I just hit 1,000 commuting miles this past Thursday, and 1,500 total miles this year last night!

Awesome!!

Finally got my Kona Sutra touring bike out and on the road this morning and went for a longer commute into work on it. Felt good to be riding it.

Overcast and comfortably cool (10C/59F) morning ride in to work. Threatening rain later today.

Not happy with the stopping power of my newish (just a couple or a bit more 100km on the bike since they were installed) disc brake pads. I went with organic pads which shouldn't make much of a difference for the type of riding I do but they don't have the grip that my former metallic/sintered pads did (until they wore out). I'll have to take them out, clean the rotor, clean the pads and try again.

Around here I don't like when cars go into the intersection. It seems more often than not, they don't get the opportunity to make the turn, and then they get a red and are sitting in the middle of the intersection.

Did my first ever commute to work today!
https://www.strava.com/activities/989327037
At 17 miles, it is a nice workout too. I was all showered up and ready for a good breakfast by 8.
The shortest route to work is only 10 miles but that takes me through Nashua downtown. Avoiding the downtown and adding some scenic routes adds 7 miles but I dont mind that. The 10 mile route is probably a good backup option for when time is short.
Still have to see how this pans out with meetings in the afternoons and kids' activities in the evenings.

On my ride home yesterday I saw two snakes partially on the road. One was squished, the other was asking for it with about 6 inches of himself sticking out and considering a crossing. I went around him but a car may not see him.

A very nice mid 60s for the morning ride. I left a little early and added a few miles for a total of 16.5. They say we may hit 90F this afternoon. Dang.

today was my first morning commute with temps north of 70 degrees since last summer.

i was a sweaty, sweaty mess upon arrival.

bring back the 50's!

I was taught to pull into the intersection during a left turn yield on green phase (or more recently, flashing yellow arrow), and wait for a safe opportunity to turn. If none presented itself, then when the light turns yellow and the opposing traffic actually stops, make the left turn. It's not hard, and it's not unsafe either. Frankly I get a little ticked when driving when people DON'T pull into the intersection while waiting to make a left.

You just reminded me something I needed to do (and couldn't remember), order brake pads! I hate the organics - if I don't take them off regularly and sand them clean they're useless. Going back to semi metallic!

62F and pretty decent headwind - looking forward to the ride home!

What I've seen happen is that the oncoming traffic is so much that they are blocking the left turn (perhaps not even moving) when the light turns yellow & then red. So the guy in the intersection doesn't get to turn and is stuck in the middle when the other folks get the green. They have "Do Not Block Intersection" signs, but those don't help much.

I would probably be one to make you a little ticked by not pulling out, but be assured I'm going to make the left when I get the opportunity. And actually, because I don't pull out, I feel like I'm able to make a wider turn and accelerate more quickly than having a hard 90 because I'm already lined up with the road I'm turning into.

What forum is this again?

Hmmm, sanding, haven't heard of that trick, I'll try that too.

wet!

Works, just a pain!

Nice rides both yesterday and today. Rode from home yesterday on the Orbea. I hosed the rear wheel on the Ridley. So it still needs a replacement. Those Shimano hubs roll pretty nice. Will have to get another set when I wear out the ones I have. It should be warmer today. So short sleeve jersey and bib short for the win!

I saw another tip recently, to get rid of oils in the pad material: put dishsoap on the pads and rub them together, "wash" them, then rinse them well. Also, degreaser on the rotors.

same here, top to bottom.

45F and thundercloudy today. Sun in between the clouds!

Lovely ride again. May is just the best. As I rode up to the Hazel bridge, a red tailed hawk flew in front of me, alighted in this tree, gave me a suspicious look, and flew on. I've been seeing a lot of raptors the last few days, not just the usual vultures.

Rode across town over lunch to a different client. Had an insecure person pass me and scream, "Get on the sidewalk!" It was a four lane road and there were no other vehicles around us. He was already in the opposite lane so he didn't even need to change lanes or slow down. Not sure what his issue was.

Been at least a year since I've been yelled at, so at least I had a good stretch.

Broke up the commute with a stop at the gym. Then took a slightly longer route from there on to work. I should have allowed about 4-5 more minutes though as I got in right at 8 and still had to change clothes. Oh well.

Back in the groove. It's been rough getting up to speed this Spring. Lots of weather issues, a chest cold, and life events interfering with the commute. But, it's been all good for about a week now. Hopefully the good weather is here to stay.

Thought it might storm this morning.. I'm really disappointed it didn't! Something about conquering a storm. Hit 2k on the Trek last night and will be over 1k for the year tomorrow, have alot of make up miles this summer.

69F, warmest morning of the year. Still a headwind and supposed to pick up this afternoon. Since we're complaining about cars... narrow downtown street, I'm turning left onto a one-way four lane street, a fat suv is turning left onto the street I'm on. The guy starts his turn directly into me, stops, and then stares at me waiting for me to move. I wanted to say something appropriately inappropriate but just moved over. So I'll say it here... WTF?!

Nice ride home yesterday. I saw one of the maybe 3 or 4 other cyclists I ever see on my commute in an entire year, yesterday on the other side of a 3-lane road where I'm usually going pretty fast on the slight downhill. He was off the bike near the gutter, so I slowed down and stopped to see if he had any mechanical issues. Nope, he was picking up rocks and other debris along the gutter pan and fog line and tossing them into the adjacent grass field. He was like "yeah there's all these rocks and stuff along the edge here, not sure where they came from" as though someone had put them there on purpose. I just nodded and said I hadn't noticed them before, while thinking "yeah because I don't ride in the gutter!"

Also had a couple dogs chase me for a short distance, from a property where the same dog(s) have chased before last year. They were charging pretty fast and got really close to my leg, to the point where I actually unclipped and was ready to defend myself, but they stopped and went back to their property. I filled out the Dog Attack form on my club's website, which goes to the club's lawyer.

Took the e-bike today, another fast but uneventful ride.

First commute in 3 weeks and it felt great! My gimpy knee was fine but I think I'll alternate commute days for another 2 weeks or so while I get my strength back. Lovely spring day - temps just right although I have to admit, I really enjoy hot weather.

I'm logging some of my best times last week and this week. I've been aiming to build strength for a few months, and the payoff is finally coming. I'm now one of those so-called cat6 commuters.

Yesterday and today, I wore some hiking shorts over my bike shorts, for modesty. It's pretty convenient. My shorts are in various states of too-revealing or threadbare. I don't want to be too shocking as I walk in the office.

I noticed yesterday that the jersey I wore made me stink. Embarrassing in the evening, as I wore it to my singing rehearsal. I won't wear that jersey where smell counts. Today I used deodorant which I almost never do, and I wore a wool jersey. No smell at all.