I felt like I was flying today.

Last night at my workplace's parking lot, a co-worker who is also a rider stopped me and told me about some adjustments I could make to my bike. The seat level was wrong, he said, it needed to be higher. Also told me how to adjust the angle of the seat, etc, etc. Things that I as a new rider don't know yet. We raised the seat about 1.5" and guess what, the ride home was much more comfortable and I shaved off about 3 min off my average time. Once home, I spent more time really tweaking the seat height and angle, checked tire pressure, etc, etc. This morning, I shaved off ANOTHER 2 min off the average time. With the Hakkas which are very slow tires, and about 30 lbs (laptop, clothes, food, etc) in two panniers and a trunk acting as a huge slow-down parachute. And this was after doing my legs workout last night, after which I'm usually sore and tired.

I couldn't be any happier and amazed at the same time how little adjustments here and there can make up for more efficient and comfortable rides. That was an eye opener and I'll be sure to pay more attention to these details from now on.

BTW, very WARM (almost early-Fall like), in the upper 50's (F); supposed to get into the 60's (F) today!!!!! Yay!

GreenAnvil

Great ride to & from my Commuter Train station.

It is the little adjustments/proper inflation that can make all the difference in the world.

Looking forward to the first snow.. :)

Fog was horrible. Legs were horrible. Cleat on my right shoe kept coming loose after stopping to tighten it. I rode in the foggy dark for at least 30 of my 43 mile ride in today. Going through the mountain pass something - something huge - was running in the woods beside me and I couldn't tell what it was. First time, in a long time, I felt like a kid running home after watching a horror movie at a friend's house. Cars couldn’t see me too good. I could tell because they’d swerve around me on occasion. Yes, I’m lit and blinking and reflective, but the fog was that thick. Thank the Lord I made it safely.

Tomorrow is supposed to be worse so I’m driving.

BigFoot? :D It would take me like a week to recover from something like that, and I'd start carrying a stick or somethin'. ;)

GreenAnvil

Yah, the difference that tire pressure and seat adjustments made on my Sorrento were insane. The slicks were at about 65 PSI, and the seat was a tad too low when I test-rode it. When I went to pick it up, the manager was giving it a full tune-up. The tires were pumped up to 85 PSI, and he fitted the bike to me (handlebars and seat) before telling me to take it for another spin. Completely. Different. Bike. Period.

Holy carp... I'm starting to feel the effects of yesterday's tumble. Yesterday, my knee felt kind of out of whack and stiff. This morning, I can't stand on my left leg alone (as in, putting pants on or tying shoes while standing up... my usual way of doing things)

Also, the left side of my back near the bottom of my rib cage is all sorts of tweaked, and my left wrist is really stiff. Yes, the bike went out from under (and kind of in front of) me, landing me pretty hard on the left side. I was going about 25 when it happened.

Ugh.

Despite the carnage, I still rode in today. I put the knobbies on last night, which was a Good Thing™. Between my weak knee, the knobbies, and the different gearing on my knobby wheelset, my already craptastic 11.8-12.3MPH average speed dropped to 8.0.

It was raining again this morning, and was slicker than ever. At least I managed to say helmet side up this time. It's supposed to drop a good way below freezing sometime today and we'll possibly have the chance of flurries or an ice storm. I packed warm clothes for the ride home, it should be a blast. Too bad I have to ride gently for the next few days until I get back to 100%.

14F on the ride in this morning, but very little wind. I wore the balaclava for the first time. It got wet from all my steamy breathing, and I had big pieces of ice hanging off it :). Cross bike brifter is broken, so I rode the R2000. So much lighter.

Argh! Only a few inches of snow with a bit of ice. No plowing at all!
Freaking snow bike had an issue so I took the car to the park-n-ride. Then I forgot my bus fare and decided rather than drive 4 miles home that I would drive to work. MISTAKE! The highway was a mess and filled with idiot drivers that had no clue how to drive in the snow. 90 minutes to drive 30 miles to work. ugh!
Should have worked from home...stupid stupid stupid.
Tomorrow should be -2F with a few more inches of snow expected between now and then. I think I may take my own advice and work from home. bleh

Steamy. Thick fog and temps near 60°F for the ride in.

+1 here in Gastonia, NC. Freaky Scoobie Doo type fog.

Dang, this is some nice weather we're having. So nice to be riding in light weight clothes in nearly December. I just wish that it would be warm and light after 6pm so that I can go take some pictures at the neat old junkyard that I just found.

Got to the corner of my block this morning and saw queerpunk ride by. So I turned the corner and rode after him and finally caught up 5 blocks later. That kid's quick and he wasn't even trying. We rode together while talking, dodging traffic and peds and contorting our torsos to avoid the sideview mirrors on delivery trucks until I got to my turn-off which was packed w/ so much un-moving traffic that I had to get off and walk a 1/2 block to my bldg.

FOGGY.......but temp was nice. First long ride with the new Beaverblade fenders on the bike (which I had to put on after last Wednesday's downpour. That was NASTY). They rattle a bit against the rack, so I'll be putting some sort of rubber bumper between them to cut down on the noise.

Hey, fixed.rider was that you between Sunrise Valley drive and the hill before Hunter Mill road? I saw a black bike with an orange messenger bag, but couldn't tell if it was a fixie. I was on the blue Trek hybrid in a yellow jersey with a light kit.

I also picked up with another rider going in towards my office - we rode the last 5 miles together, which made it seem a bit faster. Very nice ride overall.....

No ride this morning (bussed it expecting to be drinking beer after work) but last night I had a nice ride home. Dead calm air, and raining, with some light fog. I realized how much noise my tires make when I stopped and the silence was deafening. I passed a couple of peds on a street near my house and the man said, "Oh my god." From his tone, it sounded like he felt sorry for me. :D :rolleyes:

Later last night, I was out in a cage and saw a guy on a MUP with an HID headlight. :eek: Boy that thing was bright. My wife doesn't think $400+ for a headlight is a good idea. She hates me!

Just tell her you can get it for less than $300.

I was coming up to a cross walk, and a ped had already pressed the button and was waiting to cross. The light turned green our way, and I said to him, "ready to go?" as I was riding up to cross. He must have been mesmerized by my HID light, since he just stood there and stared at me. He said, "That's a very bright light." :)

Frozen. It was 16F when I left this morning. The MUP was a crunchy mess of re-frozen footprints and tire tracks (and a snowmobile track at some places, and one set of x-c ski tracks.) My hands and arms felt like they were going to rattle out of the sockets.
I put a Conti Vapor 2.1" up front and some cheapo $12 Kenda mudder 1.95" that I studded with cut down roofing tacks in the back. No slip grippiness (is that a word?) and I wasn't really all too slow, considering the conditions. Usual morning ride takes me about 35 minutes; today it took me about 45, almost 50 minutes. For 6 miles on crunchy, chunky, icy MUP followed by 1.5 miles on a still icy slick city street (with a 3/4 mile uphill,) I think I did OK.

I also stopped 3/4 of the way up the hill to take a picture of an Acura NSX that was off in the ditch. The license plate: "PWN" I couldn't have photoshopped something funnier than that. I really hope it turns out since all I had was my camera phone with no flash, so I used my headlight to light the shot.

zomG!!! post the pic!!! There's a few thousand daily posters on a cager forum I help run that would die laughing at it.

Squeaky Headlamp
 

10 deg F this am. No wind with a great ride. One skier w/ dark clothes & no reflection tape yelled at me in the dark at about 10 feet in front of me. I had my head down climbing a hill so didn't pick him up even w/ my HID! We were both going pretty slow, so no problem.

The last 2 miles of a 15 mile ride I started getting a squeak from the top of my helmet. I'm not sure if it was the HID or the cable connection or what. Really strange and kind of echos in my helmet:( Anyone have that happen at cold temps? I've ridden at much colder temps w/o this happening.

I was discombobulated the whole ride.
Used the multi-gear Poprad for the first time commuting in a while vs. fixed gear.
Mirror was not aligned right and kept on moving and was dirty
The new Trail Tech HID light kept turning itself off after 30sec. of on (charged it last night)
Was slower than usual, but didn't detect any real headwind.
Lots of futzing while riding prevented me from getting in the groove.
Al

-25C again today, but the wind wasn't as bad as the last couple of days. Respite is coming: -15C is the forecast high, and -2C on Thursday. :D It's almost shorts weather! Friday I'm going snowboarding.

Commuted in to work for the first time today. :D Man, am I slow. 20.45 miles in 1 hour, 50 minutes. The first 3 1/2 miles are on dirt shoulders, though, which isn't exactly good for a bike newb like me to make good time on, and I walked a few construction zones later in the route since I wasn't familiar with them yet (I'd driven the entire route, and ridden the first half previously.) Here's the route for anyone who is interested: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...vd-and-the-101
Temp was high 30s to low 40s - I ended up throwing the windbreaker on over the sweatshirt and was comfy from then on out.
According to my heart monitor I burned over 1900 calories on the ride. Guess I'd better eat a big lunch. :p

Another morning of dressing in appropriately. I swear the Verizon weather man said it was 45 degrees, plus the fog was sitting thick, so I bundled up a bit. And was sweating like an overheated dog. All week I've been struggling with wardrobe.
Traffic seemed very aggressive this morning. I swear it was one dramatic dashing escape after another. Which makes me feel like such a man.

Legs a bit heavy after yesterday's long morning detour. The thing about riding the fixie is that there's no faking it on heavy-leg days. But, other than that, it was a pretty pleasant ride in. When I left the house, I waved to my across the street neighbor as he was getting in his car. He caught and passed me about a mile from the house but I did the same at the next light. We hopscotched each other for the rest of the way into downtown. I'm hoping it will turn on a lightbulb for him....

A little chilly here this morning in San Jose. When I left it was around 38 degrees but as I started on the Guadalupe River trail, the temp dropped a few degrees. Despite that, I was warm wearing my wool and my shoe covers. It was a good day to ride!:D

GREAT ride in today. It about 45F and raining for the first nine or ten miles. I left a little early, because I expected traffic to be weird in the rain, and I was right. I dawdled a bit on a couple of exploratory side routes that added about 2 miles to the commute, and even figured out what that drivetrain creak was that's been driving me batty for the last week or so. I got to work feeling totally invigorated, and everyone there thinks I'm totally nuts. Not a one of them had as much fun on the way to work as I did.