October freezes over

 The month started out pretty well, and I had high hopes of doing a lot of biking before it was over.  Mother Nature had other plans, and the last two weeks have been bitterly cold, rainy and windy.  At least there was no snow, but my old bones feel the cold.  I'm far short of my bike miles goal for the year, but so it goes.  It's been that kind of year.

In unrelated news, I will not be blogging in November this year.  Tomorrow is Halloween, but as it says on the internet, I've been wearing a mask and eating candy for months, so it's no big deal.  The time change this weekend signals the beginning of the dark season again.  Stay warm.

Beach walk

The Grands were here for a while this afternoon, followed by pizza, and a walk -- or two.  The first walk was with the girl while the boy went over to GG's and helped her synch up her Ipad to her Iphone.  The second walk was with both of them -- both walks involved a trip down to the beach to check on the seawall.  Here's a couple of photos I took on the first walk with the girl -- we went to Tunnel Park and back, it was too chilly for much photography, but here's what things look like down there today.

It was, as always, really nice to have them visit.   

Fall Color Tour --

 There was a tentative plan for a group ride today, but the blustery winds led us to postpone our semi-traditional fall ride.   I puttered around some, then decided that the wind had died down and a ride -- a recovery ride from the trip to the PSPS -- could be successful.  I know where to hide from winds, and the fall colors are changing fast.

It worked out pretty well, the wind was only a full on headwind for about 2 of the 12.5 miles I rode. I still have almost 200 miles to ride to reach my mileage goal for the year, I expect that I'll be riding in some Auckland Rule conditions if I hope to get even close.

I was home before TJ arrived to work on GG's lawn for her --  he was on leaf clean up duty.  A seemingly endless task in this neighborhood.  He stayed for spaghetti and garlic toast before he headed back to his campus.

Self Explanitory

 I've been watching the forecast for today's weather all week.  No rain and a wind from the NW at 5-10 mph, high around 60.  Perfect conditions to check off that bike ride from my garage to the PSPS.  Really, I should have done it sooner -- really.  I should have.

The wind gusted upwards of 15 mph on my way out, but I remained convinced that this might be my last, best chance to make this ride.  It was hard.  Good news?  They had the diet red pop with caffeine in their cooler.  Also, a really nice tail wind on my way home.  60 miles in the first 8 days of the month, and inching closer to a respectable total for the year.

I rode a bit yesterday, two days in a row is not typical for me this year, but not unheard of.  It was short, but nice enough.

The leaf colors are coming along nicely.

The sun goes down earlier and earlier.  Jacket weather is here.

It's not over yet

 I biked today, I took a few photos.  It was chilly and windy but nice enough since I have the gear.  I biked a couple of times last week that I didn't blog about, but both days were cold and rainy.  Today was sunny, a nice day after 4 days of rain and wind and cold.

Most of our trees are just beginning to turn color, but this one -- up the street from here -- is an early quitter.  Giving up way too soon.  Those conversations in my head about what is the lowest temperature that I will ride in are similar to Mr. MooHoo's.  Spring and fall are very different.  50 is my cutoff in the spring, but I've already biked a couple of times in the 40's just in the past week or so.  Not sure why, but it's been consistently that way for a number of years now.