i got snipped (vasectomy) on friday and the doc told me to stay of my bike for a week.

it's gonna be a long week.

Decided to ride today instead of tomorrow as I have a dentist appt tomorrow and don't want to be a hot sweaty mess when I get there. But our Monday morning staff meeting is at 7 AM, so I had to get up in the 4 AM hour and leave the house at 5 AM.

For some reason I was faster today, about 5-8 minutes faster than my usual moving time in the morning. I did the whole 15.6 miles non-stop, not putting a foot down even once, and only 3 cars passed me the entire time - 1 near my house and 2 near the office. So 85% of my commute I had the road all to myself. It was dark when I left for a change, which was sort of nice. Humidity was killer, though. Felt like it had rained on me when I got to the office, with no clouds in the sky.

Another nice uneventful commute, though I did add a little mileage in this am.

Perfect.. taking it slower and a lesser stress approach. Realized I typically get to work 20-25 minutes early. Why not slow down and enjoy it. Might stop for some Mexican breakfast Thursday.

10 mph tailwind this morning made the ride a breeze.

I like it. If I have an extra 5-10 minutes, I'll take a low stress loop through a neighborhood and add a couple of miles.

A little cooler and less humidity today vs yesterday. Very pleasant. There was just enough cloud cover to keep the sun from warming it up too early.

I did have one guy try to pass as we both reached a stop sign. I never get this. I was slightly ahead still as I got to the sign and he had to stop slightly behind me and half across the yellow line. A car with the right of way turning left in front of us had to swing wide to go around him. I went next and he followed me only to make a safer pass 30 yards later.

A beautiful sunny morning, still cool at 8C/46F but I'm getting used to cool mornings this June. At least the afternoons are nice enough in the low 20sC/low 70sF.

Tried a HIIT routine on the way to work which apparently will help get rid of the softness around my belly. There are about 5 good segments well spaced out along the route that I can push hard for 20-40 seconds and then I can go easy for a couple of minutes. Partway through the third, I lost focus, forgot what I was doing and just slowed down and then I realized that the sign I was going to stop at was still ahead, "and why was I not still pushing?", LOL.

Have a great day!!

There is one street on my route with a series of speed bumps. It never fails that cars will insist on passing me, and then have to brake for the speed bumps. So, they end up slowing me down because I can whiz right over the bumps.

My legs were really tired this morning as this is my 8th day in a row for cycling. Will probably take a rest day tomorrow, particularly since it's supposed to rain, but reserve the right to change my mind!

Near 80 this morning, so I figured I wouldn't worry about it and just take a shower at the company gym. It turned out to be closed for renovations, so that was a bad plan. Thank goodness for the plan B microfiber towel and handi-wipes.

TMI! Heal quickly, feel better... nice morning ride

Decent ride home yesterday with a small tailwind, but a few miles from home the tailwind was snatched away and turned into a headwind the rest of the way home, which lopped about 20% off my average moving speed to that point. Darn. And it was hot as Hades.

2 commute days last week and probably 2 this week. Maybe not next week, high temps will be about 25F higher than they are this week!

Cool 40's this morning and pretty damp. Interesting assortment of roadkill along the way. Porcupine, mallard drake, mouse and bambi jr. Hope the county comes and does something with this deer that's already been there a couple days and starting to bloat. Thinking I'm going to have a smelly ride in that area for a week or two. Cruised by a house and had to do a double take. There was a big fluffy cat spreadeagled hanging on a window screen. Just seemed a bit odd. Forecast is calling for rain late this afternoon into evening. Hoping it holds off long enough or I'll have to check out my rain gear. Raining when its in the 50's is just plain cold to ride in.

Thursday morning I woke up and saw that my sister had left me a voicemail a few minutes earlier. I knew what it meant. It meant our mother had died. She was decaying from dementia for five years. The whole process was torturous.

I put my bike in wife's car and drove it to my mother's place so I could say goodbye to her body. She had left wishes to have no funeral or memorial service and to donate her body to science. The hospital was about to pick her up. I left to drive my wife's car to the repair garage and found that the city had towed it. In my mental haze from my mother's death, I had failed to read both parking regulation signs. The new one said that parking was for commercial vehicles only until 1pm. I took the subway and the long walk to the pound and paid the $185 towing fee. Ouch. That is separate from the fine, and I haven't even looked at the ticket for that. Ouch again.

My rode her bike and met me at the pound.

So Thursday would have to count as a bad day commuting.

We left the car at home and rode our bikes. That was good.

I took three days off from work, and today was my first day back. It was hard to decide between the subway and the bike. I chose the bike, and it was a good decision. I'm still reeling with a bad sense of time and everything. I'm bursting out crying several times a day.

Today counts as a good commuting day.

This morning's tailwind turned into a steady headwind for the ride home. It beat me up...even though it was only about 7mph.

On my one mile of dirt road there were three teenagers, one of whom'd had a nasty MTB wreck on the adjacent trail. Moms had already been called. The injured kid got on his bike side saddle and his friend held it up and pushed it. I walked with them to the trail head about 1/2 mile away. He was banged up but not bleeding or in shock, and anyhow my boy scout first aid badge hasn't been used in nearly 30 years. I felt a little foolish and helpless to render aid. I talked to them about the trail, which I ride sometimes too, and he told me the feature he crashed is called the "Toilet Bowl" which was news to me; I told them they were all doing great, told him not to worry and he was on an adventure with his friends; gave him some ibuprofen and went on with my ride home. I hope I at least reassured them.

This morning on the half mile of canal towpath I spooked a little critter, and it started running away, down the path ahead. From my angle I couldn't see much in the twilight, just the white tip of its tail. I assumed it was a bunny, but it wasn't moving like a bunny. The tail was swaying around too much for a bunny. I accelerated to get a better view, and got to about 20 feet from it when it shot off on a tangent and vanished. I've seen a fox at that location a couple times, but now I'm thinking it was a bunny after all.

A couple minutes later, back on pavement, I saw a big deer grazing right next to the road. It jumped in my direction when I passed, then crashed into the woods.

A couple minutes later another deer ran across the road in front of me.

Good times!

This morning's commute was very nice as I was able to drop a book off at the library and still add miles into my commute.

I'm sorry to hear, Tom. My Mom is in the mid stages of dementia and it's been difficult. Time will heal. Remember the love she gave. Phil

Another perfect morning... Had a major flat ie going no where! Not even sure what I hit as I was watching a semi parked making sure I didn't get ran over. Had to carry the bike 2 miles or more. Time to get a new pump also.

Planned rest day today...luck would have it that it's also raining.

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] - sorry about your mother. And dang what a day to have the other problems too. Glad to hear you're back on the bike.

Humid as heck here today. Overcast and threatening rain, but not sure if we'll actually get any.

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] - Sorry about your mom. Losing her is rough, but you lost her in an even rougher manner.

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning here in South Dakota. 65 degrees, hardly any wind. Maybe a touch humid, but I don't mind that so much in the mornings. I went for a 2.5 mile run. Then, because my knees hadn't yet screamed, "Uncle!" I hopped on my fixed gear bike and rode to work.

Sorry for your loss, been there - done that - it sucks!

Rain and thunderstorms off an on the last couple days. At one of my last stop signs in this morning some douchbag in an suv pulled to a stop so close to my rear wheel I wondered if he could still see me over his giant car hood. Why do people do stupid stuff like that... rhetorical question?!