I bike commuted every day this week -- my first 5 bagger in a while. Not only that, but it was the coldest weather we've had since early last spring and I had to work until 9 pm one night. I love this kind of weather -- sunny with chilly mornings and warm afternoons. I probably commuted more days and miles this month than ever, and got my monthly mileage over 600 even though the weekend rides have tailed off.

It was hot here in Sydney. It was still around 35C (95F) when I rode home, and there was quite a significant headwind. A hot headwind. It was like riding against a hot air dryer!

Still, better that than cold and damp. I prefer hot. That's why I moved here from the UK!

4:30 AM Cool, dark and quiet. Just beautuiful!

The ride home last night was fine, if a bit slow.

After I got home, I put my batteries (for the lights) back on to charge, packed my pannier back up with clean clothes and laptop, and went to bed.

This morning, I swapped the charged batteries into place, dressed for the cold, and brought the bike outside, and said "forget it", and turned around, and took the bike back in.

I'm sitting here at work after driving in, realizing that I ride less now than I did in July. I am a stronger rider now than in July. Why the lack of motivation?

I had my first ride in over two and a half months due to knee tendinitis. I did a bus 10/10 mile bike/bus combination. The ride was fun of course, the knee feels OK, no pain at the moment but I can tell it's not ready for daily rides. I'll see how it feels over the next couple of days. If it feels pretty normal I'll start riding once a week and build from there. If not then pure laziness awaits me.

I saw two commuters along the way, one on the road in front of me. He was toward the middle right so I took the middle left and paced him for a few blocks. He eventually jumped on the side walk, he was wearing scrubs and we were in the medical area on Fannin St so I'm guessing he did that to go to work. It was dark and he had a rear light but no helmet, dude if you're reading this. Put on a helmet! :)

Lastly, several people let me know they thought I was a motorcycle. I'd like to think it was my blazing 15 mph speed but I knew it was my light setup (light & motion HL and dinotte RL).

Have a good weekend people.

After yesterday's ****ty commute, I took some time today to enjoy my ride and "smell the roses". Living and working where I do, it's easy to forget what you pass every day...



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I have been riding through the cemetary on the way home for the past couple days, it's fun because I can get away from traffic for a bit and then I end up on some quiet side streets and then back on my main route back to my apartment.
This morning it was 26f when I left the house, my toes were a little bit cold when I got to work but for the most part I was comfortable.

Saw a couple of loons in the water. Temps around 30F. Annoying quartering headwind. Got to work as the light from the just-risen sun was lighting up the Adirondacks. Purple-ish with snow caps. Very pretty. I thought to myself, "You won't see that again for a while." (Clocks turn back this weekend!)

Yesterday I took a detour on my ride home, and headed through a park and some woods near my house. Very enjoyable. :)

I think there was a slow moving wide load making it's way to Nisku at the same time i was. It obviously took the main roads while i was zig-zagging through the lesser used rural roads. On my first cross road i was passed by a rush of some 20 cars. This is freakishly abnormal as i usually only get passed by 1 or 2 on this stretch. I thought there might be an accident on the main road but it was only the 1 rush of cars, none after that. Then on the next cross road similar thing, only much higher volume and more continuous. Finally I connected with the main road and there way way way in the distance i could make out the rapid flashing lights of a large load. Leading up to it was a river of red taillights inching up the hill into Nisku. at about 300m from this inches heard i took the lane and guess what, cars still veered into the on-coming lane to pass me then veered back into my lane only slam on the brakes and join the heard... whatever. I rode up the Nisku hill passing vehicle after vehicle, but I never did catch up to the wide load.

Must confess. Despite it being a beautiful day for commuting, I wanted to wear a skirt and heels, just because. So I drove in this morning.

Got my rig back from the shop...new shifters, new housing, new cable & they found a broken spoke on the rear wheel, but I'm back to the commute, Yay! On another note, the rack was FULL today with other rigs...holy crap, where'd they all come from?!?!?!?!?

Another shorts and mittens ride today. It's supposed to get to 19C this afternoon! Mtn biking on Saturday, road riding on Sunday... it doesn't get much better than this. :D

Were you propping your bike up with your water bottle?

Aye

Nice and rainy. RAINY. My socks and gloves definitely won't dry by the end of the day. Might be warm enough for me to switch to the no-finger gloves by then though. And I do have spare socks.

I got complimented on my blinky (superflash, natch) at the supermarket by a driver who says he really likes being able to see bikers.

And, took obligatory spooky Halloween route by monastery cemetary (see pic).

No ride for me today. It's my policy not to drive the first big rain of the season. Not worth the risk of wet leaves, oil bubbled up out of the asphalt, and idiot Sacramento drivers who've forgotten everything they knew about wet weather driving over the last six months.

First commute on the new bike! Time for first impressions.

Quite honestly, moving from the bike I was previously riding to the Motobecane is like night and day. It's snappy and responsive, and having working gears is nice (I've been riding my other bike single speed). I'm still perfecting the fit of the bike, but it's the right size, and I already love riding it.

It came with toeclips, and I've kept them on just to try them out. It was wierd at first, but not entirely bad. Takes a minute to get in them while moving, but getting out is as easy as pushing down on the back of the pedal and rotating out. I'll leave them in for a bit to get a better idea, but eventually I'd like to move to clipless, especially since I plan on using this for cyclocross as well.

I'm liking the drop bars. I'm not quite used to them yet, and so I'm (still) adjusting both myself and the bars to feel good. Gears shift smoothly, everything just glides right along. The brakes are still a bit wonky, I'm trying to dial them in just right, but cantilever brakes have always given me problems.

The ride to work was fairly nice, gave me a good feel for the bike. I'd never actually understood what people meant by "snappy" until now, even though I'm sure it's not much compared to other bikes, it's still a huge difference from the other bike. I like it. Turning is a dream, too, as I find myself falling into deeper angles and sharper corners. I'm gonna take it out to the park later and find my falling point.

All in all, good morning!

Nice ride in. Luckily rode in the gap between downpours and it was warm. Can only hope that happens again this evening. I stopped and helped someone with a flat, but unfortunately, his tire just wouldn't hold air - more problems than we could see in the dark (I suspected pinch flat) so he walked to nearest bus stop. Super nice guy and he was grateful for some help. Just hoping that ride home can be a bit dry as well, although traffic could be horrid as it's Halloween party time and I'm riding through downtown later than usual, at height of rush hour...

If I wore a skirt and heels I would probably lose my job. Damn narrow minded people. Equal rights for men to!

Had my first flat this morning. I was totally unprepared and had to call work and get a ride the rest of the way. Went to the LBS and now I am prepared for the next time. It hit 70 today in Milwaukee. Its going to be great taking the boys out tonight trick or treating.

By the way, Happy Reformation Day too!!

I got run off the road for the first time - rite of passage, I guess

I was riding eastbound, about 2 feet from the white line, at about 20mph (slight downhill) on a rural, shoulderless, 35mph limit road. There was a narrow yellow cross-hatched median to the left that ended about 10 feet ahead, and I hear a vehicle coming up behind me. I look in my mirror to see a white cargo van coming towards me on the cross-hatched area at a pretty fast speed, so I have to hit the brakes and bail onto the grass to my right to avoid getting buzzed :(

Battery problems today. Actually not problems, just poor charging on my part.

First the Shuffle dies within the first mile so I turn around to get a different iPod and that one dies after about 3 miles and by then I didn't want to turn around. Also my helmet light batteries went dead about half way through. Still quite nice though...about 30 with gorgeous clear skies at 4:30 AM.

I weighed myself this morning before I rolled out- au natural I weigh 238. I remember not long ago I weighed 253. I need a haircut, so I may weigh even less. I worked 8-5 today- morning was chilly like a New England morning is this time of year. If I drove in, I would've been behind a schoolbus, but I just passed it and the 10 or so cars behind it. The ride home was fine. I was fiddling with the velcro straps on one of my cycling shoes, and the store detective appeared, "Oh, it's you! I thought someone was over here ripping paper!" Tomorrow I'm working 12-9, I may get a haircut before work..

About the same as yesterday, another 20 miles rt. I did get my winterizing in. Fenders and rainwear purchased. First went to REI in Berkeley, they had mud-flap fenders for $39. I didn't have the right tools with me to install and they wanted $25 to put on. I hemmed a little and then gave in. Sure, stick them on, I said.

Are you a member? Uh, no. Oh.

Then it'll be $35 to install.

Sorry, no deal I said. Went to VeloSport bike shop and bought the same fenders for $30 and they installed no charge. Heh. Pays to shop around. Bought raingear at a Mountain shop. Wanted Gore-tex but no-one seemed to stock any shells, just heavy parka like stuff.

Bad day - going into the parking lot I decided to pull a fast turn. A second later I was on the ground with a road-rashed and bruised knee, torn pants, etc. Got lots of attention from folks at work while I emptied the first-aid kit and put a couple of 4x4's on the "badge of honor". At 63 years of age, I guess they were amazed that I was still in one piece!

Turns out the new parking lot asphalt is a little slick - stone aggregate was smooth instead of sharp like most roads, tires are probably several-year-old hybrid road slicks - the combination was just too much (or little).

This gives me a better excuse to get a new bike.

Here's an argument against wearing an iPod. I didn't ride with mine for the first time this week and what i heard was disturbing. Apparently a family of mice have taken up residence somewhere in my drivetrain and were complaining vigorously with every pedal stroke.

I would take the road next time till there is room for the vehicle to pass. Then move over to the edge when it is safe.

I tallied up my mileage for October and realized that I had my highest monthly bike commuting mileage ever -- 422 miles. My total cycling for the month was 612 miles, about average for me, but usually about half of my mileage comes from longer weekend rides. My weekend riding was off in October due to traveling, work and weather, but commuting took up the slack.

No work this Saturday for me, but I did almost get hit by a car full of teenagers while riding to the supermarket to pick up a few things. Almost fell off my bike, but I was able to put a foot down and prevent the fall.

I forgot about the one big bonus of the time change: For a few weeks, I'll be able to see the sun coming up when I ride to work! The sky is absolutely beautiful just before sunrise.

The ride itself was nippy...and fast, because I overslept.