Ritz

Wow Jean! That was a close one, I'm glad you're well. I think I may want to adjust my light up a little too.

brokenrobot

I had the closest call I've ever had today during my morning commute - I was in a (heavily traveled) bike lane on the left-hand side of the road when a Lexus decided to park in it. He went from behind me and travelling at over 40 MPH to stopped in front of me (touching my front tire) in an instant, and somewhere in there I hit my handlebars against the side of his car and against a parked car on the other side simultaneously. Luckily, and I have no idea how, I kept my wheels under me, and I'm uninjured - though I think he would have beaten me up for smacking his car and screaming at him if another driver, who'd seen the whole thing, hadn't come to my defense and shouted out his license plate number again and again till he calmed down... Unfortunately, in my panic, I didn't thank my defender adequately, but I'm sure as hell glad he was there!

The happy ending - After I rode off, the driver who'd nearly killed me followed me to the next corner, got back out of his car, and apologized. I'm still considering whether or not to file a police report - I'm uninjured except for scraped knuckles (which I assume I must have done against my brake lever) and there's no damage to my bike or to the parked car, so the cops aren't likely to take it seriously, but I'd like it on record that he's done this kind of thing before in case he kills somebody next time. Any advice?

-chris

Ritz

Yeah Dude. at least make a report, then tell the police you don't want to press any charges. That way if he really hurts someone next time, the prosecution will have no problem showing lack of concern on his part. Just my two cents.

You know, now that I think about it...Just blow it off. It's better to let go of it and let God do His thing. Sorry, I suppose my flesh was rising up.

mtessmer

Wow, it's finally dry around here. I had a very nice ride in this morning, and with daylight savings I'm back to seeing daylight half way to work. Of course on the other end it's starting to be pretty dark by the time I get home. The days are going to just keep getting shorter and shorter, I'm glad I've got a really nice lighting system.

brennser

a mild and sunny Oct 31 marked my most productive month of commuting this year - I managed to rack up more than 350 miles so I'm feeling pretty good about that

gorgeous day - supposed to be in the mid 70's for the next few days - a nice little end of year bonus in what has been a tough year weather wise

caloso

Wimped out this morning. It was raining and the rainbike isn't ready for rain. Didn't want to ride the "A" bike in and have to spend all evening cleaning it up to be ready for tomorrow's group ride. Blah.

Kodama

Cold this A.M. but absolutely clear and sunny. Clearly there had been a pretty hard frost overnight, everything in the shade was still pretty icy. The Temp (out of the sun) was low 40s and this was after my (rather late today) 10 am start. I'm glad that I don't have to do an early start, temps must have been in the 20s or 30s at 8am. Anyway I was wearing my heaviest sweatshirt and the full fingered gloves and my upper body was pretty warm. My legs, in leg warmers and shorts never did warming up, even with vigorous cycling. My face was also cold. Time to shop for some warmer leggings I guess.

Truly a beautiful day, cold, crisp with no wind and only a few other trail riders. There was a whole gaggle of pram pushers clogging nearly the entire path at one point.

Jean Beetham Smith 

What a wasted commute. I had an early morning Dr. appt. that I couldn't ride to and still get to work on time, so I drove. I have received suitable punishment. I got stuck in standstill traffic on Rt128 (Boston's older beltline) and wound up being 45 minutes late to work. On a beautiful day. Makes me remember why I started bike commuting in the first place.

tchazzard

I agree with mrfix about active lighting. I often encounter runners from the local college on my way home. I use a simple LED strobe. This helps me see them from a long ways off. The LED approaching at a good clip also concerns them enough that they move quickly to the shoulder.

On a slightly different note, I took my eternaLight Raven with me last night when I walked my youngest around for Halloween. I set it to just blink the red and blue LED. A approaching car actually pulled over thinking it was a cruiser.

I highly recommend the Raven for improving your rear facing fingerprint. See :

https://www.techass.com/el/raven2/raven2.php

for complete details. I velcro'ed it to the stop of my headrest on my Mango. It works very well.

tchazzard

Went out for a 15 mile joy ride today. It topped out at 74 F. Not bad for Nov. 1st. I keep saying this will be our last really warm fall day, but they keep on coming.

Ed Holland

Messy ride in today. All the rain during the weekend, plus the progress of autumn has left the bike path section of my ride covered in wet leaves, now enjoying various states of decay. The downhill section usually is good for a 30+ mph blast, but not on that surface... so I had to take it carefully.

Got a new light at the wekend to match my existing Cateye halogen rechargeable. I also splashed out on an extra set of really high capacity "AA" NiMH batteries for the new light, though it was supplied with NiCads. In theory the NiMH batteries should give double the burn time of the ones supplied. I have old lamp to use as a spare, now fitted with new NiCads that came with with the new lamp. No excuses for being in the dark now!

Cheers,

Ed
Cheers,

Ed

mtessmer

Well, we are getting our first snow fall of the season, I made it to work before I started but it's coming down pretty heavy now. It should make for an interesting ride home. The roads are just wet but it's accumilating on the grass, it's 26F/-3C so I don't think it's going away right away. I'm just glad I've got my winter bike today. Oh, tchazzard, you talked me into those lights last year and I've never regretted it, they work great!

cwodave

Gorgeous day! Mid 50's, not a cloud in the sky. Not even the school busses could ruin this day.

Kodama

The clear and cold weather continues. It was a really cold weekend, and as I rode in today the grass was so heavily frosted that it looked like a light snow. The sun is nice but to be honest I long for the warmth some clouds will bring. My car is a bit under the weather and I'm doing everything by bike right now, so I'd welcome some warmer weather.

Anyway today was clear and cold, with ice and frost everywhere. I saw one other commuter and at one point a gaggle of around 12 women.

cyclezealot

Disappointing wanted to commute to work today..Because spent all summer getting over shoulder surgery my annual mileage stinks.. 30% chance of rain today..
First possible rain..Roads are oily and slick. Better not..Can't afford chance of fall yet..Wanted and planned upon it.Maybe on PM shift tomorrow afternoon.

Ritz

Still haven't started commuting again myself. I may need to take it easy for a while, The grapefruit sized lump just over my navel is gone now, but I'm still very sore. It's like every muscle in my body is connected to my abdoman, when I move more than moderatly I feel it. Don't rush it cyclezealot, they say re-injury is worse than the first.

Mtn Mike

The commute today was great, thanks for asking

This morning I was treated to a nice, crisp 25 F, and clear skys. Traffic was light this AM in Spokane, maybe becuase everyone was afraid to go out in freezing temps. I got a few looks of disbelief from motorists freezing in their cars. This evenings ride brought light snow, but not enough to cover the roads. I found myself wishing the commute was longer. I might go back out tonight for some more snow riding.
to the snow!

Stealthman_1

I am scared... After a beautiful fall ride in last night the temperature has dropped to 37f, probably heading to 35f by morning. It was 90f 8 days ago, it is just too cold too soon for us. I packed my new PI foul weather jacket though so I be warm upstairs , light tights may be a little chilly down. Saw a bobcat the day before, first time I've seen one in many years, very cool.

chewa

Saw the sunrise over the Forth this morning, but luckily could conserve battery power on my lights after that as my commute time leaves me marginal on battery run time.

Cool but calm this am with only the many dropped leaves and hooligans with fireworks (Guy Fawkes) to provide any excitement.

mrfix

45 degrees with light rain and a slight head wind, My ride took me 1 hour and 5 minutes. I didn't wear my rain gear, I just got wet, the forcast for this afternoon is cloudy with no rain, we'll see.

ridealot

I can't believe the great weather we have been getting here! Tempature has been way above normal. Today's ride in was warm and nice. Around 45 deg F. The ride home is supposed to be in the high 70's low 80's.

Of course today maybe the last day of it. The rest of the week it looks as if a cooling trend is coming.

TeleJohn

I put full fenders on my bike last night. Rode in a 45f drizzle. Arrived dry.

Now rainy days will not stop me from riding!

pinerider

Back on the bike after a week on standby, last night on the way home the legs felt like I hadn't been on the bike for a month! It was +7C, 46 F and steady rain, but I was comfy and dry for the most part. As a reward, the bike got to sleep in the basement to dry everything out.

This morning's ride in was a bit of a chore with a 30 mph northeaster (partial headwind) blowing off Lake Ontario, but the rain had stopped for a bit. A much more interesting trip to work than last week's driving was.

caloso

Chilly but gorgeous. A blanket of mist like a layer of cake frosting on the meadow along the river trail. Makes me very grateful to be alive.

Kodama

Not to sound like a broken record, I'll just say that the conditions persist: Cold (upper 30sF), totally clear, frost and some fog. (The fog rising out from the Sammamish river is pretty cool). However my route was a bit different as I put my bike on the rack, drove my ailing car to the shop and biked in from there. About the same distance, as the shop is parallel to my Apt., just across the river. However I wasn't riding the trail, for 50% of the ride, and the gentle slope of the route I took, warmed me up a little faster. I enjoyed the variety, and look forward to riding back to the shop.