The ride in this morning was good. I have found a route that is 10.5 miles with the garden I love and the small hill gone. It is not without hills it is just something about this small hill is hard. I takes me along the river for about .5 miles.

I was asked to come into work a little early today. I usually leave at 7:00 AM but today I left a 6:35 and all the morons rushing to get to work were on the road so I had to be extra careful.

Clean cool air, no wind and a beautiful clear sky, the bright full moon low in the west, all pretty nice. Riding north on a wide road with no traffic, I adjusted my helmet mirror to keep the moon where I could see it, rolling along the tops of the trees on the other side of the parkway.

There's a section of one road that is lined by kudzu for a bit. It is trying to grow over the road. County maintenance cuts it back every once in a while, but it's getting worse now. I like to ride over the vine when it starts getting on the pavement and think that I am helping prevent its growth. But in reality I'm doing nothing and after a few days it gets all leafy up as high as my pedal in the up position.

Terrible week to ride due to work and other commitments sees me taking my first commute on a Wed. It was a beautiful morning though. Temperatures in the mid-60's, bright sunshine, low humidity, light winds and a nice fast pace.

Dentist appt tomorrow will force me into a car again. And, high nineties forecast for Friday will make the ride home a bit challenging. I'll ride, and I'll soak my head a fwe times, but I'll probably have to take it slower than usual.

Beautiful ride to work this morning with a slight drop in temperature and humidity compared to the past week or so. A cool front moved through the area last night, bringing thunderstorms that somehow missed my part of the city. I drove yesterday because forecasters had predicted the storms would hit during the afternoon but they didn't arrive until after dark. That was OK because I was able to work out at the gym on my way home from work and lift weights, something I have not been doing often enough this summer.

The weather has been extremely hot and humid here lately, with heat indexes over 100 each day. The humidity is the worst part and dew points have been staying in the mid-70s.

Hot ride home yesterday with temps in the 90's. Took it slow and finished a bottle of Gatorade before I got home. Usually I still have some left. Felt cooked by the time I arrived.


Ride into work this morning was very nice. Barely needed my light with the full moon. I stopped at a rural foggy cemetery as the sun rose. Always makes me appreciate life and all that I have to be thankful for.

New to the club
 

I saved my first post for the day of my first commute. Work has been busier so I've had difficulty getting in my workout time at lunch as consistently as I'd like...decided a week ago to finally take the plunge and try commuting by bike. First ride was this morning. 9.6 miles one way...just over 33 minutes. I'm a physician at an Orthopaedic and rehabilitation practice so we have physical therapy at all our offices with locker rooms and showers so that part was easy. I plan to strategically leave some things at different sites so I'll have less to carry. Bike is a cannondale r2000, I bought a osprey momentum 30 which was full but held all it needed to. I hope to make it a 2-3x/week thing but I work at different sites day-to-day so I'll have to see how it goes. Lots of great info on this sub-forum so thanks!
Kyle

I try to keep everything I need to work a day at work. Clothes, glasses, socks, shoes everything. I have gotten hit with a thunderstorm on the way to work and all my clothes are soaked when I get there. I have been doing this for years and every once in a while I forget a shirt or something. I could show up here with only my ID and keys and I would be fine to work. Congrats on getting started.

Good temperature this morning. Air is a lot drier than the past few days.

Some bonehead decided it would be a good idea to speed up and cut me off at an intersection with no blinker on. Very helpful when they don't use their blinkers >_<
Other than that and the usual potholes it was good. Managed to catch almost every green light perfectly so I didn't have to do the usual stop/go/stop/go that I can get stuck in at times.
Been watching some videos on better biking technique and I've come to the realization that I think I'm riding with my seat a bit too low. When I have some time I'm going to try raising it and riding around the MUP, see if I can get better stopping/starting than how I'm currently doing.

Decided to hold off on replacing my stolen light for a little bit. Found the same one cheaper on Amazon, but I haven't been riding at night lately. Next paycheck comes in I'll grab one.
Been looking my bike over to figure out how to attach a back rack to it. It LOOKS like I'll be able to bend the rack enough to get past my brakes and attached to my frame, but I might need to post some pictures here for advice.

Headed up to Maine this weekend and sadly don't have a good way to get my bike up there with me. Definitely makes me wish for a folding bike, but I can't justify the cost just yet.

Guess that's my journal for the day ;)

Yesterday was beautiful SUNRISE! I saw a blue heron in a cove as I rode around the lake. 20 miles on the way in to work. :) Today sunrise was not quite to the caliber of yesterdays but ride was still good.


I needed to mow the yard yesterday but just chilled with the kids inside after dinner. Too hot!

The commute has been good. Morning was nice and cool, jaunt home for lunch was toasty, and I'm sure it'll be a sweaty ride home at the end of the day!
I might start switching up the route though. My 1 mile commute is becoming monotonous when traveled 4 times a day :s

Welcome [MENTION=442892]KStier[/MENTION] and [MENTION=442744]dcole300[/MENTION]. Good job on the commutes!

My wife said she would be in the area today at quitting time and offered to give me a ride home. I told her she could bribe me with a slurpee. Hot afternoons are not so much fun, but I'm sure I'll ride home the next two days anyway.

[MENTION=442892]KStier[/MENTION] and [MENTION=442744]dcole300[/MENTION]

Welcome to the club! Kstier can you put your location in the profile? We are a curious bunch and like to know where other commuters pedal. I hope that the rides home are nice.
[MENTION=441621]SteffyMacD[/MENTION] A properly adjusted bike seat can make huge difference in comfort, endurance, and power. Ahh the interweb, answering questions you didn't know you ever had.

I went for a 16 km family ride last weekend. I pulled/got pushed the little man on his trail-a-bike. My wife pulled the girl in the trailer, she was a champ on the hills. In addition it was pretty warm out and we were beat. I really noticed my right quad was very fatigued and that I have issues keeping my left foot on the platform pedal when shifting or applying power, I may have to try clipless and see how my leg likes them. Overall I felt good and I am glad my limitations seem to be endurance and power based.

We didn't make it all the way home, we got too tired/hot and had a birthday party we were already late for so we took a car share. Which probably took as long after loading everything into and onto the prius. BCAA (BCs AAA) has a Car2Go competitor which is a 4 door prius, with roof racks for skis and two bikes; I really like their cars and they are a great option.

My wife is doing better with the return to cycling but still is easing into it, we will just take it slow as a family. We have been having discussions about getting me an e-assist bike. I am still torn on it, but I think that it is a practical idea. I am not sure what set-up I would like best.

Without cycling this summer, I have found my tolerance for the warm weather is very diminished from my already pathetic coping with heat. I used to be able to be comfortable with low 70s and now it seems since I am not active and gotten more round I am comfortable in the low-mid 60s. I generally never like it too warm and I have always run hot but this is getting ridiculous.

Ride back was good, felt less rushed since I didn't have to be at home at any given time...took only 90 seconds more despite being more uphill than the ride in. Tomorrow is a different office. Little closer and a totally different direction. Due to work duties and responsibilities, late nights on Tuesdays and one office that is significantly farther away this will probably be a Wednesday/Thursday thing but I'm pleased with how the first day went. [MENTION=190611]joeyduck[/MENTION], I added my profile info...

Stared to ride from the park n' ride to work twice a week. It's about six (6) miles each way. So far I've enjoyed it. The last few days have been hot and humid but no rain while riding. it feels good being able to not be in traffic.

A very nice commute to work today. I have noticed that five am is not as bright as it was a just 3 weeks ago.

Welcome new commuters! If you can survive the summer heat and humidity, you can take survive just about anything bike commuting.

Our brief "cool spell" is apparently over after one day. The humidity is back today and highs are supposed to reach the low 90s after only hitting 89 yesterday. However, temps are supposed to be in the upper 90s over the weekend, which could be our hottest weather of the summer.

I rode my Specialized Sequoia sport tourer today, which is faster and lighter than my Bob Jackson touring bike that I've been riding lately because it has fenders. With the threat of thunderstorms nearly every day around here, the BJ has been getting a lot of action. I just had the Sequoia built up in May and haven't gotten around to installing fenders yet, so I haven't been able to commute on it as much as planned.

A good morning for a ride. Some passing clouds kept it a little cooler for most of the ride.

Morning temps have been warm this week, but not too bad. It's the humidity that it getting to me... and I'm get to work completely drenched. Luckily we have a small workout room with a shower, so all is well. The ride home though, with 105+F heat-index, is getting really hard to deal with.

I realize now that sunrise riding is quite dangerous.

I headed out an hour earlier this morning, heading East.

Took same route like every day before.

Today...I heard car tire screech behind me. My guess is the driver didn't see me until the last second...becuase of the sun glare on the horizon. In certain spots on the road, it's totally blinding.

Very nice morning. A little warm and sticky, but not enough to keep me from going for an extra 18 mile ride before work. Consecutive commute number 111 is in the bag.

Stepped on the scale after I arrived at work and was amazed to see the number 193 staring back at me. A year and a half ago that number would have been more than 60 pounds heavier. I think I'm a little dehydrated after my sweaty ride which would make the scale read light, but I was also wearing clothes and shoes so I'm guessing those two things balanced each other out. The 18 months of feeling hungry is finally paying off.

blahhh I haven't ridden all week so far, not since my 38 mile ride last Saturday. Massive heat wave around here, afternoon highs about to touch 100 with heat indices above 110. I just haven't felt like riding this week.

Tuesday morning I was loaded up and just barely went down the street about 6:15 when I realized I had to be at work for a staff meeting at 7 that day. So I turned around and went home, changed, and drove to work and made it just in time. Wednesday I was loaded up and ready to walk out the door, and once again decided to bail and get to work early. I've been so busy at work this week I've opted to drive to get there earlier in the morning. The extreme heat and humidity has just sapped all my desire for riding. Maybe I'll try tomorrow to get in one commute this week, despite it being the hottest day this week.

Rode my crosscheck today to carry groceries home in panniers. Headwind coming in, brutal! 2mph slower than usual, much harder work. Same basic half hour travel time though. Even with hitting all the red lights.

Rode from home again today and will be my third time this week. Was feeling a bit tired but not too bad. Did the ~24 mile commute in 1h 35m so pretty close to usual. Probably helped that some of the lights at the major intersections seemed to go my way. Originally planned a park and ride for today but resched that for tomorrow when it goes up to 90F in the afternoon.

I don't blame you. I'd want to skip riding in 100F as well. Does it typically get that hot in your area (TN)? Only benefit might be that the winter is more commutable, perhaps?

Ran some errands via bike over lunch. Temp is up into the low 90s. Glad I swapped out my work shirt for a moisture wicking one, as I got drenched with sweat.

Went down to the courthouse to renew my vehicle registration and get new license plates. Usually I do it by mail, but because they're replacing the plates this year it was going to cost $15 extra for postage fees. I was going right by the courthouse anyway so I figured I'd just stop and save myself a little extra cash. As near as I can tell, I was the only person in line who rode their bike to pick up their vehicle license plates.

On my way back to work I got to see the Blue Angels fly overhead. That was pretty cool. They're practicing for the air show this weekend.

This year we're having even hotter temps than normal. 2 years ago in July we broke the record for the LOWEST high temperature one day. On my Strava commutes 2 years ago all the temps were 50's/60's in the morning and 70's/80's in the afternoon, maybe a couple of days barely 90. That year was unseasonably cool. This year it's been well above 90 every day for weeks now, unseasonably warm.

We've had cold winters, one year it was in the teens during the day and single digits overnight one week. But it usually doesn't stay that way. This past winter I commuted much more than in winters past, despite my self-imposed limit of not commuting if it's below 20°F.

*edit* this is why I love these annual threads. Here's a post I made in August 2014: http://www.bikeforums.net/17041673-post2220.html

I highly doubt I'll be using any arm warmers in August this year.

Blue Angels are cool, but picking up auto plates by bike is cooler :thumb:

Today was good. Did the 19 mile version of the afternoon ride and felt like a million bucks when I got done. Doesn't always happen that way but today it did.