51F /11C more headwinds but finally a dry ride in. I picked up a Cat Eye Volt 300 headlamp over the weekend, love it.

It was a nice commute in today after driving four days last week. The temp was a cool 41f degrees when I left the house. I scared a boy riding his longboard when I said good morning to him. He was riding on the shoulder of the road, going the same direction as me, so he did not see and I guess hear me coming up behind him. He jumped when I said hi, I felt bad and apologised for scaring him. Anyway the rest of my ride was uneventful, which is always a good thing.

62 this morning, feels nice to be able to arrive not soaked in sweat.

Legs are a bit worn from yesterday's group ride plus exploring I did on my own when I didn't feel like the ride was long enough.

Somewhere around 50 this morning, and it was great to get back onto the bike. It's going to be a pretty ride home.

Charlotte area avoided the worst of the rain that SC got and is getting. We have had some constant winds though and a wind advisory this morning. Luckily they were blowing favorably for me. The advisory expires at noon, so hopefully they won't be so bad going home.

I use one of these to keep my ears warm. MEC Frigorific Headband (Unisex) - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available

They are usually for cross country skiing.

Still sick this morning. Nose is all clogged, with lots of sneezing and the occasional wave of what I would describe as stuffy-head dizziness. Riding on Friday probably didn't help matters :)

If I didn't have the option to drive into work this morning, I probably would have called in sick.

Absolutely gorgeous up here in PA. Low 50s, sunny skies.

Tough commute this morning although we finally had a day when it wasn't raining during the morning commute time. Winds were really blowing, with gusts up to 25 mph and a lot of debris on the roads from the storms we've been having for days and days. I was running late, so the wind wasn't helping, and then I got a flat. Ironically, a small piece of sharp gravel caused the flat to my Panaracer Gravel King tires. I had neglected to sprinkle talc in the tires when I mounted them, and the tube was fused to the inside of the tire, making it harder to fix. Got to work about 45 minutes later than usual.

Hopefully the afternoon commute will go smoother. We are finally supposed to get some sun tomorrow after 12 continuous days of clouds, rain and gloom -- a new record for our city. However, we got off easy compared to South Carolina, and I don't envy them a bit. We similar flooding during Hurricane Floyd years ago, and the devastation is incredible.

Going up a hill about halfway to work, I passed a guy with his phone attached to his handlebars playing music through the speaker. My first thought was, "boy, this guy has crummy taste in music". My next thought was, "Did I remember to pack my phone? Yup, I remember putting my phone in my backpack, but I don't remember adding my wallet and keys..." At the top of hill I checked...no wallet, no keys. "[Expletive deleted]!!!" I arrange to meet my wife at my kid's school so that I wouldn't have to go all the way back home, but it was still a significant backtrack.

Temps were -2C (29F) when I left home. I dressed for a 40 minute commute, but ended up being outside for over 90 minutes, and my toes got very cold.

Around 53 degrees. I'm quickly remembering how much of a pain dressing for riding in colder weather and differing AM/PM conditions is. So much stuff. The ride was good and my new headlight is awesome.

I was thinking the exact same thing this morning. Above 50 = no hat, below 50 = hat.

I had a great ride in today. I rode my new racing bike. I built it a week ago and hadn't had the chance to ride it with being busy, having stuff to carry, and lots of rain. It weighs about 20 lbs and is very quick. I wore a messenger bag. Headwinds were unusually strong, but this is a good bike for dealing with them.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K...2014.38.01.jpg

Nice looking bike, Tom.

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] That is a nice looking bike. I like the red to accent.

We haven't had rain like they have in South Carolina, but it's been every day for a couple of weeks and enough that Big Creek and the Greenway is flooded. This morning though was just about perfect, even with the high-traffic detours.

I still have to chuckle at people's reactions. A coworker related that he'd told his wife about me (16 miles every day) and that she flat out refused to believe it. I said that it really isn't as difficult as it sounds, but he didn't seem to believe that either. Truth is, as we know here, it's sometimes actually easier than driving and almost always more pleasant. And on days like this ... as another coworker remarked as I rolled up to the rack, what a beautiful day for biking.

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] I knew that bike would look great with some licks of color

Thanks [MENTION=190611]joeyduck[/MENTION] and [MENTION=339610]Darth Lefty[/MENTION].

Tonight's commute home was the fastest ever, averaging 15.6 mph. Wow. Of course, the tailwind helped. Only one person passed me. He was going fast on a heavy hybrid with fat tires, riding with wobbly form. But good for him.

Benched, I satisfied my bike urges by working on the tandem. I removed the front drop bars as a complete assembly, and installed the old handlebars and stem from my Hardrock. In the rear I took out the narrow little hybrid bars and installed similar shape but huge Wald handlebars and Selle Royale ergo grips. I might put the same set in front too just for style's sake. I didn't have enough cables etc. to wire it all back up again - I bought shifters on the cheap and they didn't come with housings.

It was another nice commute in today with the temp at 41f degrees when I left the house. Again today the boy was out on his skateboard. He was not startled by me today.

~46 degrees for today's commute. It was a bit nippy. Saw a bushy-tailed red fox crossing the roadway this morning, caught in my headlight.

Redd Foxx
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=481038

excellent as always. especially now that it has been getting cooler. so much better

Nice bike, Tom!

I just picked up a 2016 Bianchi Volpe, my first drop-bars bike. It feels very quick.

Consecutive commute #112 :

Got a new flashlight for the top of my helmet. The old one had started to shut itself off, which required me to smack my helmet with my hand to get it to turn back on. The new light doesn't have this problem, and as a bonus is considerably brighter. It was nice to ride to work this morning without constantly slapping my head.

On a possibly related note, my craving for V8 juice has substantially diminished.

Compared with this new Lemond of mine, my 1995-ish Bianchi Volpe is a tank. Not quick and very heavy. But I love it anyway because it's so versatile and comfortable. It has been very reliable, too. I realize these bikes are now international efforts, but the company seems to know what it's doing. It should, since it's been in business longer than any other current bike company in the world.