jrickards

Finally, a wet morning, first wet ride since before September. 6C (43F) so it wasn't too cold. Wore my shoes inside a plastic grocery bag inside my booties (which aren't even water resistant) and my feet were toasty and dry. My tights are microfleece and seemed to repel the light rain so my legs were essentially dry and warm.

Forecast is for rain through the day, including the evening, so Halloween will be wet.

Forgot to mention that I nearly ran over a stupid pedestrian jay-walking yesterday who didn't seem to care that I was moving fairly quickly down the hill: he was facing me, I had on two bright front lights and a high-viz jacket so he couldn't have not seem me, he just didn't seem to care. I yelled at him when I got close.

Of course, it was dark this morning and so I had my Cree T6 light on, on its brightest setting, but it was diminished by the light rain and didn't light the road as well as it does on dry days. Furthermore, the rain on my glasses "sparkled" in the light of oncoming vehicles. The result was that I couldn't see very well when there were oncoming vehicles and had to slow down so I didn't swerve off the road onto the soft shoulder. It wasn't a very enjoyable ride, not because of the rain, but because of the inability to see well. Maybe I should get a brighter light (I've seen what others have recommended) but it was only in today's conditions that my current light wasn't sufficient. It's been 4 riding days since I have charged the battery so I'm charging it today and if tomorrow morning also is rainy, I may find another route that has street lights: I needed today's ride to achieve the 900km in October challenge I had set myself, this afternoon's ride will get me only about 1km over 900 so I couldn't wimp out this morning.

FenderTL5

We have heavy rains in the forecast for today. I rode in anyway, racing a few sprinkles early this morning.
I'll 'figure it out' this afternoon, based on what's happening.

If it's just a few rain showers I'll ride home. If it's the heavy rains and t-storms predicted, I'll ride up and use the MTA for the better part of the trip. I'll still be on the bike at least 3 miles, even with the MTA.

spivonious

Much warmer today than it has been. Very humid with a slight fog. I ran all of my lights just in case. Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday morning, so I'll be using my lights regularly on the ride home for the rest of the year.

Driving home from the store last night with my wife, we saw a bicyclist with pitiful lights. He had a reflective vest on with a very dim front white light and a very dim rear red blinky. I hope he realized that his lights weren't worth much. I should have stopped and said something.

dramiscram

No bike commute today, it's the first time in the last two years that I take the van without a good reason: the weather channel is forecasting a 60-80 kms headwind tonight with heavy rain so I just wimped out this morning. I hope the weather channel is right or it will make me feel even worst.

arsprod 

Been off the bike to two days in a row so glad to be back riding even though it's raining and a weirdly warm 61F. Also had a wicked headwind and we're forecast to have rain and thunderstorms all day. I don't mind the wet but the combination of wet, dark, and some patches of the MUP totally covered with fallen leaves is scary. I'd rather have ice then wet leaves.

groovestew

Well done! My October mileage is pitiful: I'll barely break 250 km.

Decent ride this morning. Had to haul a few things to work so I wouldn't have room for a change of clothes in my pack, meaning that I would have to shower and dress in work clothes at home before the commute. I waffled a bit between taking the bus and riding, but opted for the bike, and glad I did. Cool, but not too cold (5C), with a bit of light precipitation in the middle part of the ride.

I just came back from a few days in San Diego, and I gotta say, a guy could certainly get used to the climate there. I'll be envying you San Diegans over the next few months!

PatrickGSR94

I've been out there that way myself, and it's a nice place to visit but I definitely don't envy the cost of living out there.

locolobo13 

This morning was the first in the 40s since winter or spring. Actually wore 3 layers.

Bikeforumuser0011

I'm not really sure if you would call it a commute, but hey I rode, so there you go! I planned on going out for a ride all day, but was stuck inside doing work, then I went to pick-up "the charge" (i.e. the toddler I drive back/forth to daycare), and then home again. Well, I got home, and oh joy, no water! Come to find out they were working on the water line (on a yucky note, my toilet plugged and I had to call maintence to fix it at 5:00, then my heat went out & I was a frozen popsicle all night with the kitty under the covers at my feet, heat on at 10 this morning, but water off, again, then on tonight when I got home from class) , so I decided, since I really had no way of cooking and didn't want anything that was microwavable I would go to the pub for dinner. So, Lola and I made out way downtown, I locked her up about three feet from where I was sitting outside (stupid me, I knew I would get warm on the ride there, but neglected to think about the ride home, so I was in a quarter-sleeve tee until I went into UG and bought a sweatshirt off their clearance rack in safety yellow, nonetheless, so I felt very safe riding home in that and my bright pink neon Nike Airs), and sat outside to enjoy my salmon and Diet Coke. After that, I walked around downtown for a little bit, then got a Carmel Apple Spice from Starbucks and a brownie , munched on those, then returned to Lola, turned on my Monkey Lights (oh the joy of only having to turn those on and not other ones!), unlocked her, and set off home. As I was riding along, I did notice that I was on the rode, and there were a few other cyclists on the sidewalk, one was going the opposite direction, too. I felt like yelling "sidewalk salmon," but didn't because I was (to be honest) alittle winded already and got a phone call, so I had to pull over to the side of the road (i.e. sidewalk ... ... ironic isn't it?), take the call, and start off again.

All in all, aside from me needing to build up my lung capacity and jello legs , I had a pretty uneventful, yet pleasant evening ride. I always get compliments on my ML's, and when I was walking back to Lola to head home, two people were staring at my bike talking about how nice it was and what a nice job I did locking it up (Bulldog U-Lock on the rear wheel, frame, and - yay for A2 on this one - designated bike rake, Knog Strongman for my front wheels to the front fork). The one guy asked me about my ML's, how they worked, so I chatted a bit, and showed him, then I got a little bit of a crowd around me ... I felt like I was a moving light show, which I sort of was ... even had a driver stop in the middle of Main Street ... oops ... .

This was also the first test of my Reelight 770s in the "pitch" black, and while it was very nice, I will need to carry my Knog as a back-up, and perhaps get something a little brighter later on down the road to carry with me as a backup.

PatrickGSR94

Boy howdy I wish I could have ridden my bike home from work today. The rain cleared out but I would have had a 20+ MPH tail wind going home.

dcb23

Windy windy windy...and Warm! 69F/21C

jrickards

Rainy and mild (12C/54F) with a bit of a headwind/headrain at the beginning and then I had a crosswind and then the rain petered out to just a light spray for the rest of the ride. Expected to rain through the day but the ride home will be short because we're house-sitting for a friend and we have to get there as soon as we can so we can make dinner for her son before his hockey game.

Next week is forecast to have day highs a few degrees above freezing and morning lows just below freezing so it will be nice for riding.

I made the 900km "challenge" for the month of October, 902.5km. I'm not setting any challenges for the rest of the year but I will continue to ride as long as I can but I'm not doing any winter riding (ie., snow and ice) this year but if the snows hold off and it is just cold, I'll continue.

acidfast7

jrickards

What part of England are you in?

acidfast7

County Durham

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Durham

PatrickGSR94

Dang, can't believe I commuted zero times this week.

jrickards

We've all been there. OK, there are a couple of us who haven't been there, some for several years, but the majority have been there. Yeah, ok, maybe not so consoling after all.

wphamilton

Raining this morning, but on the bright side it was an excuse to take out my rain bike for a more relaxed ride.

PatrickGSR94

If I had not been getting a shipment of bike parts Tuesday I would have ridden. If it hadn't been so windy with the rain yesterday I would have ridden. Oh well.

spivonious

40mph gusts and pouring rain meant I drove in today. Oh well, gives me a chance to rest my legs. Riding home with the rear brake dragging on Wednesday really drained me.

arsprod 

46F and treacherous, really scary ride in. We had heavy rains all day yesterday and then high winds and storms all night. Much of the mup was totally covered with leaves (as yesterday) but now interspersed with fallen walnuts, sticks, branches, and in a couple spots what looked like whole trees. I should have waited for the sun to come up but had an early appointment. At one point I had to get off the bike and walk off the trail to get around the tree which went end to end. It was downright freaky!

KGood

Had the best ride last night. It was a tornado watch with tailwinds at 40 - 50 mph. Sailed all the way home!

caloso

42F/6C, cool, calm, with mist on the fields. Took a new-to-me route on a gravel rail-to-trail. Very pleasant.

Zap Hassellhoff

I'll second that. Temps this morning were nice. The ride into South Sacramento was pretty mellow for a change. Nothing too wild.

RidingMatthew

Drove today since I had to be in another city for breakfast and the book it to work on time but I was able to ride 3 out of the other four days commuting. Drove that other day but then went Mountain biking with a buddy. all in all a good week for riding. Next week is not looking so promising. lows in the 30's and highs in the 50s