Commuting - Good Morning!

I hope that all who read this enjoyed a perfect ride to work today! I stretched my 7 miles to 27, and had an absolutly wonderful ride! The temps were in the 70's, with low humidity, very light breeze, and hardly a cloud in the sky. Good road, great bike, good weather, good gosh, a good time!! (Had to throw in the "great bike"...still hoping for an endorsement deal from Fuji!:D )
I trust that you have all arrived at your appointed destinations, and I hope that your rides home are at least as enjoyable as mine was this morning!!

I made most of the lights this morning, so several legs were much faster than usual. The one or two that I did hit really slowed my overall time, but that had no effect on my enjoyment.

A great, if muggy, day!

Jonathan

Thank, Nebill! Yes, only I left home too late, meaning I "couldn't spare the horses." I enjoy it better when I'm not stressed due to a tardy departure.

But as many have said, a bad day on a bike beats...well, any day in a car, or something like that! ;)

Relaxing rides are fun...but for me, I am trying to build stamina, so I usually try to work pretty hard (well, for me!)
Now, tonights' ride home was really relaxing. It was 105 out, so I knew that I should not over-do it, so I just found a gear that allowed me to keep a cadence of about 80 comfortably, and spun away. Even shortened up my 7 mile ride home...only took me 11 miles!
Hope you get an earlier start tomorrow, Pete, so you can really enjoy your ride!! Keep up the good work!

Bravo, Bill...


Bicycle commuters are a special breed. We're the only folks I know of who would like to move FARTHER AWAY from work.

I'll just bet that you feel kinda cheated when you just do the minimum 7 miles, don'cha? How many times have coworkers said "Why ya goin' THAT way? Ain't your house over THERE instead?"

I always tell 'em I have to stop at the grocery or the dry cleaners before I head home. Keeps 'em guessing.

I've noticed that most cyclists will take the long way and/or stretch a short ride into a more "legit" ride. My own definition is that a ride must last one hour in order to "count." If I've made it one hour and haven't covered 16 miles, then it's around the block again until I do.

On weekend afternoons, I ride up to a community swimming pool. It's 3.2 miles from home, and would take maybe ten minutes to bike there... but getting all pumped for a ride, and only being out ten minutes, well, that just kills me. So, nobody can understand why it takes me so long to get there... or why I ride south to go north.

It's a sickness, man, but I love it!

Originally posted by Stumon
It's a sickness, man, but I love it!

And the only cure is MORE! :eek: :beer:

And the only cure is MORE!

As my posts will attest, I agree!! I just can't get over the feeling you get when you ride. Another one of the many reasons I love to post here, you can all understand what I am feeling! My co-workers are probably chipping in for a straight jacket in my size, and I have gotten "The Look" from the wife more than once when I insist on riding on the weekends too!

969 miles on the Robaix so far...and I have to drive the next two days...but you know I will be up early the next two days getting in a quick 20 in the mornings!!:D Man, I LOVE this stuff!

Originally posted by nebill
...and I have gotten "The Look" from the wife more than once when I insist on riding on the weekends too!

Maybe you should get a sidecar for nebill-babe?:confused:

"Listen, as long as we are out, why don't we stop at the store and pick up a few things...."
"Watch where you are going....."
"I am missing my TV show..."
"I'm cold...."
"I'm hot...."

Naw, I think I will stick to solo riding!

Bill,
Well, I did have a good morning yesterday though I didn't ride. The prospect of 4 hours of live TDF up into the Alps and Dolce calling out to me for bottom bracket and headset overhauls were just too much. I gave in and played hooky. It was worth every minute.

This morning was a little chuckler. Rainbabe is out of town, and I needed to drop her van off for service. Loaded Dolce in the back, dropped off the van and rode on in. For some reason, dropping off the vehicle then riding in on my lovely lady just tickled my fancy. I was a little disappointed it was only a little over a mile further; I thought it was farther.
Regards,
Raymond

Rainman, hey, take a hint! Only one mile....take a 10 mile detour! :)

There is something nice about using the van to transport your true means of getting around! Poor old gasoline powered contraptions having to take a back seat to the ubiquitous bicycle! I love it!!!

Pete, I thought of you this morning.

I left the house shortly after 6 AM to get in 20 miles. I was not going to ride on to work so this was just for fun. I just really took it easy. At one point, I looked down at my speed, and it was 14 mph. A normal day, I would have kicked it into gear to get some more speed. But as I will be riding in RAGBRAI on Sunday and Monday, I decided that today and tomorrow will be just easy spinning days.

What a really great way to start the day. Don't get me wrong, I love my morning workouts, and the fact that I can tell the difference my training is making, but the nice relaxed ride was a joy as well!

I guess that is another great thing about biking, whether you are training for the TdF or going to work, biking is a blast!!