I don't understand that either I pass a stop on my way to work that has 3-5 kids at it on the right side of the road and 25-50 ft down the road a kid stands alone on the left side of the road and one street further parents sit in their car with another kid.

I don't understand parents sitting and idling their cars for the kids waiting on the bus. you might as well drive the kids to school it is better for your car.

I did not drive yesterday because when I awoke weather app said 80% chance of thunderstorms and rain 40-70% throughout the day. I had a meeting that ended at 7:30pm and wife asked me to not ride home in a dark. I did not think it would be big deal but the threat of storms I made the choice to drive. of course it did not rain all day


all in all a great ride in this morning though. Greenway is pretty much open and it cuts out 2 big hills... I have surpassed mileage from last September!

Rain is in the forecast for the rest of this week but today is supposed to be nice. Left for work an hour early and got in an extra 15 miles. I'll still ride the next three days, but if it's raining I'm not going to put any extra miles on outside of just going back and forth to work. Figured I'd better fit in some extra exercise today.

Last night I negotiated a deal on a newer car for my wife. I hate buying cars. Went in with a firm upper limit in my mind. The sales manager said he couldn't make money if he sold me the car for that amount. I told him I disagreed, but even if it were true that didn't change how much I was willing to pay for that particular vehicle. I thanked him for his time and said to give me a call if they want to sell a car. About an hour later they called and said they'd sell the car to me for my price. I told them I'd swing in after work tonight to pay for it and pick it up.

Tonight I'm going to ride from work over to the lot to get the car. Then I'll throw my bike in the back and drive the car home for my wife. It's a hatchback so hopefully the bike will fit. I might have to remove the front wheel.

Chilly, with some thick fog in spots. Felt sluggish up the hills.

Drove. Too beat from long weeks of detours on my commutes plus weekends of lots of activity. Just couldn't hack it. Plus a car full of cardboard for recycling wasn't going to drive itself anyway.

Yea, I see this too. I can sorta understand if it's 30 degrees outside, but 65-70?

They must have found a way to make money! Great story.

Was a nice ride into work today. I did the full ride and felt a little wacked. Lungs were burning a little more than usual. So think its my cue to take an "easy week." Will park n' ride for the other three days. Got my car back yesterday evening. The repair bill was a little over $1300.00. Yeeay. The driverside door break-in had me replacing: door handle mechanism, window regulator, door handle cover, and paint the cover to match the car. They also rekeyed the lock cylinder for another key. Sucky part was that now its a different key for the dirver door and nothing else. So now I have to carry two keys instead of the original one. Will ask the mechanic about that...

Boo that sucks.

I have had that happen as well. I was able to get a second cylinder that was keyed identical, and I was able to get in myself.

In the interim though I was still in the habit of opening the passenger door for my wife (maybe only gf at that time), and she would then reach over and unlock my door.

I had a nice commute. There have been a few cruise ships in the Nanaimo harbor the last few day.
The Coral Princess and then the Celebrity Infinity.

Got to ride the ebike this morning, first time since getting it back from the shop last week. LBS definitely got the brakes squared away as I could feel better stopping power, and the motor gave me no problems at all. It's still warm and muggy; can't wait for the cool, fall weather. Passed again the pack of ninja cyclists out for their group ride; they were going two abreast but the bike lane is so narrow that one guy is on the road, and they were backing up traffic. Glad I was going the opposite direction. Half of them didn't have any lights; not a major violation, though they are required to have a front headlamp; rear only has to have a red reflector. Me, I'm lit up like crazy, Cygolite headlight blazing bright, two of my three rear lights going, and even the Cateye Orbit 2s were on. No missing me! Anyway, the ride to work was uneventful. Gotta stop at the bank on the way home, so at least I'm leaving the office just a few minutes earlier than usual.

Today on the way into work, I stopped at the LBS and bought a new pair of SPD shoes, made by Specialized. They are a revelation. My feet have been in such pain that the pain has inhibited me from pedaling hard. With the pain gone, I'm able to ride harder than I imagined possible. I was zooming up hills in high gear. I was almost in tears from the joy and also from the sorrow of all the years of pain I have endured. I hope this proves to be the reason I conk out after an hour on the bike. Pain causes fatigue!

Here are some pictures I shot. This one didn't come out well. There is a jogger doing some stretches in the foreground, wearing a bright yellow jacket. Beyond the walkway in the distance is a gigantic barge, being pushed by a tugboat. Beyond that is the George Washington Bridge. I'm not sure how to capture the scale of all this. The river is over a mile wide. It's a contrast with a lot of the rest of the city which is built up tall but also doesn't have a lot of "air space" over a huge number of square miles. The Hudson River as at the western edge of the city, and we are looking over to New Jersey.



Here is a little bridge which crosses the railroad. The surface is wooden planks, and to make repairs, they add extra planks that are not flush with the rest of the surface. Today, the ground was wet, and my front tire slid along the edge of one of the planks, and I crashed. I'm not sure if my reflexes handled this well. I veered left into the side and crashed almost squarely with the left wall. I only bruised my left palm and my coccyx. I didn't bend or break anything on the bike, and I was able to re-plant myself and get going again.

That river looks big enough to land a plane in.

Bridges with the boards running length-wise always feel dangerous to me. When the edges of the boards wear down or chip, you have a tire gutter. Ugh.

Funny you should mention that.

When I got a new door for my '73 Dodge Dart I took the lock apart to rearrange the tumblers, little lifty/droppy things, to use my regular door key. Didn't work, so I took the tumbler things out. At that point, the door would still lock but any flat thing that fit into the keyhole would unlock it. That served admirably for the rest of the car's life.

I would have thought for a modern car with a beepy lock you could just reprogram it or the key to maintain all around access, but I guess not?

This mornings commute though 64f degrees was a little chilly. And for a nice finish of my ride just when I take a left into the access road some guy screamed out the passenger side window at me. I did not jump so much nor did I respond. Better not to engage with this type of person.

Terrible commute. No wind, no humidity, mild temperatures...no challenge.

Seriously, why can't every day be like today?

POP! HISSSSSSSSssssssss...

I was cutting through the Food Lion / BP Gas station parking lot access only 1 mile from home when I hit some sort of metal thing with a sharp edge. It made a bit of a gash in my tire - enough that I wasn't sure the tube wouldn't try to poke through. I didn't have a dollar bill but did have a piece of scrap paper. I folded it and stuck it between the tube and tire where the gash was, pumped it back up and was on my way. It held for the ride to work. I'll check on it at lunch.

Nice temps for a ride this morning: 68F and low humidity. High is only supposed to be 80.

Morning temps have been up and down for the past couple weeks. Yesterday it was cool enough for pants, jacket and a hat under the helmet. Today was shorts and long sleeves. Took off the clamp on rack and mounted a full rack so I can use the fold out panniers on my trunk bag. Needed to use one today to stash rain gear since we are forecasted for rain this afternoon. Of course yesterday was supposed to be a very nice day but dodged rain clouds on the ride home.

Foggy and frosty in the valley this morning. No jam in my legs. Just peanut butter.

40F. Clear leaving home w/ the water to my W & N, peasoup fogwhen I crossed a divide and the water was to my N & E

Got my missing 2mph back between yesterday's day off and the lack of raingear

Last night, I finally had a tail wind going home. And tonight, I darned well better, because this morning's headwinds were pretty brutal. I decided to ride hard, and it was so great to be able to do so. I can't wait to see if I can last longer than an hour on a bike. My travel time isn't impressive because of the headwinds. I wish I had something to show for it. Well, I do in a way. I'm muscle sore! I think I found muscles in my hips I didn't know I had. Plus I'm using my lower back more.

I've been lifting weights for a few months now since my injury last fall. Making progress. I have a barbell in my bedroom and lift it in the mornings. I think it's about 45 pounds. Yesterday, I asked my wife if she had been using it, since it seemed lighter than usual. It turns out that lifting 45 pounds 25 times has become easy. Yay!

I've decided to aim to ride to work three days a week for a while rather than two days a week. I want to get stronger, and I want the other benefits, too.

Oh I forgot to mention my competitive triumph today. I beat a guy riding an ebike up the steep hill. There is a flat part in the middle, and he passed me there. I assume he assumed I couldn't keep up with him, but he couldn't keep up with me. He pedaled as hard as he could, but that bike probably weighs 50 lbs or more. I'm sure the motor was working as hard as it could, but it's a very steep hill. I pedaled so hard that I was grunting on each stroke, but damn it, I was going to win, and I did.

The commute in this am was very nice with a dark clear starry sky. The temp was 52f degrees. There was some sort on commotion with the police and rescue truck and one car on the west side of rt 97 this am.

First week of the post summer where I wear long sleeve to and from work. :-)

Another absolutely perfect morning.

Had some head winds going home last night. This morning they seemed to be more cross wind than tail. Very light rain/mist kept me cool for the first half of the ride. Then it was just a nice ride overall.

Just after climbing a short, steep hill, I shifted from low to high in the front and the chain went on over and onto the crank. Without stopping, I reached down and lifted the chain, slowly spun the crank and the chain went right back on. I'm so talented with my grease stained fingers.