I can't recall a run of luck this bad with flats. Today it was an outright slice. Probably glass; it was just past a large intersection. Having no tire boot and only souvenir paper money, I stuck a tube patch inside the tire. It held as far as work but is obviously bulging.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4375/...aecbd8ea_z.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/...4f07af84_z.jpg

Good job [MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION] my kids are 16 & 12 and it's interesting to keep some awareness over how bad some things seem to them based on their own experience of how bad things have ever been vs your experience...

http://chutzpah.typepad.com/.a/6a00e...5639086970c-pi

also

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...d41f3099b2.jpg

Installed dollar bill, per tradition. First time I've ever tried it. I told my wife and she's astonished I'd risk it. Inflated it at 2:30, will evaluate at 5:30

Edit: made it home without incident thanks to GW

I wondered if it was my imagination that this thread and this forum has been slower this year.

In 2015 and 2016, the Aug 7 posts were #2042 and #2016 (funny coincidence). Today's first post in this thread was #1824.

The total mileage logged in the other sticky thru the 6th is 105451 in 2015, 90,358.4 in 2016, and 64306 in 2017.

back in the UK after a week of hiking and science in Utah. Much more O2 air sea level than at 11000ft. Much easier to exert myself here :) also, I wasn't so excited about constant AirCon and 100F temps every day in Utah :(

Changed my hours this week and has been interesting, the ride in this morning was no exception. Seen four other bicyclist, one with a trailer stacked with equipment that I'd question if it stolen, one other I haven't seen in ages and took the interstate shortcut .. one brave SOB. Still have the lower back pain which is interesting since riding doesn't seem to effect it, although carrying the bike up the stairs does!

Back to my first commute of the week, in a drizzly 64F weather.
I recently got a basic fit done for my other road bike at the LBS. He set the saddle height at 32.5 inches. I came home and measured my commuter's saddle height and it was 1.5 inches shorter. So, today I decided to raise my commuter's height to the same level too. The top tube length is almost the same on both bikes (3/4 inch difference). So, here are my observations from this morning's ride:
1. The 1.5 inch increase made higher cadence easier.
2. Higher center of gravity made for tricky handling.
3. I was slower than usual today. Maybe there were headwinds?
4. Glutes got a workout!
5. Now I have to get out of the saddle every time i stop and unclip.

Will stick with this height for some time to see how my body responds.

That's huge. You're lucky to have been able to ride with the patch/boot. This reminds me of the spectacular blowout a few years ago. Sounded like a gunshot and shredded my back tire. I had to walk to the nearest bikeshop from work to get a new tire.

Disaster averted! :thumb: Oh, boy. I wonder of this is what life will be like when my son gets to his teenage years...

I'd say that you earned it...

Was a really nice ride in from home. Took advantage of the good weather today. I was off on vacation yesterday. So no riding then. Thought I felt a light spritz of rain but knew that it wasn't supposed to rain. A guy pulled up next to me at the red light before I go across Rt 3 bridge into Park Ave Rutherford. He confirmed that he could see my rear taillight from far away. So the CyberShot Pro 80 works as expected. Only drawback is that it might piss off other cyclists that are riding behind me. Can't have everything... I received the replacement brake and derailleur cables and bar tape via Amazon last week. Have been a bit busy and then lazy to install over the weekend. Maybe can do that one night this week.

55F. Cloud ceiling at treetops (vs yesterday down on the pavement).

Outdoor communities on sidetrails to the MUP getting more 'colorful'.

Last night and this morning bracketed the rain nicely. I left a bit early last night, and somebody upstairs must have flushed the rain bucket half hour after I got home. Heavy rain about 5:30 woke me, but it had stopped by time to ride. Now it's clear blue sky!


I think I like pushing the start of high school back half an hour; the traffic has seemed remarkably light, despite riding by an elementary school that hasn't changed its schedule. Must be those darn high school kids who drive everywhere...

I'll guess it's my lack of posting and the loss of [MENTION=86492]tarwheel[/MENTION] to retirement. The mileage is certainly on tarwheel.

Anywho all is good here. I'm just working in bikes and cleaning things. I'm still backlogged on the bike repair department. But I'm waiting for a parts order.

Today on the way back from work, here I am pedaling up a small hill, saying to myself "round and round, round and round" ,with cars politely passing me to my left, when I hear a sharp yelp of a dog from a passing car. It felt as if i jumped 2 feet in the air at the sound! Moments later I was laughing so hard that it was impossible to maintain cadence.
That was the highlight of my commute.

Low 60's this morning.. a bit chilly and it's August!

I'm still riding a lot in retirement, but not visiting the Bike Forums as often. It doesn't seem right posting ride reports in the commuting forum now that I'm no longer working, even though all of my rides these days are "job related" in the sense that being retired is now my career. BTW, I highly recommend retirement as a second career.

Ironically, my total cycling mileage is lower this year, partly due to not riding to work several times a week. However, I've also been traveling quite a bit, without a bike, and trying to diversify my exercise for more total body fitness. (I just got back from a hiking trip in the Pacific NW, in Mount Rainier, Mt. Saint Helens and Portland.)

I miss certain aspects of bike commuting, but not dealing with the traffic and weather conditions.

Quite uneventful ride in to work today morning. The highlight was spotting a deer and its fawn running in a field. They both came to a standstill the minute they spotted me. They must have been puzzled to see a guy on a bike wearing florescent green jersey! LOL

I was hiking at Mount Rainier last week, and it went from about 100 miles of visibility on Monday and Tuesday, to dense haze from wildfire smoke the rest of the week. Fortunately, we got to see some incredible views before the smoke moved in, and the temperatures were relatively mild at high elevations (80s). On Friday, our last day of hiking, we got up high enough that we were above the smoke and it was remarkably clear above that level.

Pouring rain this morning. I rode my hybrid with fenders and waterproof panniers. Got to work and was quite soaked. As I was walking across the parking lot a person looked at me and my helmet rather incredulously and said, "rain or shine, huh?"

Not sure why people find it so amazing. I toweled off and changed my clothes and now I'm drier than the people who had to park in the ramp down the street and walk to the building.

Left the house 15 minutes earlier this morning just so I wasn't in such a rush to get to work on time. Traffic was much lighter and I was able to breeze thru most of the stop lights/signs along my route. Didn't have to push near as hard, but it didn't take any more time than normal! Amazing what a difference 15 minutes makes! (or maybe it was just today? :foo:)

Well I wasn't looking to blame anyone! I'd have guessed the site outage had a lot to do with it. But I guess it was over a year ago now.

I'm sorry to hear you need another surgery and wish you the best with it.

55F and hazy. Smoke supposed to be back with a vengeance.

Finally back on my bike this morning. First commute since last october. I had a hard time but I'll get back in shape eventually.
My new job is 38 kms away, which is too far for me, so I bought myself a bike rack and I park the car at the church of the next village. It then give me a ride of 25 kms, which I'm presently able to cover in 1h10 min. approx. Hoping to go under 1 hour eventually.

I've also stopped posting on the commuter mileage thread, because for me recently it's always the same for one year, and not a whole lot of miles. 3600 miles biking for the year preceding, zero driving, kind of boring information. So it's missing my 3600-4700 miles from years past.

I've been getting soaked this week, yesterday morning, today, my Sunday ride, and it looks like more of the same the rest of the week. Fortunately I don't mind when it's warm like this.

The weather is uncommonly clear and cool, making for great cycling weather. Today, I challenged myself NOT to ride hard. I had to remind myself a few times as I started to pour the power on. I've been riding so hard that my legs hurt, but in a good way.

https://ridewithgps.com/photos/2847438/large.jpg

It was a nice and cool 68F this morning. Thanks to the truck driver for waiting for me (and not giving me a right hook). I wanted to speed up a bit to make the 125th St light. The truck was also doing the same but was turning a block earlier. I just looked at the temp at wunderground,com and its 90F in NYC. Am surprised that it got that hot. It was forecasted to be around 80F. How wrong they were...

Yeah it felt like fall this morning. You comment about legs hurting somehow reminded me of the new Cipolini nude photo. Maybe because I saw it a few times on GCN. Anyway, without much further ado:

http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.news...door-bike..jpg

No I know why he was a killer sprinter type. :rolleyes:

looking good [MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] that's a gorgeous photo
i also have been riding exceedingly slow. like 7-8 mph during my commute to work. more people on the roads (whether on bikes or in cars) and i'm in no rush. enjoying the cool mornings this past week has been wonderful. i'm so loving this weather right now! it's so perfect.

Back to work after three weeks off. I didn't do a ton of riding during my holidays, and I felt it on my way in yesterday.

My fixed gear is back in business with a new rear tire, cog, and chain. The drivetrain is super smooth and quiet now. Riding up the hills in the morning must have tightened the cog more than I was able to do in the shop, which meant the lock ring wasn't quite tight enough to stop the cog from trying to come loose for a 1/2 turn of the wheel when trying to stop. Switched to using my brake for the ride home and then re-tightened the lock ring.

Lovely ride yesterday. Didn't ride today due to some trips I need to do after work that are much easier by car. Wuss.

Still on the MTB due to sliced tire on the commuter rig. Running late and not feeling 100%, I did 2/3 of my available single track along my commute but skipped the jumps and other features entirely. Have been fantasizing about a modern full suspension trail bike - even a mass market aluminum one, not a botique carbon wunderbike - but it's just not in the budget. Not this year and not for a while.