The commute in this morning was a nice uneventful ride. Though when leaving the house i heard the weatherman say it was going to be breezy later today with wind gusts up to 20mph. I should have walked out two minutes earlier.

Maybe you could have said something like, "It matters to me and other regular path users because we all want to pass safely. You walking in an unpredictable fashion makes that difficult."

On the other hand, whatever you could have said would like have gone in one ear and out the other.

Dang we hit 90 degrees yesterday. But then some afternoon cloud cover cooled it back down. I think it was about 86 when I left for home.

And the mornings this week have gone from 40F on Monday to 50 yesterday to 60 today. Although it isn't supposed to get as warm today as yesterday.

I spied an electronic assist bike at our work bike rack yesterday. First one I've seen in the wild. It had a rear motor that looked like a big drum brake hub, and a battery pack that was loaf of bread sized on the downtube. Otherwise, 7-speed grip twist shifting on the right, e throttle on the left. With fenders, ortlieb rack and left pannier, and plenty of handlebar mounts for electronic gizmos, it looked seriously set up.

Impressive. Now, to meet its owner...

Oh, and I rode in again today, jacketless. It was brisk but pleasant. I love spring.

I rode home in short-sleeved jersey over a light merino long-sleeved shirt and shorts but I still can't do that in the mornings.

This morning's ride in was again cool, -1C/30F and sunny also but not intense enough to feel any warmth.

Got yelled at by a driver who didn't like the way I rolled through a stop sign: he was behind me, there was no one else in sight for at least a couple of minutes later. Sheesh!! I guess I don't have thick enough skin not to let it bother me. At least he wasn't yelling at me loud enough and with the intention of scaring the pants off me, he was just upset. (Where do I order thick skin?)

Usually, skin thickens with sustained or frequent use/friction/wear. Hmmm...maybe cage fighting?

Had a dude throw a little tantrum right after I left the office yesterday. I was on a neighborhood street coming up to a stop sign at the bottom of a T intersection (top part of the T does not stop), with intent to turn left. I see this guy in a pickup approaching on the left side of the road looking like he was trying to pass, as we're both approaching the stop sign. I stick my hand out to tell him to stay back. As I get to the stop sign he honks, I stop and look back and yell "What's the problem??" and he's putting up his hands as if to say "Well what are you going to do?" So I turn left, and yell back that he has to wait his turn. He turns left and passes, passenger window down yelling something unintelligible, so I yell again "You have to wait your turn!" And that was it.

Rest of the ride was uneventful. East wind made it tough on some parts.

Nice ride--no, scratch that--effortless ride. 8 MPH wind at my back, warm temps. Why can't every ride in be like this?

I'll pay for it tonight though. Wind is supposed to pick up to 12 mph and it will be in my face for over 20 of my 30 miles.

Fantastic ride this morning, with mild temperatures and a tail wind. I rode my Italian -- the De Bernardi -- for the first time in more than a year, and realized once again what a nice riding bike it is. I rode this bike when I first started commuting for more than two years, but seldom ride it any more because it doesn't have room for fenders or larger tires. The fenders are an issue when rain is a threat, but it honestly doesn't need larger tires. It rides as nice with 23 mm tires as my other bikes with 28s and 32s -- and it's much faster. My commute time this morning was the fastest in a very long time. I deliberately rode the De Bernardi because I've been considering swapping the parts to another bike and selling the frame, but today's ride is giving me second thoughts.

Each morning this week has been 1 degree warmer, 54F today. Unfortunately it's my last morning of the week, going out of town, because by Friday it'll be perfect!

50F, blinding sun, again supposed to peak closer to 90F than 80, 4th day straight.

My "30 days of biking" got trumped by "2 days of salmonella."

Spent Monday and Tuesday in bed leaving only to run to the bathroom. Today I felt better. As in "better" I mean at least I'm no longer praying for the sweet release of death.

Had a dentist appointment scheduled for this morning, so as long as I was out I decided I'd come in to work for at least a few hours if not the whole day. My wife questioned me riding my bike, but I reasoned that if I was well enough to go to work, I must be well enough to ride my bike.

Actually felt pretty decent while I was riding. The only mistake I made was misjudging how warm it was and wore a jacket when I shouldn't have. Supposed to be raining on the way home later today so I'll probably be glad I brought it.

I had a really nice ride in this morning. The weather is gorgeous. I know I complain a lot about wind, and today, the headwind was strong, but I didn't mind. It sure would be nice if I have a tail wind going home, but I know things can change.

I rode my fixed gear bike for a change. My boss wants to try one, so I'm going to let him try mine. Unfortunately, he's dealing with a crisis today so it might not be today. I've been keeping a spare bike in the office, my 1971 Raleigh Super Course, and I'll ride that home and leave the fixie at the office for a while.

There are two very short and very steep sections, and I didn't bother trying to pedal up them. I didn't feel like killing myself, and I was happy to walk.

With the strong headwind and my fixed gear, I'm surprised I averaged 12.5 mph. I expected less.

As for thick skin, I implore everyone to try to develop one. As I wrote, Monday evening's commute irritated me, but it didn't get beyond the rolling eyes phase. Getting shouting angry with the heart pumping is a bad place to be. Try riding a little extra in a super irritating area. That might give you perspective. Or just imagine what life is like for us New Yorkers. You could call it hell on earth.

Nice ride in, cool (5C/41F), but wore shorts anyway. Lots of cyclists out this morning, and the bike rack where I lock up was almost completely full when I got there (last week it was almost empty).

Read an article in the local paper this morning, listing recommendations from some traffic planning consultant hired by the city. It was encouraging to see how much emphasis he put on installing separated, functional bike lanes. He quoted some stats that showed that up to an additional 60% of the population (above the <10% that currently ride) would ride bikes more often for transportation if there were separated, functional bike lanes available.

Anyway, it's a nice report, but implementing it will be another matter entirely!

I rode past the aftermath of this yesterday. Bike mangled. There was an SUV parked on the freeway ramp that I assumed had hit the rider but I guess not. Glad to see in the article that the rider was basically OK.

The rider wasn't 'crossing' 3rd when he got hit by a car on the offramp, 3rd turns left at the end where the offramp also ends and moves freeway traffic onto 3rd. It is the dumbest thing on earth that they routed that bike lane across the end of a freeway ramp where cars are still going 50+mph before reentering the atmosphere of surface streets. There are no traffic controls for traffic on 3rd crossing the ramp. Maybe a yield sign?

Car vs. bicycle crash in Lacey under investigation as possible hit-and-run | The Olympian

You have a good reason, I just wimped out a couple of days. It is possible that I'll be able to do 25 days, I've missed 4 so far: ice and snow on a couple of days, wimped out on a couple more and I'm driving to Thunder Bay and back (1,000km each way) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday but I know I'll be able to ride on Thursday and I can make an effort for a short ride when I get home on Saturday but Friday is on the road. Oh, well, 25 days is better than I've been able to do so far, next year, I'll have to beat that.

Beautiful ride home Wednesday afternoon, 18C/64F, mostly sunny with only a slight breeze. First ride this year without wearing either a long-sleeved jersey or jacket or tights: ie, full summer mode.

A nice uneventful ride in this am with the temp at 34f degrees.

I think somebody yelled at me on my way home yesterday. I heard a voice saying several syllables, so I looked up and could see the passenger in the truck facing out the window. But the truck's engine and tire noise were loud enough that I have no idea what they may have been saying. I'm sure it was something like "Nice butt and bike!"

It felt more humid this morning. Overcast and about 61F. Rain is forecast but not until later tonight.

I'm glad I rode the 20km route in this morning because my manager brought in some PayDay Muffins this morning.

It was 5C/41F with barely a touch of rain in the air but I decided to wear my rain jacket with a light merino long-sleeved shirt and shorts and I was comfortable: I guess I'm used to these temperatures at the moment but I am longing for some of the better ones that some of you talk about (ok, maybe not 90F and humid, that can wait a bit).

With this longer ride in this morning, my April total is now 2km above last years April total and I still have several days to go.

I'm off tomorrow so have a great weekend everyone!

48F and sunny, pretty nice

Haven't yelled at anyone in quite some time, but I have given the the palms-up WTF gesture a few times, including this morning when a young woman in a black Honda Civic raced ahead of me, veered into the gutter, and made a U-turn right in front of me. I wasn't in any danger, but it was still a dick move. What? Did you think I was going to steal your parking spot?

I had a great ride this morning! I wore my reflective sportazon stripes and I think people gave me more room. After a few close calls earlier this week; more room with the stripes on. I might continue to "Fred" it up during the summer too if it gets me more room. has been noticeably better with them on.

I am debating riding Friday and it will give me my first 5 day week or "nickel" week this year but weather could be soggy. or there is a good chance that I could rained on.

I was thinking that your reflective stripes would be more like:



Elevengear Cycling