This morning was fantastic.

The 20mph headwind all the way home was challenging.

A chilly ride at 46f (8c). Last day of commuting for this week, although, I have errands, which I will do on my bike tomorrow. It is always nice to break from the same routine and go somewhere else.

It was a chilly 35f when I rode past the thermometer today, and I wore two pairs of gloves and that did not keep my hands warm. I am able to keep all other parts of me warm, I just can't manage the hands yet. Other than the cold hands the ride was great, starry skies when I leave the house.

Great ride this morning with cool temps and a nice sunrise. Took my chances and rode despite forecasts calling for possible severe thunderstorms this afternoon. The forecast sounded pretty iffy and our weather guys tend to exaggerate the threat of any rain, so I'm hoping the rain won't materialize or will show up later tonight. However, I'll be keeping a close eye on the radar and if the storms start developing, I plan to head home early. I've got a lot of comp time this week, so taking off early should not be a problem.

I gambled and won this morning :) Running late I opted for the traffic route instead of my beloved but soggy Greenway, and I hit one green light after another, maybe 30 seconds waiting at a light in the first 7 miles. Plenty of time left over for a leisurely shower.

I was forced to try my winterbike for the first time this morning as I broke a spoke on my spare wheel last night, I now have two wheels with broken spoke on my regular bike ( I need to lose some weight). I took about the same time with my winter bike ( and old winterized mtb) than I usualy take with my road bike, I was a bit surprised as I tought that I would be much slower on fat tires but the legs are hurting a bit.

A bit soggy out this morning but warm (60F). The new fenders I installed are doing the job, I see the spray sent out in front of the bike and can only imagine how wet I would have been without them. Got a nice tailwind the most of the way, which is nice after yesterday's 15-20mph headwind on the way home.

It was cold on the way in this morning, but dry. I had to pack my rain gear, though, since it's supposed to be raining on the commute home. I'll be going about 22 miles this afternoon, down to Performance Bicycle for one of their free bike maintenance classes. Then another 8 miles home again, so today's total mileage should be close to 35, depending on which route I take. :)

Wet and chilly. I need new raingear. Hopefully it will be nicer on the way home, at least the roads should be dry...

One thing that took me a long time to realize, is that different bikes use different muscles. It pays to put in some time on the winter bike before it snows. Otherwise you get the double hit of the snow slowing you down and legs not conditioned to that bike. Starting in late summer I decided to put in a couple mountain bike rides a week. Lately I've been commuting on it at least 50% of the time.


4C with a decent tail / side wind. It was a quick ride but I didn't push too hard. It started getting misty halfway through the ride.

Yesterday's ride home was very slow with wind gusting to 80kph. But at least I missed the rain.

Windy yesterday
 

It would have sucked with the serious wind yesterday, so I stopped and took a nice picture to add a little more "positive" to the commute. Thought it worth sharing.

Good thing I didn't use the disc wheel on the ol' commute today!

"NORTHWESTERLY WINDS OF 30 TO 50 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO 70 MPH... WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. THE STRONG WINDS WILL BEGIN TO DECREASE LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AND QUICKLY DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET.

* IF YOU ARE DRIVING A LIGHTWEIGHT OR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLE...USE CAUTION OR DELAY YOUR TRIP UNTIL THE WINDS DECREASE."

Storng headwinds commutting home last night...stroms came through over night, nice warm ride in this a.m.

Much better today than Tuesday. I did the squeeze test on my tires Tuesday to see if they were okay for my 5 mile commute. I was in a bit of a hurry. Well, 20 pounds (as I checked today) doesn't get you there very fast! I would have spent less time pumping and riding than riding on 20 pounds.

Is that close to "penny-wise and pound-foolish?"

Perfect riding weather today and 80 pounds of air pressure makes me feel like I was flying.

Started out at 5:30am Roads were empty...stars were out Orion was right up in the middle of the sky. Very cool commute. Little under-dressed, but didn't realize it until I stopped and my sweat chilled me. Really digging the commute on my ss. :D

0C with a 25kph headwind. I had some well earned sore legs from my aggressive ride home last night. It looks like yesterday was going to be the last day the sun will be out for my Tues / Thurs evening ride. Halfway home the tops of trees were a brilliant red from the setting sun. I passed 1600km for the year on my mountain bike. That's the second year in a row I managed 1000+ miles on all 3 of my bikes.

Tomorrows weather looks great, I might take my touring bike for a century. But if my Pugsley is ready today, it may prove to be too great a distraction.

I stopped by the LBS on the way home but they had received Moonlanders (wrong size) instead of the Pugsleys that they ordered so I'll have to wait another week. That will let me enjoy the last of warm weather on my touring bike tomorrow.

I got a good push from the wind on the way home, getting up to 53kph. I encountered a red light upon leaving the LBS so I took a right along a busier street that goes in my general direction. Got to witness much more dumb motorist behavior than usual.

Fantastic riding today - coolish but no wind to speak of. I feel good about going 5 for 5 this week considering the crappy weather I had to endure on 3 of those days.

Time for a beer. :-)

Not a full time commuter but the nice weather gave me some extra days. Filled up my Honda today for a weekend trip and I just realized I survived most of that last gasoline spike.

Absolutely wonderful. Have been very intermittent on the bike the last couple of months - life intervened. However, this week I got 4/5 days commuting, which was just what I needed. I think I might get all five days next week, since I don't have any appointments I have to drive to.

I was hit by someone who was trying to make a right on red today. I went to the doctor (a "just in case" thing) and I just have a bruised hip...but oww! I have a recital tomorrow (I'm a classical musician), so at least I didn't hurt my hands or anything. The driver was really awful...she didn't even get out of her car initially. She just looked at me, and another driver (behind her) got out and made sure I was okay/called the police. The driver who hit me yelled at me because she was trying to make a right on red ("the light was about to turn green!" she said), and I was nice to her...she was mad because the hood of her car had a several inch-long scratch on it from my bike and because she was "in a hurry" and "didn't have time (for this)". I'm pretty sure she got a ticket, and we exchanged information. Took my bike to the shop even though it seemed fine...it's a good excuse to bring it in for a tune-up as well.

But man, my lower back and hip are sore. I'll probably go to the chiropractor this week.

And the weather was beautiful today! I couldn't even be in that bad of a mood because it was so nice. :)

As I headed for work we had rain/hail mixed coming down like hammers and pitchforks at a rate of about 3 inches of precip. per hour with massive thunder and lightning and a full scale power outage.

I wussed out and drove. :(

Ha, you were just a nuisance? Glad you're OK.

back in the saddle after a week of traveling (a wedding in a castle, a second trip to oktoberfest and a beautiful break on a lake near Munich)

ordered some lycra winter pants (12€) and some riding gloves (5€) ... gotta love Tchibo...

http://www.tchibo.de/Sportbekleidung...#Herren_Sprung

A chilly morning at 47f (8c). It was a quiet ride in, and not as many cars, with which to deal. I spent time on my bike this weekend in the woods, and I sorely miss the woods.

Tried out my new riding gloves purchased at Costco...they're Head brand running gloves. Fingers were toasty warm.

Friday's homeward bound commute was amazing as I pedalled just ahead of a major storm, got caufght in the rain a few times. Beautiful skies.

Dark commute this morning with a number of street lights not working.

Apparently, I was! And thanks. :)

Very nice ride in, kinda windy. The bike lane was pretty littered this AM, actually seen a motorcycle fender and it looked like a beat up exhaust manifold or exhaust header from a motorcycle right in the middle of the lane. Someone had a bad weekend.

I had a flat :(

Dang, I hate those.