yeesh, my photos look terrible on desktop. Like impressionist paintings. Of a helicopter! hardly their normal subject matter

Rode today, making four laps for the week. My wife is traveling next week and it's a short one so I might only ride on Thursday.

As long as it's dry. This has been a very wet spring.

The '06 Felt and the '84 Nishiki are my two fenderless bikes and also the lightest. I had used both on the streets, but the 700x25 Felt is not fun on gravel or mud. The 700x28 Nishiki is okay on packed dirt, but also not fun on gravel and mud. Last summer they connected two MUPs which are perfect for my commute. Early this spring they paved a significant portion leaving only ~60 yards of dirt through part of a park, which gets wet and muddy after rain and waterings. I can use the grass if need be.

With the connection and paving of the MUPS I can really build and hold speed for long stretches compared to surface roads with cross streets, stop signs, lights and of course traffic. So I'm enjoying the lighter, faster bikes more often, whereas before I used them more for weekend rides.

BTW, my main commuter is a fendered and racked 700x35 Charge Plug (non-electric). The 35s do okay on dirt, gravel and even some mud.

The Felt and Nishiki are also two of my three rackless bikes, the other being my '89 Dahon Getaway 16" folder, which has fenders. When weather is variable temperature-wise, or rain is possible I like to take my 'big' commute bag. I don't have to think as it has two or three additional glove weights, extra clothing layers, balaclava, rain gear, sun sleeves, neck gaiter, a couple extra tools, emergency socks and undies, clean shirt, ball cap, small deodorant, pen and paper, bags, bungees, extra batteries, phone cables, bike glasses, lunch..and then my office clothes for the day, usually minus shoes which I keep there. It's just convenient to grab and go. I don't rusually feel the weight of it, especially when secured on the racks...except for big hills and long uphill slogs which featured prominently in my old commute routes, but not so much to the new job of three years. Since starting the new job, when weather allows, I began using a smaller, lighter, minimal commute bag with just clothes and lunch...sometimes rain gear, and sometimes sun sleeves and neck gaiter, or windbreaker, BTW, I think having the commute bag on the behind my body, worn or on the rack is more aero than side-mounted panniers.

When I got my second bike back in '09, the '84 Nishiki International, I had to wear the bag. I found if I leave the straps long it will sit on the small of my back at the start of my butt while I'm riding stretched forward on the hoods and there is no pull on my shoulders. When I stand up at a light it usually ends up on the seat on its own accord. That has held true for all the bikes...even the 16" folder as long as the front bars are set low.

Not only are the lighter bikes faster, they feel faster with the skinny high-pressure tires transmitting more road "chatter". For years and years I had been putting thinner and thinner tires on my 26" MTB commuter. When I finally made a dramatic leap to relatively big 26x1.86 light, supple smoothies I was amazed at how much faster they were, but how much less fast they felt. I eventually replaced them with 26x 1.125 light-ish supple smoothies which ride and grip well (especially corners) but don't transmit a feeling of road speed.

The bars and front triangle on the Felt are stiff aluminum, the rest of the bike (rear triangle, seatpost, fork, cranks) are carbon, which seem to "absorb" some shocks but transmit chatter. The '84 Nishiki is a thin-tubed steel bike with thin curved front fork and thin seat and chain stays. It also transmits the road surface, but absorbs bumps through flexing. It is delicious to ride...and even more so after I replaced the original 700x25s with the 28s so long ago. They make it corner better and removed the "punishment" from the ride. The Felt doesn't flex...just absorbs....at least that's how it feels.

But even on the MUPS there is a limit to how fast I can push and ride. I'm 63. My reflexes are slowing slightly and the MUPS are getting more crowded each year with other commuters, faster e-bikes, slower pedestrians and the homeless. And even though I can feel my strength and muscle tone diminish over time I'm still strong enough to overpower my joints, ligaments and personal frame.

So while I'm enjoying speedier commutes, they're still tempered with caution.

I walked a mile to a supermarket and voted on the way. I took Citi Bike back with a lot of groceries. It was raining. I didn't care. It was actually pleasant the whole way, and it was even a bit breezy. We also the northeast also had a cold, wet spring, and most people are annoyed. I'm very concerned about the climate, but I often enjoy the weather, including when it's cooler and wetter than normal. If I lived in the northwest, I might enjoy it.

Much cooler today and a little breezier... wind in my favor on the way to work but against me on the way home.

I wasn't sure if I was gonna ride today. I was part of the broadcast team for our coverage of the Pike's Peak hill climb. It was a 13 hour day starting at 3am with 35 mile an hour sustained winds at the top with gusts up to 100mph necessitating a speedy breakdown and relocation. I thought I'd be sore today, but I slept 10 hours...I can't remember the last time I did that.

Again the near daily bike riding helped me deal with the altitude better than some younger co-workers.

I took the MUPs and it was crowded...possibly because wednesday is our local bike to work day and people are getting ready.

Two women at my office...recent ebike owners planned to ride and asked me how I get to the office from the trail now that the pedestrian bridge is gone (to be replaced in a year). I showed them helmet cam footage of how I have to use two crosswalks, a sidewalk and then recross the street without a crosswalk, but with a center turn lane...or how I can take the trail a little further, use a different bridge and hook back around the nearby WalMart.

They said they didn't realize how many homeless people there were crowded under the bridges and said they wouldn't feel safe. I offered to escort them.

The ride home was cooler but against a stiffening wind, but i took it slow and easy.

Did you enjoy the event? Pike's Peak is one of those really nutso remaining Hemingway-manly events like running the bulls or yacht racing. Are the electric cars pretty weird? Is it paved all the way now? It seems weird they would just send everyone from the office up to 14000 ft, surely they must expect some people are not going to be able to hack it and some are going to get sick

Darth Lefty The Pike's Peak highway is now fully paved. I enjoy my part in the broadcast which is setting up the broadcast equipment and satellite link and keeping this working...which is just Starlink...so easy, and then you have internet and wifi calling with it. So different from the 1980s with directional antennas and radio phones. because of budgets what we don't have is wireless mics and monitoring powerful enough to allow the reporter to walk out to the drivers, so my job is also to wrangle them back to the "booth" for a post race interview. It's just me and the race reporter...and a videographer from the TV side of things. The reporter brought a friend a Since we are set and with the hasty relocationthis year it was good to have her help/ We always set up after the finish line so we only see the cars slowing down after their run. The electric cars are quiet compared to the gas cars, but still not quiet. They sound like the world's biggest dentist drills. And the suspension and tire squeeks are still present as is the smell of hot brakes...but not the smell of gas or diesel.

This year, because we had to relocate further down due to weather, we were surrounded by fans which added to the festive atmosphere. And because many had their radios tuned to our radio broadcast, I could hear my commercials and voice echoing off the cliffs which my 25-year old disc jockey self would have absolutely loved.


2025 after relocating down to 11,000ft.

2024 at the top.

Uneventful ride in, but heavy rain for the ride home. Now that I've extended the "tail" on my DIY poncho rain-cape my butt stayed dry. In fact, as soon as I got home I changed shirts and drove out to the store in my bike shorts. The disc brakes worked flawlessly as this was the first rain ride since replacing the OEM Shimano brifters with the Microshift ones. And since the cape drapes over the bars, it was nice not having to twist so much to shift.

Tomorrow is Colorado Springs bike to work day...more rain is forecast but I am ready!

Today was Colorado Springs Bike to Work Day (or as I call it...Wednesday). Different businesses sponsored booths along the trails with food and chachkis. I grabbed a bell. I remembered I wanted to put one on one of the bikes, but forgot which one. (My most used commuters have bells for pedestrians. All my bikes have AIrZouond horns.) Since rain was forecast, it wasn't as crowded as years past.

I guess I finally got to the stage in life where I don't care how or what people are riding, as long as they're being courteous, safe and enjoying themselves.

Three co-workers rode their fat-tire 26-inch bikes...meh. One of the TV reporters brought a Masi gravel bike Monday for a report, but didn't ride it. The front is very light, but the rear hub is heavy...almost like and electric hub, although it's not.

Another, a 20-something brought his dad's Raleigh road bike. It looked a little rough, but I'd be very happy with it. I thought it was steel, but it was much lighter than I expected...could it have been aluminium? He said it was a '92, but it looked 10 to 20 years older and is comparable to my '83 Nishiki International.

The rain came after the commute in and ended before the ride home.

Tomorrow I take the wife's car to the dealer, 12 miles north of work. I'm taking the 20" folder to scream down the trail as there is a significant altitude drop from north to south here.

*** Well, life got in the way and I had to drive today.

Yesterday I took the subway to a job interview. I decided I won't ride bike to any more interviews. Things could go wrong, and I could develop an off-putting odor.

It was perhaps the best interview of my life. The school principal and I really got each other. If I don't get the job, at least I'll have a good memory of that brief encounter.

I'm in a remote course this week so I'll spend most or all of the day at home.

Speaking of commuting, I'm in a fellowship program for the summer, teaching half time and taking a course half time. Google tells me it's 2 miles away and will take me 13 minutes by bike. Public transit is nearly useless on this route, so I'll probably ride every day. It's been a long time such I had such a short commute. I prefer if it's 4 to 7 miles, but I won't complain.

That'd be a 35-40 minute walk. A good amount of time for a bike commute. Maybe walk it occasionally?

My daily commute is 2 miles. It's short enough that you can take it easy and not sweat, if it's below 80 and not too humid, so there is that.
4-7 miles is a better workout, but harder not to sweat on. To walk that distance in 35-40 minutes would be a brisk walk and I would sweat for sure, with no cooling airflow from the higher speed.
Just mix in some shopping on the bike to make up for it.

***************

I don't know if I mentioned this, but my wife was in a bad car accident Sunday, she T-boned a fire chief who blew the light and totaled her car. We had a primary care doctor appointment + X-ray Monday to check her out. Wednesday was the orthopedic doctor, who read the X-ray and found that a chip of her pelvis at the edge of the hip socket had broken off. That, plus the usual muscle spasms after a wreck have her in a lot of pain. Went to see a lawyer Tuesday. We're glad she doesn't have any really serious injuries, she was going over 44 mph when she hit the guy, but her little Crosstrek took the blow like a champ.

↑ With all that going on, I haven't gotten much bike commuting in this week. I'm still going for 800 km (497 mi) this month, and yesterday, I was 11 km short. Adding 4 miles in commuting will get me almost there. Club bike ride Saturday will be at least 50 miles, so I'll make that mileage goal handily. The commute in was 74 °F, but 86% RH, so it was just starting to feel HOT when the sun came out.

I might extend the commute by a couple miles to hit Aldi on the way home today and get something for the grill for my wife, daughter and I. Maybe chicken thighs, some Italian dressing for marinade and zucchini?

Probably the cassette. The lower group 1x cassettes for HG hubs are appalling

I rode yesterday, my only lap of the week. Only thing of note was a dead hare, or maybe large bunny, on the bike trail. Definitely died of wounds but couldn't tell if it might have been a predator that was scared off or a roadkill by some cyclist in the gloaming. No bloodstain so might have been dragged there. All gone on the return leg.

I wonder if runforums dot com has a Commuting By Jogging subforum

Yup, I think I'll be doing some walking this summer. I can take Citi Bike to the school in the morning (to save time) and walk home to get my exercise.

Very sorry to hear about your wife, Smaug1! No doubt this hits your whole family hard. I hope she can get some rest.

Tell me the 70s-80s are not also C?!

Ran the sunday paper down to my mother in law's on the DropHopper with about a gallon of small bottled water in one of the rear Wald folding baskets. Absolutely joyful until halfway home when I popped another spoke. This makes three since buying the bike 8 months ago. Well, it came with a broken spoke which I just fixed a month ago, since I hadn't used that wheelset all winter. A little adjustment and the wheel was true enough for happy riding.

Will buy more than one spoke this time.

Three times is the charm: time to replace all the spokes.

ugh.

That would be too warm! I like to mix them up. Leaving work I'll tell people it's only 45 outside. They'll give me a funny look before they figure it out.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2146:

Today was my first day back on the bike in 10 days. Last week I took my annual motorcycle trip, so I was away from home and off the bicycle. Still on two wheels though.

My sleep schedule is all out of whack from my travels, so when the alarm went off this morning I wasn't super enthusiastic about it. Forced myself out of bed. Moving slow, so I got to work about five minutes late.

It was a pretty nice morning for a ride though. 67 degrees and a light headwind. The two MUP closures that were forcing me to take detours were opened back up while I was gone, so that was nice. My legs felt strong and I was easily maintaining 15+ mph on my road bike, even against the wind. A week off the bike occasionally is probably good for me to allow my legs to recover.

Only my third bike commute of the year, and the first on the fixie.

I had three things to do before setting out this morning on the fixed gear:
1. Throw a new tube in my backpack (the rims on the fixie need longer stems)
2. Inflate the tires to pressure
3. Transfer the under-seat bag with my roadside repair kit from my other bike.

I was halfway to work before I realized I forgot to do #3. It's not like flats are a common occurrence, but since I switched from a Gatorskin to a GP5000 on the front, they do happen more often, and if it happened today, I'd be up the proverbial creek without a proverbial paddle. I do like the GP5000 though, if for no other reason than it's way quieter than the Gatorskin. Along with a clean, well-oiled chain, that fixie is deathly quiet on the tarmac.

No flat today, at least not on the ride in. Sunny, warm and calm. Nice ride. Legs haven't lost their muscle memory for fixed-gear riding.

Took the RockHopper today. I could feel the weight but I also felt strong. I stopped three times on the way home...once to adjust the drop bars that may have drooped over time. Once to check the rear brakes in light of the broken spoke, but the wheel is holding true (after I compensated for it yesterday). And once to report to a local commute group about an ongoing problem with a homeless guy who has been laying down on a new, narrow blind curve under a bridge where there is no shoulder just a wall and a fence. It is more than an annoyance... he is endangering himself and others. The city agencies keep punting the ball back and forth ultimately saying that if he doesn't want help no one can force him to move. There's also feces and urine. I'm sure that if he lay down on a street they'd find a way to keep him from repeating that behavior.

Anyway this afternoon he was 50 yards away from the bridge in a wider section of the trail and visible...so at least he's safe for now. I just worry that two abreast ebike speeders will come around the corner and run him over under the bridge where he was.

Colorado Springs had really made amazing improvements to the two trails I take most often. Right now they are finishing the landscaping on a 100 year old duck pond that had been neglected for a few decades. It's nice to see things like that.

I bike-commuted to my voice lesson today. Yes, I'm also a singer. About 5.6 miles each way, again on the river path that I love so much. I had a tailwind going and a headwind coming back. I think I'm still acclimating to summer weather. When I got home I was so tired I took a long nap.