Autumn

Asdace · Post by **Asdace** » 28 Sep 2008, 9:42pm

I've done a few long distance walks in October and had some good weather, better than June sometimes.

patricktaylor · Post by **patricktaylor** » 28 Sep 2008, 9:44pm

thirdcrank wrote:... No way of knowing if it's the same one every year (we've been here since 1975) or a descendant of earlier visitors. Or, come to that, a total newcomer...

They're brand new spiders, surely. It's very strange that they would frequent the same precise, meaningless spots of a house as the previous crop. But animals can do strange things. We once had a dog (Irish Setter) that we took only once to my mother-in-law's house eight miles away, and that was by car. Months afterwards the dog escaped from our house and turned up a few hours later at my mother-in-law's.

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 29 Sep 2008, 5:35pm

From Wiki but short of a citation:-

Lifespan
Many spiders may only live for about a year, but a number will live two years or more, overwintering in sheltered areas. The annual influx of 'outdoor' spiders into houses in the fall is due to this search for a warm place to spend the winter. It is common for female tarantulas to live up to twenty years

jan19 · Post by **jan19** » 30 Sep 2008, 10:52am

I love autumn except that the leaves etc lying on the ground mean you can't see what you are cycling through.

Yesterday she-who-cannot-be-named struck. The park I cycle through has lots of trees and we had a fair bit of debris on the path. I noticed something shiny on my front wheel and removed a a large shiny drawing pin. (Yes, I know I should have left it in!) I might not have seen it anyway, but I'd have had more chance had the path been clear.

Cue a nice mile walk home ... yes, I'm inept and can't repair punctures....

Jan

glueman · Post by **glueman** » 30 Sep 2008, 2:58pm

The weekend was beautiful with a sprinkling of red on the oaks and sycamores. Today it has rained non-stop. Really heavy stuff, doubt I shall get the bike out unless it ceases.

Post by Si » 30 Sep 2008, 3:44pm

Saturday saw my first and last (and always) audax of the year. Couldn't have gotten better weather once the fog lifted.

reohn2 · Post by **reohn2** » 30 Sep 2008, 5:43pm

glueman wrote:The weekend was beautiful with a sprinkling of red on the oaks and sycamores. Today it has rained non-stop. Really heavy stuff, doubt I shall get the bike out unless it ceases.

Yep it was lovely at the w/end we had two great rides one on Friday and one on Sunday both to the seaside

Today however did see a change somewhat it persisted it down all morning :shock:

went for a quick 45mls and was glad to get home

The colours are starting to show alittle,hope the rain and wind don't knock all the leaves off :shock:

patricktaylor · Post by **patricktaylor** » 20 Oct 2008, 11:56am

glueman wrote:... beautiful with a sprinkling of red on the oaks and sycamores...

Here's a bit of technical stuff on the beautiful colours of leaves this autumn:
Weather sparks autumn spectacular (BBC website)

Simon L6 · Post by **Simon L6** » 20 Oct 2008, 3:12pm

there are some rides, that, at this time of the year, are a hazard to the emotions. I'm sometimes brought to a stop by the beauty of it all.

glueman · Post by **glueman** » 20 Oct 2008, 3:30pm

Mists and mellow fruitfulness - with a hand from a gale blowing down the valley - whipped the felt off my bike shed roof last night. I tried to replace it but was beaten by the conditions, so some damp bikes are to be expected until the wind drops or I can persuade the missus to hang onto one end.

One of my crab apple trees decided to uproot itself under the weight of its own abundance and lies forlornly and the hedge is making a bid for planetary domination until I can attack it with power tools. Jobs bloomin' jobs.

spikegomez · Post by **spikegomez** » 22 Oct 2008, 2:10pm

Autumns, its a nice time o the year for biking... its not too hot and not too cold...

Post by **Mick F** » 22 Oct 2008, 2:23pm

Now that the cold nights are here, our "Little Visitors" are leaving.

Our loft and gable-end has a huge hornets' nest in there! Right up in the top corner! South facing, warm and cosy, but not so cosy overnight now. The queen probably left a few weeks ago, and also the breeding female youngsters to go and find somewhere to hibernate. The drones have carried on with life, and are slowly dying of boredom! They come and go, in and out of the trees, flying back to the nest when it suits them. There's less and less of them now, and today I managed to get up into the loft to put some stuff up there. Hardly a one to be seen.

We don't mind them too much. They look VERY aggressive, but actually aren't much at all. What they are though, is HUGE. Imagine a wasp. Now imagine it nearly two inches long! Wasps are annoying and aggressive, but hornets keep themselves to themselves - thank goodness!

We were quoted £75 plus vat to have them removed in the summer, but felt as they weren't doing any harm - actually doing some good - we decided to let them live. They kill pests and flies and stuff, so they can only be a good thing to have around. Mind you, I'm glad they're going - I can have my loft back!

7_lives_left · Post by **7_lives_left** » 22 Oct 2008, 9:00pm

bikely-challenged wrote:The last time I cycled in winter I was probably about 8 yrs old and can't remember it, (*newb-daft-question-alert*) so what's it like cycling on wet leaves and how slippy is it when it's icy on the road?

In my opinion, ice is just about the worst thing the weather can throw at a cyclist.
If you do hit ice, you _will_ come off and you will loose some skin or worse.
It's happened to me.

Snow is fine, fun even, so long as it is not packed and refrozen. Snow can even put
you at an advantage over motor vehicles, and you can always change to pedestrian mode
if it gets a bit hairy. Ice has no redeeming quality.

If you have to travel when it is icy, I recommend sticking to the main roads that
the gritter lorry has treated. Stay off the pavements, stay off the cycle paths,
stay off the side roads.

7_lives_left · Post by **7_lives_left** » 22 Oct 2008, 9:09pm

Mick F wrote:Now that the cold nights are here, our "Little Visitors" are leaving.

Our loft and gable-end has a huge hornets' nest in there! Right up in the top corner! South facing, warm and cosy, but not so cosy overnight now...

I read in the paper the other day that if you leave the wasp nest (and hornet nest too I guess) in place it discourages next years wasps from building their nest in the same location. Don't know if it is true or not.

Dee Jay · Post by **Dee Jay** » 23 Oct 2008, 12:36pm

bikely-challenged wrote:The last time I cycled in winter I was probably about 8 yrs old and can't remember it, (*newb-daft-question-alert*) so what's it like cycling on wet leaves and how slippy is it when it's icy on the road?

I have yet to cycle on ice, but yesterday - as I continued my 'quick-training week' as I'm going for a *big* personal best this weekend with our Junior Cycling Club!! - I had planned to do 20 miles. Unfortunately, I only had time to do about 15 miles as I greatly underestimated both the time it would take me to climb on the very hilly route I had chosen (our 35 miles each way route is in the 'foothills' of Dartmoor and I wished to prepare!), and the time it would take as I slowly descended through heavily forested, muddy, stony, leaf-strewn steep decline!

So, B-C: in answer to your question ... it was quite nerve-wracking, but certainly part of that was the steepness.