Darth Lefty 

Finished the week with no commutes per se but three tandem rides with the trailer. It's a lot of work! Kiddo isn't helping much yet. A little! Photos

mgw4jc

Took the kids and several of their friends on an overnight camping trip Saturday. It was a lot of work, but also some enjoyable time poking at the fire and napping in a hammock.

This morning I left home at 6:15am to go to the gym for a bit before work. On the way there, I suddenly came upon an opossum that I think was still alive, though he was motionless. He looked to be sitting upright facing the edge of the road. I was on track to hit him and probably go over my handlebars. I swerved left to go behind him, but only behind his body. Like riding over a small stick, I bump-bumped over his tail, kept on going and said, "WOW!" I didn't look back and didn't hear anything from him.

Nice ride the rest of the way to the gym and from there to the office. Although at the gym some guy had stepped off his treadmill and walked away to shed a layer. Meanwhile a lady walks in and steps onto it from the side, not realizing it was running. Down she went hitting her face pretty good on the belt. Two others and I went over to make sure she was okay. She was.

pdlamb

Chilly ride, near 40F, but the wind had died down and it was bright, so a good ride.

I got caught behind a stopped school bus, unusual for me to get caught but it gave me a chance to adjust leg warmers. After a minute, the driver pulled in the stop sign and waved traffic around, while tooting at the kid to come out of the apartment. That never happened to me growing up, we either caught the bus or missed it (and had to endure 1.5-3 miles of fussing as Mom or Dad drove us to school).

The sunlight had a bunch of birds singing, including a couple of hardy (or bird-brained?) migrants. The phoebe and meadowlark were both singing as if the louder they sang, the warmer they felt. Maybe I should try that some morning...

arsprod 

38F this morning and we're in full Fall leaf season. Parts of the trail were so covered I couldn't tell where the edges were. Fun in the dark!

Amitoj

How do you guys manage to dry out your riding gear for the ride back home?
I hang my jersey, jacket and shorts in the locker room and they dry out like 80-90% before the ride back home but the gloves and the balaclava are usually still wet.

pdlamb

Good question, I've struggled with this for years. This clear fall weather is just about ideal, because clothes don't get too sweaty. I hang bike clothes on a hanger in my cube and hope for the best. I'm fortunate in that I can leave headband and gloves on my bike rack and they've always been there when I come back (so far).

In the good old days, I scored my secretary's 23" CRT when she got a new computer. I could wring out gloves so they didn't drip and lay them over the top vent, and they'd be dry in half a day (leaving time to dry other soggy stuff).

Tundra_Man 

I hang my stuff in our coat area, discreetly on the far end of the rack.

I've found that if it hasn't dried out by the time I ride home at the end of the day, I was wearing too much for the ride in. You may want to back off a bit. I find my balaclava to be too warm if temps are above 20 degrees. Between 20 and 55 I just use a head band to cover my ears. My neck is a little cold at first until I warm up.

Make sure you're a little chilly for the first couple miles. If you're toasty when you leave the house, you'll be soaking wet when you arrive at work.

HardyWeinberg

45F, intermittent heavy clouds, clammy

noglider 

I had a nice ride in. I dressed a little unusually, and I'll try to remember this, as it worked well. I had my wool t-shirt on and a dress shirt over that. It's jacket weather, but I didn't wear a jacket, because my torso sweats more than anything else. I wore my Buff tubular scarf around my neck and my hat pulled down over my ears and my thin mittens. So I gave my head, neck, and head a fair amount of warmth, and I let the rest of my body start out cool. I got warmer, and having only a cotton layer on my arms was just fine. I sweated less than usual. @Amitoj, take note.

I had a strong tailwind! Yay! I don't expect the direction to change today, but I can hope the intensity decreases a bit.

RidingMatthew

nice ride in this morning. I attached my kickstarter lights (Orphos Flare Pros) aka Fredded up the new bike but the extra light is nice on dark 37-40F mornings. I wonder if the light will affect my Garmin's temperature sensor? The do get pretty warm but i guess the cool air blowing over them cools them too.
i tried to install fenders on my bike this weekend and they don't fit. I apparently need 650b x 60mm to fit 650B x47mm tires under them.
Supposedly windy today. I feel my face is a bit chapped while sitting at my desk this morning but fingers crossed it will push me home.

Chinghis

Didn't go directly to work; had to hit the dentist for a cleaning. So, five-mile ride in the opposite direction, and then 10 in to work. A series of mishaps forced me to depart later than I needed to - couldn't find my riding glasses, and then I snapped the case on my the GoPro, sent it tumbling down the really steep hill at the beginning of my ride.

Opted for a busy, horrible road versus the (longer) bike path. Wasn't as bad as it would have been a couple of hours earlier. Nice temp, as always, until it starts raining or something. If it rains, that is.

acidfast7

cold!

0C this morning

noglider 

I just noticed I forgot to move my tool bag from the last bike I rode to the bike I rode this morning. It has my taillight on it, so I'll be taillightless tonight, and I better not get a flat.

essiemyra

A very pleasant commute in this morning with lights the whole ride. That makes a huge difference. Anyway the temp was 38 f degrees with partly cloudy skies, which allowed the stars and what is left of the moon to shine brightly. Very pretty, but hard to see without keeping my head turned to the right.

arsprod 

Make friends with the IT staff and hang yourself in a server room. Assuming it's cooled separately, that's always the driest air around. My stuff is always 100% dry! Which is a good thing today because there was no forecast for rain and, of course, it rained.

groovestew

Assuming you mean "your stuff", not "yourself"...

Anyway, I am IT staff, and my bike and clothes get tucked away in the server room (more of a closet). Out of sight, secure, and nice dry clothes for the ride home.

Nice ride today, with a bit of a tailwind from the NW, which means cooler weather ahead. Not sure I'll ride much between now and spring, but maybe November will still have some nice days. No ride tomorrow. Happy Halloween everyone!

RidingMatthew

i saw 31.7F this morning. I hope this winter is not cold and wet. That gets old really fast.

plus with the shutting down of one of the main interstates though town it will put a lot more cars on the secondary streets. could make commuting dicey.

pdlamb

I needed to be in early, so I started before sunrise. It was kind of nice checking over my shoulder and watching the eastern sky get ligher. Even though the sun officially rose sooner, it didn't appear over the ridge until I was 2/3 of the way here. Clear, cool, and I was earlier than expected so I got to add a short loop before heading in.

arsprod 

That's funny... hang yourself, freudian slip?!

OmegaWolf

Nice warm 44F this morning. My second day on my winter commuter. I was a little over 3 miles from work when there was a loud pop and things started falling to the pavement with my saddle falling last. The seat post bolt snapped in half. I grabbed the parts and saddle and rode the last 3+ miles standing up. Fortunately I was able to find exactly the bolt I needed in a bin of spare parts.

essiemyra

A very pleasant commute in this am with the temp at 29 f degrees and mostly clear skies.

pdlamb

Pardon me for bragging a bit at the end of last night's ride:



There are a few caveats, available on request, but The Bike officially turned 50,000 miles.

This morning's ride was nice. Mostly clear and just the right temperature (between 55 and 60F). Probably the last day this year I'll get away with short sleeves and no warmers.

mgw4jc

Nice @pdlamb - big mileage there!

A cool ride in at a little under 40F. I went with shorts and no tights knowing that it will warm up to 70+ today. The lowest point on a MUP along the creek was the coldest section, but I was mostly warmed up by then.

arsprod 

Definitely brag worthy! This morning was wet, rainy, and almost 30 degrees warmer than the last few mornings. I also had a nice headwind which is supposed to reverse for this afternoon with dropping temps. Yay...

rhm

Yesterday evening I spent an extra hour sitting on the train, which wasn't moving. The Portal Bridge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_Bridge) was open. What a waste of time.

This morning I rode my 'new' Bottecchia fixie to the station, its first ride since being rebuilt as a 650b fixie. Definitely a couple minutes faster than usual, which always seems to happen when I ride a fixed gear bike.