Rolling home - spooky piscator

Raining like crazy on the ride in this morning, so here's one from the ride home last night.

Morning commute - darkness to light

Morning commute - river up, sculptures down

Morning commute - fall is here

Morning commute - c-c-c-cold

4 degrees :7

Morning commute - a bit brighter

The temp was only 5C but it didn't feel that cold, thanks to a weak sun coming up.

Morning commute - where'd you come from?

7 degrees out there. Nuff said.

Morning commute - slow dawn

11C degrees, slight SW wind, pretty dark but clearing and brightening. I think here are some sunny mornings left in this commuting season, before it's lights on and darkness all the way in.

Morning commute - heading south

Wouldn't mind going with them. :)

Morning commute - quick peek

It rained for most of the ride in but then, just for a moment, the sun came out as I was crossing the canal. I dug the camera out of the pack and fire off a hurried shot. It went off at about 1/80s, so it's a bit fuzzy. As I waited for the image to be written to the card and recomposed for the next pic, the sun went away and didn't come back. Sometimes you only get one shot at things in life.

Morning commute - the far side

Morning commute - feel the heat

Except for cropping, this pic is right out of the camera. No manipulation, colour or hue shifts. It's gonna be a hot one.

Morning commute - morning paddle

Morning commute - on the edge of light

Morning commute - blinded by the light

It was 10C this morning and this was my first actual glimpse of the sun, 30 minutes into my ride.

Rolling home - ominous

But clearing in the west.

Lock operators chillaxin'

Morning commute - flexuous

It was colder than the pic makes it feel. Chilly actually. I seem to need time to wake up and warm up in the morning and am always wearing more clothes than most of the other bike commuters. I don't like riding on a full stomach, but maybe it's time to start have a little hot cereal before heading out the door. The sun was barely up when I started out this morning.

Morning commute - looking good out there ...

You'd think people on bikes, on bike paths that keep them out of traffic, would be relaxed and enjoy their rides. My commute is 17 km on a paved pathway that crosses only two auto-bearing roads, one at the beginning and one at the end. It's heaven.

Except for my fellow "cyclists". I used hooks here because I don't consider myself a cyclist any longer. I'm a bike rider. A bike rider doesn't need to wear Lycra or have to dress like a comic book hero before throwing a leg over a bike saddle, which seems to have become de rigueur. You're actually looked upon as a totally hick by cyclists if you don't dress the part. And you're treated accordingly. It's like with motorcyles - Harley riders don't wave to guys on Yamahas. I remember the before-days when I wore Lycra and billboard jerseys and it was the other way around. I was the dork with the funny pants and weird shoes.

I've been back from a very relaxing bike-riding holiday for four days now, and I'm amazed at how uptight all the cyclists are on the bike paths. Instead of happy, smiling faces I see grim, determined cyclists smoking along at twice the 20kph speed limit. And you'd better not get in their way! It's not a Recreational Pathway after all, for all to use - no it's a Bike, er, Cycle Path! A super highway designed specifically for cyclists to see how fast they can go.

I can only imagine how much pedestrians must cringe whenever they hear a bicycle coming up behind them. Before the Ottawa River pathway was repaved and widened, the roadies road on the Parkway. Now they terrorize the pathways. I'm actually considering returning to the roads I used before the pathways became tolerable to ride on with skinny tyres. It's less stressful!

I still have the jerseys and shorts and shoes and I may even wear them again. I just hope I'm more courteous to my fellow pathway users than some of the cyclists I've met this week.

Come on, everyone. Relax. It's a bike ride for crying out loud! :)

Morning commute - fog bank edge