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!

Very nice, a nice way to spend your evening.

I had a nice uneventful commute. It was a cool 45f degrees when I left the house with dark skies.

60F this morning was a little cool, but I still went with the shorts and short-sleeve jersey. Loving the fall weather so far. I'm not sweaty at all and the afternoons are quite nice.

There is a chance for rain this evening, so we'll see if that changes my mind or not.

58F here the north of you haha. I rode with knee warmers and arm warmer plus vest. It was warm. I took the vest off 1/3 of the way in.
Supposed to be rainy for the next two days. I am heading out of town so I will drive tomorrow
[MENTION=297321]essiemyra[/MENTION] it was a great way to spend my evening. Good company and some good food/ errands together. plus this sunset when we were leaving the store.

I was going to upload a picture but it looks horrible. I guess I will just have the memory of the beautiful sky. There were so many vivid colors too.

Took my chances and rode today, despite forecasts for afternoon showers. I'll take my chances considering that it's supposed to rain here tomorrow and all weekend. My ride in to work was so nice that I added an extra mile through downtown.

Overslept till 6 yesterday morning, but rode to work anyway. Left the house about 6:25 I think. Got to work at 7:45. Quick shower and ready to go at 8:05.

Coming home was okay, great weather. The section of my commute being used for a detour around adjacent state highway construction is really getting to be a pain. So. Much. Traffic. On a 2-lane 35mph road that usually has almost no traffic now has tons of cars and even big trucks that normally use the 55mph state highway. On part of it I have to climb a big hill, and I really felt like I was holding up people. Oh well, I was using the road before they started using the road, so they can wait.

Seems like the universe flipped the dark switch when Fall started. 56F this morning so no complaints. Our dog died yesterday and a big part of my morning rituals revolved around her - shots (diabetes), feeding, putting out - I didn't know what to do with myself this morning so just left early. Bike heals all

Perfect morning. I left a little before 6:30 and made good time. Ran a good chunk of the ride under lights, but dawn did come around a little after 7AM. Traffic was a lot lighter than it is when I leave 15 minutes later. I may aim to leave at this time more often.

Third glorious morning ride in a row. I wanted to see how close I could get to the Capitol, since the Pope was scheduled to speak there at 9:30 AM. I got as close as 3rd St NW and Madison, where I hit the metal barricade. Backtracking and riding random streets to arrive at the office wasn't bad though.

3 great commutes this week. I've been taking the longer scenic route and enjoying the nice weather. My wife got a new car and so that means I now have a car also. I'm pretty proud of myself for riding this week even though I have a car. I'm afraid I'll get lazy and drive more often.

sorry to hear about your dog passing away. They do make big impacts in our lives don't they?
Hope you enjoy your ride home. [

QUOTE=arsprod;18190387]Seems like the universe flipped the dark switch when Fall started. 56F this morning so no complaints. Our dog died yesterday and a big part of my morning rituals revolved around her - shots (diabetes), feeding, putting out - I didn't know what to do with myself this morning so just left early. Bike heals all[/QUOTE]

Dang man, that's tough. Sorry to hear.

I rode in again today. My big reason is that the pope is visiting NYC today, and on the radio, they warned that (1) driving a car would bring a world of misery and (2) even mass transit could have problems. I normally don't drive a car, so (1) doesn't affect me, but I don't feel like sitting in a hot subway station waiting for a delayed and crowded train.

As I was riding along the river, pedaling into my usual morning headwind, I was listening to the radio in my headphones, and the announcer said the weather is very nice but maybe a little breezy. 'Scuse me, I'm on the river, and it's not a little breezy, it's downright stiff. But that's OK. I rode at a pace to avoid sweating heavily, because I'm wearing a dress shirt today.

The bike path has been extended, as of yesterday or today! There is a brand new ramp going from the northern end down to the street level. Now there is a set of stairs plus a hilly torn up street I don't have to take any more. Thank you, Parks Department! From there, I took the long route which is very hilly but also involves less riding in unpleasant street traffic. I have to climb a set of very steep stairs. The stairs has a ramp for bikes, but it barely helps because of the steepness. The stairs lead to a railroad overpass. I rode on the overpass and then remembered that there are stairs on the other side, too. But these are not steep. They are the type where you walk two or three steps forward and then one step down. I decided to try riding down the stairs. Ump, ump, ump, that was rough, but my bike and I survived.

[MENTION=322871]arsprod[/MENTION], I'm very sorry about your dog. My dog is 12 years old, so she can't be too much longer for this world, though she's doing pretty well now. I think about the inevitable day when she's gone. We probably won't get another dog any time soon, so it will be sad and lonely.

Sorry to hear about your pup. Leave a little earlier. Tinker with the bike. Enjoy the memories.

45 degrees cool crisp morning, absolutely perfect weather to ride to work in. Coming home 65 sunny 20 knot headwind in the face the whole way. Luckily fairly flat her so it was like hill training with the constant headwind.