Second morning commute. Better than the first seeing has I ate something before leaving. My ride is pretty uneventful except for the trail going straight through the ghetto, with a guy threatening to chase me down for my bike the other day on the way home. Amazing weather though.

I had a great week with good weather and no flats. Probably shouldn't have mentioned the flats, but since the slush melted I have been able to avoid the bad parts of road. The local street department has been hard at work to repair the winter damage too. Hope each of you had a great week. You guys who do only an occasional ride might consider doing lots more riding. I have lost and kept off twenty pounds since starting this about three years ago. I have put on lots of muscle. It has encouraged me to work on the shoulders and abs more. This winter I went by car about three days. That includes the blizzard we had on Christmas Day. Be healthy and God Bless. Wing Nut

1C and no wind. I laughed at an impatient driver who couldn't get anywhere faster than me.

Good ride in this morning. Humid as heck but had fun. Got to try out the Topeak Beam Rack and DXP bag. Felt weird not having the bag in my back but must have done something. I shaved off 5 minutes on my commute. 37 minutes for 8.6 miles today where as I normally do it in about 42

almost perfect weather this morning, sunny and 40 deg F. today might just be the best spring day we've had so far. made a few adjustments last night to the seat and handlebars, and did some more comprehensive stretching this morning before leaving - this all seemed to ease the knee discomfort i had been experiencing. should be 60 and partly cloudy for the ride home. can't think of a better way to kick off the weekend... bike ride home to a nice cold beer.

Had a nice surprise for 2/3 of the ride, a TAILWIND!

Beautiful day in NYC, sunny 60 degrees. A bit of a tailwind too. I even had green lights.

This is my 6th ride in and I'm beginning to feel like this should be my "normal" commute instead of the subway.

Today was a bit chilly and verry windy. Still a nice ride. Have a great day!

Lovely morning! Cool and dry. Temps probably in the upper 50s when I was riding in. Legs were a bit stiff and sore this morning. In addition to 20+ miles of commuting yesterday, I did my first pedicabbing gig for about 4 hours last night. It was a special event w/ free fares, so lots of passengers. That made for a great workout.

After about three miles or so this morning to my day job, I was warmed up and feeling not sore or stiff anymore. Just rolled in w/ a slight headwind enjoying the cooler temps and the (knock on wood) apparent decrease in the bug population on the trail. (Knock on wood...) Last week and earlier this week, I could feel them all bouncing off me as I rode and I had to be careful and try to inhale only while looking down unless I was in the mood for some extra protein. This morning was much better.

Going pedicabbing again tonight - regular fares - bar crowd, etc. Should be fun (and lucrative?)

Cool and calm this morning. And light traffic. Must be Furlough Friday.

Decent day and picked up a couple extra miles getting my yearly blood test done. Shame Kaiser cant open up a little earlier and I could have hit it at 7am when I rode past instead of having to come back at 8:30am.

I've been commuting all week. This makes it my 2nd week. My time is getting better and I'm getting more organized. Terribly hot today though.

Great weather. A car passed me after a turn and I swear the guy said "thanks for signaling" (which I had).

30's on the way in this morning. On the way home, I stopped and picked up 60 lbs of groceries for the weekend.

Wow, 60 lbs. That must've been a slow ride home!

I picked up my new bike, a Specialized TriCross Sport. (see commuter bike pix thread) I thought I was so darned smart. I took the train part way home, got off & walked a block, bought the bike & accessories, came back to the station and was going to get on the next northbound train. No-go. No bikes allowed on rush hour trains. Rush hour, they define as any train that leaves Chicago from 4-6 or so. So I had the option to either wait a couple hours, or just brave the horrible ride home on the new bike. Naturally, I picked the horrible ride home. If I have it to do again, I will wait and read my Kindle. Two lane roads with gravel shoulders. Sometimes, no shoulders because of construction.

They say there are only two seasons in Chicago: winter & construction. I'm going to do a 30 mile fun ride on the new bike tomorrow. See if I can keep up with my 53 year-old buddy.

On a heavy ride, 100-200 lbs it's a little slower. The Big Dummy averaged 13 mph with the light load today.

No work today, but road over to flood clean up at my daughters school, any excuse to ride

Commute on 5/7 was a perfect day. Left home with a 10 mph tail wind. By 4pm a weak cool front had come through and I had a 10 mph tail wind home. Sure beat the 20-30 mph headwind earlier in the week.

Well, this is not exactly about a commute, but this is where I post about my rides. I met a fellow bikeforumer (Barrettscv) in Libertyville and we rode down to Chicago. (36 miles) He knows the bike friendly routes like the back of his hand. Went through all the rich folks' neighborhoods: Evanston, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Fort Sheridan very pretty, but I'm glad I don't have to pay taxes on those multi-million dollar homes.

Had a great time, though I am dead tired now, even after the nap. I'm 33 and he's 53, but it is all I can do to keep him in sight. The moral is that youth is no match for dedication & willpower.

I need a Brooks saddle. I think about 15 miles is my max without prostate area pain on the stock Specialized saddle that came with my Tricross Sport.

I had a great ride today, but damn it was so hot! I just tried out my new bike, socks and shoe for it. But it was a good ride. Good thing I got some water with me

It was a chilly ride in at 1 C ( 34 F). I will be riding in the light of the morning for the next two months. Some of the turns that I make, I do mindlessly at this black wall or that black wall, but now with the light, the streets beyond are visible, so I need to pay attention. This time of year is also fun, because the rabbits, foxes, birds and squirrels are all out to greet me. It sure beats those cold days of winter, when nothing is out.

Chilly commute this morning in the mid-40s after several weeks of temperatures warmer than usual. It felt good, though, because I commuted all winter and know how to dress for the cold.

I have been a red-light magnet yesterday and still no relief. I caught nearly every traffic light this morning but still made good time because I had a tailwind much of the way.

Mid 30sF, sunny, with a tailwind. I saw a friendly kitty, and some geese. Mondays. Blech!

Pretty nice commute this morning. Like for many of you, it was cold for me too: 39°F. My heavy fleece jacket & gloves proved to be perfect for it though.

Bird Story: This is only relevant because I only noticed it because I was alert from the exercise. When I got to the train station and was walking under the light post, I heard the chirping of chicks above me. I looked up in time to see an adult blackbird fly away. Didn't see where he/she came from. I walked around on the ground, trying to spot the nest. No luck. Where the hell were the chicks? I was 10 minutes early for the train, so I just kept my eyes open, thinking the mother bird would return soon to feed them more. Sure enough, a couple minutes later, she returned with a mouthful of bugs and such, and went in a small opening in the end of the light fixture, right where the post enters it. What a perfect place to build a nest! Heat from the light keeps them warm at night, and heat from the sun keeps them warm during the day. The light fixture keeps them dry in the rain. Much better than a nest from twigs and such.

I left earlier than usual this morning, right at dawn. So I put the lights on the bike. I have the 2W LED headlight from Planetbike. It really gets motorists' attention. It has a weird flashing pattern in which one flash is brighter than the others in the sequence, and it is reminiscent of police strobes I think. So people pause, looking for a cop, but it is just little old me on a bike.

I had one guy in a pick-up pass me really close, presumably to show me how knowledgable he is about the dimensions of his stupid truck or to let me know that I have no right to the road. My only consolation is that if he were any closer, my bar end mirror would have scratched his paint.

It was a little cool at 40F and sunny with winds from the WNW @ 10mph. The headwind made it a tough commute this morning. I could definitely tell that i was a little slower due to it. Hopefully the wind stays the same so i'll have a tailwind this afternoon on the ride home.