Another warm and wonderful day. :)

It was really nice to not have to drive with all of this today.

Air is grim though, fire on nearby army base artillery range and they can't put it out due to unexploded ordnance.

Had a real good week, commuting five straight, six if you count last Friday. Weather was solid until yesterday, when it decided to get muggy again. But the first few days were absolutely perfect: dry, 60 in the AM, mid-70's on the rides home at night. What's not to like?

Beautiful day, weather was great after a couple of days of Thunderstorms. Trails weren't dusty. Saw a Doe and yearling, ducks, hawks and a snake crossed my path. 32 mi RT.

Quite unpleasant.
While I was peacefully riding home, after a long workday, a donkey on a worthless 80.000€ SUV (worthless because he may have bought it, but he can't drive it if he's unable to pass a bicycle on a multiple lanes road) decided that the lane and the whole road were too small to contain his ridicolously enlarged ego, and started to annoyingly blow his horn, probably in an attempt to force me to disappear from his view.
Unfortunately for him, I graciously waved at him and took the lane.
He continued to blown his horn all the way long, until he discovered the existence of another lane and proceeded to pass me, insulting me, my parents and probably my ancestors, too. At the next traffic light, I noticed his rolled down windows and I called him by name, giving him an honest advice: "Donkey, learn the Road Code and get a compact car, since you can't drive properly the outrageously expensive SUV you bought". I then invited him to pull over after the intersection, in order to discuss the matter in a more personal, frank manner. But he unexpectedly declined and speeded away.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm kinda allergic to idiocy.

no worries, you're not alone, been there, done that. good to get it out of your system. have a cocktail on me. glad it ended peacefully

My commuting last week here in Bratislava, Slovakia:

ooh tight squeeze at about 10:22

Well I did not commute much last week due to having my grandson over the house from Wednesday to Friday.

So today was a very nice ride. It is dark at 5:30 when I left the house this am, though warm, the temp was 70f degrees. I took the direct route to work due to leaving a few minutes later than I would have liked.

Still wet from weekend rains but cooler and lower humidity. Anyone else noticing it's getting light later?

Back in the commute mode today after taking a week of work for a bike tour. I was sort of hoping for a rainy day as an excuse to take a day off riding but the weather is nicer than it's been here almost all summer, so I figured that I better take advantage of it.

My friends and I rode about 450 miles last week along the Erie Canal trail in New York. We drove to Albany the weekend before last, took the Amtrak to Buffalo with our bikes stowed in cargo, and then rode back. It was a fun trip but nothing spectacular. The high points were stopping in diners for food along the way. We were blessed with nice weather, very little rain and mild temperatures. Most days we rode about 65 miles, and about three-fourths of the route was along greenways and gravel trails. Most of the sections on roads did not have much traffic, although we got shunted through rush-hour traffic in Rochester due to a closed section of the trail and detour. The detour was not very well thought-out and took us well out of our way, adding an extra 10 miles to an already long day.

Felt a bit tough this morning. Bike was really heavy with Monday morning junk and there was a bit of a headwind. Took 10psi out of the rear to see if it helps with flats for now.. going to get some mr tuffy's this week. May get new tires in the spring. All the bearings are regreased at least, it's been a year and still looked ok going with 2 years next time.

Crappy hot & humid weather is back. Last week was a mirage apparently.

It's exciting to see people checking in here from non-English speaking countries, [MENTION=334633]Atvar[/MENTION] in Italy and [MENTION=256748]dsanchez[/MENTION] in Slovakia. It's exotic to me, though [MENTION=334633]Atvar[/MENTION], your story is too common here. I like the way you tell it, however.

[MENTION=86492]tarwheel[/MENTION] I'm glad to hear of your tour. I've been curious about that route. It sounds nice, but on the other hand, I think my wife and I might find other tour routes we might enjoy more.

My goal has been to increase my average number of bike commuting days. I think it's slightly below two per week. Last week, I bike commuted two days. It was hot and humid, and I wore cycling clothes and changed at the office. That worked out fine. My clothes got saturated, but changing got my dry and comfortable. I change my clothes in a wiring closet which is off my boss's office. It has airflow from the data center's big air conditioning system, so my clothes are dry by the end of the day, and no one gets grossed out by their presence. I'm not even very aware of how hot and humid the weather is while I'm on the bike, and that's a blessing. My office is sufficiently cooled, and I have my own box fan which changes the air pretty well.

Today, I drove my wife's car in and dropped it off with the repair mechanic near my workplace. I hate HATE HATE driving a car in the city. The subway, my usual mode other than cycling, is hot and stinky and has a rough ride, but it is a world better than driving a car in traffic. When we moved back into the city three years ago, I sold my car.

First AM that felt like fall. Cool crisp air, bright sun burning off fog patches, crunchy crispy dry leaves under the wheels. Love fall, except for the fact that summer's over.

Haven't touched a bike in almost 2 weeks, and I felt it almost right away, and definitely on the hills. Cool this morning at about 8C/46F.

I might be having motivation issues. When I worked downtown, driving was too expensive (parking), and riding was almost as fast as the bus (and I dislike taking the bus), so it was easy to motivate myself to ride. At the new office, parking is free, and driving takes 10 minutes as opposed to 35 minutes by bike. The new route isn't as enjoyable as the old one either. Suddenly, it's become very easy to make excuses to drive. But today I rode, and it was fine.

Run Down?
 

Eh. I was tired and dragging today. Knees felt a bit of a twinge on the ride. I may be fighting a low grade infection or something. Thankfully, we're taking next week off at the beach with the grown kids/spouses. I'm not pushing myself then and hopefully I'll recharge.

Schools here have reopened for fall session and the increase in traffic is substantial. Looks like I'm going to have to start leaving for work about 30 minutes earlier to avoid the big rush. My departure time tends to slide during the summer months when schools are out and traffic much lighter.

The weather here has finally started to moderate, and it's almost feeling like fall with high temps only reaching about 90 F with dewpoints in the 60s. For most of the summer, our high temps were in the 95-100 range with dewpoints in the mid-70s. It was like a steambath.

I was off work yesterday, so no commute. It was a very comfortable 70 and lower dew point this morning. Taking a day off makes my goal of averaging 100 miles per week a challenge. I ride 26 miles round trip, but Thursday's ride is usually shorter due to meeting family half way home. Thus I try to leave a little early and add a couple of miles on mornings such as today. 15.5 miles on the way to work.

Big storms blew through yesterday. Had some errands to run by car so I avoided riding in them. Today it was 64 but cloudy and gloomy for the morning ride. Should clear off. Looking like I'll have to mount one of my better headlights for the morning rides. Should be a nice 77 for the ride home. Thinking off taking a detour and riding a few extra miles on the ride home.

Last Friday I skipped work and headed over to a canoe rental service and had them drop me and a kayak off at a canoe landing on the Brule river. Paddled the beautiful river for five hours. Took a long lunch break under some cedar trees and just relaxed. Perfect weather to be paddling too. Left their kayak at the landing and drove a couple miles to the North Country Scenic trail which is a sand/dirt road through the county forest. Road my bike for a little over an hour in complete solitude. managed to ride up on a black bear that was meandering down the trail. Made enough noise to spook it as it rounded a corner and it disappeared. Was a fabulous day.

The commute is still difficult at times, painful uphill and starting at lights especially uphill. I did a number on my ankle on the run last week, when it was already sprained. Worse than I expected. I feel like it's improving, and biking is easier than walking, but maybe I'm not giving it enough rest to heal quickly. The other knee is protesting, probably compensating for my shortened stride, both shins made themselves known yesterday but are quiet today, I even felt some weakness in hips this weekend.

I conclude: running = bad news, if you try to get in shape fast.

I'm thinking of the commute as rehab so I'll probably keep it up, but with platforms so I can get my heel on it as needed.

A little better weather this morning. Less humid and T around 65. I can handle that but still arrived to work drenched in sweat. I sure am looking forward to when the morning T is in the 50's.

That's cool no-sweat weather here. 67° and I saw several cyclists in long sleeves, and a few wind-breakers. :lol: It will be 90 on the way home though.

Yeah...it's all relative. I often ride in a T and shorts when temps are in the lower 50's and see people all bundled up like it was winter. I'm usually pushing a 1200 calorie per hour pace during my morning commute. So, staying warm is rarely an issue.

Nice enough commute this morning, 11C/52F and breezy. Should be tail/cross winds for the ride home.

My new route has a stretch along a very busy road. It has a huge shoulder, so I'm not sharing a lane with traffic, but I discovered yesterday that it can be a challenge to traverse a couple of lanes at the point where I need to make a left. Had to wait quite a while for a sufficient break in traffic.

I'm not sure why, but I was blazing home last night, passing everything. Passed 2 cervelos and an S-works.


Got passed by a roadie drafting off an E-bike, and before I could catch up, I had to turn off a different way.


All good fun--got home early too.

I've been sitting it out. The same (unserious but I'm not really comfortable sharing) problem that kept me off my bike in the spring has continued. Last week, after a bad flare-up, I scheduled a surgery for it, and as soon as I was off the phone and ever since then it started feeling better... scared straight? The last week has been better. I have about two weeks to wait it out and see if it continues improving and I cancel the surgery, or go ahead with it. It's been really frustrating, both its chronic nature and the feeling it might be going away that is then betrayed, over and over for six months.

We are moving Thursday and today is my last day at work! I have worked here for 7 of the last 9 years and it will be a big shift, for both me and the company. I will likely do some contract work for them when it is needed and if it fits in my schedule.

We are moving to Nanaimo which is across the water to Vancouver Island which is a great smaller and laid back and relaxed place.

My wife has a nice job lined up and she will be working three days a week at the office and being home with the little girl the other days. My wife is lucky, her office is very bike friendly, they have lockers, storage, showers, and company jerseys; and she's committing herself to bike one day a week. It is a 13 km one way ride along a path nearly the whole way and it is mostly flat. She even wants to take our daughter, whose daycare is next door to my wife's office, she can literally see the playground from her office window. She does seem a bit apprehensive about riding since she's not really ventured out on rides to work in 3-5 years, nor since the accident. But since it is a paved and protected path she feels safer and will build up to it. We talked about it and she knows to take her time; plus the distance is shorter than my one way trips were usually.

I on the other hand have no job yet, none of the schools have contacted me. I also applied at a medical marijuana grower but I have not heard from them either. I will not likely be able to cycle to work, but I will be able to kayak from the island we are living on to the big island; so that is a new routine I am looking forward to. I also fear we will need to buy a second car, ideally I want a plug in car, but that's not feasible until we have a house.

Anywho, our place is filled with piles of boxes. We are putting a lot of things in storage so I have logged every box and (nearly) every item in each box so that we can easily find them in our storage unit. I have at least 38 boxes for storage and many others to be in our new place.

Last week I also had the pleasure to meet up with [MENTION=333933]timvan_78[/MENTION] and [MENTION=348526]HydroG33r[/MENTION] at a place where paths are easiest crossed. It was great to meet them and get to know them and made us wonder why did we wait so long. I had met [MENTION=348526]HydroG33r[/MENTION] a few times for part drops and he visited me once in the hospital, but that visit was just before my meds were really squared away and I was super out of it. So it was nice to get to know them in a a normal state.

That kind of fabulous days are so much fun!

The commute today was a nice uneventful ride.

Great report, [MENTION=190611]joeyduck[/MENTION]! Here's to hoping that the new routine turns out great for your family. Kayaking? I'd be thrilled to do that as part of my routine. I wonder how kayaking in the rain compares to bike commuting in the rain? Phil G.