The Chainlink

I rode... Autumn 2011

Tonight's ride was like a two face, harrowing on the way north and glorious on the way home. My eternal curse seems to be being faced with a headwind in both directions so if tonight's ride provided any benefit, it was that I only had to deal with 50MPH gusts one-way. 

On the way home a wayward Budweiser 12-pack box lodged itself onto my foot and pedal and I had to do quite the watusi to get it dislodged. Who else has "I survived the great gusts of ought eleven" stories to tell the grandkids?

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on September 29, 2011 at 11:19pm

Yay I rode threads!

 

Cross-post from the other weather thread:

 

I've somehow managed to not be put out by the rain once thus far. Riding in between the raindrops, I guess.


Tonight on my way home there was a sudden shower and bizarre little windstorm (one of those things when you think you may be in the midst of a mini-tornado); I stopped at a corner store where the power was out and when I looked outside there was an intense golden ray of setting sun shining through a hole in the clouds, making every building facade to the east glow.  It lasted the few blocks home.  As I passed the small church at 24th/Cal Blvds. :

I remembered to look west as the setting sun shines across from one set of stained glass windows to the other.

It was the most glorious thing I recall seeing in years (the whole scene, not just the church.)

Permalink Reply by Duppie on September 30, 2011 at 7:59am
This morning was a great ride in with the wind in the back. I managed to make all the usual green lights, but with much less effort.
Permalink Reply by in it to win it 8.0 mi on September 30, 2011 at 8:02am
Yup, every soggy day this week.  Since the rain didn't get me this morning, the lake decided to get me at Oak Street curve . . .
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on September 30, 2011 at 8:51am

Killer headwind from every direction I tried to ride this morning (which included north and west . . .).

It's shaping up to be the most blustery September CCM in memory.

Permalink Reply by Michael Malone on September 30, 2011 at 8:54am
this is a joke right? it wasn't that windy last night, certainly not enough to tell the world you rode your bike. #notimpressed
Permalink Reply by in it to win it 8.0 mi on September 30, 2011 at 9:58am
It was extremely windy throughout parts of yesterday evening through last night.  At some points there was virtually no wind at all.  I guess unless you spent the entire evening outdoors and occupied all of Chicagoland you might very well not know what wind this individual encountered.
Permalink Reply by Billy Poore on September 30, 2011 at 10:10am
I made it to my destination before the wind got super serious.  Afterwards, I had to make a store run to grab dinner, and on my walk back, the wind started gusting so hard, that half full trash cans lost contact with the ground, and flew into parked cars, spreading trash all over the streets.  Walking in it sucked enough, I couldn't imagine biking in it!
Permalink Reply by Nançois on September 30, 2011 at 10:37am
Although my Weather Channel app said that there was a 19mph wind from NNW this morning, I could swear that I had my usual LFT headwind x2. Which I suppose explains why I was feeling a little "winded" by the time I got downtown.
Permalink Reply by Melanie K on September 30, 2011 at 11:36am
I had a slight tailwind on my ride to work this morning- I was headed south-east toward my office. It was really nice.  I am dreading the ride home since according to the weather, it will be up to 20mph out of the Northwest, which is where I will be riding into...Oh well, just part of biking in the fall I guess.  Some of the wind gusts yesterday evening almost blew me sideways into traffic- I had a steel grip on the bike to keep straight.
Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on September 30, 2011 at 12:25pm

It was pretty windy (still is) that wasn't the real problem the wind tunnel or the way it deflects off surrounding buildings is what gets you off guard.

 

Peak wind reports over last 24 hours...

Illinois Peak wind
location (county): speed (mph)

Rockford (winnebago)... ... ... ... ... ... ... 58
Rochelle (ogle)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..46
Dixon (lee)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 47
Peru (la salle)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..43
Pontiac (livingston)... ... ... ... ... ... ... 41
De Kalb (de kalb)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45
Aurora (kane)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .46
Waukegan (lake)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..40
dupage (dupage)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..49
Wheeling (cook)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..43
midway (cook)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .45
o'hare(cook)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..46
Morris (grundy)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..45
Romeoville (will)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 41
Joliet (will)... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .46
Kankakee (kankakee)... ... ... ... ... ... ... .45
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 1, 2011 at 8:26pm

I rode my bike . . . and then the train . . . and then the bus . . . and then my bike to Oak Brook.

Some nice periods of bright warm sun today but nippy overall.  The trees seem to be a week or two ahead out there-- lots of yellow and gold.

This article says we're due for a string of warmer days next week:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/01/us-weather-idUSTRE7901MI2...

And that the outer suburbs might see first frost.

Permalink Reply by Bernard Joseph Hannigan on October 2, 2011 at 11:18am
Yorkville got frost last night!

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