Welcome aboard. :)

63F with a bit of a headwind for me this morning. Humid, too. I think I've figured out why I'm seeing an unusual number of cyclists riding the other way almost every day. They're on tours. Today I went by a group of 8 or 10 riders. The bike touring people must be utilizing the MUP more this year. Either that or there are just lots of cyclists camping at the big campground in Burlington.

Yesterday I almost crashed on my ride home. A young woman was picking berries next to the MUP. She was bent over, backside facing me. She was wearing a bikini. :eek: "Eyes front!" :p

Hot and humid, I even sweat getting ready to ride, but a nice ride in anyway. Gonna take it real easy on the way home and plan to drink about 3l H20 during the day today. I ride right thru downtown Indy on the way out I go through a college campus. Yes, I can see how a fella could have a hard time concentrating on traffic.

After 3 straight days commuting in temperatures in high 90s and heat indexes from 105-110, I decided to take a break today and drive. I was reading some information about heat stress from the National Weather Service, and apparently the affects of excessive heat on your body are cumulative, so you can have problems being out in the heat day after day. Anyway, since the high is supposed to be about 100 F today with heat index at 110, I drove for a change. No point killing myself.

I enjoyed my ride home last night until I was about a mile from home. I managed to pull an Andy Schleck when I was at a stop sign, popping my chain off the big chain ring during a downshift and somehow bending the hell out of the big chain ring in the process. The bike rides OK on the middle chain ring still, though there is a slight chain rub against a spot on the big ring when I'm in the smaller cogs in the back.

It could be a blessing in disguise. I've been mulling over a drive train replacement anyway, but was thinking I'd keep the current crankset even though I wanted to change it, too (upgrading shifters and derailleurs seemed more pressing), but now I have an excuse to look into cranksets, too. In fact, at this point it will probably be the first upgrade I make...

Anyway, took it slower and easier on the way in this AM as a result - couldn't hammer on the big chain ring and didn't want to pedal too hard with the slight chain rub I've got. It was hot, and the temps are supposed to be pushing 100 by day's end, but since I dialed it back a notch, it was actually a pretty comfortable ride given the temp in the mid 80s.

57F, gray. First 2-kid day in a month or so (usually just ride w/ 9 yr old to his camp then on to work, today trailered 5 yr old to camp and then on to her school and then solo'd on to work).

Pizza? Did someone say pizza? We're having pizza tonight, we have it every Friday night. I've really been tightening my diet, less red meat, pork, etc-more big salads, less calories over all. I'm very excited by the time pizza Friday rolls around, it's also a nice reward for continued "all ride weeks"-even in this heat-and much easier than making dinner.

On another note, I'm kinda nervous about the heat, they're calling for 99, 100F today. I wasn't great with my hydration this morning, in fact, I've been trying to catch up since lunch but, this heat takes a lot out of me and I'm worried that I'm behind. Last week I was super-cautious, having drunk at least a gallon of water/Gatorade by the time I left work and, I was underhydrated by the time I got home. Also, this is the type of weather where I ride w/out my helmet, it simply traps too much heat and I get over heated, I'll probably take it off once I hit the MV Trail. I'm thinking about getting out early tomorrow morning to shake the dirt off the 29er but may think better of that idea given tomorrow's heat index of 105 to 110F.

I like Summer but, this is a bit much. When will the insanity end???

Well, I am riding home or toward home. My son is on standby with my pick up truck.

Too true! He was even on the front page of the Vancouver Sun today... I never thought I'd see the day when the TdF makes the front page of a mainstream Canadian newspaper!

Nice short ride in to work today, coughing up phlegm the whole way, but feeling better overall. There is a lot more traffic at 8am compared to my usual time.

My ride to work is getting so routine that the only time I post in this thread is to report something out of the ordinary. Today it was three things:

1. I saw the tallest man on the smallest bike today. He had to be close to 7 ft. What a skinny dude. When I saw him I immediately thought "basketball player". Oddly enough his bike didn't match him. His knees seem uncomfortably high. I'm wondering if seeing him on this too small bike made me really notice him even more.

2. On the bike lane I spotted a two wheel recumbent complete with orange flag. This makes the 2nd recumbent I've seen since I've moved here.

The other is owned by a guy who converted his to a gas-powered recumbent trike. I see him all the time bunny hopping from the sidewalk to the street.

3. Rode home in the rain today. I didn't check the weather and I'm glad I didn't. I would have been too nervous thinking I would have to ride home in the rain. I probably would have chickened out and asked a friend for a lift to work today. Since I had no choice but to ride my trike home after work, I dealt with it, which amounted to taking cover under a building's overhand when the rain got too heavy. Cool!!!!

warm rain
 

Had a great commute home today in a warm intermittent rain. So glad I rode. The high in Chicago was 94 today with a heat index of 104.

wonderful morning the tar on the road i ride has finally cured so no more rocks and dirt sticking to tires and fenders(thats an annoying noise) cool and breezy about 63f, thinking its gonna be a hot afternoon though

Pretty humid, and had to bushwack to get around a couple of downed trees on the W&OD from last nights storm. And it's Monday, so what can I say? :P

Great ride in, and the weather with the full moon is just perfect. On Saturday evening, I had to drive to hook up with my daughter for dinner. As I was coming around the back of the car, I noticed this beautifully constructed web between the two bars of my bike rack. As I went to put the key in the door, there were cobwebs on the handle. Now, I know that I use my car more than this portends, but it is nice to know that other creatures are getting use out of my car, even when I am not.

Oh wow, what a change! The weather was gorgeous (low 70s, clear), and I got to ride on my brand new city bike, the Trek Belleville. The bike is everything I was hoping it would be, and is surprisingly quick on the straightaways. I had a great time and made it to the office in just a shade under 40 minutes. The best part was riding with panniers. My back is sweat-free. This was only the 3rd time I'd ever ridden a bike to work without a messenger bag, so a welcome change.

Hope everyone else on the east coast is enjoying the cooler air. It's still gonna be 90 for my ride home this afternoon, but hey, I'll take that over 99 anyday.

Clear skies, mid 60sF and not quite too humid, finally. Saw a MUP regular, riding her road bike the other way. Haven't seen her in a while. She's a cutie. I was stopped looking at fish. That is, pictures of fish found in the Winooski River. Some roadie went by, no bags or anything, at a pretty good clip. I never saw him again. :p I did catch the same guy I keep catching on a regular basis, then we caught a third person, and then I peeled off onto streets and caught yet another person. Lots of riders out today.

pounding migraine; left foot still sore with gout or a stress fracture; on vacation so I drove 1.2 miles to dunkins for coffee and breakfast, then back to the couch with some excedrine. how the hell did I ever ride through the winter in the dark through snow and ice below freezing? seriously how the hell did I (we) do that?

Still humid this morning but was blessedly cool for a change.

Cool and comfortable for the first time in a while. The storms last night knocked out my power for an hour or two, but in retrospect, it was well worth it! The change in the weather, though only fleeting, is very welcome.

It was also the maiden voyage for my new fork and front rack! I had bought second-hand an unused Surly CC fork through a friend, and it has resplendantly taken the place of the POS unlockable suspension fork that had come stock on my bike. I knew that thing was heavy, but just how hearvy I didn't realize until it was out. The rack is a used Nashbar lowrider style I got for <$10. Both went well, and I am SOOOOOO happy to finally have a rigid fork! Noticed it particularly on my climbs (read overpasses) - I could just feel that all my pedaling was actually going to propel the bike and not just bob the fork up and down. Now to the next project - crank replacement and possibly drivetrain upgrade. Always a work in progress.

Anyway, great ride, and I'm looking forward to this afternoon's ride home like I haven't for quite a while.

75 and sunny in NYC,looking forward to a good day and ride.

Like the others in the Northeast, pleasant weather, mid 70s, nice and dry with a bit of a breeze on the ride in this AM. Unfortunately the ride wasn't without it's difficulties... about 3 pedal strokes from home my chain failed when a link shattered. That chain was probably OEM from the mid 90s and was in rough shape with tight links and some rust. Turned around, walked home, put the bike up on the repair stand and threaded an old chain onto the drivetrain. Got back on the road after about 10 minutes. A couple minutes later, I was accelerating through a fairly busy intersection and a heel strike knocked my pannier (BTW, I hate the Trek grocery panniers, had this issue before) off the read rack. Some of the contents spilled onto the roadway so I pulled over and retrieved the pannier and contents which had been kindly avoided by motorists. I repacked the contents and reattached the pannier, made the intersection crossing as a pedestrian and got back underway. A short time later I was accelerating again and nudged the pannier causing one of the hooks to come off the rack and the backing to rub against the rear wheel. I pulled over and reattached the pannier once again and was off. At this point I felt kinda cursed (full moon?) so I rode slowly and deliberately the rest of the way to work. The panniers will be empty on the way home, so hopefully I'll avoid any more issues.

57F and very sunny. Ahhhh....

Friday's commute home in the 97 degree heat was tough, I felt pretty good until stopping to change the 2nd flat for the week. It is hard to get going again when it is this hot.

Wonderful ride into work today, despite the new shoes. Back in the 90's, when I bought my Specialized Ground Control shoes, there was a mix-up, and I ended up with 2 pairs. So this morning I put the new cleats, that came with the recently installed Wellgo dual sided pedals, on the BRAND NEW 12 year old shoes. :P They are a little tight around the toe area, but the new cleats work great! My old pedals were Ritcheys, but I never realized how different the cleats were until I compared them.

Anyway, I had temps in the upper 60s, no run-ins with idiot drivers, lots of pretty wildflowers, and got to chat with another cyclist at a stop light.

A great way to start the day!


Nice find! That's the sort of deal I've been keeping eye out for, but no luck yet.

Thanks :)

Not the strongest endorsement for those panniers. Would you say they should be avoided?

At least the ones I have, they are a couple years old, not really used all that much, but they were the best tool available to me to carry the stuff to work that I wanted to carry on this particular bike with this particular rack. I may try bending the hooks a bit more severely so they are less likeey to jump off, but I'm not sure that would fix them completely.

What a lovely day. Cool, breezy, bright blue skies. Life is good.

I took a new long way home from work for the first time. 8.8 miles instead of 5.1 through some country roads on the outskirts of time. I never realized how badly the city traffic I deal with slowed down my average speed. 17.6 mph (exactly 30 minutes) on the long way vs 13.9 mph (22 min average) the short way.

cool ;)

Another great ride in, cool, full moon and a little darker. I didn't realize how dark it was until I came across 2 cyclists I have never seen before stopped at a side street. I could barely make out the outlines. One had a front light, and both may have had tail lights. At first,
I thought it was just kids goofing off in the early morning. I went by and they said something, but I couldn't tell if they were talking to each other or
me. They followed in behind me as I past, but they were going slow, then when I started a downhill, I lost them in my mirror. The best I can figure
is that they made a right onto another side street. There have been more people out this year between 5 and 6am, than ever before, but nothing
consistent. I see them once and never see them again, so far anyway.

Oops I meant town but the outskirts of time would have been better. I think I'll look for that way next time.