the rain here. It started to snow after I got to work, but it's stopped already.

The first below 40F commute of the season for me this morning. There's a freeze warning (for crops/plants) tonight, so it will likely be cooler tomorrow. I doubt it will be below freezing on my commute though. Too close to Lake Champlain.

Lots of rain lately!

Crazy headwinds today! Or -- maybe I'm just finally too tired out to finish off my commute at the usual pace. Tomorrow's forcast calls for showers and saturday is a wash too. Time to take a rest!

The weather was amazingly beautiful in western Virginia today. But I got two thats right two freekin flats on the way in

still a nice day though

I never thought about it before, but I counted up the number of times I criss-crossed 3rd Ave. on the way home. I crossed 6 lanes of traffic (the 7th lane has parked cars) 7 times in less than 2 miles. Is that too much? I did it b/c of traffic. That includes riding in the middle of the avenue for about a block b/c of construction.

When I got home, my rain jacket and pants from J&G were waiting for me! And they fit! That's always a worry when you're short and fat like me. And it's gonna rain tomorrow! But I won't get to try it out tomorrow. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get a chance to use it.

Frustrating commute today. First this guy in an Escalade rides way too close to my back wheel for a little too long. This elderly couple nearly causes an accident while yelling at me to get off the road. I'm embarrassed to say my temper got the better of me and I yelled back.

I ride ten miles each way, going from the 5000 north block of Kedzie to California and 21st, Chicago. I teach art in a public elementary school. I used to ride only five miles each way, but I really enjoy ten. I'm not a fast rider, so it takes about an hour, going between 13 andf 15 mph.

On my way to school, I ride through parts of the ghetto, Chicago's infamous west side. This is the part of town that burned when Martin Luther King was shot in 1968 and has not been rebuilt. You would not go through this part of town unless you had a reason. Unless you lived there, were desperate/foolish or perhaps like me you were a teacher. I've been amazed at the number of empty lots, overgrown with weeds. And so many signs such as "This land for sale very cheaply". Or, "We buy land- cash". Or, more conclusively, realty signs of "The New West", with freshly built condos behind it. Without getting into the complex econo-politics of the good and evil of condos, I find myself amazed by this daily experience of mine.

Now, mornings are pretty early for me, and there is definitely a different atmosphere than in the afternoons/early evenings. One evening I left later than usual for my return trip home and noticed a definitely higher number of "baddies" hanging out. This was another teacher's term, not strictly PC, but accurate. This same teacher conveyed that I should be scaird to be doing what I'm doing, riding my bike through the ghetto everyday.

One morning I looked to long at a strange storefront building and a second later I heard a bottle braking on the street behind me. The storefront, I think it was a liquor store or a porn shop or something, seemed to have had a Lookout. From the far side of the street the bottle was launched. I sort of wanted to think the thrower was drunk, but a deeper part of me said it was an intentional warning.

Which leads me to the next part. Aside from art teacher, I do documentary type photography, and I can't help but see images as I ride through the ghetto. Not the typical patronizing ghetto shots, but something else. (another conversation). Anyway, I see these pictures that I'm compelled to record, more as a personal journal. But I'm deathly afraid. I've been thinking how I can do it without being shot or mugged. A good handlebar bag, etc.

What a strange experience, riding through the ghetto on my way to work. On one hand I'm scaird, but on the other, I am not. I feel granted a certain grace (knock on wood) because I'm not 'messing around', but I have a purpose. My current school is not in the ghetto, but my old one was. So if you work in the gheto, there's little way around getting there without going through the ghetto. You get used to it, but more so, when the kids start waving at you as you ride by, well, that changes things.

The whole thing's really pretty sad, but I don't necesarrily want to cry up a pity storm. A famous activist once said, "what you call the ghetto, we call home". Now, I have one student from the ghetto that's really tried my nerves to the utmost. But I also see them as a person. And this get's me beyond the armchair view that most people have about the ghetto and those that live in it.

So, that's about my daily commute. It's turning fall this week big time and the leaves are falling. I'm really looking forward to winter, to the snow, and then to spring. I will watch as some old buildings come down, and some new ones go up. I'll cross the 294 overpass with the Sears Tower and downtown shining in the background like the Emerald City is viewed from some podunk village. There will be snow, turning all bright blinding white, and old buildings vacant black, and the air a crackling sharp cold.

This is my ride.

Talk to a local community activist about what you want to do and what the aim is. Offer to show your photos at a local community center. He/she can accompany you and smooth over any misunderstandings and mistrust people might have.

hmm. cool and clear this morning, with just enough of just the right kind of cloud to keep the sun out of my eyes, or else maybe we're getting that accelerated shortening of the days or something. didn't notice much sun at all on my way south, but when i came off the bridge and turned west, it was like this impression that the sun had just broken through as i came into the clear, just for me. suddenly all this light around and ahead of me; it was great.

this week's focus is all about making it easy. how easy can it be? let's find out. something about this different approach is just killing that knee, and really i guess i 'should' have given it a day off. the trouble with 'easy' is that you can keep it up so much longer and you rest so much less. but i'd already done monday-tuesday-wednesday, so what's the point of taking a break so late in the week? just means i'd come back in time for a single ride before the weekend gives me a break anyway. it's frustrating, because everything else about it is going so well. this week i'm mixed up between wanting to go ahead anyway, and starting to worry about it a bit. pressure bandages in the weekend forecast, i think, then we'll see. i want this month to work out for me.

coming home also nice. the way things have been, i leave work around 7 pm. dark, sure, but the compensation is much less traffic, and the traffic there is is not the rush-hour kind. i did my last remaining piece of experimentation tonight. coming off the bridge on my side, instead of staying on the bridge road and walking across three separate exit/entrance lanes and then biking up the sidewalks for a couple of blocks to the crossover light, i followed the first curve around to under the bridge and then over to join the bike path at the same point where i leave it in the mornings. i think i'll keep doing that, actually. it's got one ugly bit, but just a different version of ugly from what i already had. the rest seems to be a much nicer way to go. roll on friday.

songs: the grey funnel line, june tabor, and navigator, the pogues.

No commute today. I stayed home with the kids to fill in a grandparent gap in our childcare schedule. I did use my time productively though: I cleaned and lubed each of my bikes while the kids had their afternoon nap.

Looking forward to the ride tomorrow.

Uneventful commute this morning. 53 degrees and almost no traffic. Finally got a light (Cateye EL300), which made a huge difference. The crescent trail here in DC is beautiful this time of year (even in the dark…Ha!) No flats today. Yippy!

GB

No commute today for me either. Have cold which I've ridden through until now, but I feel utterly lousy today. I'd like to skip work, but, well, I didn't. I know, I know, "if you're too sick to ride you must be too sick to work" but I could use a day off with how run-down I'm feeling. Bleah.

The commute home yesterday was lousy. After crossing 9th Ave I was forced out of the lane by a nasty van driver and then nobody let me back across to the right. Yes, the dude passed me on the right while I was in the middle of the lane -- he didn't even give me a chance to get out of the way, stupid POS. He was going fast enough that if I hadn't moved there was a good chance of a collision. I was so pissed I nearly made my arm bleed as I wrote his license plate, van company and van number down on my arm when I caught the SOB at the next light. (I need to start carryin "post-its" with my pen!) I made a show of looking at the side of the van (from the passenger side, I'm not stupid, heh) to get the info. When 9AM rolls around the driver's company will be getting an earful from me (assuming I can find their phone number).

My first sub-freezing commute of the season! Bike computer said 29F. I didn't think it would drop below freezing but the air is pretty calm so things cooled off last night. Bit of frost over a bike bridge.

If you're wondering: Full-length lycra tights on the legs, short-sleeve jersey and nylon jacket on top. Light gloves. Headband for the ears. I don't really need a lot of insulation.

A great morning for a ride, too. Nice clear skies for the first time in days (weeks?) and the sun was just coming up, lighting the Adirondacks across Lake Champlain. Pretty...

Time to see if KMart fired up their guns last night...

Rolled out of bed at 9 am, turned on my cell phone, sat down at my desk and started checking my email. That's the extent of my commute today. Ahhhh...Fridays....

Today was great. High 50s and sunny. I even saw a couple of commuters (going the other way) I've never seen before. They actually smiled and waved.


Arrggg. Don't remind me of cold weather.
The weather guessers are saying that Monday will be in the high 30s. I may get out of bed around noon when it warms up. I wish! As usual, I'll probably be the first one at work.

That's definitely the way to do it if you're not going to ride.

Excellent morning commute. Perfect temperatures for a light-weight long sleeve shirt and shorts. Like Ron, I saw several commuters out on the backroads of intown Atlanta. One jerk driver honked behind me for about two blocks and then sped past me with some unkind words. But I'm getting off early today, happy hour at my favorite bar, then off to the mountains for some hiking and hill training tomorrow. Fall is the best time of year.

No bikers on the road today. The sky was completely clear this morning - pale blue in the east. It was -7C and the cold damn near peeled the ears from my head. The new Pearl Izumi Amfib lobster gloves did their job, but I'm going to need a headband in the near future.

The bad news is my commute involved sitting on a bus for ten minutes and the subway for 45 minutes. It was warm and dry.

The good news is I got to replenish my clothing supply.

Commuting home yesterday I rode through (literally) a photo shoot by the boat basin. Looked like two parents putting two kids on their bikes. It'll be interesting to see what that was for. Saw a music video being filmed up by the dead end at 135th st and 12th north of Fairway.

You know it's starting to get cold when your knees are creaking going up those hills! Here come the layers...

no ride today. some kind of strange metabolic weirdery kept me awake and miserable until past 5 am, and then i didn't wake up until 9, so i drove. would have been a great day to do it if i'd been up to it.

Well, I didn't ride Thursday and I've been so busy getting ready for a wedding today that I didn't get on here and report.
It was raining Thursday and I had a cold so I didn't feel like riding.
Friday, however, (I still have the cold) but I felt pretty good . When I stepped out on my back patio it was a beautiful morning. The half moon was bright in the sky. I could see every star and the air had that autumn briskness that just makes you feel good. I had a great ride. I saw several other bike commuters, but none close enough to speak. Just flashing lights in the darkness.
When I got to work I got one of those "I think it's great that you are still riding your bike this late in the year" comments from a co-worker.
The ride home was even better. It felt like spring...hard to believe that it was raining just yesterday. But then, I do live in Oregon.

I did a practice run on my planned bike commute today! I have to say it was a great feeling of accomplishment and I'm looking forward to "joining the club."

Congratulations, duanekeys, and good luck on your inaugural commute!