Commuting - What new thing did you notice today?

I almost always see something new or interesting on my commute home.

Yesterday, I noticed:
1) the factory that smells like a "new shower curtain" (PVC vinyl) has been bulldozed. Too bad, I actually liked that strange chemical smell going by.
2) a new section of the trail is almost completed behind a set of under-construction condos. This will shortly remove a sidewalk detour and small hill. Sadly, the condo construction (starting a year ago) completely ruined a favorite part of the trail, an ever so slightly winding section with full shade trees, perfectly cooling during the summer heat.
3) A brand new mini-golf center built around the base of a huge electrical transmission tower. Maybe the mini-golf windmills can put electricity back into the power grid on a windy day :-)

-=$>Dave<$=-

I think the timing of the lights has changed.

Lots of dead squirrels lately. I guess the latest batch has left the nest and the clueless ones are getting weeded out.

Two racoons. And a mini van driving at about 15 kmh.

- the bums are returning to their camps by the river after the over flowed the banks this year
- dog owners with those extending leashes are less considerate than motorists. even when you say "excuse me" and "could you pull your dog across the trail"
- half of a rat
- dead duck
- someone tossed 4 - 6 fence posts into the river
- the sun is shinning, the sky is beautifully clear, the birds are singing, and life is better on a bike than in a car.

I noticed a couple of newbie or fair-weather commuters. We've had such a long rainy winter, basically no spring, and right into summer.

Oh, and I noticed a teenaged girl on a 80s-vintage road bike (her dad's?). Before you comment on the dirty-old-man thing, what I noticed immediately was her helmet, which she was holding by the straps! I rode by and said, "let me give you some advice: the helmet doesn't work if you don't put it on your head."

A place called Hydrite that I ride by every day gave me a free lung full of amonia, or something similar.

I noticed that.

I also noticed that a particular motorcycle rider uses the locker room to "do" his hair. He was there as long as I was, gelling and spraying his hair. I nicknamed him "Fluff".

A gnarly run-over opossum with a now-eternal toothy sneer in the middle of the road. He was smooshed on top of another piece of garbage that looked like a juice box or can. Wish I had a picture, it was quite the tableau.

Three Transit Police cars sped past me on another leg of the trip. Then an unmarked car with its dashboard lights going. Must have had something interesting happen at the train station today. Probably not a fatality; they usually report those in the news and I haven't seen anything.

Speaking of: a few weeks ago, there was a helicopter hovering over the Mountain View Caltrain station. As I got closer, I saw a stopped train and a crowd. Sure enough, it had been a pedestrian fatality, according to the news. What were they thinking? Sometimes it's suicide, but sometimes it's an accident. Look ways and don't cross in front of trains, people. Gah. So sad.

Some new type of flower must be blooming because the scent filled the air on a good stretch of my ride.

1). Of the 6-miles of 'bike path' I use as part of my commute, the state has inexplicably ripped out 2-blocks of it for which there is no real way to bypass.

2). Someone has cleaned up all of the moose dung.

3). My bottom bracket no longer comes apart after ample applications of JB weld to the right bearing cup.

Two bike cops on the MUP. The first was facing the trail at the intersection looking my way. The second, 100' from him, came blasting out from a side foot trail, directly at me. I was moving along at 15+ mph and would have jumped out off my bike from surprise if my feet weren't clipped in.

Lilacs blooming!

...although that wasn't quite as interesting as the time I noticed a bagpiper standing in the middle of a recreation area's parking lot.

Some of the guys at my LBS are nice, some of them are knobs.
Took a new route home today which I will be using until the snow flies again.

I also took a new route today, and found a number of swarms of gnats. Not going to take that way any more :p

Also, the various bits of glass and tree limbs were no longer on the bike lane on my regular hill :D

That small crack in the road became a pothole and I noticed a new gal working behind the counter at Starbucks.

There's this new patch of loose gravel in the middle of road right where I make a 20-mph turn every day on the way home, and it's bugging me. It's been there for the last few days, and the first time I went through I almost lost control. Ugh.

Lot's of walkers on the way home, mostly listening to headphones. On both ears. When I listen to headphones outside, I ALWAYS leave one ear uncovered. It's just good safety.

Yesterday on the way home from work I saw the oddest bicycle I've ever seen. I was riding south along the Hudson on the West Side bike path (I'm in New York City) when I saw this bike up ahead. The first thing I noticed about it was that it had panniers made out of what appeared to be zebra-skin patterned carpeting. Yep, furry zebra skin.

This merited a closer look, I thought, so I caught up with the rider. He was an older gentleman (I'm 46, to put that in perspective), a bit heavy. The bike looked like a quite nice road bike from perhaps the early 70s. I couldn't see the maker's name, because the down tube was also covered in furry zebra skin (and the water bottles were painted to match), but I could see the elaborate lugs, and the components were Campagnolo (not sure what gruppo). There was a handlebar bag to match the panniers. The bike was painted gold. Looked like the original paint, very nicely kept up.

The bike had whitewall tires. I have no idea where one would find 700 x 25 whitewalls, but this guy had. Maybe he painted them white himself, who knows. I've seen white liquid rubber for that purpose at auto parts stores. There was a horn on the handlebars. Not a bell, a horn. One of those rubber-bulb squeeze horns, and the horn part was curled around like a French horn.

There were dozens of reflectors all over the bike, in many colors. Also reflective tape in various places.

The sight really cheered me up. I love stuff like that. Some years back, I lived on the lower east side of Manhattan, right next door to some guys who were members of the Puerto Rico Schwinn Club, and they had really great bikes.

1) Wonderful weather.
2) Twice as many cyclists as usual (connected, perhaps?!).
3) They have finished the gas works on the bike path, so no more detour into the road.

1) lovely weather.
2) forgot how well my eyes work at night. Didn't charge my headlight.
3) My friend the hissing goose was doing his thing along belleview ave.
4) My enemy the sprinkler is causing issues with my stretching. I've now moved to concrete. ugh

I noticed a young kid on a mountain bike with the seat all the way down to the top tube and his knees up at his chin. I wonder if his clamp is broken.

I noticed a lot more people this morning. They didn't look like the cycling type. Quite a few wide loads if ya know what I mean.

I noticed a lot more people this morning. They didn't look like the cycling type. Quite a few wide loads if ya know what I mean.

Hey! I'm big-boned!

I noticed a young kid on a mountain bike with the seat all the way down to the top tube and his knees up at his chin. I wonder if his clamp is broken.
No, that's the fashionable way to do it at the moment, doesn't matter that you can barely ride like that.

Hey! I'm big-boned!
I was more refering to the folks that are obviously not cyclists. You know, sloppy helmet that only covers the back of the head type stuff.:D