October rides...

[ny biker]

Crankin, does "Bedford" rhyme with "Medford"? (I have a friend whose family is from Medford and he has schooled me in the correct pronunciation. )

It was chilly here last night, in the 60s, when I got home from work. Since then I've been thinking about what I need to wear to ride comfortably tonight. We skipped over short sleeves and shorts weather and are going straight from tank tops to long sleeves, capris and wool socks.

[Crankin]

Ha, ha. My son lives in Medford, also pronounced as "Meffa" or "Medfa," or "Medfid." The first is the really old Italian townie pronunciation, which is who settled the city. The others are just variations of the Boston accent, which gets stronger as you get closer to the city. So, my answer is, not really, but you probably won't hear Bed-ford, with the last syllable accented and pronounced like the car brand. You probably will hear Bedferd, which is probably what I sound like. I moved away in 1969, came back in 1990, and I still have to force some of the "r" syllables.
It was 39 here last night and 53 when we started our ride.

[emily_in_nc]

We finally got out for a good long ride today after many days of traveling. We are in western Ohio now and rode on gorgeous rural roads from our campground, out through Amish areas, lovely farms, and over into eastern Indiana, where we picked up the Cardinal Trail. We had ridden this trail a couple of years ago when staying in Richmond, IN, but this time we only did around 8 miles each way into town, grabbed some ice cream, then headed back north. On the way north on the Cardinal, a passing shower caught us by surprise as we thought it was supposed to be sunny and warm all day long, but that's the midwest for you!

Ended up with over 51 miles, so made up for lost time. Even though the terrain was not too bad -- flat to rolling -- my quads were burning on the last 25% of the ride since I hadn't done anything over 30 miles for quite awhile. Fortunately my lungs seem to be doing very well after being in the high-altitude west for so long. No more huffing and puffing to extremes, thank goodness!

Very little fall foliage here; it's like going back in time after being in Colorado!

[ny biker]

I decided to go for a walk after work tonight instead of riding. I'm just not ready for the cooler weather and playing the "how many layers" game. Now waiting to see how the weather shapes up for the weekend.

[north woods gal]

What with rain through mid afternoon, wasn't planning on a ride, but the rain stopped, the sun came out and the temp was right at 60 degrees, so couldn't resist. Only did 22 miles, but the gorgeous color and wonderful aroma of the north woods after a rain made for a great ride. Would have done more, but had to be back in time for a dinner date with friends. Yup, just cool enough to wear leggings with the brisk wind, but well worth it.

[azfiddle]

I've been riding regularly in spite the crash that finished my ride Saturday. (Detailed elsewhere). That was about 35 miles I think- "biking & birding". Tucson weather is great right now- cool in the morning but still pretty warm by late afternoon.

Sunday I took the Surly out on the path just to see if I could keep moving. Monday I did a bunch of errands on the Surly, and picked up the Ruby from the bike shop. Flat tire, a little brake adjustment (the rotor got bent a little and they tightened a couple spokes). That was a relief.

Tuesday- commuted into work for a meeting (even though we're on break), rode to a home visit to see a student, and took a very long way back to check a couple birding spots for 36 miles.

Wednesday- another student home visit, then continued to my classroom to do some clean up and get ready for having a substitute- I'm skipping the first day back after the fall break.

Thursday I drove to the other side of Tucson and did a 47 mile expedition looking for hawks etc through the Avra valley. Very flat- not my usual ride experience.

[north woods gal]

Rained all night, temps in the 50s and dropping all day with strong gusty winds as a cold front pushes through. For sure frost, tonight. Will ride, today, just around the house on my trails. One thing about riding back in the heavy stuff; wind is not as much a factor as when on the road.