here's the last week and a half or so of commutes:

6/28:
leg-burning hammerfest on the way in. temps in the high 80's. went to the LBS on the way back to pick up some new sunglasses and then to the metro station to check out my new bike locker then back home. got a flat about a mile away from home and decided instead of walking the bike back home to find a cool spot behind the church and change the flat. took me forever as I'm still a noob at changing flats (haven't had to do it much). rough commute.

6/29:
still hot and muggy. today was my return to the Paint Branch Trail after I swore it off due to bad conditions a couple months ago. almost made a light that is never green for me but had to brake for some idiot who was drifting into my lane, and the light turned red while I was doing that. I was really tired in the morning so I decided to take the "trail" route in. it's still in pretty bad condition but it's such a beautiful, scenic ride that I couldn't stay away from it forever. I'll still be not riding it as frequently as I did before. anyway the ride in was slow and leisurely. there was a big tree that had fallen across the trail near the Lot 4 exit at UMD, had to walk the bike around it on the grass. on the way back I took the trail again and this time rode the whole thing. pretty rough conditions but it's still a great ride (if only MNCPPC actually maintained the trail). then I headed home.

6/30-7/4:
no commutes. I drove in on 6/30 for various reasons and the rest was the holiday weekend.

7/5:
wet roads in the morning but at least the rain had stopped. packed the rain jacket and wore the rain pants because the call was for rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. good ride in other than the roads being wet. hammered like hell back home on the ride back in a successful attempt to beat the thunderstorms. my rain pants still haven't seen a minute of actual rain use.

7/6:
still hot and muggy. didn't get much sleep last night so I was really late and a tired wreck... decided to take it easy in due to the latter condition. took the trail route in. they finally got that big downed tree off the path but there's still sticks and branches and crap all over it. rode around town and the trolley trail for a bit then did the Paint Branch after class then home. good ride all around.

7/7:
it's cooled off a little finally. temps in the 70's in the morning and they warmed up to the 80's in the afternoon. really fast ride in in the morning, but since it was cooler I wasn't as sweaty when I arrived at school. rode over to the LBS to have some minor adjustments done then over to my parents' house. the public works department is finally starting to repave the streets that WSSC tore up in my old neighborhood. some of these streets were closed so I had to take a walking detour around them, but I'm just glad they're finally being repaved! might save me some repair work in the future not riding on a bumpy piece of crap road. they should repave all of them. great ride today!