4° this morning (a couple of degrees cooler than the last couple of mornings) and yet I had to shed the jacket sleeves by the top of the road between Frolek’s upper and lower roads where I’ve normally kept them ‘till the climb up out of Peterson’s Creek. Also, my fingers and toes were both pretty good by the end (not frozen, just chilled) so I’m not sure what was different to help get the blood flowing better today.
It was a really good ride. I felt really good (funny how after a tired ride like yesterday’s ride home, I can have a ride like this this morning). The new brakes were whisper quiet (finally!), and worked pretty well. Contrary to what I thought last night after breaking them in, they are not yet fully broken in even after the entire ride (granted, I have very little braking-required hills going this direction). They had decent power going down the long, straight and steep hill into Peterson’s Creek, but I think they still will have a lot more power yet. However, really at this point I just would like them to last me longer than a month…
I didn’t catch Brian this morning (nor did I even see him), but I did chase a coyote along the pipeline section at Rose Hill! He was very bushy, and his tail was quite thick (like a fox). He ran up the last hill (where I take a bypass trail, as no bike without a motor would ever make it even 1/4 of the way up that hill and even with a motor it would be a feat and a half!). It was funny, as he’d keep stopping and looking back at me, then turn and run another 10 feet, then stop again…
Again, I had to dab on the rocky corner/dip section of single-track (just can’t get the perfect positioning on this section to make it again). I also made it through the creek, and up and over the first rocky section, but then ended up swinging too wide to make the final section and had to walk it…Oops!
The rest of the climb up out of the valley was really good. My LX rear derailleur is shifting as good if not better than the Altus was, so it is obviously not bent or wrecked and $5 was a great deal!
As I came down Hugh Allan, getting ready to turn left unto Howe Road, a white GMC pickup came down Howe and up to the stop sign (well, 6 or 7 feet past the sign, but whatever). I signalled that I was turning, and he seemed to stop. However, as I was leaning into the turn, just about right in front of his bumper, he steps on the gas. I started to swerve and brake, and luckily he saw me and slammed on his brakes (now sticking a good 6 feet out onto Hugh Allan). He glared at me as I rode around him, and I shook my head (probably shouldn’t agitate driver’s, I know). As I rode off up Howe, I turned around and he was hanging his head out his window and yelled at me to “Stay off the $#%&@ road!”. Without much thought, I yelled back “Go take a driver’s ed course!” 
But, really, when you think about it, only 3 motorists have uttered their ignorance to biking-on-road rules since I’ve started commuting back in March. So, I’m not sure of the math, but if I average even half of my riding distance to be on the street (which would be about 1300 kilometres of street riding) and the fact that I probably ride by/past/around a motorist at least once every 1/4of a kilometre of riding (or 4 motorists per kilometre), that would equate to at least 6,400 motorists since March. Out of those 6,400 motorists, only 3 of them have expressed their blissful ignorance for the legality of me riding on the street which equates to about 0.05% of the motorists I encounter! Hah! How’s that for a math lesson this early in the morning??? 
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