tarwheel 

Chilly commute with temps in the low 30s but it's supposed to warm near 60 by the afternoon. I helped out at our "bike day" at the office yesterday and got a free tuneup for my touring bike. They had a mechanic there doing free checkups, and not many people showed up for the event, so I figured what the heck. My bike was actually in pretty good shape because my shop had recently replaced the cables and brake pads, but the shifting was a little off due to cable stretch. Unfortunately, I don't think we recruited any new bike commuters, but you never know.

spivonious

35F, high in the 50s today. Should be a great ride home with a slight tailwind.

Lots of close passers today. I think Thursdays are "drive to work in a fog" days.

dramiscram

-6° celcius this morning, monday night I came back home with a warm 20° celcius so it was a bit of a shock this morning. Fortunately the sun is bright and the Wind was low.

Big OT win last night for the Habs against the Bolts.

MikeRides

Chilly is an understatement! We're back to the low 20s here in the northeast. I drove today,but only got 5 miles from my home before my car died. Quick diagnosis showed it was the fuel pump, so I just pushed it off the road and walked the 5 miles back to get my bike. On my way, I stopped at my car to grab my work stuff and left a note in the window in case someone stops(I doubt anyone will). The rest of the commute was uneventful, I seemed to warm up fast once I started pedaling. The wind was minimal and I zipped up and down the hills with no problem. Almost got right hooked by some little old lady in a Cadillac at the only red light I go through. Other than that, no issues, made it about 20 min late but my boss is understanding and I'll most likely make it up at the end of the day. I'll probably go to the parts store on my lunch break to see how much the new pump will cost(I'm estimating ~ $300). My car will probably be out of commission for the next month or two, since I have no idea when I'll have the time to replace it. So back to the bike!

cvskates

I missed going to work during my vacation. On the road at 4am this morning for my first day back. Having the road to myself, how quiet it is, and how the deer are unphased as I ride by; so great to be on a bike for the commute.

arsprod 

A whole 10 degrees warmer this morning, 37F. It's supposed to get up to 60+, we'll see. I was telling someone last night that today I have to wear big boy clothes (coat and tie) and I pack those in my panniers, change at work, then have an outside function to go to so I change back to riding clothes for the 7 mile ride and change again to coat and tie for function, and then back to riding clothes for ride home. I'm getting why he just stared at me for a few minutes before telling me "you're an idiot"

GriddleCakes

Sunny and mid-40s riding home again today. The ride in was cancelled due to an over zealous snooze button finger; I had to beg a ride from my wife, which sucked, as I need that morning ride like I need my morning coffee. Without either, I feel out of sorts and foggy, and it can take hours to find my work flow. Thankfully it was a slow start at work. Soon, missing the morning ride will ruin my entire day.

I clock in at 7, right when we open the doors, and during tourist season there's often 20 to 30 people lined up out front waiting for breakfast; we'll fill up and be on a wait by 7:30, and stay on a wait all the way to closing. So it's go time for me as soon as I get there, full speed ahead, can't-stop-won't-stop mode all day long, and if I'm not running hard from minute one then I spend all day playing catch-up; forget about finding my flow state, it'll be all I can do to keep from drowning.

Damn it, summer season starts in two weeks. I'm going to need to start buying Red Bull by the case again.

There's a guy I occasionally see commuting in the summer on a single speed road bike that I, for the life of me, can not keep up with, and I'm a pretty fit guy myself who almost never gets passed. The first few times he passed me and left me eating dust, I told myself that it was because I slow down to pass other trail users and he doesn't; which is true, the dude's an utter terror on the trail. Then he passed me once at the beginning of a long, empty straightaway, and I gave it my all to keep him in sight. I managed for about two miles before I had to tap out and downshift.

dcb23

Happy Friday!

26F / 2C Light breeze, birds chirping...cold temps sent the runners back inside. I believe the East Coast of the U.S. will begin a warm up today.

spivonious

Nice ride in. Temps in the mid 30s, with a slight headwind.

I got buzzed by a Prius on the way home yesterday, all so that he could reach the red light 500 feet in front of us first. I pulled in behind him and loudly stated, "State law says to give a four foot passing distance. You gave me about one." I thought about pointing out that I got better MPGs than he did, but by then the light had changed to green and we went our separate ways.

ill.clyde

Sunny and 38 this morning... headwind (? - a rarity) on the way to work. Was a challenge ... my phone locked up about the time I was setting off, for some reason endomondo didn't track my miles, only my time. Took a side of the trail that I don't normally do, just to change things up, and was greeted with a felled tree across the entire path. No problem, justs humorous. Any other day I probably would have just phoned it in and driven to work ... but it's been a crappy week at work, the weather was crap all week and I'm tired of riding the stationary bike. Aiming for a fairly leisurely ride home ... and possibly a group road ride on Sunday.

JOHNinIL

First commute of the season, Nice ride this morning in Chicagoland, low 40's. Wind out of the north. Didn't see a single bicycle commuter, normally see three or four on my 21mile one way route.

MEversbergII

Today was one of my blergh days. In spite of having new tyres on (Michelin Lition 2's - Amazon.com : Michelin Lithion 2 Road Tire (Yellow, 700 x 23c) : Bike Tires : Sports & Outdoors), I felt like I was dragging someone behind me. Happens sometimes. On the upside, new tyres! Old ones got ratty as all hell.

M.

caloso

Car was drifting into the bike lane. At the next light I could see the guy was on his phone so I used my Dad Voice to firmly tell him to put it away and turn his full attention to driving.

RidingMatthew

I figured out as of April 10th I only had 46miles in 2013. This year I have 316 total miles for 2014 minus 60 for straight road riding. Or 256 commuting this year but who is counting...


I feel like i am slower than I was last year and I can not figure out why. I weigh about the same, same stuff, bike, and routes just a couple minutes slower on my rides.

dcb23

Back in the saddle on Monday, a very nice cool ride in 40F 4C with no wind to speak of. Sun creeping out earlier each day, I no longer ride entirely in the dark.

tarwheel 

Great ride this morning. Perfect weather and most of the week is supposed to be the same. Spring can be nice.

arsprod 

Nicest ride of the year so far - 51F with a little wind

spivonious

Too hot for my base layer + t-shirt. I think it was in the low 40s when I left, no wind.

The ride home should be fantastic. I wish I had packed shorts; my pants are going to be very warm.

ill.clyde

Wonderful commute this morning ... temp around 61, which was very welcome after the high 30s and low 40s I've been used to. Roads and paths were damp from some light rain last night. There's a good chance of rain this afternoon. I'm usually a fair weather commuter, but I'm more apt to ride if the morning commute is dry but the afternoon ride is wet, so we'll see what happens. I'm prepared, in as much as a rain jacket.

Friday's commute home was interesting. Was cooler than I expected, but that wasn't the issue. I left work, and for about the first two miles of the trip home it's on mostly quiet, residential streets in a fairly affluent neighborhood. There's one stop light, in this quiet neighborhood, which seems like it was put up there to mostly slow drivers down because it's a fairly long, straight stretch of road, but the cross street where the light is isn't very busy. It's also very wide, but allows on street parking, so I'm constantly riding about a door's width wide of the parked cars, which makes cars passing me somewhat close, but it's not constant. Anyway, I approached this stop light and slowed down, there was absolutely no cross traffic, and it was chilly and a Friday so I just wanted to get home. After slowing, and double checking, I rolled through the light and continued on.

Well, after the light turned green, apparently one of the drivers didn't like the fact that I blew the stop light, and rolled up beside me with his window down, screaming, "You ran the f*%$ing stop light!" ... and I'm thinking, really? What did I do to you to garner such a response? I just sort of looked at him as he passed by, and once I was sure he could see me in his rearview mirror, I promptly delivered the bird to him. He turned left not too long after, and I continued straight, just keeping an eye out for him.

Was my first real run in with a motorist while commuting. Didn't shake me really, just made me wonder why that man was so miserable?

Allycat24

Mid 40s and bright sun. Since the cold air makes my eyes water, I take it really easy through my neighborhood. The roads are in terrible shape, both from road work and a bad winter. My biggest fear is hitting a pothole or loose gravel. Once I get onto the bike trail, surprisingly my eyes stop tearing up. I didn't really feel like riding today but forced myself. Glad I did - it is a really gorgeous day.

MikeRides

Another 20 miles in today. It looks like our new building (30+ miles one way) will be ready for us to move in next week, so this will be my last week commuting, I'm hoping to ride all 5 days this week. I'm going to miss it, may have to move to accommodate my bike commute.

Anyone else notice that when you bike into work you're always early (or on time) but when you drive you end up barely making it or being late?

joeyduck

I am always about ten minutes late when I drive and 20 miunutes early when I bike. This has more to do with when I drive I have to drop the wife and son off along the way. I am on time when I drive and drop the son off though, so...

I do make it a point to get in early on the bike to shower and relax a bit, start work at a slow putter while I cool down.

Sorry to hear about the move. I used to do a 25 mile each way for years, it was long and exhausting. I do not think I would have been willing to do an extra five miles. A move may be nice just for that lifestyle benefit.

Today was a great ride! The temperature was about 9°C (47°F), not any wind to worry about. Perfect biking. There had been earlier rain which made the roads damp; I wore my shoe covers and they did not even have a skim of crud on them. I did not push too much, but felt fast, there was little to no traffic which helped me catch a few extra lights I usually get stopped at. I love the quite roads on holidays when most people get to stay home but I have to go to work. It might be nice on the way home also!

spivonious

@ill.clyde - <soapbox>Please don't break the law. It's very tempting to run red lights especially when things are clear, but it's illegal in all states but Idaho, and as you found, only serves to turn motorists against bicyclists. Thanks.</soapbox>

wphamilton

I only drive in because I overslept, so yeah That hasn't happened in over a year though.

You have my sympathies. I'd be real tempted to try it one day a week anyway, in the summer at least. Or a half commute: drive in, bike home, bike in, drive home.

wphamilton

You did something he can't get away with, so he thinks that you think that you're more entitled than he is.

My 2 cents, if we're gonna roll stops and lights we gotta ignore it. If we're going to engage with them about it, might as well stop and wait at the silly lights. Not worth the aggravation to have it our way and also argue about it.

For my part, a cool and uneventful commute this morning. Like someone else wrote, I seem to be a couple of minutes slower this spring. I kind of confirmed it on some 2-mile interval laps yesterday, pathetic really. It's been a tough winter; we'll get back to form soon enough.