The forecast can be for rain, but checking the radar, you can see if it’s a ton of rain or just intermittent rain – and perhaps plan your commute accordingly.

I ride in the rain a lot, but most often in the late spring and summer when the rain is refreshing rather than cold… so at this time of year I try to avoid it.

This morning I saw that the rain would be ending for 30-60 minutes … giving me just long enough for a leisurely ride downtown to work while staying mostly dry.

It was misty out, which was refreshing, and I snapped a cellphone photo of the fog as I crossed the Bloor Viaduct.

Usually, the Viaduct offers a great view of downtown and it’s fun to watch all the new condo towers rising a bit higher every day.  Today though, it was just foggy misty white… and the sidestreets north of the Danforth I took on the way to the Viaduct were nice and hushed and quiet in the fog.

15 minutes after I got to work, it started raining again.

Looking forward to biking home in +9C temperatures.

It’s great seeing lots of bikes on the road these days, even as morning temperatures drop.

Is it also weird that I want to get a new cell phone just to be able to take better quality photos?

Here’s the view shortly after I leave home on my way downtown.  A sidestreet north of the Danforth, near Woodbine:

Here are a few photos I took when I was brave enough to take off my gloves.  I’ll link to these as well as other photos and video from the day on the Main BikingToronto Blog.

Stopped for Hot Chocolate, checking out bikelane and bike trail snow plows, and this is where the media (I saw Global and CityTV) covered the ride:

The group at the end of the ride at Queens Quay and Bathurst:

I took a few photos as I rode home to.  Decided to go up Yonge to see the newer bikelanes from Front to Queens Quay.

I’ll post some of these plus others I find from other people on the Main Blog.

I also bought a new bike helmet a while ago, because my old one was showing it’s age (I bought it in 1998) but had been in good condition since I always treated it well and never had the occasion to need it (no falls on my head). The shell had begun to crack a little, so I figured it was time to get a new one.

Now, anyone who knows me (or has had occasion to hat shop with me) knows that I have an enormous head. Like, freakishly big, almost… okay… maybe not THAT big… but regular hats and helmets don’t fit my noggin.

I eventually found a nice looking helmet that just fit me… but this morning I found out that when I’m wearing my very-cold-weather headgear (balaclava and wool hat), this new helmet does not fit.

So, I biked to work helmetless for the first time. I take a lot of sidestreets in the winter, as it’s quieter and more peaceful, with less fighting with cars, and no slush and crap being sprayed by tires.

Not like helmets make a lot of difference anyways. Someone my age is over 20x more likely to suffer a head injury requiring hospitalization from being in a car during an accident than riding a bike.

Anyhow… I just went on a coffee run over to Tim Horton’s, and it’s BEAUTIFUL outside. While the WeatherNetwork is saying it’s -8C (-18C with windchill), it feels warmer… maybe just below O… the ride home tonight is going to be great.

(Note: I’m back-posting some “personal” posts from a previous version of BikingToronto)

Maybe it’s just me, but is anyone else very excited that right now it’s 12 degrees Celcius in Toronto? Or that tomorrow morning will be 11 degrees Celcius? Or that the high tomorrow will be 13?

I packed some shorts for the bike commute home – my legs are fine in shorts as long as it’s above 7-8 degrees, since they’re doing a lot of work and staying warm.

I really hope the morning will be as warm as they’re predicting – I’d love to ride to work in shorts on the last day of October… and I’ll have to wear my hockey mask to freak out drivers since it’s Hallowe’en. I’ll scare you with a photo of that tomorrow. Haha.

Who else rode in the wonderful refreshing rain this morning?

When Tracy and I got out of bed around 6:45-ish, it was rainly lightly with thunderstorms threatening – and Tracy made me promise to not ride to work in the thunder and lightning.

I had to keep my promise… and yet… the weather forecasters were calling for sunshine and 22 degrees for this afternoon (and were right!), so I couldn’t TTC it to work, because riding a streetcar in that kind of weather when you could be biking is pure torture. Torture that you pay $2.75 for.

Therefore, I waited until the angels had finished bowling and the bolts of electricity had stopped charging around the sky, and biked in through a refreshing downpour (which was both light and heavy at times, and at times non-existent over my 25 minute commute).

Now I’ll get to bike home, in October, in beautiful weather – ecstatic that I can do it in shorts and a t-shirt, and a little disappointed that it may be the last time until May.