Had a good ride home, traffic on Adelaide was heavy as ever due to the construction between Spadina and Yonge (at various places).

Going east of Yonge, crossing the final parts of the streetcar tracks and I feel my water bottle out of its cage, looked down and it's balancing precariously on the top of the cage - I signal, move left and brake to stop and fix it up, so of course good ol' momemtum throws the bottle into the path of the car behind/passing me - under the car and then under a rear wheel it goes, luckily it 'bounced' and flew up onto the sidewalk - where a kind lady was good enough to pass it over to me. Damaged, but still holds water, all is well. Allow me to now comment on the terrible condition of Adelaide St. - the bumps is what jossled my bottle free, having to pull up over them (some holes/cracks/grates are a good 1-2" deep) - I might try an alternative tomorrow, I'm starting not to enjoy that short stretch of my commute - the traffic and insanity it brings is a bit too stressful for what I'd like to be a good ride.

Crossing the Bloor viaduct, I get a nice remark on my vest from a lady I said Hi to at a red light. Then, heading over the bridge itself and I was going along at my usual 20-21mph (I think due to the windshielding on the sides, I always seem to get a really nice smooth speed going on there) and a guy on a mountain bike (which I also ride) really blew by me... I was thinking "holy **** he's fast" - must've been 5mph faster (if not more), kudos to that guy. If anyone is that guy or knows him, he was wearing these unmistakable BIG white woolly/winter socks - it still amazes me, heh - I've been passed before, no shock really, but that really blew me away.

Drivers were awesome tonight, had one guy stop at a green to let me cross (turning left), he held up the traffic for me - very good of him, I thanked with a wave as always (I thank drivers for not turning in front of me anyway, I hope it makes them realise I'm a human and worth waiting 5 seconds for).

Again, was way too warm on the way home - I stopped off to drop my backpack and get a prescription to take to the pharmacy, and man did I ever realise what a great back warmer/insulator my backpack is - I sure noticed a difference when that sucker came off. Still, the clothing stuff is all experimentation.

Left 20 minutes later than usual today, spent more time at the latate threshold as a result but got to work on time. maybe I'll leave late on a regular schedule as motivation.
Unseasonably warm, hard to believe it's November. My home was the hottest city in America yesterday. At least I'm doing my part to combat Global warming, commuting via bicycle and holding in my farts. Hope I don't spontaneously combust.

derailleur weirdness
from yesterday's crash. today
i rode to bike shop

Oooooh... a haiku about the commute.

Another great riding day. Perfect weather, easy traffic, no problems and I felt great the whole way. I had been thinking of asking how I can get a locker at work the last couple days and when I got to work my manager said "Umm... we had the regional manager come in and he says you can't keep your bag with you in the office." What timing. I got a lock and locker. On Friday, I'll bring in some clothes and a pair of shoes. Now I don't have to carry a bag. Ha! Take that micro manager ass hat!

Nice ride in this AM. Nice bright moon helping illuminate the roads. The roads were still wet from the soaking rains on Tues and Wed, but not so much as to create any roadspray or other issues. It was really warm this AM at ~54F and is supposed to hit mid 70's this afternoon. Combined with a 10 mph tailwind, should make for a very nice ride home!

Yesterday both my rides were in total darkness; rain in the morning and fog at night. Good thing that my Night Explorer light held up to close to 2 hrs of light @ 15w and 25w on some stretches. I still would like to have a power hub so I don't have to worry about charging the battery or it running out of juice if I forget to charge the battery.

Today was warm! Wow, I can't believe how warm it was for this time of the year! I'll take it.

GreenAnvil

Watch out for those wet leaves! It was drizzly this morning, and had rained hard all night. Most of those stubborn oak leaves finally came down and riding was a hazard. One mile from work I took a bad fall, thankfully no cars were around. I was daydreaming, swerved to miss a big pothole, then bag to miss the curb, then I'm going sideways at a 45 degree angle (hockey stop) thinking this is not good. Fortunately, the leaves prevented any road rash or ripped clothing. Everything appears to be intact. Don't daydream on wet leaves!

45F and foggy. 8th of a mile or less near the lake. No wind. A nice commute, actually. The MUP was still wet from yesterday's rain, and had lots of Evil Wet Leaves :eek: but that was about it. My riding glasses kept fogging over.

I used my headlight and rear blinkie on the road(s).

Last nights commute home was....uh...windy. I dunno what it is around here, but I guess as winter sets in, it blows from the south up (right in my face on the way home). Ah well, at least it was a nice, uneventful ride.

This morning it was about 45, slight wind, nothing much. Drivers were pretty nice today except one dork who was in the lane heading towards me (opposite side of the road), and decieded to swerve and honk at me....he didn't come anywhere close to me, but I can't figure out what the heck he was trying.....
Hrm

Windy ride home last night, but uneventful. Overdressed this morning for 37F and arrived very sweaty. Nearly got hit by a car crossing the MUP. Driver and passenger didn't see me at all, but I braked in time. I wish the city had just put bike lines on the road instead of creating a MUP. Hardly anyone walks on it, and it makes for more dangerous rides since cars never look for bikes while crossing it.

Legs feel like rubber today. I worked late last night, so I really pushed on the way home. I took a longer route to avoid heavy traffic when it was so dark out. I managed to average 17 mph on a Wally World mtb for 15 miles.
Also found that some mud still remains in places from the rains we had monday night and tuesday. Front wheel tried to slip out from under me while I was "going native" trying to get around a series of school buses that were so far over to the right that there was no pavement at all beyond the tires. They were all turning left and I wanted to go right, so I went over into the grass and mud area to get around, but there was not much grass.

Did some stealthy ninja riding on the commute this morning. Split lanes and slipped into the small gaps between cars to get around cagers that can't seem to stay in their own lane or didn't leave enough room for me to split the gap completely. I'm sure I took a bunch of drivers by surprise as I just slid in front of them while keeping up w/ traffic, then slide right back out to get ahead of the car in front.

Also slipped through a crowd of pedestrians crossing from both sides that were crossing because I was the only one coming to the intersection even though I had the green. Kept my speed, picked a spot that was gonna be just wide enough and became a blue blur to the oblivous woman crossing the street against the red.

First ride in the dark. I loved it. The traffic was super light, the air was pleasant, and the backpack didn't seem quite as heavy.

This time of year makes NC worth living in. The fall colors and cool, but not cold, air makes the trip so worth it.

:( I really over-dressed today. Temp was ~46F (8C) and I dressed with the same layers, etc as usual for mid-40s. :o Had to stop at wife's work to drop off something she forgot. I was burning up so stripped down one layer and put on thinner gloves. The rest of the ride was bearable.
The weather is nicer than it was earlier this week so saw lots of bike commuters.

The ride home should be nice. Low 70s (~22C) for the afternoon high. :)

Well I made up for your over dressing by underdressing. This was my first commute of the season were I felt cold the whole commute. :( I much prefer to overdress so i don't think I'll be making this mistake again. ;)

Wow.. nice - I ride a similar el-cheapo MTB, I feel that pain ;) Good job!

I've seen that youtube video of the crazy NYC courier/messengers.. nothing but admiration and awe how you NYC guys manage to keep the nerve to split the lanes in moving traffic, etc. Crossing the intersections just looks like a lottery - people doing whatever they feel like, etc. :p Keep safe! :D

Ride in was fairly brutal today, felt cold when I came out to unlock and get on the bike, a good sign, as I need to be cold/cool before I get going - I sweat like a hog anyway, so... Cooler wind was noticeable, as soon as I went up over the railway at Main & Danforth/Gerrard I was warm. Had a terrible headwind heading west into downtown, a guy caught me up at Dundas/River and I did some windbreaking for him, which he then offered to takeover duties on - that was nice, I felt some good cameradery (sp?) with the guy and it was nice he recognised the drafting/windbreak thing :) He went straight on Sherbourne as I turned onto Richmond - without a bye, but I hope I see more of the same! :)

Average speed was up today, despite the horrible wind and me getting pretty huffy/puffy for parts, 13.3mph at 33 minutes and change (until I'm sub-30, I don't care for the seconds).

Another wet morning ride in but I had a nice tailwind so I can't complain. I have made very good time the past two mornings due to nice tailwinds. Of course on the way home it will be a nice headwind most of the way but at least it will be warmer. Low 70s today and upper 70s to near 80 tomorrow :eek:

Inspired by Tokolosh:

Snow in Mt. Royal
My slick tires have no traction
Cars and bikes both slide

I noticed something was amiss on the way home yesterday when my skinny bike started drifting toward the curb despite my best intentions. I managed to avoid falling, but I couldn't climb the hills to my house through 2-3" of wet snow that was beginning to ice up.

This morning we switched to our studded mtn bikes, although I managed to get out of the house before noticing that I forgot to switch the pedals as well. The ride in was fine, despite the fact that the roads were completely iced over. 3" of snow + freezing rain + -5C = skating rink. My wife bailed trying to stop for a pedestrian. I have the advantage of being 60 lbs heavier then her, so I had more traction. She left a 15' long skid mark from her spikes on the ice - note to self: locking up rear wheel on ice is bad.

Fine commute this morning. Temps were way higher than I expected, I nearly overheated with just a wool long-sleeved shirt and windbreaker. I was running late so traffic was a bear but no confrontations. A bunch of idiot teenager peds around the highschool as they were flocking from the Chik-fil-A to class. For whatever reason my geared bike was especially comfortable today. It's shifting beautifully with it's new derailer.

Union Pacific
and the Regional Transit
impede my commute

Going up hill in the dark this morning - a 6 foot bank on my right. I thought I saw a darker blob on the bank so I pointed my bike at it. There, about 15 feet away was a black bear! Luckily he was more scared than I.

Glorious morning after 3 days not commuting (at a meeting in a hotel). I had so much from work at home, my wife dropped it all off this am on her commute (in a car), so I came in w/ no panniers. Fly! And dry (other than puddles), in the sun.

Yesterday was blinding sun too, except for the 20 min it took me to bike to and from my kid's kindergarten to pick him up in the pm, at that time it was raining exactly like it was Monday.

I got rain under one of my handlebar grips and it floated off, now it slides around on the bar, held roughly in place by the bar end on one side and twist-shifter on the other. I think I'm going to yank the bar-end and pull the grip off to dry it though. Hope I don't need to properly torque the bar end when I put it back on.

You're going to have to carry a 12 gauge with slugs. Maybe use an ATV scabbard :).

20 min faster by just spinning????

I'm not a fast rider so I'm happy to just hop on my bike and get to work. After I put on the Hakkas I became considerably slower, doing an approx 10 mi commute (one way) in about 58 min. I wasn't pushing it really, but there was no use, or so I thought, because I felt tired and would burn out if I tried to go faster.

A curious thing happened today... there was considerable wind blowing in all directions, so I decided to go to a lower gear and spin. I'd build some momentum but then I decided to stay there and continue spinning. When I felt I was losing momentum I'd shift to an even slower gear (1 to 3) and spin more. If I felt I was spinning too fast then I'd switch gears again to a higher gear (4 to 6). But I was spinning most of my way.

Guess what? I checked my cyclocomputer and I covered the route in 38 minutes! A 20 minute improvement just by spinning? Is the computer wrong? Am I dreaming? Is this really possible? With the Hakkas on?

GreenAnvil

I've been a bad boy, busy things in home life keeping me in the car.....10 days without commuting. Seeing these posts is invigorating me to get back in the Seattle rain tomorrow morning. Thank you, all.....