Yesterday's commute was a little odd. About halfway home I was stopped at a traffic light, then stood on the pedals to get going, and heard some sort of pop or "twang" sound from my rear wheel. I knew the spokes were all fine, but I couldn't tell otherwise what it was. For the next couple of miles it sounded like the freehub clicking every so often even though I was turning the pedals. I stopped to have a look, and when turning the pedals backwards I noticed the cassette would sometimes stick and cause the top chain run to go slack for a second, then snap back and continue moving backwards.

At home I removed the wheel and found the axle turning to feel very gritty and stiff. Great. This is a Vuelta Corsa Lite wheelset from Nashbar, which has re-branded Novatec hubs, which apparently all use cartridge sealed bearings. So I can't just take it apart and regrease bearings unfortunately. In the meantime I threw my bike's original Mavic CXP-22 rear wheel back on, which itself could probably use a bearing service, as it has a tiny amount of play in the axle. I just need to acquire a couple of cone wrenches, or maybe grind an adjustable wrench down to fit onto bearing cones.

These Vuelta wheels have over 9,000 miles of mostly commuting on them, and I've never serviced the bearings at all before. :innocent:

So commuting in this morning with my other rear wheel was tough, with a stiff headwind. Had a couple of impatient motorists, too. Oh well.

I really enjoy this shared blog we all have going here.

I didn't ride into work a single day this week, for all kinds of various reasons. I want to get some form of exercise every day, and I almost succeeded in that, so that's good. This morning I had a dentist appointment, and I jogged from the subway to her building. It involved a lot of people and car dodging. Midtown Manhattan traffic, both on streets and sidewalks, is unimaginably busy, so it's a mental reflex challenge as much as it is a workout.

I ran an errand after lunch, 2.6 miles to the UPS store to drop off an express letter, so that was fun. I rarely ride my fixie bike that I keep at the office. I rarely ride any bike this light, so it's fun for a change of pace. Bronx traffic is a whole other thing. I nearly got wiped out by a big truck backing up. I use my operatically trained voice as a tool and let out a yelp before the driver got too far. He was shaken up and apologized. I figure it was half each of our faults, and I wasn't touched, so I smiled and gave him the thumbs up and went on my way.

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@noglider you sir, have a lot of jars. :lol:

A lot more commuters out there recently. It's nice to have mostly daylight for both commutes. It sleeted/snowed last night but it was all melted by this AM.

The Overpeck Park lot in Lenonia, NJ was chock full of cars yesterday. I expect the same fair whether park folks to be out in full force today. Recently went out for lunch in 70F weather. Wow. Must either be a record for February 24th or close to it. Will be enjoying the ride back to the car in short sleeve jersey and shorts! :thumb: Ooooooh yeeeeahhh!

Funny, I noticed the same thing...I got back on the bike 2 weeks ago, and 1st ride I was utterly gassed after trying to keep a halfway decent pace. 1 week later and I felt like I was good to go.

Except, I have this annoying pain/tightness in my right calf that cropped up before christmas, and is STILL there. Very perturbed....

Pitch black still for the evening ride....but March 12 and daylight savings time should put me in daylight the whole ride home. I'm really looking forward to that...

Baby leave ends the 6th, but two weeks to bike commuting because that's when Mrs. Lefty starts back at work and the daycare and nanny start again. I'm trying to figure out some way to bike my 2.67yo to his daycare, one-way in the morning... maybe unlatch the kid seat and Mom can pick it up in the evening. But if I do that I need to figure out different luggage because I can't wear a backpack in his face.

A cold but uneventful ride in today with the temp at 27f degrees. The temps should get into the 50's later today.

I am only working 4 days this week then we are heading to South FL, where I will be watching spring training games and riding everyday in warm weather!! I am so looking forward to riding everyday(almost as much as I want) in warm weather!

29 degrees and thick fog in some area's. It was so thick in some areas couldn't see but a couple feet. Eventually had to take off the glasses as it's hard to see through a frozen glaze! Going to be yo-yo temp week it looks like.

Great to be glad it's Monday again. Best part of bike commuting is that joy I feel with getting up at 5AM to ride. Thus far, it's the only activity I have found which does that.

The ride was a bit chilly at first, but I warmed up within a mile or two. Seems that I picked the perfect outfit for conditions: Leggings, light jacket over a T-shirt, toe covers, and ear protection. I considered wearing hat and gloves, but figured with 35 F they were not necessary. I was right.

Speed was good too: within 5 minutes of my summer average. Legs felt strong, I probably could have pushed it a bit harder had I chosen to.

Duh, make the kid wear the backpack!

I can think of at least one other activity that's okay to get up at 5am for, but that's for a different forum. And no gloves at 35F? My hands would be frozen!

35F here too this morning, a bit of a cold snap compared to last week and the coming days. A good ride in today and looking forward to a nice 65 degree afternoon ride home.

Slept through my alarm. Woke up 30 minutes later than usual. Rode in bright daylight from 6:30AM on. Skipped the shower.:innocent:

Everything is good and dry though, for a change.

I have monday-itis, did not want to get up this morning and certainly didn't want to go to work. Good thing I ride because otherwise I might have blown off the whole day! 40F with light winds, expecting rain in the next few days.

How far is it to daycare? If it's pretty close to home (like within a mile or two) you could bike him there, double back and drop off the kid seat, then grab your backpack and head to work.

I do that sometimes with my son when I have to haul his golf clubs or musical instruments to school: I'll drive to his school and drop off him and his gear, then drive back home and hop on the bike to ride to work. It's a couple miles of back-tracking, but that way I can still keep cycle commuting on those days.

I got lucky this morning. Cool and overcast, the local weather radar was down for maintenance so I had to guess when the rain was going to start. Answer: light showers 1.5 miles from work, and after I got there it picked up.

Yeah, but to do that we can turn around and fall right back to sleep after about two minutes. :)

We're only going up to 47. I'm jealous.

good plan!

It's more a time issue. I work 9/80 plus a lunch so I can't make the entire round trip within the daycare's hours.

43F w/a calm 7 mph wind. First time back on the bike since the end of January. It's good to be bike commuting again! Uneventful ride in, which I won't complain about. Somehow over the past several weeks I lost my Cygolite Metro headlight, so am using a backup light which moves too easily on the mount. Had to put on order a new Cygolite. Can't wait!

35F, sleet. I had a meeting close to home today so just walked.

Another nice uneventful commute to work today. The temp was a few degrees warmer at 33f and overcast dark skies.

Yesterdays ride home was a fight but I won. There were strong gusting winds the whole way home.

Shorts in Feb.. the wind is going to be wild ride headed home. Got both of the bikes washed last night. Long over due!

Rain and bear it morning. Mild Temps made it tolerable however. More rain forecast this afternoon. Yeay.

A very pleasant and sunny 42F This morning. I left a little early and got 15 miles. I took a short break for a pic near the end of the MUP that ends near my office. The path follows the line of trees in the background.
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47F wet with steady headwind. Storms forecast for the rest of the day, "some severe." What the heck does that mean? Kind of a weather-person cop out - yesterday we had severe storms and we predicted some of them?! On a more positive note saw 2 adult deer on the trail this morning - pretty weird in suburban neighborhood but made me smile

Scary Deer
 

It was like any other morning commute, except that I'm riding my weird full-fairing Denali. About a quarter mile from one of the trail-heads a young lady flags me down. I thought, for a brief second, that she was inquisitive which happens from time to time. But I grew concerned as she was waving her arms, moving in front of me, and in general demeanor she was a little frantic.

As I rolled up she said, "There are Deer up ahead." "Ah. Okay ..." I responded.

"I'm afraid of them". "Don't worry, they'll run away ..." "Could you please just ride beside me, don't go fast ..." and it went on from there. She was genuinely frightened effusing a stream of gratitude, invocation and I think prayer, with me responding as best I could. As we approached the three does, they startled and ran and she let out a great screech. She thanked me with great relief and then asked, "But what do I do when I come back?" I could only say, "yell at them just like you did then, and they'll run away".

I've seen people before who seemed a little frightened, but never to that degree. I hope that she found somebody to walk with later on - I'm betting she did.

Lucky two days in a row - I beat the rain to work. There's a temptation to be smug when you get in dry, and then sit and listen to the rain pounding on the roof. May be heck to pay getting home.

32F, frosty. Tiniest bit of mountain summit poking through the lower clouds.

I had a gorgeous ride in this morning, and I pedaled pretty hard. I felt strong.

This evening, I will ride to rehearsal and then home from there. The weather report says both are likely to be in the rain, so I brought extra clothes in case I get really wet.