[MENTION=190611]joeyduck[/MENTION] great to hear!!!!

This week’s commutes have been great! Dry, cool, light outside, blossoms are out on Cypress Ave.Smells great too.

Yeah, I smelled Daphne in several places on my ride from work to down town yesterday to catch my bus. That's my favorite smelling flower, though black locust trees must be close.

I managed to commute two days this week, Monday and Friday, for a total of 34 miles. My body seems to be holding up so far. I used cleats for the first time this week and practiced a few emergency stops on the MUP. I haven't fallen over yet but I did have a moment of panic coming up to a stop sign downtown when I didn't realize I was on the cleat side of my peddle and cleated in. Quick twist and my foot was down thanks to my M324 pedal (adjusted loose) and multi-directional cleats that come with them, as well as the little bit of muscle memory I had created with my practice emergency stops.

Friday's commute home was not the best commute. With the west winds gusting at 20 mph, my ride home, which is west bound was like a fight(but I won, cause I did get home). At one point the winds actually stopped the bike from going forward. That was interesting.

Anyway, the commute in this morning was a pleasant uneventful ride with the temp at 43f degrees.

Tree frogs were chirping this morning as I rode through a wooded area to a magenta/purple dawn. Could spring be far away?

Last Thursday evening, I was blown off the road by a crossing gust. Fortunately, I was along a golf course and was blown into soft boggy grass out of bounds. Didn't fall either.

34 and sunny this morning with a projected high of ~55. :thumb:

Well, I don't know what the high was but it was nice enough to not need my jacket on the evening commute.

50F and sunny this morning - I wore shorts and no tights! Still wore a jacket, but just a short sleeve jersey under and the jacket will be stashed for the ride home. High of 68 or so.

Happy Leap Day!

Beautiful morning for riding with clear skies and mild temperatures. The only downside was a stiff headwind but you can't have everything. We are coming up on the Goldilocks season for commuting.

This morning was 25 steady gusting to 32 on the nose most of the way in, needless to say took me longer than usual to get here. Winds should be stronger for the ride home right now they are 29 gusting to 39. Once I get away from the open area I should be flying except of course for the cross winds which are the worst.

Well I decided to ride on Monday due to great weather today, and storms likely tomorrow. But our staff meeting on Mondays is now at 7 AM instead of 8. So I had to leave the house just after 5 AM. It was dark for more than half the ride, where usually leaving at 6 it's already starting to get lighter at this time of year.

Of course in 2 weeks after the time change I'll be back in the dark for most of the morning ride at 6 AM. If I decide to go at 5 on Mondays it will be dark for nearly ALL the commute.

The plus side was super light traffic. I think I had only 6 cars pass me in 15 miles, and 2 of those were right by my house and 2 near the office. So for the majority of the ride only 2 cars passed me.

Also one of the 4 way stops where construction has been going on for months now has new traffic lights up and flashing. So that will make 5 traffic lights on my commute, where 1 year ago there were only 2 lights.

40F, sunny, clammy.

There was a mini-opera of roadkill toward the end of my commute: a flattened bag of popcorn, next to it a flattened possum, and all around a bunch of crows that couldn't believe their luck.

Reminded me of that saying about the early bird getting the worm but the 2nd mouse getting the cheese.

Wind seems to be the word of the day - 36F and windy this morning but nothing like yesterday. For those east of the middle part of the country get ready for 50+ mph gusts. This morning's 10mph crosswind seemed nothing

Monday Sucks
 

I rolled my bike out of the garage, closed the garage door, and went into my condo.

I put on my backpack, walked out the patio door.

And my bike was gone.

:cry:

I couldn't have been inside 2-3 minutes, and the patio door looks at where the bike was parked. Geez, I've done this a hundred times or more with no problems. Yes, I am an idiot.


Hopped in the car and drove around, but didn't see the bike. Called the non-emergency number for the police, and they were there within 20 minutes. He took a report, and were going to look around for it. He said if it was a kid, he'd probably ride it to within a block of his destination, then pitch it in someone's yard. He thought it probably wasn't one of the garbage gleaners, since they come around the night before trash pickup, not early mornings.

So I'm looking at $150 - 300 for a used bike, and $150 to replace racks, lights, seat bag, tools...

RIP Voyageur.

Bummer SBW. I had a bike jacked once when I left it unlocked outside a store for a quick dash in, but the person rode it to the transit center and left it on the ground when they took a bus somewhere.

[MENTION=422519]SloButWide[/MENTION] That is awful. I am sorry but I hope that you can find a replacement.

The wind sound awful for a lot of you and I hope the cycling gods bless all of you with a week of tail winds.

The commuters around here must be enjoying the weather. As [MENTION=333933]timvan_78[/MENTION] said, all the blossoms are starting to peek out and there have been a plethora of crocuses (croci) and daffodils along with other early season bloomers the last week or two. It makes for glorious riding, the colors and the smells.

Aw man, SBW major bummer. I hate that feeling.

It’s becoming spring, and the commuters are multiplying. I saw the girl on the neon pink guru—can’t miss that bright bike!
The other day I hit 19,000kms since I started commuting for real.

I usually have a pretty uneventful ride, but I had 2 close calls in a row last week:
1.) Riding along on 1[SUP]st[/SUP] ave from salt st to Manitoba st.I’m in the bike lane, beside a car.The car infront of that car stops to turn left at Manitoba.
The woman beside me tries to go around the left-turner using the bike lane (which I’m in!). I rapped her window with the back of my left hand as hard as I could and she slammed the brakes.
2.) Crossing Gilmore at Still Creek Ave Friday night.I’m waiting at the red light.It turns green.I double check behind me to make sure there’s no right-hook potential, and start going.(That intersection is notorious for right-turners.I know since I go through it EVERY DAY!)Suddenly (as I’m crossing), out of nowhere, this guy in a red honda comes flying through the intersection from my left, through the red, right at me.He slams on the brakes in the middle of the intersection.I stop and rip into him.After a few choice words, I start again and get out of the intersection so he’s not stuck there.I swear Friday nights are the worst.

This weekend, the fam biked to a monster truck show. I’m pretty sure we were the only ones that bike there.Lol.
This AM was enjoyable.

I got lucky today. Winds mostly at my back both in the morning and the afternoon! I had to run by the bank after leaving the office, so I took a different route home - my old route (mostly) from when I first started commuting in 2013. But when I got towards the end I took a different road that didn't exist a few months ago. Pretty nice ride, felt pretty comfy in my new Performance Ultra bib shorts.

Finished out the month of February with 295 miles, as compared to only 98 miles for February last year. So far I've only missed 2 days commuting for the year. Positive result!!

Yesterday commute home crosswind of 34 mph with gust to 47 mph reported at the airport that I commute to and from. Winds like that made me pay attention to what I was doing as the wind really affected my commute to say the least. After I got home though it was kind of fun looking back at it.

This mornings gusts to 20 mph seem like nothing now. beautiful sky, 42 degrees, I can't believe what an easy winter we have had so far in MA.

March is off to a great start with beautiful weather and a fantastic commute this morning. Temps were about 10 degrees colder than yesterday in the upper 30s, but the high is supposed to reach near 70 again this afternoon. My favorite sort of weather for riding, and the wind even let me off easy this morning.

Ditto tarwheel's weather. I still went with shorts and no tights this morning. My knees and ankles were a little cold, but I survived. And that's one less thing for me to carry home tonight.

I left a little early and hit 15 miles for the ride in. It's supposed to be a little cooler the rest of the week, but spring is definitely taking over.

Terrific morning! I was in Atlanta over the weekend, hanging out with my BIL on Friday and we realized we were both out of coffee, so after a few cold ones in Brookhaven, we walked to this awesome store called Savi (all kinds of cheeses, snacks, coffee, etc - I wish I had one!!) and came across Jittery Joe's Morning Ride. I couldn't not buy it. So I started my day out right.

http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/...psdlbq63h0.jpg


Warm enough for shorts and a jacket, while the ride home should be awesome weather wise. I just put on some new tires on my Fred Sled (Clement Strada 700x28) and have been itching to try them out. I have a set of 25s on another bike and really like them. Decided for lunch I'll just go walk to Chipotle or something to minimize the carrying load, and wear a new pair of Chrome Union shorts so I could wear them all day. So here is the carbon Fred Sled. I know the shoes look janky, but they were very secure

http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/...psdlbmguys.jpg

Only hang up today was one of the roads (which happens to have a bike lane) was shut down both ways for road work and the detour route was a bit sketch for a mile or so. I hope it is open this afternoon!

45F and clammy. Supposed to rain a LOT starting later and slowing down in April or some such.

Nice ride this morning, bright moon, and that row of planets is still pretty. A little cold, but no headwind like yesterday. Unfortunately my train sat in Princeton Junction station for an hour while the police chased down a trespasser on the tracks farther north. One person on the tracks, and they closed down all rail traffic on the NE corridor for an hour! I'm not saying they should have done anything different... but what a waste of a lot of people's time. I just slept, so I didn't really mind so much.

Yesterday I found myself in the middle of a herd of deer on my ride to the station, and a couple minutes later came very close to getting too close to a skunk. An almost completely white skunk, too; black stripe from his head down his back to his tail, but below that the white stripes went almost to his legs. Or her, of course. I kept my distance.

good week so far
 

Nice job. I have 292 for the month and that is a lot better than last years with only 66 miles for month of February.

windy on the way in yesterday but I was glad with the gear I chose to wear even if I carried it for 26 miles on the "way" home. I went hunting for elevation gain and bagged my second virtual badge on Strava. I got home in almost darkness but I got the badge and then some! thankful for my wife :love:and her patience with my umm addiction. :innocent:

Supposed to be warmer this evening but winds are to pick up. The winds are picking up this week cooler tomorrow and possibly some rain on the Wednesday evening ride but I am tempted to see if I can ride 4 days this week. :D

Soggy soggy with some headwind this AM. Rain and 6degC (43F)

I got 334miles in Feb, (538kms) not bad.

13 degrees this morning, 5" of fresh unplowed snow on top of a layer of ice, and a stiff headwind.

Needless to day, no speed records were harmed while completing today's commute.

rain in 1... must be time to leave

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...5&d=1456877586

That was a rough one, nothing but strong headwind for 11 miles.

I got right hooked last night on the way home. I saw her approaching in my mirror, she passed just as we reached the intersection, then I heard her brakes and knew...

Fortunately, we were pacing one another and I was able to make the unintended right turn safely along with her, preventing contact. I shouted and waved, but she drove off.

Clueless...