Getting colder. Low 40's this morning and a nice tailwind. I was way overdressed though, and stopped a couple of times to drop some clothes. After a weekend of rain kinda nice to see sunshine, even though it was right in the eyse.

High 20s this morning. Somewhere from 28-32 degrees. I am starting to encounter the lower limit of several clothing items.

Anyhow, I took the same route I was working on last week. This time I did not take a wrong turn and it took me longer. Maybe I should get lost more often. Either that or ride through the construction on buchtel.

Low 40's here in NYC. Nice commute. Added an extra layer and wore full gloves this morning. Finally a tailwind!! Very quiet, not too many bikers or joggers. Would you believe three or four news trucks to cover the opening of the new midtown ferry terminal. It would be great if one of them was investigating why it takes so long to finish the greenway not ten feet away.

Low 40's this morning, a slight head/cross wind for the most part and raining. It's supposed to stay this way all week, oh goodie.

Heh, nicely put. How about the section of the Greenway by the water treatment plant? It's been "under construction" with "security concerns" requiring that the gate at one end of that stretch be closed late at night for many moons (like half a year now). I haven't seen the slightest bit of progress in the supposed construction. Hooray for corruption!

Nice commute today. Did the Tour de Bronx which was a blast (slow, delayed, etc but still lots of fun) yesterday so it was great to be able to get right back on the bike today. Yes, definitely chillier today. First day of full-finger gloves to work for me too. I tried a new long sleeve jersey today (as opposed to using arm warmers with a short sleeve) with my light jacket, and full tights over shorts (as opposed to leg warmers). Only pair of socks and no booties, though if I were using my road bike shoes the booties would probably be on. Very nice, comfy ride.

Tomorrow I expect to leave the bike at home if we do in fact get the "Wilma effect" weather. I'm done riding in semi-dangerous conditions! The forecasted rain for this evening should be fine, though.

I was thinking maybe invite Bloomie to join me on my commute through that area. There are no lights, and broken pavement. The past couple of mornings, I found myself riding off the path on that little circle at the top of the sewage plant. Then you have to play chicken with the cars entering the complex by the security booth. The security guards park there car on the left about 10 feet from the gate, so you have to ride right almost until you get to the booth and then cut left to go through the "bike gate".

Funny thing is that it closes a gate in the middle. You can get there form the north and from the south. you just can't get through. As far as finishing, they've only got like three major sections left. The sewage plant, the cruise terminals, and south of Chelsea Piers. The sewage plant doesn't look like its been worked on in a long time. The others seem to be in progress.

The wife decided to take me on a "shortcut" to work today. Instead of waiting at 2 lights [total time = 90 seconds], we cut across 3 lanes of heavy rush hour traffic to wait at another light and make two illegal turns. Time savings = none. Danger rating = needlessly high. Very uncool.

How was the commute?? One word. COLD!!!
It was ~43F (6C) and the wind was ~12-15 mph. Yeh, that's cold for southerners.

I had on knee warmers, base layer t-shirt, s/s jersey, arm warmers, wind breaker, SmartWool socks, and Cannondale Windshredder gloves. My fingers and toes were cold. I guess the Diadora Geko mtb shoes are good to temperatures of about 50F and warmer.

The temperatures may be taking a toll on some of the bike commuters. I only saw one other bike commuter today.
There are several bike racks on the university campus I cut through and many are usually close to being full. Today I only saw one bike in the rack that's usually full.

Tomorrow is supposed to be colder with stronger winds.

I thought the winds today were plenty strong. It felt like I was on the big ring to whole way to work.

I love the fall for riding. It was probably in the 50s with a touch of fog. I rode my old mtb in so I can drop it off at the LBS at lunchtime. I've got a headset issue that I can't fix at home.

40F and raining. Gloomy. A good ride.

-3C with a head wind part way.....I did see 3 other cyclists this morning. Thats not bad considering it was pitch black at 6:30 when I left home. I hope those fellas I saw this morning get some lights and reflective gear though. Dark clothing and one blinky does not make you highly visible.

The nice thing about it getting colder definitely isn't the time it takes to put on all the layers before leaving for work/home each day. I hate it more than the cold weather itself. The nice thing is that at this time of year I become more of a hero to my family for some reason. This past Friday night my wife and kids served me my dinner and then my wife encouraged me to go to bed early (7 PM -- three hours earlier than normal) while she put the kids to bed. Saturday she put the kids to bed while I watched the World Series and then brought popcorn/soda to me after she put them to bed.

The commutes have been nice but the tough thing is that it's been real easy to over dress.

October Trial Commute.... bike commuting since Oct 1st... previously a 10yr couch potato.

So far so good, but man it appears I have it easy here in the SF bay area. Still waiting for the first rain of the season and morning temps stay above 48F.

This morning my legs felt strong. Looked down and I was moving along at 22mph with no effort, like the bike was motorized or something for the first 7 miles of my 11 mile commute. Oct 1st I could barely keep my road bike above 15mph, and now I'm carrying a rack+loaded rack bag plus 4.5AH NiMH battery and lighting.

I still haven't had to deal with rain yet. 30% chance of "rain" this Thursday. I'm ready.

SharpT

This morning's commute was good, it was our first <50° morning of the fall and I totally overdressed for it. Coming home seemed a bit cooler because the winds were acting up. I thought I would encounter rain by the weather reports this am, but I should've known better as they are ALWAYS wrong.

Anyway, this morning on the last road I take before getting on campus I saw a brand new shiny bike lane. The road that it's on is pretty highly trafficked by buses so I am very excited to have the space all to myself.

It was great all weekend!!! I worked Fri, Sat, Sun, and rode to the store with my son to pick up the makins for dinner tonight. I love my commute to work. I bought a rack today to get the sweaty pack off my back, seems to work great. I'm looking for excuses now to bike instead of drive. Now that my wife has realized riding is not as dangerous as she thought, and has seen my route, she's relaxed and not waiting out front for me to arrive home( but that was nice). The cold isn't a real issue here in Northern California for me, but rain is going to be a test. I'll try it and see.

Flat tire day.
That's right, had a flat tire on my bike ride into work today. The misfortune occured at the 5 mile mark. I realized it as I turned the corner, the back end had this squishy feel to it. I sensed there was a little bit of air left and there was a slight incline, so I gutted it out to a flat spot.
Took me forever to change the tube though (probably a good half hour). The tires are called Armadillos as they are supposed to be resistant to flats from things like glass slivers, etc.. But I discovered the tire met its match with a 1 inch screw that managed to make it all the way in (screw head was flush with the tire surface). I had all the tools I needed, but get flats so rarely anymore it took me a while to get the right leverage with the levers I had.
I got back on the road and it seemed like the rest of the day I was running late, or was rushed/not-prepared. I even forgot to shampoo/spray/etc work has shower facilities, but by the time I realized I forgot my toiletry bag at my desk I was too far along to turn around.

The ride back to the truck was uneventful (thank goodness), although I did screw up before I got my bike out of the bike locker. At work they have 4 or 5 bike lockers outside the building. These provide a covered area to store your bike, but you have to check-out a key everytime you use them. Tonight as I was getting ready to leave, the security guard stopped by my desk to let me know that I could just leave the locker key in the locked box at the security desk as he was doing one of his "rounds". Usually, I go out, unlock the bike locker, go back in the building and return the key to the guard or the lock box. Tonight, I dropped the key in the lock box before realizing I hadn't retrieved my bike yet! So, I had to run around the building looking for the security guard so that he could fish my locker key out of the box! I thanked him, but told him it was his fault for telling me to just put the key in the box (like my subconscience could think about nothing else but dropping the key in the box).

Oh well, I work from home tomorrow, maybe Wednesday will be better.

Great ride to work but it rained most of the day. The gortex jacket I picked up really works well in the cold rain. The weather man said it will rain most of the week. So my rain gear will get a good workout. I just have to find a way to keep my head dry. Everything else was dry by the time I got to work. Have a good night.

I am sitting in a cage every day now after a fall 4 weeks ago broke my collar bone, but will be back soon!!!

a

made my own bagels yesterday

forgot to take them to work today. so tomorrow's are already out of the freezer and packed as we type.

really nice rides both ways. late leaving this morning - past 9 am. it was cool and cloudy on the way in, and nothing eventful happened at all. coming home was neat too. i am slowly, slowly, getting the better of that Horrible Hill. one of these days it really does now seem possible that i'll ride up the whole thing without thinking about it. the less-steep sections already feel that way to me. i love to see them coming at me because i know that this part is going to be fun. gee, i love that feeling of noticing change.

checked my email records today. i made my first experimental ride on this route on september 6th. it seems longer ago than that, somehow, especially considering that i went and got sick for two weeks just as i was getting started. when i started doing this i had a bit more than four months left on this contract, and i figured that if i just put my head down and rode to work until it was done, it would keep me entertained for the duration and something would be better by the time we wrapped up. hmm. i could be ahead of my mental schedule with this. i may have to quit.

the thing i have to make sure i do this week is eat. last week was kind of hairy. i kept forgetting to do it, or not being interested, and then by the time i was heading for home i'd be unravelling but it seemed easier to just keep on going anyway. basket case by friday, and that's not too smart.

world series night at a friend's tomorrow. better make sure i get to work early for it.

songs today: donald and lydia, john prine. frida kahlo's visit to the tay bridge bar, michael marra. the bits i remember from the third movement of gorecki's sorrowful songs.

40F again today, and raining. I left at 6:45AM which was before twilight even. Had my blinkies and the little Cateye microhalogen that works fine on the rail trail.

Was riding on the trail (still dark out) and I saw light ahead of me. Realized it was a reflector. Some roadie going the other way. No blinkies. No headlight. I always wonder what happens when two people like this encounter one another. Do they almost collide? Do they yell at each other?

Might snow later today, but it won't stick yet.

Raining when I rode home yesterday, 40 and raining again this morning, stiff 20+ headwind, I feel like I should be talking in my Eeyore voice.

Hey guys and gals!

I've been absent from this thread (and the commuting world) for quite some time. I'm not going to dig into the archives of this thread to find my last post, but it was a while ago!

I stared a new job last week, and began commuting the second day. It's great! There are shower/change facilities in the washroom just steps from my desk, and we have a nice warehouse to park the bike in to keep it dry and thawed out!

Today was a bit chilly (3 degrees Celcius) and fairly dark at 7:20am. My commute is a short 5.5 kms one way, and is through a mixture of residential and industrial-type roads. So far I've had no problems with traffic or anything of that nature! I hope to be posting here frequently again!

Tonite I have to ride to the rad shop to pick up my car (booo.. stupid money pit) and then take the bike home in the back seat. But even with the car fixed, I'll be back on the bike tomorrow!

Cheers!

Darren

At least is was warmer this morning.

However, it was one of those mornings.
-running late
-stomach gets upset right before I was ready to leave
-running even later
-problem with bike light
-at this point I had lost 1/2 the time it takes me to get to the bus
-rush and make this bus
-can't find my lower fare tickets
-pay with a higher fare ticket
-give up and ride the bus all the way into work instead of riding 15 miles from a midway point. Give up when you are behind was this morning's motto.

I sure hope my 35 mile commute home is much better. It should be since I am stopping at REI. Otherwise, I am driving in tomorrow to take a break.

First ride in over a week this morning. It was very cool (40) and windy. I didn't wear full gloves and my fingers got cold along with my toes. I will have to wear full gloves tomorrow and thicker socks. It was a nice ride in though. Should be near 60 on the way home and sunny