I've been sleep deprived this week so yesterday it seemed unwise to ride my bike in City traffic. The subway is a fairly long walk from home, and once I'm on it, I take it only two stops. It's almost silly to take the route, but yesterday, it made the most sense.

This morning, I thought about doing it again. I'm still tired and sleepy, and the extreme summer heat is reducing my energy level. But the thought of the heat on the platforms and the awful smells and the general sadness I see during rush hour made me decide differently. So I jumped on Citi Bike. I told myself I don't have to ride hard. And wouldn't you know it, as usually happens, I rode harder than I needed to, and I think it was good for me.

I started this job/internship position on July 8. I need to be there by 8am, and for NYC, that's early. NYC seems to be a later city than others. Many people start work at 9 or 10. So I'm out before it gets really busy and crowded. Maybe that's why I see a lot of people in exercise or athleisure clothing. My neighborhood is deeply gentrified, and maybe that's why there are so many slim women wearing tight-fitting clothing, but the trend seems accentuated on these mornings. Maybe the change is noticeable because it's a different route than I've ever had. My commutes for many years have started by going north on the Hudson River. Now I'm going southeast into the streets into neighborhoods where I never worked or went to school. I suppose that accounts for some of the difference.

My GPS tracks for today

I think I'm going to try a couple of different routes so I see more neighborhoods.

Fourth and final lap of the week. None of the rest so dramatic as Monday.

The C3PO bike has two recurring problems right now. One is that the rear tire won't stay pumped. It's tubeless, and it has sealant. But there's a slow leak in it because when I first installed the current tire I wrinkled the tape, and a year later when I fixed that, the beads were all messed with latex. Since it's on the bead, the sealant doesn't really get there all the time. So instead of just pumping it up today and hoping the sealant finds the leak like I normally do, I took it out of the bike, pumped it up, and gave it the Stan's shake. The other problem is a sticky piston in the rear brake that's making it drag on one side. So far that has not been worth investigating or fixing. If I ever do I hope it will respond to simple q-tip & oil treatment.

We are about to do a family camping weekend but it's a weird one. It's only half an hour from town and we are either not going yet, or coming back for something, every single day. Today I'm working while the family heads up there in the car. I'll follow with the trailer tonight. Friday my daughter has her acting camp, and I'll go to the office. They are doing an intense 2 weeks to put on 101 Dalmatians with grade school and middle school kids. She's Spotty, the puppy who blows the soot disguise, and on alternating shows she'll be Horace the other henchman or Scottie the scottie. I was hoping she'd get a meatier role this year but I guess she's not there yet. Saturday one of us is bringing her down again to attend a birthday party

I think being in a play is one of the best things kids get to do, and that includes acting, crew, and everything.

Nice, cool morning with no wind. I saw quite a few other cyclists out for morning rides (they didn't look like commuters), including a teenage boy who left a trail of his body spray scent in his wake. Is that what they think impresses the girls these days? I'm just wondering what kind of assault on the senses to expect when my teenage daughter starts bringing boys home.

I had the weirdest thing happen to me on Wednesday. Not strictly commuting-related, but adjacent at least. I had just gotten home and put my bike in the garage, and as I was walking the 30 feet between the garage and the house, something hit me in the back of my right arm. Something small, but with enough force to leave a small scratch (as I discovered later). I whipped my head around to see who threw what at me. The "what" was a piece of pepperoni pizza, probably scooped from a nearby green bin. The "who", best I can figure, was a crow that was circling overhead. There was a gull up there too, but I suspect the crow. This is the second time I've been hit with food in my own driveway. A couple years ago, just after I had gotten my bike out of the garage for my morning commute, I got hit in the shoulder with a chicken bone, again dropped on/thrown at me by a crow.

I've heard that corvids will sometimes bring gifts, including food, to people they like. Maybe that's all it was, but the crows in my neighbourhood have been pretty aggressive this spring and summer, to the point where my wife was afraid to work in her garden lest a crow swoop at her. They certainly cawed at her a lot.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

groovestew Maybe you should be giving peace offerings. They might like peanuts.

I hear from school teachers that they are often nauseated by the smell of Axe Body Spray. I guess the boys haven't taken the hint.

"I thought you were open!"

Axe body spray and competitors have been a thing for at least twenty years. And yeah the kind of girl he's looking for is into it

Even in context I think this is one of the funniest sentences I've read on bikeforums...or anywhere!

For the record, I've only had birds drop poop on me...twice...and both times on bikes. The first was in 1971 when I was 9. I was just given my brother's Schwinn Stingray and the second I reached up to grab the hi-riser bars a bird pooped on my hand. The second time was on my arm, sometimes in the last 30 years...but I can;t quite remember now.

I lost my temper yesterday...and it ruined what should have been a nice ride...and a local commuter discussion.

This year Colorado Springs finished connecting two popular trails. There is a blind, narrow chicane under a roadway and four months ago a local man decided that is the perfect spot to lay down all day, every day. While there are plenty of destitute people who congregate under other overpasses they are visible at a distance, with occasional people or belongings blocking the trail. I have trained myself to stay calm and consider them as stationary pedestrians. Pedestrians seem to trigger politeness, and I have been successful in learning to treat loiterers the same way. And to report blocked paths on the city's reporting app/website which seems to get things cleared within a week or two.

But this is one of two blind chicanes I know of on the trail system, and this man is putting himself in danger and endangering unsuspecting cyclists.

I and others have repeatedly reported him to authorities and city representatives and spoken with him. But apparently the only things authorities can do is take him to a shelter where he is free to leave. Or hold him for observation for a day or two. But without more than a week's break he returns to laying on the pavement blocking half of it.

Yesterday morning for the first time he had a cohort blocking the other half.

Expecting just him, I honked, slowed, and squeezed past an even narrower opening. The added impediment caused me to turn around. I pleaded once again with this guy to find some other place as he was endangering himself and others...

...and that's when a wave of anger washed over me. I am usually aware that cycling raises adrenaline levels...and I can usually feel it coming and stop myself acting on it, but this time I just went on auto-pilot. I yelled and called him a selfish pr***. And then completely out of character I called 911 rather than using the city's app or non-emergency number. With both men within earshot I described the danger they put themselves and others in, and the repeated efforts I and others have gone through to persuade the one guy to stop his behavior, and the repeated reports of urine and feces.

I'd like to say I did this all in a calm and articulated manner, but I didn't...I raged. But I finally caught myself, finished the call and continued to work.

I thought I could "pedal out" the frustration, but before I changed out of my bike clothes it welled up again and I made a sequence of photos from the helmet cam to show authorities. After changing my anger rose again and I posted them to the local cycling advocacy group's Facebook page. I don't like turning it into a problem-reporting site, but that is what it is becoming with many others posting their frustration at this and other encroachments on the trail system. And it generated frustrated responses.

Even when I or others post nice ride pics and vids or praise the growing and improving bike infrastructure, things eventually devolve into frustration and anger (although it is the internet).

I hated how I felt and even more how I reacted and I hope I can remember how awful I felt afterwards so I don't lose my cool like that again, and don't let a momentary disappointment ruin my ride and my day and bring out the same in others. I seem to be able to shrug off more and more of these things, but yesterday morning it just got the better of me.

I was in a sour mood the rest of the day because of how I reacted.

For the ride home I chose a different route, but I will take the trail again and make a point of not reacting (unless the man is hurt, in distress or needs immediate help).

Not giving in to anger makes me feel old...but it is the right way to go.

Sorry that happened, BobbyG. It happens to me, too. My therapist and my spouse have been helping me see that when I get self-righteous, things don't improve for anyone. I've made some progress, and there is more work to do.

Similar here. Along the canal trails the underpasses sometimes become campgrounds. Sometimes you see them, sometimes not.. On a bright day looking into the dark underpass tho..

I approach all the underpasses almost at a walk. Sometimes I have to say, "Excuse me!" several times before they even notice me. Been getting worse the last couple years.

Another glorious ride in to work! Sunny, a cool 60F I took the '97 Rockhopper with my lightweight commute bag (plus rain gear). The ultra-low gearing made climbing the hill over to the MUP a non-issue.

I decided to take it easy but I still carried a fair amount of speed down the Rock Island Line. The drop-bars and riding position are PERFECT! THere were still a couple of times I wished for a slightly higher top gear. When I bought the bike last winter I upped the big front ring to the largest I could find for the 94BCD crank...46 teeth. combined with an 11 tooth on the rear I get 110 gear inches with the 26" wheel (I think). Low gear is 22x28 for 21 gear inches.

The man who lies on the trail on the blind corner relocated himself to the rocky section off the trail using some cardboard sheets to make it more tolerable. Hopefully this works for him if he must be in this area.

The trail was moderately crowded and I did a fair amount of bell ringing (or honking) slowing, taking to the gravel shoulder or grass and other courteous behavior which gave me both a smug satisfaction and assuaged my guilt from behaving so badly on the trail last week. At one point there was a woman on one side of the trail with a small dog on the other side. Sure enough, it was a retractable leash and she was unsuccessful at reeling in her dog, so she finally hurried across to the dog's side of the trail.

There is a mini roundabout on the trail at the north end of America the Beautiful Park. I (and others) usually just make a left turn into the park, but in keeping with my smug etiquette routine I decided to take the slight right and do the roundabout in proper counter clockwise fashion.

I had slowed to 7 or 8 mph because the outer apron of the roundabout banks off-camber downward to a gravel path. But I felt my front tire slip down the much-too-steep apron. In that split second I could see my big 26" smoothies losing grip and me falling hard and getting banged and scraped on the dirt and gravel.

But that was all in my head and the front tire slid an inch but hooked up and I was able to steer back up onto the pavement successfully despite the pitch of the pavement and the angle of my approach. However, there was that sudden blast of adrenaline to contend with.

I arrived at the office refreshed and uplifted as a co-worker saw me coast past the "employee of the month" parking space I had garnered this month. He joked that I must park whatever vehicle I arrive in in the space.

I was sure I made a post in this thread this morning and even made some edits on it but it's gone now. Am I losing my mind?

He sounds like a dickhead

I never heard of a roundabout on a trail. Does it make sense?

My commutes have been fairly unremarkable. The place where I work and study is only two miles from home. I dislike the Citi Bike bikes, but it really makes more sense to take them than my own bike. No preparation needed except maybe bringing my helmet. So that's what I did. After the seminar, I headed down to the Department of Education headquarters in Brooklyn. There, I turned in my I-9 form and documents proving my identity. I had my picture taken for my ID. This is for the job I'll start in September. Getting there, I had to take the (famous) Brooklyn Bridge. It's not very steep, but those 50-pound bikes make it hard. I don't even understand why pedaling these monsters is so damned hard.

It was so annoying that I said skip it, and I took the subway home. Which wasn't bad.

I got home, and my granddaughter was supposed to be here. We agreed to have her over while our kid and daughter in law were out. They were not here. They had gone to the nearby playground. They came home soon, and she saw me and said, "Look! It's Grandpa!" and ran in for a hug.

Now she's sleeping silently.

It wasn't our worst camping weekend but it wasn't great. Coloma, CA. We got a small dusty site close to the entrance. It was so hot that from 10 to dinner my family mostly wanted to stay in the trailer with the AC. But my boys are instant cabin fever just add proximity. So they were soon banned from their devices and grouchy. This campground's attraction is the adjacent river. It's popular for rafting so the authorities run it pretty fast on summer weekends. My kids finally did go try fishing but the level / flow and the heat meant the fish were all hiding out. My 8yo daughter was sure she had hooked one and it ate her whole hook off. I wasn't there, but I'm 95% sure it was a rock. Maybe next year my kids will be mature enough we can tube around the bend to Lotus

Nice lap today. Temperature has fallen just in time for us to spend it inside all day again.

The grips on the C3PO bike have gone gooey. Don't you hate that? At least it's not like brifters where you're searching for compatible replacements for the previous generation shape. This gives me the opportunity to ditch these PNW grip which I never quite liked. They were always too soft and have too much negative space. I like the Race Face ones that are higher durometer and the inset pattern is merely decorative. Or maybe I'll go for the old school WTB ones that were long my fave, made from apparently just inner tube rubber

They're too small to provide efficient intersection execution. I suspect they're there just for "traffic calming" to slow bike traffic as it approaches the intersection of various trails.

You can see two in this Youtube video at 1:04 and 1:12. The one at 1:04 has been removed.

Here is a still of the one I slipped off:


""Look! It's Grandpa!" and ran in for a hug." Priceless! My grand-daughter is 24 and married. Her husband is deployed overseas. She called me the office the other day and said she was having breakfast...oatmeal and coffee and reading the news..."just like you!" My heart is full.

I'd probably ride right over that, for fun.

There's a little roundabout on my route but I think it's just decorative, or maybe to discourage mistaken drivers. The dirt in the middle is level and I often just straight line it

Nine celsius? In July? (That's 48F for my American friends.) Too wet yesterday for me to want to ride. Nicer today, and this afternoon should be glorious. Maybe I'll slip out early and take the long way home.

Daughter wanted to ride to her theater day camp and I would hardly say no, would I? This probably about tripled my riding for the day, because it’s the wrong way from work, though I haven’t mapped it out. My sit bones weren’t eager by the last leg. She needs a 24” bike soon.

Unusual weather today here too, high fifties at sunrise and peaking around 80. We'll be back to the upper nineties next week but I won't complain about a respite.

Thanks for the video. That confirms my suspiction: roundabouts on trails are dumb!

Darth Lefty, nice picture. I don't know if you've noticed but nearly all 24" bikes are crappy. You might do better getting her a bike with 20" wheels intended for adults that is adjustable. A folding bike is a possibility.

Bike boxes are here in Colorado Springs!


I saw a post by our local cycling advocacy group mentioning the first one. It's on one of my routes so I tried it...but for the first time in months i caught the light so I didn't get to stop.

It's a minor intersection so I think they're just trying it out too see how it goes before adding more.

Rain on the way home but I had my rain gear...kinda liked it.

BobbyG, the problem we often have with bike boxes around here is that they become inhabited.

That's not true. There are a lot of good 24in bikes, especially mountain bikes. You just don't find them in bike shops, for some reason. We have two 24in bikes that are pretty good. The Diamondback Sync'r is a great frame with cool tubing shapes and up-to-date interfaces. It's basically a scale version of their old Mason model. But for some reason has a build that is too heavy-duty for a kid, with SX drivetrain and an e-bike fork. The Cleary Scout is lighter and with an air fork with a damper, but has some Covid QC problems and poor tire clearance for a modern MTB. Still, if it were an adult bike, it would be fine as the top build on the budget frame from a 2nd tier bike shop brand like maybe Jamis or Fuji, or Bikes Direct. Girlie's bike meanwhile is a Spawn Yama Jama 20in and there's larger versions of it too

She's probably going to get the Cleary if I can find a small XC 26er for the 11yo... and if he willingly relinquishes it... and if she accepts it. A 20in folding bike in Folsom would get my kid's ass kicked. Well, that's probably not true, but it wouldn't be cool enough unless it had a motor.

I'm trying to put my finger on why I find it annoying to ride Citi Bike bikes. Well, I do have a list of reasons, but lately, it seems worse. As I thought about it this morning, I think the heat of summer is an added factor. I don't have good clothes for keeping cool on the bike, so that makes it worse.

Today I rode Citi Bike to work. It's only two miles this summer, so really, any way to get there is fine. And for a change, I decided to walk home. That was a nice change of pace. I know pretty much all the streets on the route, but I had only cycled on them, not walked on them. And in some cases, I had gone only one way, and this time, I went the other way. Manhattan has a whole lotta one-way streets. I'm working in Chinatown, and the next neighborhood is SoHo, and from there, I landed in the West Village.

About halfway there, I stopped to buy some food but didn't have much room in my already-heavy bag, so I only bought a few things.

That reminds me of this one street by the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs that I had somehow only returned home on. A few years ago I rode it to work and it was like a completely different experience!

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2163:

When I left work at 5 PM last night, Google said there was a 25% chance of rain. About a mile from home it started to sprinkle, but not enough to get me significantly wetter than I already was from the 90°F heat and high humidity.

About three minutes after I got inside the house the skies unleashed. It rained hard for a little more than an hour. Our rain gauge recorded 4.5" of rain during this downpour. Flash flooding alerts were being issued, and there were reports of water rescues being done in low-lying intersections where cars were stranded. I was very thankful that I got home right before all that happened. I was even more thankful that I didn't get any water in the basement. This morning I checked my sump holes and to my astonishment they were both dry. Crazy.

This morning the temp was down to 68°, but it was 98% humidity so it still felt gross. The high today is supposed to be around 90° again. Thankfully here in South Dakota we only usually get a week or two of really high humidity in the summer, so hopefully we're nearing the tail end of it. Our spring and early June was unseasonably cool, but then late June and July have more than made up for it with the extreme heat.

It's been an unusually wet summer, which is good for the drought. Despite all the rain we've been getting, I looked back in my spreadsheet and I haven't ridden the rain bike with fenders since June 3rd. Since that day I've only ridden my road bike. The rain has mostly occurred at night, or in the middle of the day when I'm working.