Beavers schmeavers. I'm marvelling more at that incredibly bright tail light.

It's a Niterider Solas 250. I usually run it on flash mode, that has two low power flashes followed by a third high power flash. I think the camera caught it right during the high power flash.

After about a decade of bike commuting in both Chicago & Minneapolis/St. Paul, had what I would call my first really scary run in with a crazy driver today. Just riding down the road & I get honked at, so at least he let me know he was coming. As he passes he just swerves in to hit me. I was able to dodge most of it, so the bike is fine, I'm left with a sore wrist & hip.

Guy got stuck in traffic at a red right afterwards so I was able to get the license info to the police, but the car had been reported stolen the day before unfortunately. Haven't had that much adrenaline in a long time. Gonna ride in tomorrow nice & slow, take a different route as well.

Wow! Glad you came through (mostly) unscathed.

One thing that hopefully helps you relax at little: With the car being stolen, I would think odds of the driver coming down the same road at the same time again are low. I doubt the person stole the car just so they could commute to work every day.

It's cold here in the mornings. Getting down to 60°F!

Rides have been happening but unremarkable. Autumn is nice.

Need to think about fenders and lights pretty soon. Time change is usually the weekend after Halloween. Have not been able to locate the mini USB cable for the Hotshots much less the one that goes to my Chinese light

Edit: Found Chinese light charger in toolbox. Thoughtful of me! I usually take the MTB on fender days. It has mudguards. I don't think I'm putting fenders on the SS commuter but it's goign to be no longer SS anymore soon

We've had a good spell of mild and generally dry weather (at least in my part of the UK) that might be coming to an end but it held out for me to get my commutes for the week done in the dry. I'm still using my old 2012 CAADX with canti brakes but I need to get fenders on it over the weekend, get my lights ready and I might also ditch the 'cross' tyres and get some 28c or 30c tyres on it. I'm not looking to spend much money as this bike might only need to get me through to the end of March 2023 when I'll probably retire.

Bike rack at the dentist is designed for steel bikes and padlocks. Don’t have either? Good luck!



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[QUOTE=Darth Lefty;22687018]Bike rack at the dentist is designed for steel bikes and padlocks. Don’t have either? Good luck!



https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fe03fd0c5.jpegAlways thought that most of the bike racks that are installed by municipalities are huge wastes of funds designed by people who do not ride and sold by people who are only interested in money situated by distant architects planned by disinterested bureaucrats and installed by hapless contract construction workers only interested in getting the job done and going home (in a car).
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TBF it's the property and not the city that did this. We're pretty good around here, we usually have the big n or m shape set in concrete. There are often even bike boxes but... they are sometimes inhabited. This is a rare miss. I've seen these around Davis too and I think they are bike boom relics. If you had a steel bike, a padlock, and a chain, they would be fine, and quite compact

​​​​​​To be fair my response wasn't fair either. Even so, that design you have photographed isn't fair either. Consider the point you correctly make that a typical steel frame would probably fit fine. But it risks mangling the paint if it fits at all. Consider that larger tubing aluminum bikes are excluded and may actually dent the frame of someone attempting to fit a bicycle in. Consider also people who are small, like kids, or people with folding bikes, or other less mainstream designs like recumbents, tandems, one could go on and on, they will not fit. Also these racks are hard to see at night and present a hazard. All in all a disaster - I despise them. Few survive if any survive where I live. Nowadays I've seen and tried some electronic Bluetooth bicycle locks which require an app install on a smartphone to work and employ a similar crappy and utterly disappointing design. I hate these even more. Good luck if you try to lock your bike in one of those.

Just a stupid, stupid morning. Started with a wee hours trip to the grocery store for milk. Got back and got up the firstborn who would.not.get.up. Had a big fight with him and barely got him ready to go in time to get on the bus. By this time the twins were up too woken by the noise and had to deal with their breakfasts and wardrobes. It finally got cold and no one knows where any socks and shoes are. Boy twin wants me to watch him draw a thing. I go to the restroom and realize my pants are lying in a puddle - gross. Change my pants, clean the floor, chew out the 5yo boy... it might have been the 8yo, but it was a 50/50 chance and the 8yo was gone. Chat w wife about 8yo, money, a long but distant acquaintance of mine who passed away, how I've got no initiative this week... Finally leave. Get about half a mile out, feeling like garbage and realize I forgot to take my toprol. Oh well ok, that explains it and I can muddle through. Get a mile out and see a pair of Frozen crocs abandoned and go to take a picture for the found stuff thread - realize my phone was back in the pants I changed. And my work badge. And my 2fa dongle. Go home, park bike by back garage, go in, get stuff and open back garage and take the pill, close back garage, go to leave in the truck, realize I did not actually put the bike in, go in and open back garage again, put bike in, close it again, finally leave. Only blew about an hour and a half

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I finally got round to fitting mudguards onto my commuter (a 2012 Cannondale CAADX). The 45mm wide 'SKS Commuter' mudguards are fantastic with bags of clearance with 35C tyres, are rattle free and just needed a longer bolt for the front fork than the one supplied.

I hope this law gets put in place where ever there is a bike lane.
I encounter more illegally parked cars than actual cyclist in the bike lanes in NYC.

A guy coming toward me in roadie kit turned up the spur to the overpass and then twenty or thirty seconds later so did I... found him taking a leak right on the trailside. Clearly he did not expect me to turn the same way!

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1531:

At lunch time I was riding across town to a client location. I came up behind another rider on the MUP. We were in a section of the trail where there is a steep downhill that ends with a hairpin right turn. It's probably the most dangerous part of our MUP if you're unfamiliar with the area.

This rider was coasting down the hill approaching the turn. I happened to notice that his right pedal was in the lower-most position. I remember thinking, "I'll bet he doesn't switch the orientation of his feet before he makes the turn."

My premonition was correct. As he went around the curve he had a pedal strike. He kept the bike upright, but I bet he had to clean his shorts after the ride.

Yesterday, light rain forecast after lunchtime. It showed up at 11 - bucketing. Rescued by wife.

Today, light rain forecast at lunchtime. Hmmm...

This also prevented the put-away of the Halloween inflatables, which sat out yesterday and got soaked.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1532:

55°F this morning, which is the warmest morning we've had in about a month, by at least five degrees. It was a great temperature for riding. 20 mph wind, but it was at my back so it made for easy pedaling. Wind is supposed to increase throughout the day, so probably won't be such easy pedaling on the way home.

I generally try to commute between 3k and 4k miles every year. I was looking at my tracking spreadsheet, and it looks like I'm going to come up a little short of 3,000 miles this year. I don't like that idea. So this morning I took a slightly longer route to work to tack on a few extra miles. If I can do that regularly on days when the weather cooperates, hopefully I can add enough extra to break the 3k mark.

Pleasantly surprised by a tailwind this morning. :)

Early morning commute
 

Early to bed, early to rise! Was wide awake today at 3:30 am so I decided to take the early train at 5:55 am. Got to use my new headlight and tail light on the blink setting when I got to campus and I was glad to see how effective it was!

Time will tell how I feel later today. Coffee don't fail me now!

Did I mention it’s California buckeye (horse chestnut) season? Thanks to a September storm everything didn’t wither up like some recent years so the buckeye trees are standing out for being bare except for their fruit. There are a few dozen of them along my commute route. They are small with a spherical canopy, like a citrus tree. The husks are about as big as a racketball and the nuts about like a squash ball. The natives ate these, and used them for a fish anesthetic. The raw nuts have a neurotoxin and must be rinsed and boiled for days to make them safe to eat.


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I always wonder about things like this. Who were the first people that figured out how many days you have to boil them to make them safe? One day.... nope, Bob died. Two days... nope, Carl died. Three days... Yes! Fred lived!

And who originally thought, "These will kill you when you eat them, but maybe if we cooked them for a really long time..."

Hungry, desperate people who saw a fruit and needed it. It's also the same treatment they gave the acorns, just a lot more of it.

So far as I can learn from Google the only animal that eats raw buckeyes are squirrels and they don't prefer it when there's something easier to eat

Before agriculture the California Central Valley was a very different place. Which goes for the Great Plains too, of course.

You say "neurotoxin", I think, "GLaDOS".

Chilly this morning. Clear after a rainy Tuesday and clearing out Weds. Iced-up dew on the little bridge. But the mountains still look bare. I'm looking that direction because my wife informs me my Christmas present will be a season pass lift ticket, something I've not had since my first kid was born. He's not going to be much of a skier but looking forward to taking the 5yo girl.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1539:

Our short "Indian Summer" we had last week has passed. This morning it was 18°F with snow flurries and a 20+ mph headwind. The snow wasn't gathering, so I still took the road bike because it cuts through the wind so much easier than my hybrid. I still don't think I broke 11 mph the whole way to work, even when going down hills. That wind was ugly.

I arrived at the office pretty chilly. The client is closed for Veteran's Day, but my company doesn't have this holiday. That means I have their whole building to myself. Should be very productive without any interruptions.

I'd better get my winter skin on quick. I looked at the forecast for next week, and the warmest daily high I saw was 27°F. Looks like we'll have some mornings that drop into the single digits, and a chance of snow on Monday. Brrr.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1541:

25°F this morning with a moderate head wind. But the big story is snow.
Unforcasted snow.
Unforcasted snow that didn't start until I was almost four miles into my eight mile ride to the office.
Unforcasted snow that began to come down on a day when I took the road bike because it was supposed to be dry.

Right now the parking lot is white, with snow still falling. The lunch ride across town might be interesting on skinny road bike tires. I can't tell if the snow will stop or not, because looking at the weather report it's still telling me the day is supposed to be dry. Regardless, the temp isn't supposed to get above 27°F so the snow that's currently on the ground is going to stay there even if no more gets added to it.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1541 - Part B:

When I left the office to head to the client, about 1/4" of snow had fallen. But, at the bottom was a layer of slick ice. Within the first quarter mile I had the 23c tires on the road bike slide out from under me. Somehow I got my feet out of the clips and down to keep myself from hitting the ground. Got the heart pumping pretty good, though.

I decided to take a detour, and slowly rode the 8 miles home. Thankfully I had no further close calls. Once I got home I parked the road bike and then pulled one of my winter bikes out of storage and pumped up the tires. I haven't yet gone through it and tuned it up for the season, but I decided it was in good enough shape to make it the remaining 9 miles I had to ride today.

Turns out the east side of the city got less snow than the west side, so I probably could have made it without too much trouble had I just stayed on the road bike all day and been extra careful in the icy spots. But it was nice having the studded tires in those spots. Also, I discovered that riding slow and careful on the road bike is still 2 mph faster than riding normal on my winter bike (8 mph.) Boy the studded tires are pokey.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1542:

Today's commute was a challenge. To put it another way, it "drew water into the mouth by a partial vacuum created via the lips and tongue." Halfway to work I was seriously questioning why I do this, and the feasibility of purchasing a vehicle for me to drive to work. There was no enjoyment in the ride. I'm already over winter commuting and it's only November. Hopefully my attitude about riding in the winter will improve before too long.

One of the problems was the weather. The predicted weather was 27°F with a light cross wind and sunny skies. The actual weather was dark, 19°F with a fierce headwind (5° wind chill) and snow falling. There was about 1/4" of snow on the ground (on top of the 1/4" we received yesterday) so once again I took a winter bike. At some point during the night some freezing rain fell, creating a layer of ice beneath the snow and in the areas where the pavement was exposed, so it was good to have my studded tires.

It took me right at an hour to ride the 8 miles to the office.

A few weeks ago I tried out the neoprene socks my wife had given me months ago. I gave them their second commute today. This time I wore regular socks underneath them, which helped with the sweat absorption. They were drenched by the time I got to work, which meant my feet were warm enough to sweat. Unfortunately, I have come to realize that the neoprene socks are just too small to be comfortable. With them on I am unable to wiggle my toes, and halfway to work they were painful to the point of distraction. I have new sympathy to those young Chinese girls subjected to foot binding. I have wide size 13 feet shaped like a duck's foot, so it's difficult for me to find footwear large enough to fit correctly. These neoprene socks were the largest size they made, but just too tight for my feet. I'll have to find someone with smaller feet to give them to.

It's interesting how much of me was freezing cold from the wind, yet parts of me were dripping with sweat. I already mentioned my feet. I also had sweat dripping off my brow on the inside of my goggles.

When I arrived at the office, a co-worker who commutes via bicycle (when it's above 20°F and no snow on the ground) was also arriving. However, he was in his car. He snapped a photo of me:
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When I first got out the bike there was a nip in the air so I went and found my rain coat which doubles as a windbreaker. But the second kid got up and I needed to do a couple chores and by the time I got around to riding the sweater was enough. Still, I rolled up the shell and stuffed it in the bag for the rest of the winter.

I had a small role in the SLS flight last night, and company-wide, a lot more people had much bigger roles, so we are on a bit of a high today