40F and sunny.

There's been a strong west wind in afternoons (headwind going home). It felt strong and last night I saw some objective evidence for that, a big tree down across the trail. Just enough room to work my bike and trailer w/ my daughter around one end of it. It was cleared up by this morning.

only calling for 50% chance of rain today so i road in. i've been thinking about getting a cyclo-computer to keep track of time and mileage, but this morning i realized that it may put me in rush mode too often (i'm an engineer by trade and i get a little ocd with numbers sometimes...). i also dressed too warm this morning, got psyched out by the wind chill in the upper 30s.

i skipped yesterday due to the crappy forecast of 70% chance of rain and high winds, and it started hailing on my drive home. i guess i'm glad i didn't ride, but it would be an interesting experience to ride in a hail. they weren't very big pieces so it probably wouldn't have hurt too much...

Funny you say that..... When I set out this morning, something was rubbing. I took the bike into the house and saw that the bead had acually popped over to the outside of the rim.... but the tube was still holding air! I knew the tire was not perfectly centered radially because there was a hop to it. I hadn't gotten around to fixing it yet. The tires can be pumped up to 115 psi and I pumped them up to just about that pressure before going to bed last night. I guess the bead popped without the tube letting go. I decided I'll only go to 100-105 from now on.

Let's just say that the sun doesn't always shine in Alberta and sometimes it snows... sideways.

Nice that I have the option of walking to work but last night's ride back from the coop (my Monday commute) was brutal as it was sideways rain.

It is pretty crapilicious out there today.

Excellent morning to start out with. About 50 deg. F with a tailwind of 10mph and I was flying. I was going to be at least 10-15 minutes earlier then normal, but as I pound hard on the pedals, through a light I never make, I can feel my front tire is going flat, about 10 miles into my ride. No biggie I say and take my time fixing the flat (9 mins) and go on my way. Still enjoying my ride and about 8 miles later as I powering up a hill, the front tire instantly goes flat. Glad I carry a second spare tube, but this time I rush to get the tire changed (6 mins) and hope that I don't get another one before I get to work. I made it, but after the shower I am about 8 minutes late getting to my desk. All and all, not to bad, for having 2 flats. I patched both tubes that went flat and threw them in the seatpack. Hopefully, I don't have to use either one going home. Why do flats always seem to come in pairs for me?

Homeward last night was punctuated by occasional 45 mph gusts into my face, lightning with a flash-to-bangtime of <4 seconds and a littel bit of rain.

This morning was 50 degrees or so, misty, bright sunlight, 0 mph wind and getting swooped by 2 or 3 pairs of mallards along the river trail. Really, about as nice as it gets.

-1 point to Cowtown not having the Mayfest fencing down yet.

Windy. Took a 20 mile detour. Nice.

Beautiful day today, traffic pretty heavy.

Found a broken spoke when I got to work. Wheel is only about 2 months old. Bummer.

perhaps I don't need the triple for the hills ... I know this road bike doesn't have the lowest gearing that the other bike has but I've been working it and I think I've gotten stronger. that's the only explanation I can come up with. has the winter commuting paid me some dividends? I got up the 2 killer hills on my homeward route without any discomfort from my IT Band. I'm really really surprised but now I know laying off these hills since 2/2/10 was a good idea. the other stuff I've been doing with weight training; swimming; running and long weekend joyrides seems to have contributed as well. it usually takes longer to get home but not today. I do like the warm weather and I think my IT Band does too!

12.85 miles
29.3 max
13.9 avrg
55 min saddle time

I am SO jealous of the Greeenville SC folks. Had to come here to train some folks. My work vehicle is a full siize van so I took my bike (after cummting to work on it of course). Spent the evening riding around and visiting Falls Park. What a great city. www.fallspark.com

Interesting ride to. Finally the sun is up before I leave at 6:30am. I rode in Friday and it was still dark for about 3 miles out. It was odd. Riding along in the dark, everything seemed less busy. Today I'm seeing cars everywhere, school buses and kids waiting for buses. They had to be there before, I guess I didn't see them in the dark as I was more intent on the road. I rode by the yellow crap from last week. It looked like separated paint dye and base. My tire tracks were still there along with another set.

After work I stood at the bike rack and talked bikes for a couple other folks. One guy got knocked over by a car last week and busted his down tube shifter. He's stuck in high on the chain wheel. He had a well worn old lugged Le Tour. I don't think the guy has much money to spare, so I went to my junk box and got a set of Suntour shifters. Tomorrow he'll find them zip tied to his handlebars.

Great ride in and it was fantastic. Perfect weather for the ride in, slight tail wind and 70〫F with bright blue skies. Ride home was real different, dark clouds, sudden rain storms and a fierce head wind. Welcome to New England in the spring!

Originally Posted by fletchh
Back after a few days of bikepacking on the C&O canal. It was nice sleeping on top of my bag in my underwear, as the weather was very nice. Probably should have taken a couple days off, as I am very sore. A nice warm ride in at 15 C (60 F). I am looking forward to a hot ride home, although my legs, no doubt, think otherwise.




How far up did you go? I'm planning on a 2-3 day trip up the C&O myself at some point this summer.

I parked at Great Falls, and went as far as Harpers Ferry, around the 61 mile marker, but I only did 47 miles. I ideally need a day off in there somewhere, and will work to get that in the future. I ran into a fellow who had biked down from Pittsburg on the Allegheny trail, and was headed to Georgetown, then back up in two weeks. It's a very nice ride in good weather. It is still a little muddy from the march flodding above the 26 mile marker, but not a problem to get through.

Another nice ride in at 12 C ( 55 F). Traffic is getting heavier earlier, as the light and warm mornings seems to bring them all out earlier.

I'm heading to Greenville this weekend to visit the in-laws. Falls Park is incredible. G'ville has a really nice downtown compared to most cities.

Have you gone on the "Sticky Bun Ride" yet to Saluda? If not, get someone to show you the route. It's about 30 miles of mostly climbing from the Furman campus to Saluda, NC, where there is a little restaurant that sells the best sticky buns in the world. You eat one of those with some coffee, and then fly back to G'ville with mostly downhills. One of my favorite rides.

A delightful little ride this morning. 50F, dry, and sunny. I caught a woman about a mile from home, and decided as long as she maintained 13MPH, I'd stay a respectful distance behind her. I'm running after work, so I want to take it easy on the bike.

She maintained 13-14, mostly, so I had a nice super-easy ride in. A guy came out onto the MUP behind us on a cruiser (I think) and fell back until I lost sight of him.

Wish I had known about tha yesterday! I would have come up a little earlier yesterday. Hopefully I will get back here soon. Sent my wife a bunch of pictures and she wants to come check it out.

There was an abundance of sticks, twigs, pinecones, and even a few branches on the roads, especially when i got near the city. I kinda expected it because of the big storm that hit last night. Besides that it was a smooth commute at 55F and sunny with winds from the N @ 5mph.

Overcast, mid 50's, calm, some showers the last mile. Passed by Red SPecialized, I can cruise about 18 on the commuter, but he's fast 21-22 on the flats.

LBS fixed spoke and retuned wheels while I waited last night. Lake county is hard on bikes.

Stopped at ace and bought a new battery for the cateye sending unit. Third battery in 6 months. Gotta be something wrong with it.

Yet another day working from home due to flooding, and I overslept and didn't have time to ride before working.

Good commute again this morning.

Our IT guy is a little strange and very tough to "read". He was in my office this morning fixing another computer . He said, "I was behind a cyclist this morning making a left onto Emperor Blvd [the road our office is on]. I thought I was going to have a chance to run you over but it wasn't you. He must have seen it in my eyes though, because he gave me a little wave when I passed him."

I've had people joke with me about stuff like this over the years (OK, we know it's not really funny, but I let it go). The way he said it, I really couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. Scaaaaaaary.

Another typical commute this morning & yesterday. It's only 3.4 miles round trip, so not much to say usually. I'm finally getting my routine & bag packing pretty well refined.

Last night, I took the SC3 grocery shopping; small load. There was a lady in there who was so fat, she had a collapsible stool in her shopping cart so that she could sit down anywhere for a break. She sat down about every 3 minutes. She blocked half the deli counter. Made me feel really glad I road the 4.9 miles there. The ride back was very tough, with the extra 10 lbs. or so and the 30+ mph gusting headwind.

I did manage to crack 30 mph once, downhill, which is no easy feat on that bike.

drew3: Get the computer. You'll enjoy it. I'm an engineer too. What happens is that the first week, you'll use the computer all the time on your commute. Then, you'll have all these nice reference points in your head, and you won't use it any more for the commute. I only use mine now on non-commuting trips when I want to know some stats.

My average commuting speed is about 14 mph. The ride in takes 8-9 minutes. The ride home takes 6-7 minutes. (a bit more downhil and usually a more favorable wind) Top speed is usually around 21 mph.

rumrunn6: It sounds like all your hard work is paying off. Nice! Keep it up.

I feel bad for you Canucks who are still getting snow. It has been in the 70s here for the last week or so. No possibility of snow. You're tougher than us, as a result though.

Cool. Thanks for the report. I am thinking of riding from home (in Alexandria) up to around Harper's Ferry, camping overnight, then coming back for my first bike tour. I harbor dreams on some day doing the Pittsburgh to DC trip.

Ended up riding home last night after happy hour w/ wife and friends. One friend offered to drive us so we wouldn't have to take the train. Fortunately , there was no way my bike would fit in his car, plus two passengers, so I just rode home. So still got my evening ride in even though I thought I wouldn't!

On my way to work this AM, I stopped by for my pedicab test ride. Interesting vehocle to drive if you've never done it before. Tomorrow, I start moonlighting as a "professional cyclist" as it were. Should be fun. I mean, seriously, getting paid to ride a bike?! Awesome!!! Ride in to work after that was good, except it felt weird to have to balance myself again after getting used to the stability of the pedicab trike. A lot easier and intuitive to steer though. Calm winds. Made good time, and had some extra miles, in addition to my pedicab check ride. All in all, a good ride.

One block from work, a tour bus was stopped at the scene of some sort of accident (police on the scene). Couldn't discern what had happened, though I hope that no one was hurt. I've seen some close calls between cyclists/pedestrians and cars/buses at that spot before, so I'm worried that it could have been bad.

I rode this morning. My winter bike is now living in my parents' garage, so the ice was a little treacherous with my slick touring tires. There were a couple spots where I had to stop and walk the bike because the ground was a mess of snow and chunky ice. And I never got up to my usual speed, not that I bother to ride very fast at the best of times. It's supposed to be sunny and at least marginally above freezing, so hopefully this mess will clean itself up before I ride home.

I was a few minutes late for my 7:30 staff meeting, but there were still blueberry muffins left, and I beat some of the drivers.

It was a nice commute, I had a chance to try out my new Planet Bike fenders, mirror and base layer shirt. It was 41*, started out with light rain, then I had some sunshine and then finished up with some more light rain all in 8.5 miles. The fenders worked great and like the mirror. The shirt also worked great ... just waiting for my 9 hours to pass for the ride home ...

new planet bike fenders on my bike also. no rain.

I took a tumble though when my tire got caught in a crack...I wrenched the handlebars left, but the fork stayed straight. Got everything tightened up at noon. Wish me luck on the way home.