Left late but had a nice ride right into the sunrise :) Passed another cyclist and got a wave. Nice to see others out in the morning. Looking forward to the high 70s for the ride home this afternoon.

No ride in today. Legs are very tired from yesterday's return trip home. I knew I was going slower than usual and just figured I was tired from working all weekend on the deck at home. But as it turns out, my rear brake was dragging. I think it must have been dragging the entire 11.5 miles I rode to get home. Great workout, but man do I feel beat up today.

Also, I have to go to Home Depot at lunch to pick up a new pressure washer to replact the one that died last night. I also need a belt sander, so those two items might be a bit much to carry on my bike for 8.5 to 12 miles (depending on route I take).

Pretty nice ride this morning. Quartering tailwind. Mid 40Fs. Got passed by a roadie commuter. At least I assume he was commuting. Messenger-like bag. I said hi and he waved. I need to get faster on these knobbie MTB tires. :o :D

Had to brake for a squirrel. Saw some ducks, too.

This weather is great! October is my fave month in NC -
I rode the Outer Banks last week, and I'm going to ride the Parkway in a few.

Oh yeah, today's commute was nice, too ! ;)
Fall Break - fewer peds to dodge on campus...
Nice and brisk in the a.m. - bright and sunny in the p.m.

Oh, and the City is working on installing a light w/ a ped-activated crossing at the worst intersection on my route. w00t!

I'd hoped to slip out before 7 to add a few miles to the morning commute. But my early-rising daughter once again caught me out. After some milk and waffles and Maisy, I was able to leave by 7:15. I was still able to throw in a modified detour.

Got to the office shower room to find that somebody has decided that it's not a communal facility but in fact his own private closet and bathroom. He's got his drycleaning taking up most of the clothes rack and his toiletries strewn all over the vanity top. This is annoying. I don't want to bother management with this, so I guess I'm going to have to find out who this is and then figure out a nice way to say "stop being a shower room hog."

Good ride. For some reason the bike was heavier than usual. Oh yeah. I installed the "winter" lights yesterday. :rolleyes:

Cool enough for arm warmers, vest, and shoes/socks this morning. :(
Saw the same "new" commuter I saw a few mornings last week. I pass her, then she passes me, then I pass her, etc. :rolleyes:

Nice day. Bright and sunny, 50s if not 40s. In a fit of motivation I went another 4 miles past work before turning around (I couldn't face any extra miles yesterday). Pre-cold or whatever is still lingering, I really felt it on the hill that was staring at me when I finally did turn around.

http://www.nicholsonrestoration.com/...0Jag%20XJ6.JPG
I was almost hit by a Jaguar (!) coming in from a side-road. (It looked like the one in this picture, but it was moving a lot faster...) When I got downtown, I got a flat and changed the rear tube on the sidewalk. After a year without flats, I've got both a front and a rear flat this week. Oh well, I look forward to another week of fantastic weather :-)

Beautiful day for a ride! 40-50F this morning on the way in, heavy traffic, but few peds, so I spent some time on the sidewalk. Saw 2 other bike commuters this morning, shared light conversation at a couple of lights. Took less time to ride to work than it normally does to drive. I love being able to go around construction and being able to lock up right on the pier instead of having a 15 minute walk from the parking lot! The ride home was a little more difficult, as I had more hills, but they all are the very beginning, except for a long mild grade going up 303, almost 1.5 mile long hill. Ran into several older people on bikes, and one guy that didn't speak English. Almost hit a trash can avoiding a right hook into a parking lot, but made it through without a scratch. I broke a reflector off of my right pedal on a curb, but that's not a big deal. Pedals with toe cages are in order soon.

nice weather lately.
easy ride, i am definitely getting faster.
my left knee has been sore though. can't figure out why.
ten minutes till the next ride.

:D :D

I guess it was a holiday yesterday, that explains why I was so all alone. Snow on the Flatirons this morning but only a little bit of drizzle on the ride in. Rode the yellow duck bike in again so it was a slow ride in. Saw a fixed-gear rider with full fenders (Bianchi Pista? or San Jose?) - cool.

Had to stop by my LBS, so that added 8.5 miles for a total of 27 miles for the day. Nice ride, a little nippy with some breeze. I need a rain/wind breaker and rain pants... Went to my LBS because I had noticed wooble on my back wheel... up and down. Turns out the reflectors attached to the wheels cause this! I took both of them out (I wear enough reflective material to be mistaken for a UFO... :D )

I felt like I could go just about anywhere in town on my bike... I felt strong... that is a powerful feeling. People at work are starting to ask questions about my bike commuting. At least one has expressed interest in starting himself. Last week I saw another employee leave the building on his bike (had never seen him before). And the building's facilities manager told me that management has decided to buy a bike rack which will be coming within the next couple of weeks. yay!

GreenAnvil

Yeesh... today was okay. Temperature was good but due to cloud cover the sky was pretty dull :(

Hoping for better coming soon :)

To all Phoenix, AZ area commuters out there: Ain't this time of year the best or what? :D This is why we live here, this is why we endure those long brutal summers. So when things finally cool off we can go outdoors and ride and hike and play golf and play softball and frickin' play until we can't help getting that silly Joker grin.

Looked out the window at 8:00 this morning and the sun was shining low, illuminatiing any and everything that strange autumn gold. Temps were absolutely ideal, in the 70's, little to no wind. :p

I've been laboring in the commute to work lately so I cut the weight of the item with the most mass, my Kryptonite New York U-lock. I left the shackle at work and carried the D-bar along with my lunch and clothes in my backpack. And wow, it almost felt like I wasn't carrying anything.

Tonight on the way home I changed my route. Instead of going around the AZ 101 staging area just west of 79th Ave and Union Hills, I in my perhaps unwise, foolish, newbie wisdom went straight for that 101 junction. The traffic was tight, lots of cars but not going at high speed. Made it through with no horns or pleasantries. Probably will do it again, the traffic flow and pattern is much less complicated and slower going in this direction, westbound, as opposed to eastbound.

Wow, a month ago was terrified of doing this. So far I'm having a ball (knocking on wood).

Not bad. Evil headwind, but I plowed through it. 50F. 5 miles of MUP, and I only saw 1 pedestrian and 2 cyclists. All 3 are "trail regulars."

Had one brain-dead cager incident. I guess my 13W halogen and high-viz neon green jacket just weren't quite enough to be seen through tinted SUV windows (because what's an SUV without tinted windows?). The driver backed out of a driveway right in front of me. Idyllic residential street with no other traffic around. I had plenty of warning because of the vehicle's back-up lights and the fact that it didn't seem to be slowing as it rolled toward the street. I didn't skip a beat. I just smoothly steered left around it. The driver decided to brake at that point, but I was already around it. :rolleyes:

In hindsight, I should have gone up on their lawn and skidded to a stop. :D

Yesterday, a young woman was trying to take off her jacket as she was riding. :eek: She was all over the place. I stayed behind her for a while, expecting her to crash at any minute. She finally gave up with one sleeve off, and then noticed me back there. She apologized and I said, "No problem. Don't crash!" She laughed and said she was trying to take off her jacket. I just said, "Yep...", and dropped her.

No commute today as my wife woke up right around 4:30a and refused to let me ride under a mild thunderstorm... She drove me to work.

GreenAnvil

Tried out my silk baselayer today - just under an alert shirt nothing more. Wanted to see how it breathed and all. Perhaps it was a little too warm for this test. Silk is warmer than my polyester base layers. And it wicks quite well - which is a darn good thing but it was too warm for this test to today. Did I mention that silk is warm? :o

OTOH - wind goes right through it so when using my silks I will need a wind barrier ...

Lots of rain and some lighting today made me turn today into 'errand day'. Had to drive in, so no biking.
Sniffle....I miss my bike already.

Woke up at 3:15 (1 hr early). Headed into work and had a lovely cool ride.
Was a bit windy up north but all was well when the wind turned warm. My goodness, there is even less traffic that early in the morning.

Awesome ride in this morning. Got to see a red tailed hawk up close and personal too. About 5 miles into my commute something moving caught my eye. It wasn't the normal movement of cars, trucks, or ground based animals No sirree. This was above my head and moving towards me :eek: It was a small red tail with a wingspan of maybe 3 feet. I could see each tail feather since he was so close.

Luckily he went right on by. I don't know if he was just crossing over to the woods or if he was checking out the new animal moving at about 20 mph ;) Anway...cool experience.

Walked out to the garage to grab the bike, and I found the rear tire flat :(. Added 10 minutes to the commute :). I was passed by another rider on the way up the middle hill, and it gave me the incentive to get moving faster. I stayed with him the entire way.

I am really liking the L&M ARC HID light I picked up last week. It really makes a difference. Cars definitely see me now.

The commute today was not what I expected -- but it was nice. I did the Melton's ride last night and got home too late to do my house-husband chores so did them this morning. I planned on driving :o but I guess I was supposed to ride. I got in the car, turned the key, and only heard a single "click" and then silence. Dead battery.
Went inside, changed into my riding gear, packed my panniers, and left the house much later than usual.

Nature encounters can be so cool - you've surely seen the many deer that hang out along the Greenway. Sort of scary when they are right by the trail and suddenly decide to flee when you are say 15-20 feet away. :eek:

Once in college, I encountered a bird of prey of some sort. He was perched on a limb 10 feet or so ahead of me. Right at eye level and about a foot off the path. We had a staring contest for a bit. I decided he was ok with me so I starting walking towards him to get class. He spread his wings out to the full 30-foot wingspan (so it seemed) and sort of squawked. I skipped class.

Overslept and drove in. Whatan eyeopener!
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Leaving home 42F
half way in to 38F!!
arrive @ work 35F

Gaaaa no wonder I've been freezing after "warming up"...a 7degree difference!!!!!!!!!!