Did my longest commute ever today - 20 documented miles round trip (Actually more like 23 or 24 -- I accidentally stopped my GPS watch, and started riding before it had 'hooked up') which capped off my highest mileage week, at over 61 documented miles.

Today's weather wasn't bad -- cloudy in the morning, but no rain, and a high of . Very humid, though, so I was dripping with sweat when I finished my ride(s) Took my usual route, but instead of passing up 2 metro stations, I passed up 3. An extra two miles on the bike, but only an additional 7-8 minutes, as it was all on the MUP and it saved me from crossing one major street (flyover bridge!) but it added one other major street crossing. Most significant, though, is that it avoids the most debris strewn portion of my usual ride. I believe this will be my new standard 'long' day.

I had two different brain dead cagers ignore me when I had absolutely clear right-of-way (the worst one decided to turn left in front of me as I was turning left from the dominant road onto the minor street that he was coming out of). I had signaled very clearly, was riding in the middle of my lane, and should have been highly visible. I was almost in front of him but not in any way able to be clear of him as he started moving. The other one ran a stop sign, which affect me and one other cager. We shared a 'shake your head' moment on that one. OTOH, lots of great people let me go through intersections despite their having priority, and stopped at the minor street crossings. So overall, it was a pretty good day for bike/car relations in my personal world.

However, the longer ride really demonstrated that I needed to get my rear wheel trued, as it had a pretty wicked wobble to it because of my ham-fisted efforts without a truing stand. It felt like I was wasting effort sideways, instead of putting all my work into forward progress. I decided I could no longer justify holding off on getting my bike serviced, so I traipsed to the LBS with the Kona to get the wheels taken care of, and decided that a full tune up was in order (as it only added another $40 -- more than I wanted to spend -- $0 -- but within my tolerance level), as I have no idea when (or if) it was serviced last.

While I was at it, I decided it was as good a time as any to take the Tomasso in and have them look at it and assess whether it is worth rebuilding, and what the options might be. One of the owners (but not the chief mechanic) was there, and he seemed as taken with the bike as I am... they're going to try to work up some options for me. I need to look at the budget and see what I can justify spending on a 'weekend' bike. Hey, it's cheaper than the Porsche I wish I had, right? And if it is 'running' right, I can even probably use it for some commuting, if I play gently.

The best news of the day is that they think they can turn the Kona around by Tuesday -- Wednesday at the latest! I was expecting a week, and dreading having to ride my 'back-up' beater. It is my intention to ride the full 35 mile round trip within the next two weeks (at the end of which, I change jobs), so I thought the full service was a good idea.