This week will be a scorcher. High of 30C! Zoinks! :( Thank goodness we have an ice dispensing machine in the office.

My lunchtime pickup game of Ultimate was canceled because too many people backed out. Wimps! I went for a ride instead, did about 30 miles. The heat didn't really bother me, but the headwinds killed me.

Apparently the 90F / 50% humidity lit a fire under my backside because on my commute home I set two personal records (which regularly go hand in hand)

First I completed my 7.33 mile ride in under 30 minutes for the first time ever
Second I averaged 14.7 miles per hour!!!! Prior to yesterday I had never averaged > 12.7 miles per hour. Yesterday on the way home I pulled 13.2 MPH. Today 14.7!!!!!!!!!!!

I also could have easily ridden another half hour to an hour, even in the heat. My legs feel great, I'm not winded. Either this month of cycling has gotten me in better shape, or this Long Haul Trucker is a WHOLE lot better bicycle for me than the '84 Trek 520 was.

I'm going to guess it's a little of both. The Surly certainly fits me better as my back doesn't ache as much after a ride as it did on the Trek. Stand Over Height is nearly the same on both..... I'm loving my Surly more and more!

Commuter Forum, you guys are an Inspiration to this kinda old, kinda fat guy :)

Took the less scenic route today and laid down 110km... time on the bike was about 4 hours and the weather was beautiful.

Will be working from home tomorrow and will only ride if I have to.

:)

It was a good ride in. Yesterday, I could feel the heat, and even going down hill, the air rushing past me was hot. It looks like it will cool a tad, but only a tad. It hasn't been too bad riding in 100 F plus, just the opposite of riding in 6 F ( -14 C). You become aware of the air temp.

78 degrees and the dew point was about 68 or so, very warm and humid for the ride in, the ride home is suppose to be mid 80's (great hsa been 94 lately) with thunderstorms. I have got lucky everytime it stormed this year, maybe I can make it home just before the storm one more time.

Well, it wasn't quite as hot as yesterday but the humidity is back, I'm still sweating after cooling off and wiping down with wet wipes. My right knee has been a little tight and sore, didn't feel like I could really hammer this morning but, why would I want to do that in this heat anyway? So, I took it moderately easy so as not to aggrevate it. Looks like my new wheels got here just in time, I noticed a knocking feeling/noise as I was wheeling my bike into the elevator so, I checked the rr. wheel and, sure enough, it's loose again. I had just had it re built last week-this included a new axle as the old one was bent. I can't believe how unreliable this wheel has become. I think I'll either have them adjust it one more time and put the wheels away as backups or, get rid of the hub altogether and rebuild the wheels with Ultegra for my wife's bike-frustrating.

I drove yesterday since I had some errands to run and the weather was so hot. It reached 102 F here, a record high for the second day in a row. I rode on Tuesday when it only got to 101 and it was pretty miserable riding home in the afternoon. Today is supposed to be milder, but it was actually about 5-6 degrees warmer this morning due to higher humidity. That could make it feel even worse this afternoon, depending on how hot it gets.

My errands yesterday including picking up my regular commuter/touring bike at the shop. I had the wheels retensioned and trued because the guy who built them for me last winter apparently didn't have much experience with wheels, something I found out after the fact. I took them to the best wheel guy in our area (by reputation), so hopefully they will be the bombproof wheels I was expecting.

Ugh. Cooler than yesterday + more humidity = More uncomfortable than yesterday. I caught & passed one cyclist. We exchanged hellos. Several more riders were going the other way. Many trail hotties, too. They come out early when it's hot, I guess. Also, lots of goslings are floating and walking around where the Winooski River meets Lake Champlain.
:love:

It's already 80F and 71% humidity (8AM). I was more or less comfortable until I got to work. Now I feel gross. Need to let the cool air-conditioned air take hold.

Hey I had the same thing done yesterday. My spokes were ticking and driving me nuts. Now it's nice and quiet.

Today was a noteworthy beautiful commute after the recent oppressive hot days. I’m on a Century Training schedule and so I extended my usual straight 14 mile commute from Kenmore Square to Norwood by going through Needham, Westwood, Wapole and back to Norwood. The quota was 22 miles and I did 22.43 (“This far and no further” as the saying goes). :D

I saw literally numerous cyclists on the road in Newton and Needham during the hour from about 6 to 7:00 AM. Of note, and the reason that prompted me to post, is that I encountered a group of about eight well-appointed cyclists stopped at a Bagel shop in Needham. I’m ever hopeful of meeting up on the road with a fellow subscriber, so I asked the group if any of them read Bikeforums and got a friendly but blank response. :( I carefully enunciated the URL, emphasizing “…forums.net, introduced myself as “Jim from Boston,” and rode away in the best form I could display, hoping I’ve planted a seed.

I took a leisurely ride into work today. 12.8 miles per hour average. Took 35 minutes to go 7.33 miles.
I think the temperature was about 77 degrees when I left at about 6:00am. The humidity remains at ~ 75%.

I won't get to commute home on the bike today as I have to pick my daughter up from school. I've had my car in the work parking lot since Monday night. :)

Did you take them to Frank's Cyclery? I hear he's the best around and even built wheels for US pro teams. I've never used him for service simply because his wait times are always so horrendous.

You're not kidding, the ride home last night was tough! I've had to even break out the sunblock and a second water bottle.

Sunny, calm, 15C. It's gonna be near 30C for the ride home, which is a scorcher for around here. But it's a dry heat. :)

70F and sunny. About freaking time.

Yep, that's where I took them for retensioning. I've heard the same good reviews of his work. It took about 10 days, but I was out of town on a bike tour - vacation with another bike for most of that time. I left another wheel with him yesterday. He's not inexpensive but sometimes you get what you pay for.

still trying to get over a pulled groin muscle. maybe if i quit riding 4'ish days a week, playing ulti and racquetball over the weekend, and generally being rough on my body it might go better. first commute w/ my clipless pedals...love them and glad i made the switch.

93F and sunny coming home, was awesome.

75 degrees and humid as a sponge. Had some thunderstorms roll through last night, brought all the critters out big time. Saw 14 deer (I count them these days) scared the wits out of two raccoons, saw a couple of foxes, and the usual more rabbits than one can count. Oh, and about a half dozen homeless guys. Good ride, but definitely needed a shower when I got to the office.

On the way home last night It rained so dang hard I had to stop at a bar. Really, I am not making this up, it was almost raining sideways and the oil on the road made it slick. But they were very nice people and even let me bring in my bike and sit it by a pool table. Called my son to come get me soon as I got there, but kinda wish I had waited.

Q: When does 96 F feel cool? A: When the temperatures hit 101 and 102 the past two days. I never thought the mid-90s could feel so nice as on my ride home yesterday. It was a little more humid but not oppressive, and there was a nice breeze to make it feel cooler than it was. We're supposed to have another cool one today, about 95, but it's supposed to be even more humid.

We did? I guess I slept through it and didn't even notice the remnants this morning on my ride in. I need to pay more attention to my surroundings ; )

As CCrew stated - super humid and muggy. The ice I'm putting in my bottles before I leave work for about 10 minutes. I think I'm going to resort to freezing my bottles the night before.

You say that like it's a bad thing.
:beer:

Low 70s this morning for me. Not as humid as it has been, either, so it didn't feel too bad. Caught the same guy I've caught twice this week already. His speed is all over the place. I decided to jump into the woods for a while and enjoy the smell and cooler air. The trails more or less parallel the MUP. At one point I saw a roadie moving along at a good clip. By the time I got back down onto the MUP, he was long gone, so no silly commuter race for me. :( I caught back up to the original guy though, so I had that going for me.

TGIF

Warm this morning, but no wind, and light traffic. Skipped two days do to heat and forecast tstorms. 90 degree rides are just not that much fun.

Watching the tour de france yesterday, 117 miles, 90 degrees and hot sun. Gotta hand it to them that's a tough ride.

If you're using the Polar or Camelback insulated ones, fill them about half full and freeze, then top them off with liquid in the am. Full bottles frozen have been taking about 60 minutes to thaw to drinkable for me. Half frozen gives you something cold immediately.

Well, last night's commute home kinda sucked.

Short version: 3 flats, only 1 spare tube, two miles walked in cycling shoes, big blister on the back of my heel.

Long version: I was feeling pretty good starting out for home. Right at the beginning, stopped at a light, I noticed a guy looking at my bike (a classic steel celeste Bianchi road bike) from the sidewalk. Turns out he was heading to fetch his nearly identical bike just a few meters away, and there was yet another one just around the corner. Kinda neat. I was feeling energetic, it was a beautiful day: 27C and just a breath of wind.

Half way home, I made a right turn, and something wasn't quite right. The back wheel seemed to be trying to slip out from under me. Stop to check: yup, tire was going flat. There was still some air; I wasn't riding on the rim yet, but it was low enough to be concerned. Fortunately, there was a nice shaded grassy spot nearby, so I pulled off the road and set to work. Checking the tube, it didn't seem to be leaking anywhere in the rubber, but the valve didn't seem to be sealing properly. In went a new tube (I only carry one, plus a patch kit). I pumped up the tire as much as possible with my little frame pump, but I knew it wasn't nearly the 110 psi that I usually run in those tires (23mm Conti Gatorskins). However, I did manage to get it almost as hard as my front tire, which meant that my front tire was a bit low on pressure too. My fault for not checking the pressure for a few weeks. I made a mental note to top up both tires as soon as I got home, because I didn't want to get a pinch flat! I phoned my wife to let her know I would be late, and off I went on my merry way.

I was actually still in a pretty good mood. I've had flat tires before, but never on a commute, and I saw this as a rite of passage in a way. It felt good to get that first commuting flat out of the way, and I was proud of myself for being self-sufficient.

Ten minutes later, riding on a particularly rough road, suddenly, boom: front tire was flat. Now I wasn't feeling so good. What to do? I still had that tube from the back tire with the bad valve, but maybe it would hold air long enough to get me home. Or, I could see if I could patch the flat tube. Or, since I was only about two miles from home, maybe I could just hoof it, and take the time to properly check and fix the tire that evening. I decided to walk. I hadn't at that point even looked at the back tire, but as I was walking, I eventually noticed that it too was flat, again. Gee whiz!

My cycling shoes are mountain bike style, so they can be walked in easier than some road shoes, but the soles are still quite stiff, and they're definitely not meant for walking two miles. I ended up with a nickel-sized blister on the back of my right heel by the time I got home.

Later that evening, after I put my kid to bed, I went out to the garage to survey the damage. Pinch flats in both tubes, probably incurred at the same time. The back tube had only one small hole, the front had the familiar two-hole "snake bite". I patched both tubes, but did a crummy job of the front one, because after I installed it and the tire and pumped it up to pressure, it was flat a minute later. Chucked that tube and put in a different one.

C'est la vie. It was good practice changing tires. Gatorskins are a pain to take off and put on, but I'm getting better at it. I'll also be more diligent at topping up my tires regularly, as at least one flat could have been prevented. I may also invest in a CO2 cartridge pump so I can get my tires up to pressure easier than with a little frame pump.

This morning's commute was, thankfully, very uneventful. 16C with a gentle breeze.

Thanks! Talk about how routine focused you get. I use the same two bottles to commute to work in, which happen to be right beside my insulated Polar bottles. Not sure why it never occured to me to start using those in the summer. I typically use those in the winter. Duh...

Thanks again CCrew - I'll try it out next week...

64F and sunny, very nice

Just an all around bad commute. Headed out the door with my son in tow this morning and discovered my front tire was flat before I even made it to the elevator. Back in the apartment, swap out the tube and teach my son how to find a puncture in an inner tube using a sink full of water. Patched it and threw it back in the saddlebag wondering why I wasted that much time.

Decided that I was late so I'd take the short route in to work. Found a new construction zone and as I'm going through it, my front tire blows out. 2nd flat. Good thing I patched that tube this morning. Pull over and swap the tube, get back on the bike and continue on my merry way just a little pissed off that they can't keep the road clear and free of debris.

As I'm starting up the last big climb to work, my freewheel gives out! WTF?!? It's only a month old and it's completely come apart. I flip the bike and get the lockring back on, but the freewheel body is still moving side to side. This time I give up and hoof it back a few blocks to the last bus stop before the climb up the mountain and just give up. I think all the ball bearings fell out of the freewheel when it came apart. Stupid cheap Sun Race parts.

Yesterday my ride home ended poorly. About 15 minutes from home my bike saddle snapped back. Took some time but I managed to secure it into a rideable position. I am hoping I don't need a new saddle. When I reached the bottom of the hill on my street I turned to sharp and my toe pushed my fender into the wheel and it folded up on itself. I had to walk my bike up the hill carrying the front wheel. I managed to bend the bars back straight and all is right with my fender again. Perhaps I shouldn't have bought the MTB shoes for commutting, they hit my front fender on turns and occasionally brush my panniers when they are full.