Consecutive commute number 130:

58 degrees this morning, with 97% humidity. Made it feel colder than it really was. I started the morning by going for a 4.5 mile run. Wednesday is speed day for me, so I pushed it pretty hard.

Got back to the house to shower and dress. Working from a client's office today so it was only a 4 mile ride to get there. I decided to ride the fixed gear because the wind is supposed to be pretty light today (6-8 mph.) One of my pedals is getting very stiff and feels pretty notchy. I'm going to have to call Shimano to see about getting it replaced under warranty.

About half mile from my house I saw a couple of deer in a neighbor's yard. This in and of itself isn't that unusual so I probably wouldn't even mention it. What was odd was that while one was just standing there, the other was doing what I can only describe as frolicking. Seriously, it was jumping around like a puppy playing in the grass. I've never seen that before.

Long train backed up traffic for quite a distance. I was riding on the MUP which went under the tracks, so I wasn't affected. I couldn't help but note that had I been driving I would have been sitting there for quite a while.

About 1/2 mile from work I encountered the mayor running down the MUP in the opposite direction. I'll see him occasionally in the mornings out jogging, but never in the same spot. I speculate that he runs in different areas each day just to expand his experience with various parts of town. As I went by he said, "Good morning! It's good to see you today!" There are people in our city who like him as a mayor and those who don't, but it's hard to argue that he's not a personable guy.

Switching job again... I lasted 14 months at my present job, which is a record low for me but I was offered something I couldn't turn down so there I go. My new commute will be a lot shorter, which I take as a good thing. 4 years ago I had a 37.8 miles total commute. last year I drop to 26 miles total and now I have a 13 total miles commute..
My future commute will be on a rural road with no shoulder and quite some traffic as it's the road leading to the highway.

[MENTION=175755]Phil_gretz[/MENTION] and [MENTION=86492]tarwheel[/MENTION]. Thanks. I think that the kayaking will be a nice replacement for biking, plus we have a double so I can paddle with my son. With regards to kayaking in the rainy weather I look at it as I have already biked through miserable weather so it'll be easy. The harbour is small and is mostly protected so the swells aren't too bad. But I have the water taxi I can also count on it it's a bit to tricky.

I commuted today and I have ridden to work every day this month. I had no days in which I drove. I had 3 in July and 2 in June! I am pretty excited about that stat.

I hammer hard in the morning, trying to do the whole 20 mile ride as fast as I can. I take it a bit easier in the afternoon, but push it up to a 30 mile ride, taking a longer but safer route.

I built a new commuter. Actually I just replaced the frame. My old frame was very rusty and all the rust in the frame tubes were making noise over bumps. The seatpost also got seized again and I finally gave up on it and might make a winter commuter out of it. I swapped everything over to the new frame, did a 20 mile ride Monday, commuted Tuesday and today, but on the way home I had an issue. I was stopped at a red light and when I stood on the pedals to take off the chain popped off and I almost went down. Apparently I did not have the rear axle nuts tight enough and the wheel jacked loose. I carry simple tools and was able to fix it and finish the ride...........

http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...psprmroq5r.jpg

Today was another nice uneventful commute until I got to work where I realized I forgot my lock. Though my bike is under a stairwell and the door it has to pass through to get outside has a camera aimed at it. I still do not like leaving it unlocked.

Congrats!


Chilly riding down into the creek bottoms otherwise it was fairly pleasant. Left a bit earlier than normal so traffic was even lighter. Need to drag out the good headlights for my morning ride. No critters other than rabbits along the way. A little frustrated with the city street department. Last year they repaved part of one road. Not just a few blocks but they only did part of the lane. Its a 4 lane wide road that's the truck route and there's new asphalt only on the center two lanes. This late summer they did another stretch where it's narrow and crosses 5 railroad tracks. Nice and smooth crossings now but again they narrowed the road in some places by over a foot. Even less room for trucks to squeeze by.

A bit nippy starting out. Got the Mr Tuffy liners last night.. let's see how much it helps. Aired the tires back up to the max which seems to help with the hills and all the weight I carry.

August mileage was 516. Third highest this year.

Still warm here today at 70F and high of 90. But tomorrow shows a high of 72! That's just cray cray! Might be some rain with it.

Rode to the park, watched my son depart on a bus for his golf tournament, then took the long way round the MUP to work. 18.5 miles instead of 4.

55 degrees, high humidity, no wind. Some fog in low areas. Averaged 16.9 mph, which is pretty good for a slow guy like me. The unusual lack of wind was probably the biggest reason.

Your new adventure sounds pretty idyllic to me. Living in the middle of the US my change of scenery is dependent on the change of seasons!! Best of luck.

This whole week has been pleasantly uneventful. Temps dropped this morning to around 60F and I'll have a headwind going home

Nice commute this morning! I was trying out a new bike --not a commuter bike, but it has lights and fenders, so no doubt I'll commute on it occasionally-- and that was fun. Good dynamo powered lights. Luckily for me, the rain had stopped shortly before i started out. It was dark and a little steamy, but very quiet.

I saw several deer, several rabbits (one of which jumped right out in front of me), a frog bouncing across the beam of my headlight and, right near the end, a fox. I saw the fox before s/he saw me, which is unusual. The fox was approaching from a side street and I was already considering turning onto that street, so when I saw the fox that helped me make up my mind! I turned, shining the headlight right on the fox, who turned and ran up the road. I pedaled as fast as I could to keep my light on the fox, but not for long. Still... pretty cool!

[MENTION=406992]Wolfhaven[/MENTION] well double checked my calendar. I was wrong drove one day. Day after vacation got home too late. I rode everyday but bike commuted every day but one. Still not too bad.

Nice ride today. Straight route, no detours.

Oh yeah one odd sight: I pulled over for an ambulance with its lights/siren on, and it raced ahead of me to the stop light, passed the cars on the left, then turned right in front of them, neglecting the vacant right turn lane. I wonder if that's just a best practice, bomb up toward the light on the center line prepared to pass cars on the left without even taking time to look and see if the right turn lane is available, or to avoid the right turn lane in the event the cars in the go straight/turn left lane pull over into the right turn lane.

Anyway, it looked like something I see so often, cars speeding up to pass me only to try to cut me off by turning in front of me.

Another Friday, another detour (went through it anyways), and another BS festival. Another fat cat is getting richer this weekend. If it actually looked like they used the money anything I wouldn't complain!

I thought a commuter bike was the bike on which you commute. My 'commuter' doesn't even have fenders.

Slacker. I'm not even sure you should be participating in this forum.

Nice overcast ride in this morning. A bunch of rain coming I believe. Courtesy of Hermine. If it's bad enough I'll probably get a rain rescue from my wife this afternoon.

Happy Friday!

Drove today due to Tropical Storm Hermine bearing down on NC. We are expected to get a lot of rain, high winds and potential flooding. I also had to drive yesterday because of a doctor's appointment but still rode three days this week on legs that were trashed from riding 450 miles on a bike tour last week. For the entire month, I rode 960 miles. In short, my legs could use the break.

Cool 50 degrees this morning. Weather app said fog but I had clear skies at the house. Wearing more clothes each day it seems. Getting to be that annoying time when it's wear warmer clothes in to work and swapping out for short sleeves for the ride home. Trunk bag is full both ways now. Did upgrade to a brighter headlight this morning which was needed when I found the fog a few miles up the road. Should be a nice afternoon of sun and mid 70's for the ride home. Best of all it's TGIF on a 3 day weekend!

Hermine missed us to the East although we're getting weather from the outer edges of it. I half expected a few downed trees on the way, and an Environmental Services truck parked on the path entrance made me a little uneasy but there was nothing else unusual.

I've been waiting three months for a day like today. Perfect temperature of 58F, dry, no wind, crystal clear, with a beautiful sunrise. A guy sure can get used to this.

Internet this morning said it was 59 degrees. I went out for a run before I left for work. My hands nearly froze solid. No way it was 59.

Decided I'd better put on some gloves for my ride to work. Doh! They're sitting on my desk at the office. Found some cheap gloves that I got years ago in the swag bag from a breast cancer 5k. They were too small and quite pink, but I made them work.

After I got to the office the internet now said the temp was 54. Which was probably more accurate, and that the actual temp when I was running earlier was closer to 50.

Winds are supposed to come up this afternoon for my ride home. Of course, I'll be heading straight into it as usual. :D

i busted a rail on my saddle on my commuter bike during my ride home from work yesterday, and with the forecast for absolute stunning weather here in chicago today, i just grabbed my backpack and hopped on my road bike this morning instead of fussing with a saddle swap on my commuter bike (i'll get to that this weekend).

it had been a good long while since i had gotten out on my road bike (i have a two year old and 6 month old at home, so recreational rides have been pretty much nonexistent this summer), and man oh man was it fun! it's impossible to ride my road bike slow, it just wants to fly. even when it's standing perfectly still, it feels like it's going forward somehow. i really should remember to ride it more often, so much fun!

Back to this season, I am riding in shortsleeves, even in the rain, but have longsleeves and a raincoat packed just in case. Still wearing sandals though, haven't busted out the shoes & socks.

yesterday I started the ride home and it started raining. I stopped and put on my light rain coat and hat... about halfway home it had pretty much stopped raining ended up taking the rain coat off (was cold because of trapped sweat) but eventually it "evaporated" and was drier with out it on trapping sweat.


I guess it is still not quite need a rain coat weather. Today is supposed to be rainy and windy thanks to Hermine. It is definitely windy but fingers are crossed that the rain predictions are wrong.

[MENTION=366933]mgw4jc[/MENTION] yep ... thanks