We are in the "thunderstorm roulette season" in NC. Every day there is a chance of afternoon thunderstorms, some severe. Yesterday I drove as it was pouring rain when I got up and it kept coming down like that off-and-on all day long. Ironically, it hardly rained at my house after the morning showers passed, but it rained almost all day at my office. Today it was warm and cloudy again but no rain showing on the radar, so I'm taking my chances. According to the forecasters, there's a 35% chance of rain by afternoon, which means a 65% chance that it won't rain. I'll take those odds.

My legs were still tired this morning from a fast 56-miler on Memorial Day, and I had a headwind all the way to work, so the going was slow. That and catching 7 of 8 red lights on my route (actually there are 11 lights, but 3 of them are right turns, so I can roll through them). Humidity is way up from all of the rain we have lately -- about 11" in the past 10 days by my rain gauge.

On this morning's ride in I lost. Got about halfway when the storm hit. Thought I might get to work before the sky opened up but no such luck. I ducked under a drive-thru canopy and put on my rain cape which kept the top of me pretty dry. Shoes, however, were soaked. Wind was blowing so hard I was getting "mouthfuls" of water.

The commute home yesterday was pretty warm- mid 90s I think- and I was wondering if just the one water bottle would be adequate for the 17 mile ride. At about mile 4 I had already drunk about half my water. I passed by a guy watering his lawn and yelled out, "It's hot- spray me!" He said, "Really?" I said, "Yeah!" So he hosed me down pretty good as I went by. Nothing like the power of evaporative cooling; I felt almost cold for the next 5 miles.

^^^ I told a kid to hit me with his super-soaker once.

Nice ride this morning. Quite hazy. Humidity plus the wildfire smoke from Quebec. Low 60sF. Less than a mile into my commute, two women cyclists got in front of me at an intersection so I just followed them all the way. Not too fast. Not too slow. One roadie, one hybrid, and me on my tank.

First day back in the office after the holiday weekend. Didn't get to ride over the weekend, but I was camping, so I did a little hiking and some canoeing. Legs felt good and rested this morning, naturally. Had a great commute in - pushed hard for a while knowing I would have the luxury of the shower at work when I got in. Too hot for me, though. 80* at 8:30 AM despite a northerly wind is BULL*****... I want my spring back!

I had a nice 8.5 mile commute at 3:30 AM. I just need to remember to change my route on days the sprinklers are spraying the path.

This past Saturday as I watched the snow falling, I thought, why do I live in such a miserable climate? Then I read posts on this thread from the southern and coastal USA, and I think, y'know, maybe I should be thankful for the cool nights and mornings during the summer. My thermometer showed 6C (43F) this morning, and I'll take that over an 80+F morning commute any day!

Fairly uneventful commute this morning. There are lots more people cycling to work these days, so more opportunity for some silly commuter racing. My road bike suffered a broken spoke last week, so this morning I strapped the wheel to my backpack to bring it in to get fixed (still no rack on my all-weather commuter). I felt a little conspicuous riding around with a wheel on my back!

And what's with the heckling this year? While some guys get stuff like "Nice butt!" yelled at them, for me last week it was, "Faster, daddy, faster!" and last night, "You go girl!" I'm not that old (mid 30's) and I'm (so I thought) unmistakably male. Kids these days.

Hi Bret, welcome to the forums. I used to avoid the sprinklers on my route, but in the summer, it can be quite refreshing to blast through them!

Take that stuff seriously if you feel it beginning to get to you. We get wildfires frequenlty here in Texas and when you're breathing all that crap in it can really knock you down. Be careful.

I love this weather...

Yesterday I got, the "go daddy go daddy go daddy go" and when I commented about the headwind my little passenger said, "wind... I don't feel no stinking wind" and sang her riding song for me most of the way which goes, "crashing, and burning, is how we learn *ding *ding*" which is also her hill climbing song.

It was an awesome commute and today my sole reason for riding anywhere is to pick up a busted wheel.

I can't wait for stuff like this. My "passenger" is still a little too young/small (3 years old) for a trail-a-long bike; when we ride together she's in a trailer. Unless there's absolutely no wind and we're moving very slowly I can't hear her from back there. However, she and my wife often pass me on their drive home from day care. My wife tells me that Katie will yell, "You're going too fast, daddy!"

I'm totally looking forward to this too...my daughter is only 15 months though. I think that hearing my daughter cheering me on with "Faster, daddy, faster" will be far more uplifting and motivating than hearing it from a random teenager with nothing better to do than heckle cyclists!

That reminds me that I've promised to get the kids to school tomorrow and it's a perfect opportunity for the trail-a-bike.

I was cruising along at a good speed yesterday despite having a "stoker" who wasn't helping and made about trhe same time as we do when we ride singly... the girls average between 16-18 kmh on our 7km commute which has very few breaks.

When the tandem gets launched one of the girls will have to ride single and this will keep our speed down but if it just me and one girl expect that we will be able to move at a pretty fine clip.

My friend takes his son to school via their tandem every day and they cruise along in the low 30's (kmh) and this is with a little guy who is about the same size as my youngest daughter.

There is no greater joy for me than being able to ride with my daughters and fiance.

I rode my bike to work (9.36 miles) today. Took the same amount of time as the train, and I was being leisurely. I looked over at some point and saw some really giant crows, one of them with a big clump of something in its mouth. I looked closer what is that? It was a rat.

That was one happy bird.

I treated myself to some cafe con leche when I got to work. Cheaper than the train fare I avoided by riding (any excuse, right?).

Heavy rain for 4 out of 5 commutes so far this week, one of which was thundery as well. I bought a new fair-weather bike three weeks ago and have managed a pitiful two commutes on it (but miraculously five weekend rides). Meanwhile the winter bike is overdue its relief and in need of a damn good clean and a new wheel. I like rain but it's getting to be a pain in the arse now.

I saw a crow lurching upward with a rat carcass - probably roadkill - in its beak the other day, then watched it perch on a rooftop and tuck in. Yum.

Love the sketch btw.

Z man. Good to hear from you. This morning lightning was shooting across the sky so I drove the truck. The bike seemed to be a likely lightning rod. Now I have to ride tomorrow and and extra ride Friday to make up for the mileage loss. Wing Nut

We've entered the rainy season here in Florida. I can expect a heavy downpour (with/without lightning) almost every afternoon/early evening now for the next 3-4 months.

Today though I missed the downpour by 20 minutes. I doubt if my luck will hold so I've stuffed a lightweight rain poncho in my backpack.

Beyond the daily rain factor, my commute is getting pretty routine. In the future, I'll probably mention my commute only if it's especially good, strange or pretty bad.

Got clocked going 22mph downhill by a couple of motorcycle cops. Made my day after some one yelled at me "there are sidewalks for a reason". Other than that all was good.

Met a guy on the highway riding a three wheel recumbent on his way from Wisconson to Oregon. I though he had a flat tire and I offered to help, but it turns out he was stopped because a motorist had stopped to offer him a cold drink. We chatted for a while and then I rode on home.

Interesting ride home today. Cloudy as I pulled out of the parking lot. 20% chance of rain predicted, so I wasn't too concerned, even though some of the clouds were rather dark. I rode quickly though, not wanting to tempt fate. About halfway home it started... a distant rumble of thunder some miles off, then another strike, a little closer off to my right. Then, one off to my left. So far, though, nothing too close; I just pushed the pedals trying to get home. Then another one off to the right. I saw the lightning bolt and it was probably about a mile or so off. Too close for comfort.

So I pulled into a strip mall that has a nice little restaurant- kind of like Subway, but everything in pitas. I call the wife to let her know what's going on, then order dinner, and start chatting with the owner. He asked how far I ride, how much further I have to go, etc. I called my son so he could check the radar for me and he said it looked pretty bad. I checked outside several times and the front seemed stationary. Hmmm....

So I ate my gyro and called my son again and he said the storm was just acting funny; hard to predict. Imad, the guy from the restaurant, volunteers that he lives near me and the restaurant closes at 7 (it was already past that by this point), so, if I wanted he could give me and my bike a ride home in his van. What the heck.... I took him up on it.

He dropped me off in my driveway and left. Nice guy.

It was a beautiful moring at 20 C ( 70 F).

As I was approaching a traffic cirle on my ride, I noticed a cyclist in the circle, which I have never see in early morning dark. As I got closer to the circle, I noticed that the cyclist was riding around the traffic circle repeatedly. As I got nearer, the cyclist peeled off down the street that I use for my commute.
As I got closer I noticed the cyclist had no lights, no reflective clothing and no mirrors, and I found that a little odd in the dark. The cyclist was going at a decent speed, so I just got in behind. As my lights caught up, I realized it was a woman riding, and this in itself is a pleasant happening. I followed her for a short distance, then decided she had no particular place to go, and I had to be at work. I passed her, and said, "Good Morning," but heard no reply. As I pedaled down the hill, I lost her in car headlamps.

Thanks. Actually it wasn't bad. It was bad on Monday but I didn't work, so no commute. It was so smokey that the smell woke me up in the middle of the night. (Open windows.)

Anyway, mid 60sF for me. I caught up to a guy on a hybrid but didn't pass. We were just staying ahead of rain. Now it's raining steadily.

Yesterday I avoided the MUP and took roads home. Stopped in the right lane for a red light. Right lane signal has a green right arrow and a red straight-ahead arrow. Woman pulls up behind me and toots her horn. I look at her. She's gesticulating toward the right. I point to the lights. Still red for me, sweetie, sorry! (Right lane is straight & right turn. If I was in a car, she wouldn't have honked, I'm sure.)

Beautiful ride this morning. Temps in the mid 60's with just a hint of a breeze. Kind of made up for yesterday morning's drenching and yesterday afternoon's heat.