Morning commute was good despite the overcast sky. The Mt. Vernon Trail work by the airport was the one glitch - the detour forced me onto an airport road. I had to wait for 8 cars or so to pass before I could cross the road to get onto the temporary mulch path. At least I was able to ride the mulch paths without dismounting. Other cyclists have already given up on the MVT by the airport and have started riding on the airport roads to bypass it. I'm going to follow suit because waiting for a stream of cars is ridiculous when I can just keep riding on the road. BTW, that mulch path that one rides on after crossing the road w/ streaming cars is a downhill path - one screwup/fall and you're on the busy parkway.

Evening commute was ok. Rain fell on me on the way to BicycleSpace, the bike shop closest to my work. After I bought the Y-wrench (allen) that I wanted from the shop, I put on my polyester cycling cap (bought on closeout sale from REI), under my helmet, to help keep the rain off my cycling glasses, and a pair of plastic shopping bags on top of my shoes. The cap was great - the bags not so much. One of them got caught between a pedal and the crank. So I gave up on keeping my shoes dry but luckily the rain had stopped so it didn't matter. Tried the alternative route (to bypass the mulch detour mess) through Crystal City but got a little lost. I won't give up on riding through Crystal City because there are some decent places from I can pick up dinner on the go. At any rate, I cursed when I realized nightfall had caught me without my helmet light - I didn't think it would come so damned fast.

That mulch was tough for me yesterday since my bike was limited to three high gears. (I stopped off at Big Wheel Bikes and they got me up and running.)

55F / 13C, nice dark cool morning ride in.

First bike commute of the week. First ride since Friday and my attitude has shown it!

Cool and crisp, I clearly need to pick up some legwarmers as this (57 )is near my limit for comfort without. Full fingered gloves came out last week.

Went camping this weekend and took the light that rides on my helmet with me, I have no idea where it got put so I was limited to the handlebar light only. I'll relocate that light to the helmet for my work side commute in 30 minutes.

Our perfect fall weather continues, with lows in upper 50s, highs in the 70s and clear skies. Temperatures are supposed to drop a fair amount over the next few days, with lows in the upper 30s by Sunday. I'm looking forward to it because it means less sweat. I can dress for the cold.

Low 50s this morning. I was already a little cold before I left, so now I'm still trying to warm up. Tonight the temps are supposed to dip below 50 for the first time since last winter.

I have been seeing another cyclist fairly regularly for the past couple of weeks. About the same time and same spot on my route. I have to wonder if he is a commuter too, though he seems to be traveling lightly.

I'll start with the ride home yesterday. 1 word: windy! Lots of constant headwinds, but I kind of enjoyed it. If it is going to be windy, it may as well be quite windy. This morning was nice....lots of traffic though, even leaving my subdivision. I must have hit the elementary school migration.

According to the better half, the bridge that had been closed is now open, but I guess most people don't know that yet, as the bridge I take was still super backed up, with a giant pump still blocking the bike lane. But it was fun passing everyone who was jammed up before the giant pump and right after it. It was really foggy by the river, as well. I wanted to get a picture on the bridge, but I was dodging a limo-bus hugging towards the bike lane and its sideview mirrors, expansion joints, and debris (really only the outermost foot of the bike lane is usable there is so much debris in the rest of it).

Tonight is the local advocacy groups Handlebar Happy Hour - free wings and beer! Looking forward to that, then I should have a nice peaceful ride home.

Here is the fog as soon as I got off the bridge and turned down a side road that is seldom used.
http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/...pshhc5xp0q.jpg

Very humid this morning, which makes the 50° feel colder somehow. I enjoy it though, since it enables you to go a little harder and skip the morning shower.

Yesterday was a little frightening though. The roads were still wet from overnight rains and I took the major surface roads to avoid the slop, which also meant some hills. Even though I was only in the low 30's, prudently holding back I thought, I started getting that dreaded rear end skid on the way down having to continually release the brake. Barely stopped in time. It's time to put the fall/winter tires on this weekend.

Morning commute was great this morning. Lower 50's and light winds.

Last night was a little interesting. I was riding home through a quiet residential neighborhood when a pickup truck, that had just passed me, starts backing up at a high rate of speed directly toward me. I had to swerve into the oncoming lane to avoid getting hit. I yelled at him as he went past, and he honked at me like I was in HIS way. Really??? It looked like a construction truck (no logo on the side), and I'm guessing he missed his turn because he backup up to the previous cross-street and made a turn. Damn dude, check behind you before you slam it in reverse and hit the accelerator. Not to mention... you just passed me!!! Did you forget???

I had the GoPro on the bike, but it was pointing backward. So you can see me making my collision avoidance maneuver and then the truck going by. You can make out his license plate number. All is fine because no one was coming in the other lane, but if there had been an oncoming car it could have turned out worse. I'm trying to decide if I take the video and turn him in or just let it go. Thoughts?

It's because you live in Minnesota... duh! 43F this morning and the winds have thankfully died down some. Funny how mid 40's seem a lot colder in the dark

So true!

You're getting temperatures in the low 30s in Atlanta already? Raleigh is quite a bit further north, and our lowest temps so far have been in the upper 40s.

I was fine with the mulch path until they started forcing cyclists onto a road where we have to wait for a steady stream of cars to pass before we can even hit the mulch.

On my next morning ride, I'm going to try this northbound route: MVT Detour NB v1 - Fort Barnard Heights, VA
This route avoids Aviation Cir and that stream of cars. Southbound, I'm going to make another try riding through Crystal City - mostly on Service Rd - I missed that road last night when I got lost.

The MVT detours and how to avoid them has become the dominant topic of the October Road and Trail Conditions thread on the WABA forum. I got the route ideas there:
October 2015 Road and Trail Conditions

My commute was unusually easy today. Can you guess why? If you guessed that my normal headwinds weren't there, you were right. In fact, I had a slight tailwind.

My wife is preparing for the Tour de Bronx, coming up on Oct 25, so she wants to get some miles in. She rode with me for the first four miles (of my 14 mile commute).

The temperature here is mild today.

He was talking about low 30's MPH, speed. Atlanta lows are in the 50's to upper 40's right now.

Good ride home other than some headwinds from my front left side. As I was going through the park near my house, heading east (winds pushing me), I was doing about 20-22 down hill, posted speed limit 15, and a car passes me doing near 30. They had the windows down so I yelled "why don'cha slow down a bit??" At my speed they should have hung back. I saw the brake lights come on for a second right after they passed, but they went on and pulled into a parking area. Oh well.

I hate the way everyone uses the park as a through street between two main collector streets (me included), but the alternatives are 2-3 miles longer getting across town. It's posted with a 15 MPH speed limit but everyone does 25-35 through there unless a cop is sitting in there somewhere. And then the park closes for 3 months out of the year for the Christmas light display. If the city would ever connect the road in my neighborhood that runs across town, traffic through the park would be GREATLY reduced. There has been new residential construction in the area where the road needs to be connected, so hopefully it will happen soon. I've been waiting over 10 years for it to happen.

today is the last day of commuting for the week for me :(
 

I agree great weather for riding this week! Today is my last day of riding though. I have an interview for a new job tomorrow. So I am pretty excited about it. hopefully a pay raise and the ability to keep bike commuting.. (different building, same company... so maybe not I will have to see I am off Friday.


it is funny how any of the temps see colder in the dark. it is just so different to ride in the dark.

Today I drafted off of a city truck after another one pulled out in front of me. I maintained 30+MPH for a whole ride down this one road. It was fun other than the second city truck pulling out in front of me. Probably confused him when I pulled away down the hill and maintain 30+ MPH until the next light.

I think it's the radiant heat from the sun's infrared rays that make the difference. While the air temperature might be the same 40 degrees, if it's sunny you also have the radiant heat warming your skin. In the dark you don't have that.

A rather pleasant commute this morning. Cool but not cold (well, a month ago, 5C would have been cold, now it's cool), low winds, and a beautiful sunrise over the river. Saw few other cyclists this morning, but the rack where I park my bike was unusually full for some reason. Guess everyone got to work before me today.

No that was speed going down a hill with a light at the bottom. Our morning temperatures are still in the low 50's mostly.

Clearly I need to work on my reading comprehension!

It was another nice uneventful commute this am. The temp was 38f degrees with a clear dark sky when I left the house.

After having sprinted home from work yesterday on my fixed gear, trying to catch the cable guy as he does our installation (I missed him anyhow), I thought that I'd drive in today to get a rest. My wife said, "but I wanted to ride out and meet you for the ride home tomorrow..." So I rode in again today. I took it a lot easier, though.

Cool and damp-ish, it still felt great to ride in. I'm so fortunate to be able to bike to work!

Oh, and the cable installation went fine. OT - My first time with a full function Denon AVR, with HDMI interface to the TV, so had left him cabling for coax to channel box, HDMI to AVR with it in standby. He did fine without my hovering over him. I got it all to work properly last night. Denon menus are cryptic, but I figured out how to do a microprocessor reset and dig into menus to select HDMI control that allows the cable box to pass signals to the TV when the AVR is in standby or when powered up. Wow. So many options now. Just, wow.

Just a little below 50 for the start of the ride. But I still wore shorts as the high will be about 74 this afternoon.

On the way home yesterday I had a driver behind me lay on the horn due to me slowing him down. I was just a few yards from where a right turn lane into a shopping center opens up. I always get over into that lane to allow cars to pass more easily. He blares the horn, I get over (as I would have done anyway) and he goes by. I held out my hand as in "What's your problem?" He then makes the right turn into the shopping center. I had half a mind to follow him and ask what was the deal, but I needed to get home to take my daughter to ballet practice.

I would have liked to have asked him if he blares his horn at everything that slows him down including stop lights, school buses and people turning left.

My ride home from Handlebar Happy Hour last night was mostly terrific
http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3n75twui.jpg

That is, until my tail light died on me on a dark road! That made me a little uneasy, but I have a huge reflector on the back of my rack, so I moved into the middle of the lane and when a car came up moved over to the right. At least by riding in the middle, I should have been easily visible. I felt like I was pushing the pace (and my body sure does, too!) but Strava said I was slow slow slow. I was tired and sore this morning and took the car. I was in the mood for a drive. #wussmode

My legs were very sore after I got home yesterday and the aching actually woke me up during the middle of the night. I initially thought it was bike related, so I checked all of the fit dimensions on my main commuter bike this morning. However, everything was OK and the brake pads weren't rubbing the rims. So that got me wondering why my legs were so tired and it finally dawned on me that it had nothing to do with my bike. It apparently was my shoes that I keep at work.

I had brought a new pair of dress shoes to wear at work but the orthotic insoles that were in my old shoes don't fit the new ones very well. Consequently, my feet slide around a lot in the new shoes, making it harder to walk. I've also been doing a lot of walking at work, including nearly 5 miles yesterday, and apparently that was tiring my leg muscles. So, I crammed my old work shoes in my bike bag this morning and brought them back to work, and I noticed an improvement right away once I started walking around at work.