A bit more traffic than usual this morning in one area. The interstate seems to be hosed due to an accident, so spillover onto the secondary highway was prevalent. I only get on that highway for about a quarter mile and then cut through a neighborhood. But I did have to turn left across a steady stream of bumper to bumper. Sometimes that is easier though as it usually doesn't take long before somebody lets me through.

Decent ride otherwise. Almost Friday.

Misty this morning. For about the first 3km/2mi, if a car was approaching me, I could not see it's shape until it was about 200m/yd away but when I was in the proximity of Robinson Lake, the visibility dropped to about 1/3 of that. I took my glasses off and rode without them for the rest of the way but after I passed Robinson Lake, with the exception of one minor section of the remainder of the ride, there was little to no mist. However, it was still humid enough for me to be a soaking-wet-with-sweat cyclist when I arrived at the front doors of my office building.

After tomorrow, I'll be away for a 2 week break. We're going to slowly make it across the north shore of Lake Superior to visit our son who lives just this side of Thunder Bay and I'll be doing some training rides each day to prepare for the Bike for United Way charity ride in mid-September. I'm a little nervous that I haven't trained enough for it but in the end, I'm sure I'll be fine.

If you live in Ontario and wish to sponsor me (Julian Rickards), that would be greatly appreciated, go to the site above, click the Donate link, choose the United Way district close to where you live, add my name in the comments box at the bottom and many thanks!

Have a great day!

Pretty tough commute this morning. I tried my 5K jogging workout this morning before the commute and my right ankle pulled lame at 1.5 miles and I had to mostly walk back. Even after just walking it was tiring to ride. I don't know how the triathletes can do that.

Tailwind! Not the usual 1 or 2 mph breeze either. Somewhere around 5-10mph. Sprinkled just a little bit, not enough to cool me tho.

That feel when there’s two traffic lanes, so just pass me and get over it. Also I’m riding in the middle of the lane so I don’t have to go crashing through the potholes and sunken storm drains on the edge of this road. Do you really think holding down your horn is going to make me say “oh no someone’s angry at me I better move over!” Think again, *******.

Other than that, a pretty good ride. I left early this morning (not as early as I planned to, but whatever I tried) so the temperature was really nice.

Honking means they most definitely saw you.

ooh a bike tour, enjoy it!

one of my goals this year was to do a bike tour. so i'm signed up to do a "micro-tour" which means unsupported, and one night. 50-60 miles to campsite, camp overnight, next day 50-60 miles back. i'll get to try this in October.

this morning it was overcast and in the 70s. i've never been so glad. two days in a row. i feel like the luckiest person ever. last week i was never more grateful for air conditioning at the office. it was heavenly.

i've been drinking more water but i did still feel lightheaded on occasion up til Tue. so i can relate to what y'all mentioned [MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] 's statement "The only way to stay healthy at this point is to aim to get less accomplished until the heat passes" that makes a lot of sense when the heat is insane.

and it's been insane... so glad for the relief these past couple days.

Is bike touring on the increase these days? It seems so, and I plan to get back into it and bring my wife into it, too. It seems like a very good thing.

That heat wave that just ended knocked me out so hard, I haven't bike commuted since Monday. I'm still recovering. I did take one mile-and-a-half ride on Citi Bike on Tuesday night.

Jury duty (argh) so had to leave early - first opportunity to use lights since Spring. Not anxious for the shortening days when I have to use them every day!

Yeah I have heard it has been bad back home in NY, my mom has been complaining about her electric bill since she has always had to have her AC running.

I know the heat knocked my wife back when we travelled there that second to last week of July (23-31). Then we got messed up that Monday (Jul 25th) when the rains came; from what i can surmise we were on the last train out of Penn Station before they locked the doors.

On the heat note I noticed that the community center by our place has a few signs designating it as a heat relief location. Vancouver doesn't get that hot but when there are a few days slated to be above 27°C or 28°C (>80°F) they start with heat warnings.

Today was my first commute since I moved from the Peninsula to the East Bay (SF Bay Area). My office is now about 28 miles away by car, and 39 miles by bike - so cycling was not really an option. But I started vanpooling last week (what a peaceful way to travel!) and today, I cycled to the vanpool meeting point (about 3.5 miles one way). Feels good to be back! Easy ride in, half on a road with a bike lane and half on a bike trail. Was fun, and I observed many kids cycling to school on the trail which was heartening. Looking forward to the evening's ride already

Kinda muddy on the trails here from an early AM hard rain, but hey, at least it missed me. 31.2 mi RT.

A little thunderstorm cooled me off yesterday after work. I only rode about 4 miles though and met some friends for a run and then some food.

This morning was a good ride. I hear there may be a cool down next week - highs around 85 instead of 95 and lows under 70. We haven't seen that in a while.

Sprained ankle is still slowing me down but by moving my foot forward and riding easy I didn't really feel it. I'm hoping to be back to full speed by Monday or Tuesday.

Ride home last night I broke it up into two rides with a stop for dinner in between. Gave a chance for the light rain to move on before the longer push home. Woke up to rain this morning. Grabbed my touring bike with full fenders including mud flaps and my rain coat for the ride in. Rain seemed pretty warm making it a comfortable ride in. Should be cloudy and upper 70's for the ride home.

Finished riding the Mississippi River trail in Minnesota. 607 miles spread over several weekends. Miss those long rides on the weekends already. Looking at the Paul Bunyan trail (120+ miles of paved trail) and most of the Mesabi Trail (only 60+ miles due to major construction). Still looking around for options.

"Excuse me sir, you're light is blinking."

I get that every once in a while standing in line at McDs. This morning I got it twice. Both times I thanked them and told them, "I'm going right back out."

Not bad cooler temps in the morning! Gave up on patching the tube and just put a new one in. It's a 28-32c and it's a 38c but seems to be okay. Rear derailleur seems be to all out of wack, it's seem both bikes are falling apart at the same time. Going to ride to the ethnic festival tonight, that's probably a really bad idea.

This AM, about 10 minutes in, my left knee started hurting. It stopped 5 minutes later and was good the rest of the ride.


Beauty day!

Consecutive commute number 122:

Rain today. Fought a headwind for 8 miles heading west to the office. At noon I left to ride northeast 9 miles to a client and discovered the wind had shifted, so I got to fight it again. Mr. Murphy dictates it will shift again to blow out of the southeast for the ride home at 5 PM.

67F/19C Coolest morning in a long time...and darkest morning too.

Yes. A cool 66 degrees with a dew point just below at 60. There were a few traffic accidents with clean-up and police lights this morning. Fortunately, those things don't impact a bike commuter at all.


It's been over a year since I began commuting by bike full time. What a great year. I've learned that it's possible to ride in all types of weather. Logistics were manageable and I had a ton of fun with it. It's spurred my wife to ride a lot more, too. In warmer months, she comes out to meet me half way home to ride the last bit home together. Really nice.


Anyway - I want to thank the die hards on this forum who inspired me to work through the learning curve. PG

passing torrential rainstorm woke me 20 minutes before my alarm went off. some trees were down in the shoulder area that I ride but traffic was light so going around them wasn't a problem. loved the cool front that moved in after the rain. still not psyched about using the backup bike & downtube shifters again

67F this morning for the first below 70 morning in a long time. I was much less sweaty at the end.

A lady either didn't see me or saw me and thought she had time to pull out before I got to her. It was a close call as she started to turn left across my path - well she would have probably hit my rear wheel with her front right bumper if she hadn't stopped and I hadn't swerved a bit. Got my heart rate going a bit.

But then I forgot about it a little later after helping a turtle cross the road. My wife said I'm a turtle saving hero. I told her I already have the spandex and just need a cape!

Today was a great example of one of the intangible benefits of bicycle commuting. My son has a golf tournament this morning across town. She was going to drop him off and then run some other errands, so I headed out for a run before work.

While I was gone, they left the house and made it about a mile before her car died. She was able to milk it home, but it wasn't going to go much further. Knowing that I wouldn't be using my truck today they hopped in it and took that to the golf tournament. I got home from my run and didn't even notice that her car was in the garage and my truck was gone, until after I'd showered and went out to hop on my bike for the ride to work.

Had I not been a full-time cycle commuter (or even a part-time one, for that matter) things would have been a lot more difficult. She would have had to either wait until I got back from my run and had me take my son, or left me a note and I would have had to come up with a different way to work. There would have been a lot of schedule re-arranging to figure out how we were both getting around.

Because I'm on my bike she can drive my truck the next few days while her car is being fixed. I probably won't even notice that we're down a vehicle (well, until I pay the repair bill anyway.) Bicycling sure lessens a lot of the logistical hassle when a car is in the shop.

Woah, 57F this morning - I'm not ready for cooler temps yet