It's the long sleeves into work and short sleeves back to home season. A month ago 50F would have been short sleeves weather but not now. Humidity/clamminess is way up I guess.

Nice to be back on the bike after an 8-day business trip. 60-degrees and light winds this morning!

I had a great ride this morning. Headwinds were stiff, but I was in a good mood, so they didn't get me down. The air pressure must be high, because I felt euphoric. I hope the wind keeps up for my ride home. It rarely does, though; morning winds are usually harder than evening winds.

I haven't measured it, but I think I'm continuing to improve at increasing my cadence. Spin, spin, spin.

Sounds like some nice commutes are being had. I miss riding this time of year.

I've been taking my boy to school while wearing his little sister. I'm able to get there and back pretty much with crutches on only one side and they are mostly for extra balance and I really don't use them. I have been walking about the house without anything either. I am certainly improving, but I still only have stamina for about ten minutes of continuous upright moving, so I use the wheelchair for longer outings.

I have been really thinking about riding a lot and its tough since I can not even talk to my life about it without stressing her out. We drove by as an accident happened in the lane next to use and she started freaking out.

I may start a thread in general cycling looking for a new bike, I am curious what people will say. There was a bike from a somewhat obscure brand that interests me but I can not for the life of me recall what it is. I am hoping someone will post it.

I hope everyone has great rides.

This Cannondale cross build is started out about as stiff as it could possibly be. It has big chunky MTB-style stays and a "Pepperoni" MTB-style aluminum fork, a 36h aero wheelset with straight spokes, a 31.8 compact handlebar with the flattened tops, and tough-ish and inexpensive commuter tires. I'm ready to start walking it back. As a first step the Romin Evo went away in favor of a softer saddle which fortunately still has red trim, albeit less obvious. Still on the list of changes to try are softer tires, a quill stem and rando handlebar, maybe a carbon fork. My hand has been hurting lately and I'm not sure whether to blame the bike or the home improvement, but the bike sure doesn't help it. I've had a hard time pressing the shift button on the left from the hoods.

Glad to hear from you and looking forward to it.

Windy 25knots gusts to 30 right in my face the whole 12 miles. Nice workout though and good crisp clear air.

Finally! We got some rain yesterday afternoon. It was different riding home in a light drizzle. Pleasant, really. I saw a groundhog make a break for a nearby drainage tunnel. "Run!" I shouted.

Quite, damp and cool this morning, the ride seemed a bit hushed to me.

It was 51 this am, but I took the gloves anyway, I figured the temp was only 1 degree above.

The commute was nice this morning not as cold as yesterday. The road has its second coat of asphalt and it is so smooth, I went flying down the hill this morning, with no worries about bumps and not seeing them.

Low 60s and minor drizzle this morning. I leave at 7a.m. and it is now just to where I feel like I need the headlight to start out, especially when it is overcast like today. I did turn it off about 30 minutes later though.

Mixed bag this morning. Temp was OK, a little under 50 so I decided to forego the jacket. Definitely borderline on the "too cold for that" front. At least I defined a line for when I need a jacket this year: 48°F and below, which is about 5 degrees lower than last year. Still need to define a line for leggings, shoe covers and ear protection. I'm guessing anything below 40 needs all three right now.

As for the ride. It was awesome until I got close to work. Then it all went to ****.

One car turns left in front of me in the school zone. Another stupid, over-protective mother dropping off her emasculated little kid, who simply cannot be trusted to walk to school, for some reason. Anyway, she probably had more important things on her mind than to watch for cyclists.

Less than 5 minutes later, another car does something unexpected. This one backs out of his driveway onto the road without looking. The idiot almost backed right into me. Oh--he said he was sorry. ****ing jerk.

Fairdale? Great to have you back even off the bike.

49F this morning so NOW it's officially Fall with the "4." I seem to be in one of those flat cycles - went to leave yesterday and back tire was flat (it's always the rear). Swapped tubes, finished putting my gear on, ready to go, flat. Start over, got home. Walked out this morning, almost flat. Because I'm an optimist and inherently lazy I pumped it up and took off. Made it to work but now have a pile of tubes in my office. And before you give me advice about checking the tire and rim this is all because I patch tubes and these were all patched, apparently poorly. I think I'm done patching

Perfect temp around 65. Was trying to get a podcast going so left a few minutes later but still made here at the same time. Picked up some pepper spray Sunday and so far no dogs period... lol funny how that happens. Fall starts tomorrow but so far in the 50's only a couple days.

Life has been getting in the way of long bike commutes lately, but I'm doing what I can to keep up with the short commutes.

Last night I left the office significantly later than usual and ran into another guy that rides almost exactly the same route as me, just an hour later. I guess he's been doing it for about 4 years. He commented that I was really booking it on my fully loaded bike (panniers, trunk, my fat ass) - he was trailing behind in the flats, I was trailing behind on the hills (I'm not sure what his effort level was, flats were about 22 mph).

Had to drive in today, and it really reminded me of WHY I bike commute. I hate the drive.

Fall is my favorite season for bike commuting and we're getting our first taste of cooler weather. I love it because I can finally ride without getting drenched in sweat. Plus, it's not cold enough yet to require extra clothes.

Bam. And that's it.

Thanks, though I have been lurking regularly.

reason know is because I bought one - about 2500 miles on it and still love it. Serious competition to LHT

Our perfect weather continues, a little precipitation but not so much that you'd notice. In a way I feel guilty for riding because if I fall with this slow-healing collarbone and the hardware installed the ramifications would be severe. I find myself starting earlier to avoid trail users, waiting out rain instead of riding through it, moving out a foot further from the curb, and other small cautions that I wouldn't normally be so concerned about because even the smallest risks are compounded over time. It feels too good to even consider stopping though.

I'm even considering finding some studded tires for our week or two of icy riding. Maybe with a dedicated winter bike attached.

Agreed! At least for September. Yesterday, I wore a polo shirt and cotton dress trousers. I rolled the trousers up to just below the knees. Not much sweating and I didn't get cold, either.

My ride back home last night was good. I had the tail wind I had hoped for, but it wasn't as strong as the headwind was in the morning. It seems to go that way: winds are strong in the morning and milder in the evening. I didn't turn on my battery powered blinky tail light or my spoke light, as the sun set right around the time I got home. This left me running only the dynamo powered headlight and tail light, both steady.

Another 0C/32F commute this morning. Cloudy and calm. I probably should have turned my lights on. There was a bit of frost on a wooden bridge over a creek, which made it more slippery than snot on a brass doorknob, but I made it across okay :)

I'm still riding my lightweight road bikes these days, and hope to continue for a few more weeks because I really dislike riding my LHT. As long as the streets stay dry, I'll stick with the lightweights.

Same here. It's still warm enough for shorts and short sleeved shirts, but cool enough to allow for a quick cool down once I arrive.

Everyone thinks car traffic will be hell tomorrow and Thursday with the Pope in town, so I figured I'd better start getting used to commuting with my new Chrome backpack instead of pannier - because it'd be a bit easier to ride between cars - if it comes down to that. I was a bit concerned how my previously injured lower back/hip would feel, but my back generally felt fine as long as I worked on keeping the shoulders rolled back, the spine straight and long - standard stuff in hatha yoga and other forms of exercises (eg. weight lifting, kettlebell exercises) for preventing a rounded lower back.

Morning ride was about 63F all the way - never really warmed up by the time I arrived at work. In other words, it was the most pleasant morning commute I've had yet. A bit of chill to start, but the backpack kept me warm, and it didn't take long for the body to heat up.

This was my first full commute with the new trekking bar and the MKS Lambda pedals. Really love the pedals. Because of the huge surface area, each pedal stroke takes less effort.

The trekking bar got a bit uncomfortable to grip with my hands in the inner flats position, where the brake handles, bell, and twist shifter are. I just wasn't used to riding with a straight handlebar, which is what the inner flats of a trekking bar feel like. I also had the Zefal Spy mirror mounted on the left side of the trekking bar. The Zefal proved to be useless as it was impossible to adjust the up-down viewing angle on the fly. I got a lot of practice looking over my shoulder without causing the bike to wobble sideways, as well as using my ears to hear approaching cars on my left. Before my evening ride, I removed the Zefal, which improved left-hand comfort in the inner flat hand position. I tried pulling my elbows in to help reduce the wrist bend in this position. I find the side hand position to be the most comfortable cruising position. My torso is a little less upright there, but it's fine. The front curve hand position proved to be as effective against headwind as I'd hoped.

The evening ride was just as pleasant as the morning ride. Felt like the calm before the "storm" that everyone's expecting tomorrow - record crowds, crazy traffic, etc.

I came fizzing down off the pedestrian bridge over US50 and merged up next to a shirtless guy with a Serious Commuter setup, floppy yellow panniers and a high-set trekking bar on his MTB-with-slicks. I suppose I must have looked the business leaned over on my Ronald McDonald Cannondale, but I told him he was going to pass me up as soon as I lost my momentum, and he did.

A little warmer this morning but the wind's been light this week which I enjoy! Had to use my pepper spray this morning.. he sure didn't like that! I guess it's karma I almost ran into a huge puddle of vomit a few miles down the road... yuck!

It was a very serene and beautiful commute this morning. Really nice. I rode the fixed gear and felt somewhat strong. Surprising...

Comfortable temps for the commute this morning. A nice little sunrise before it disappeared behind the clouds. It's been cloudy all week, though it cleared up for a bit last night.

Fast commute this morning with reasonably fresh legs and a nice tailwind much of the way. Unfortunately, the forecasters are saying we've got about 4-5 days of rain coming our way, but I'll believe it when I see it. Our forecasters are notoriously bad at predicting rain.

Consecutive commute #105 :

Rained pretty heavy during the night, and is supposed to start raining again this afternoon. Had a break in the rain on my way to work so while the pavement was still wet, I didn't have any weather problems outside of a moderate head wind. Looks like I may get soaked on the way home though.

Last week my wife got sick with a cold. Over the weekend my son came down with the same thing and missed the last two days of school. I started coming down with it on Monday night and by last night was feeling pretty rotten. Before I went to bed my wife was trying to convince me that I shouldn't be riding in the rain when I'm sick and I should drive the car, but then conceded and said, "I know you're going to ride no matter what." I reasoned that if I'm too sick to ride, then I'm too sick to go to work period. Felt a bit rugged when I first got up but actually the ride seemed to loosen up the congestion. Right now I'm not 100% but really not feeling too bad.

My front headlight on my rain bike was dead, so I swapped out the batteries before I left. It wasn't too long ago that I put those batteries in the thing. Then once the fresh batteries were installed I noticed that even in the "off" position the LEDs were just slightly illuminated. Not enough to be noticeable unless you're staring directly into the light, but it definitely was still lit. That would explain why the batteries drained down so fast. If I slightly unscrew the front cover the light goes out, so I guess that's what I'm doing now instead of using the switch. Still seems to work fine otherwise, I just can't turn it off.

Another glorious morning ride. Funny how the first day of fall has identical weather to the last day of summer here.

Fear of traffic congestion caused by the Papal Visit kept a lot of people home telecommuting today. i noticed a bit less car traffic than usual.

Bit warmer than yesterday (3C instead of 0), and a nice commute overall. I go through a ravine on my commute, and the climb up in the morning is a short (~50 vertical feet) but pretty steep gravel section. I don't usually have a lot of trouble with the climb, but it's steep enough that I did stall once on my fixie. Anyway, this morning, I came up behind a guy on a Segway just before I hit the climb, and naturally, I gave chase! Those things are surprisingly fast uphill! I lost! I managed to redeem myself on the flats though :)

DROVE the car... too much stuff to do and not enough time for a ride home tonight. Cool thing is I have a date night with my 12 yo daughter! I am looking forward to it!