aug. 11

I drove my car to my morning exercise class because I had an oil change appointment afterwards. Fortunately, I had a meeting this evening so I still got to ride my bike. It was a beautiful day and I was inside all day, so it was really nice to get out at 6 pm. The temperature was 79, dewpoint down to 57 F, winds 7 mph from the north, and sunny. Here's the ole' bike path:

I was chilly on the return trip at 9 pm. Temperature was down to 67 F, according to the almanac. That doesn't seem so cold. But I bet it was colder where I was riding, in low-lying areas, where radiative cooling from the earth cools the air above it in calm conditions like we had.

aug 10

Today the temperature was 70 F, dewpoint 67, when I left at 7:50 am. That's very humid but it actually felt nice and cool. Winds were 6 mph from the south. Here's the bikepath:

On the way home, at 10:30 am, it was up to 73 F, dewpoint still high. But it was also nice. Winds were up to 9 mph from the south. I haven't taken a picture of the Yahara river in a while. I stopped here to make a quick phone call. Nice place to stop.

aug. 7-9

I was too busy to blog the last few days. The theme of this post is that the internet is a biker's good friend. Being able to check that radar map is great. On Friday, I checked the weather before leaving, and saw rain a comin' so packed rain pants and gear. The temperature was 69 F when I left at 7:55 am, winds 5 mph from the south. I forgot to take a picture at the beginning of the bike path but here's the bridge over Starkweather Creek behind Olbrich Gardens:

looking southeast:

and northeast.

It rained for my return trip, but I was fine with my rain gear. I was loaded up with groceries but have these cool bike bags that are water proof. I should take a picture of my rain gear. It's just cheap rain pants I got in Scotland (yep, I forgot to bring rain pants to Scotland), and a big rain jacket. I put my hood on under my helmet which keeps my head and glasses dry. I have a pair of water-proof slip-on shoes.

Yesterday I had to go to a meeting on the near-west side of town. I was looking forward to a long scenic ride along Lake Mendota past campus. But I looked at the radar and it looked very very bad. So I drove. We had a torrential downpour with lots of lightning. I think I made the right decision. If I had ridden my bike, I think that would have been the 3rd time in my life I wish I hadn't ridden (the first was when I broke my kneecap on some railroad tracks, and the second was on this day).

We finally got hit with hot and humid weather yesterday. Today it was 83 F at 9:40 am, winds 7 mph and variable in direction. The dewpoint was 73 F, so humidity 72%. It was actually quite nice for me in shorts and tanktop. Here's a picture at Atwood gardens. I have been forgetting to snap at the start of the ride.

On the way home, it was cloudy which was probably good, kept the temperature down to 84 F, winds 7 mph from the WSW. Then we had rain in the afternoon. The warm weather and rain should be great for the garden!

Aug. 6

I biked three times today and drove once. I was irritated about the driving, but looking back on it, I think I would have been exhausted biking four times. As it is, I'm just tired. Here's the bike path at 7 am. Temperature was 63 degrees F, winds calm.

Then at 12:45 pm, temperature was 76, winds 6 mph from the NNW. returned at 3 pm.

Then at 6 pm, temperature 77 winds variable at 5 mph. returned at 8:30 pm.

Well if I had to pick a day to ride 3 times, today was a good one. Each ride was about 8 miles round trip.

aug. 5

It was yet another gorgeous summer day. I was thinking as I was riding, this is the best summer ever! The weather has been so nice day after day after day. I feel sorry for those people driving cars. It's like summer vacation everytime I get on my bike. The temperature was 80 degrees F when I headed to yoga class at 3:30 pm, winds 6 mph from the north. Here's the start of the bike path:

The flowers at Atwood gardens seemed even prettier today, though the picture doesn't do it justice:

I headed home at 6:30 pm loaded with groceries. Temperature was 76 F, winds 8 mph from the NNW.

aug. 4

Today was another excellent summer day. It was cooler than I expected this morning, but then it was only 7 am when I left. Temperature was 63 with calm winds. Okay, that explains it. On the way home, I had to stop at my church to drop something off, and got a phone call so ended up walking all the way from the gym to my church while gabbing on the phone. I saw about 3 people I knew. That was actually kind of fun. Then I got on my bike and road home at 10 am. Temperature was now 74, winds still calm. This has been a great summer weather-wise.

Aug. 3

I'm back. I was gone one week, then back home last week but had a visitor and didn't bike much--we worked at home, and I was super busy so didn't blog. Some highlights from the last 2 weeks: I did finally get rained on one day last week, but it was a nice light rain and I had rain gear on and it was as enjoyable as any other day. Rain in the summer is nice because you don't get too cold or too hot. here's a picture of the clouds before it started raining:

Also, July was the coldest month on record. It never got above 82 degrees F! It was a very nice and sunny month. Yet it wasn't too dry because it rained at night several times, or during the day when I wasn't riding.

Today, on the other hand it got up to 84. It was a really nice day. It started out cloudy. I forgot to take a picture at the start of the bike path, but here's a mile up the path, crossing Starkweather creek:

and looking towards Olbrich park:

It was a cool 67 degrees F when I left at 7:55 am, dewpoint 62, so humid. Winds were 8 mph from the SW. When I returned home at 10:30 am, the temperature was 78 and winds 10 mph gusting to 16, from the SW. a lovely day.