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How was the commute today?

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Old 11-20-03, 10:36 PM
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Wow another day in the rain! , better than the snow yesterday. The ride in was good until a car pulled out in front of me.I slowed almost to a stop and they honked at me as if it was my fault. Why is it always our fault when they screw up
And the topper for the day was throwing my chain between the granny and frame. I could not get it out so I walked the last mile home.
Still better than driving

Pat
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Old 11-21-03, 06:06 AM
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Cool crisp headwind and clear skys, traffic was a little heavier than normal, mostly trucks. There was a lot of junk on the side of the road and ran over a large pile of broken glass, the conti top torings came through without a scratch. My commuter is ready for a drive line replacement, the large ring is worn just about out, the chain is stretched and the rear derailure jockey wheels are toothless. I was trying to make it till spring to spare the new parts from the winter road salt but I think I'm going to have to do it. I've got 27,456 miles on this build, 9 chains and 3 sets of brake pads. So the new parts go on when the studs go on next week.
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Old 11-21-03, 06:29 AM
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Nice warm ride home last night. The temps were in the mid 60's deg F. Traffic was a little heavy.

The ride this morning was warmer then yesterday, about 40 deg F. There was a little bit of a headwind, but it was not that bad.
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Old 11-21-03, 06:50 PM
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Last night was about the thickest fog I've ever rode in. The bits in traffic were kind nerve wracking (at one point this car just would not pass me) and parts of the trail I could see nothing. Then I realized my glasses were soaked, and I pulled them to the end of my nose so I could see over them, and it was much better. A slow ride home, but interesting and I was pleased to see a couple other cyclists.

This morning was gray, with a bit of wind. The clouds cleared up a bit, and rays of sunlight illuminated fog boiling off the trees on the valley hills. A couple miles east (around 60 Acres Park for you eastsiders) there was sign of some snow from the night before. A pretty nice end of the week, and my speed was also up for the winter. Much closer to my summer average, I guess I was just in the mood
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Old 11-21-03, 07:26 PM
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Week Commute

Its Friday, I rode Monday thru Wednesday & tempratures ranged from a low of 33f at 6 am to a high of 42f during my lunch round trip & afternoon ride home, mostly not much wind but Tuesday afternoon I got caught in a windy downpour halfway home with just my rain top on. I ride 4 miles each way. Thursday I bailed & drove due to heavy rain mixed with snow. About an hour after I arrived, there was 2 inches of snow in the parking lot. This morning black ice was reported in our area so I drove again. At 63 I try to avoid falls & Last Winter, I had to drive halfway home to pick up a fellow bike commuter who called from a gas station after his 3rd fall!
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Old 11-22-03, 10:47 AM
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Went into the garage on Thursday morning and found a flat rear tire. I think my 5th flat in a month. Decided it was time to look at liners or a kevlar tire maybe, so I left the shop a little early in a light rain. My luck, I flatted on a bridge and had to walk a ways to find a safe place to pop in the spare tube. By the time I was rolling again, the bike shop was closed.
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Old 11-22-03, 07:27 PM
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Wow. The fall weather does not want to give up. I rode into town today under bright skies and temps which crested 56 F. Not bad for the week before turkey day.
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Old 11-24-03, 01:41 AM
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Here in Finland the temperature is in both sides of 0 C, yesterday we had a nice little blizzard and today the roads were full of packed slush. I lost balance once and almost fell because of the trails formed in the packed slush -got into one and didn´t get my front wheel out. Also part of the road was in suc a condition that I had to walk until I got to the bigger road that was free of slush. I have a "training racer", I don´t know the proper term, and Nokian studded Hakkapeliitta´s, which barely fit there. No sun visible, just cloudy, cold and wet
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Old 11-24-03, 03:30 AM
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Well, that was interesting. Leaving work and heading straight into a headwind. Well, it was a cooling southerly, so all was good. Then it got even better, it started raining. It got heavier through Surfers Paradise. Thunder and lightning, this is getting to be really good folks. Then the hail came at Broadbeach. Now I was really enjoying it.

After this I had, not so much a near miss, but an undamaging (for me anyway) collision with a car that not only failed to give way (that I could have dealt with), but then decided to stop in the middle of the freaking road at 90 degrees to the flow of traffic. Still, me and my bike were totally unharmed, so that's all that counts. I hope he suffered some hail damage though.

Then, just as the hail started, just as I started to enjoy it, it stopped. Even the rain stopped. Oh well, I was just about home by then anyway. BTW, I ate a hailstone tonight, what's the nutritional value of that?

Then I went to the shops. I hadn't expected anyone around here to steal a light battery, but that's just what happened. Funny, just when you think people around here can't get any stupider, they suddenly do.
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Old 11-24-03, 06:23 AM
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25 degrees, slight head wind and clear skys, I had a great ride in, Mondays are my heavy load day, I loaded my panniers, trunk bag, and bar bag with my clothes for the week and off I went. My average speed was 15.5 miles for the 18.5 mile ride to work. The forcast for the afternoon is high 60's and sun, I brought shorts and a short sleeve jersey in anticipation of a great ride home. The Lake MXZ 300 shoes are really as warm as they say, so far I'm very happy with them.
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Old 11-24-03, 02:44 PM
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Sluggish ride in this morning for me. Not enough sleep last night, a headwind and a slightly flat rear tire (not flat enough to make me stop and pump it up) However it was partially sunny but not too cold. It clearly had rained all night and cleared up in the A.M.. Everything was glistening and the scattered clouds in the blue sky were pretty. If only I could have raised my head more
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Old 11-24-03, 06:50 PM
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Well, it's been a while since my last post. Let's see ... hmmm ... how were the recent commutes?

I can't remember any except this morning's commute which was by far the coldest of the season. Dang chilly for these parts.
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Old 11-25-03, 06:23 AM
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Coldest by far for me this year. It was 23 deg F when I rode in. I was warm though, had plenty of layers on to keep me warm. The only problem I had was that my back tire was low and made for some struggling and a little lower speeds.
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Old 11-25-03, 06:55 AM
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The roads were wet from the night rain and the temp was 33 degrees, when I got to work everyone was talking about the black ice on the roads and how the cars were skidding all over, I never felt the ice, I just rode to work as usual and never slipped a wheel. I guess it's time for the studs, I was planning on putting them on Saturday anyway. Last night I replaced my big ring, chain and derailure pulleys. The bike shifted like new again, The forcast for the day is the temp is supposed to drop so the ride home should be on the cool side.
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Old 11-25-03, 07:52 AM
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Originally Posted by ridealot
Coldest by far for me this year. It was 23 deg F when I rode in. I was warm though, had plenty of layers on to keep me warm.
Ya, it was for me too, maybe not 23, but below freezing. I had forgotten how you can get an "ice-cream headache" descending steep hills in the cold, before you warm up!

But as always, my first good climb warmed me well. The only thing cold on me when I got in was my feet, which seem to gradually get colder as the rest of me gets warmer. I might try the plastic bag trick next time it's below freezing.

Great ride!

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Old 11-25-03, 09:54 AM
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Dang!
Back to cold mornings...
Well, not like most of you have tho. Was 38 deg this morning, at least no wind like we had on the weekend out here...
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Old 11-25-03, 10:09 AM
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Lovely ride in this morning. Weather seems to be playing its usual tricks,alternating between extremes of temperature over a couple of days.

On my return, I thought I would make things interesting by taking one of the longer circuits home riding a couple of miles out of my way to pass Low Barns, which happens to be the family home of Jonny Wilkinson.

In case you do not know he is the latest to attain super star status from his exploits for England in winning the Rugby World cup.

Passing their home, although there were loads of Media people hanging about, Jonny had not been seen since arriving through Newcastle airport.
Talking to one of the Reporters they think he had avoided the Paparratzi (sp) by helicoptering over to Slaley Hall...
To far away for me to cycle that way, as I had put in a busy tiring morning at work and wanted to get home to relax....
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Old 11-25-03, 10:16 AM
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Cool this morning, but the frost that set in last night had lifted by morning, so it was not as chilliy as I expected.

I was also pleased to see the street sweeper truck clearing autumnal debris from the bike path.

Cheers,

Ed
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Old 11-25-03, 11:21 AM
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I didn't ride yesterday (Monday) because they hadn't plowed the streets where I live and it was pretty messy with the six inches of snow. I did however ride this morning, the roads I rode were all hard pack ice/snow but with my studded rear tire I just boogied right accross it... it was a hoot! It was a little warmer this morning then yesterday (26F/-3C today, 8F/-13C yesterday). It's kind of pretty out there.
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Old 11-25-03, 11:29 AM
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Strange yesterday. Nice morning. Rode home in t-shirt and shorts. Was 64f with winds at 20mph gusting to 40. Just started to rain when I entered Chittenango. It cut loose when I just got into the garage. Twenty minutes later, the temps went down to 40f. An hour later it was snowing.
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Old 11-25-03, 11:31 AM
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It rained pretty hard early this morning and broke just before I headed into work. The sky turned deep blue in about 15 minutes after the rain stopped....a fast moving storm for sure. The temps sat at 39F. A very nice riding day.
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Old 11-25-03, 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted by TeleJohn
Strange yesterday. Nice morning. Rode home in t-shirt and shorts. Was 64f with winds at 20mph gusting to 40. Just started to rain when I entered Chittenango. It cut loose when I just got into the garage. Twenty minutes later, the temps went down to 40f. An hour later it was snowing.
Wow! A quick drop from Fall to Winter!! Same thing pretty much happened out this way a day ago, nice cool evening then WHAM!! down went the temp and we have winter. He flipped the switch!
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Old 11-26-03, 03:44 AM
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Hi folks,

It poured (and is still pouring) with rain today. Fortunately I'm prepared with dry clothes, but it is a pretty grim, cold experience.

I hope it clears up before the ride home!

Cheers,

Ed
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Old 11-26-03, 04:04 AM
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Rode straight into a gail-force headwind this afternoon. Haven't seen one that strong since the Great Ocean Road last year (and that includes the 70km/h jobs last February). Finally got some statisfaction from Schoolies' Week when some kid got knocked clean off his skateboard by the sheer force of the wind - and he wasn't even going against it! After the events of Monday night, I drew some statisfaction from that!

Ra!
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Old 11-26-03, 05:43 AM
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Nice cool ride this morning, no head wind and 20 degree temp. I rade fast and got to work in 55 minutes. Day off tomorrow, visiting relatives so no ride for me. I'll be back on Friday.
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