Tue and Wed, we had air particulate alerts in place due to Canadian smoke drifting as far south as S. NH/ME Seacoast area. Funny--smelled like burning fir trees... from what I hear about Canada, I was expecting more of a dank, hippy weed smell...

Today was foggy and drizzly. Construction along a 45mph double lane road, and the road crew let me through, so I got a huge head start while motor traffic was stopped for road surfacing.

I had a d**chebag encounter last night. I was turning left through an intersection near my apartment w/ an long, obtuse angle left turn (it's the left from southwest-bound Commonwealth onto southbound Mt Vernon on the map). There is only one lane entering the intersection, hence, naturally, only one left turn lane. Halfway though the intersection, the DB in the SUV guns it and comes around me on my RIGHT side. What follows is our brief verbal/yelling interaction minus the profanities that I employed in the heat of the moment:

Me: What the...?! You couldn't wait til we got through the intersection to pass?
Him [indignant]: I didn't know which side of the road you were on!
Me: There's only one lane. I don't need to pick a side. You need to wait to pass.

Fun times. "I didn't know which side of the road you were on!" Like he would have even thought about passing a car (on the RIGHT no less) positioned as I was and doing a similar speed... Kinda spoiled an otherwise fairly pleasant (if hot and sweaty) commute.

Ride in this AM was much better. No a$$hole$ like the one from yesterday. Rode in early (for me) - 8 AM. Have to leave primary job early this afternoon to make it to my pedicabbing gig for the evening.

P.S.-Still loving my two-weeks new Cateye Strada computer.

10C, sunny, and calm. Just beautiful.

well, as it's my second day as a newbie member of this forum i suppose i should give my first official commute report. i've been a daily bike commuter for going on 3 years now, and my morning ride is ~15 miles from my home in downtown chicago up to my job in suburban evanston. a good chunk of that ride is DIRECTLY on the shores of lake michigan and wind can be a mighty curse or blessing. this morning was more curse than blessing, i had a ~12mph head wind coming right at me out of the NNE. it slowed me down to 50 minutes. if the wind holds its strength and direction for the late afternoon, going home is gonna be fun!

I felt fast and powerful this AM, but got stopped at almost all the lights. Seems like I got my drive train and transmission issues sorted out. Bike rode like a dream! Had to yell at an inattentive motorist drifting through a red to make a right turn.
Thunderstorm risk again today during the ride home, so more potential for fun!

This morning was amazing. Riding downtown, I normally hit a red light or two, but today, green lights the whole way. I found the magic timing this morning. Doubt I could ever repeat it.

I managed to avoid widespread thunderstorms yesterday, so decided to tempt fate again today. Yesterday the storms came through the city around 4 pm, so I delayed my departure time by about 30 minutes and avoided the worst of it. The roads were still very wet with light sprinkles but I made it home without getting much wetter than I would from just sweating. More of the same kind of weather is expected today, so hopefully my luck will hold.

My rear tire developed a slow leak on my morning commute but I was able to make to the office without flatting. I started noticing that squishy feeling and suspected the tire was leaking, and it has gone totally flat sitting in my office this morning. I guess that's how I will spend my lunch time today, fixing the tire.

...and they call Chicago the Windy City? Heck, here in North Texas, 12 mph is considered just a notch above calm.

Raining a little my last mile or two. No problem, could see fine with my glasses. Got inside, changed clothes, looked back outside and it was a gulley washer. Lots of soaked people just running in from the parking lot. hehe

depending on who you talk to, the 'windy city" nickname comes from the city's windbag politicians & boosters of yore. if you go by actual weather records, chicago is not significantly more or less windy than other major cities around the country. a 12mph headwind is really just a minor annoyance, hence my "more curse than blessing" comment. the bad days are when the gales are gusting at me off the lake at 40+mph. those are the days when i outright curse the wind.

very nice... took it slow. first time on the bike in a while. I got spooked after a commuter fatality happened not far from my route. fine, though.

Beautiful day after a stormy night - the trails were nice with no dust. Started out in high 50F and ended low 60 with some wind. Great 25 mi RT. Tomorrow may be another story - afternoon and evening thunderstorms for the trip back.

Cheers from Chicagoland
Gene

There I was, riding down a path along a road in a residential neighborhood. The sun was shining through the trees, then I noticed a bird pirched on a branch up the path. It happened as if in slow motion. A flash of color dropped from the branch as I sped towards it. It dropped just to the inside of my right arm and splattered directly on my knee.

Yes, I got bird poop on my knee. Other than that it was a wonderful ride!

^^^^ This story is great and a good example why riding a bike makes for a cultural shift. This kind of thing rarely happens when everyone is sealed off from their environment and one another in a car.



Oooh, that's good luck you know!

My ride was nice. Had a student matinee performance early today so rode in for that. Then auditions all over town and got back to the theatre before the lightning and heavy downpours. Nice ride home tonight. Again, there were people leaving the theatre on their bikes. I love when I see audience members packing up their bikes after a night at the theatre to ride home.

Nice this morning. Mid 60sF, and a bit humid, but the sun was coming out and the MUP was drying off from some rain over night. A flock of geese flew over me. No poop though. TGIF!

Fast commute this morning on my Merckx Corsa, one of my quickest morning commutes ever. It was very warm (71 F) and humid so I was sweating like a racehorse when I got to work. It's fun to do a fast commute every now and then. I might just start riding the Corsa to work several days each week as I don't have nearly as much gear to carry during the warm summer months. The big problem is thunderstorms with no permanent fenders on the bike, but I've got some SKS RaceBlades that I can slap on it when the weather is iffy.

My flat tire yesterday turned out to be from a repair boot I put on the tire a while back. The tires are really nice Conti GP 4 Seasons that picked up a huge piece of glass in the rear about the second time I used them. I didn't want to trash a $40 tire, so put an Park adhesive tire boot on the inside of the tread. It appeared to do the trick, and I went about 3 months with the boot in place without a flat. However, when I examined the tube carefully after I got home I realized that it had flatted right at the boot, which had cracked in several places and worn a hole through the tube. Guess I'll need to figure out a better way to boot the tire as it has lots of mileage left on the tread and I don't want to trash it.

Enjoyable ride in, temps in the upper sixties when I started out around 5:45. Hopefully the storms hold off this afternoon.

A nice day. I missed the thunderstorms again yesterday going home. They were more sever yesterday than the day before.

As I got off my bike yesterday, when I arrived home, I was remembering the days of always getting in and out of my car, but now the feeling is
of always getting on and off my bike. Changes happen, but sometimes the repetitiveness is still there.

had to drive today, stupid work stuff.

oh so sick of the rain third day in the row im staying dry but still when is it gonna stop, oh wait not for another week boooo

I just moved to a new apartment, and luckily it is within cycling distance of my workplace. Commuting to my old place meant more than an hour spent on the train in each direction, it was much too far to commute by bicycle.

Anyway, on my second day at my new place I decided to ride my bike to work. I didn't know enough about my new area to know which roads to take, other than knowing the general direction.

I work in an area called Kaihim Makuhari, which is a super-modern business district outside Tokyo. It is also a popular convention site, and is home to the Tokyo Auto Show, the annual video game show, and others. The center of the district contains some tall buildings which can be seen from some distance away. The district is also near the seaside, which makes it even more pleasant to me.

Finding my way from my apartment to my workplace was a simple matter of following the nearest large road to the seaside, and turning right. Following this route for several kilometers put me close enough to see the buildings in the center of the district. The total distance was not far, only 12 kilometers. Luckily, the roads I took were wide, smooth, and with light vehicular traffic. I plan to ride as many days this summer as the weather allows.

A few thousand people commute in and around Kaihim Makuhari on a daily basis, the only difficulty many people have is finding an empty place to park their bike. I am lucky enough to have a closet at my workplace large enough to put my bike into.

For a number of reasons, I decided it would be easiest to drive today. Pity, since the weather is absolutely perfect for cycling this morning. But I still have a quick cycling-related commute story to tell...

Driving to work, three lanes in the direction I was travelling, and I was in them middle lane. Someone in the left lane decided to move right without shoulder checking, forcing me to jam on my brakes to avoid a collision. It was the kind of incident that deserved a good honk on the horn, but what stopped me was the two cyclists in the right lane just ahead of me...I didn't want them to think I was honking at them. Funny how your attitude changes when you can see a situation from another perspective.

If I had to ride by the beach on the way to work....I might develope attendence problems.

EKW in DC, I go through that very same intersection every morning (heading North, then N.E., toward DC) and 2 to 3 times a week in the afternoon (I like to change it up a little an continue on the MVT to Slater's Lane the other days). I think you were certainly in the right and, your reasoning is correct. In any case, nobody should be passing you on the right and they certainly shouldn't act/speak aggressively toward you. I don't like that intersection since: 1) you have no bike lane option while waiting at the light or navigating the intersection and, 2) it's such a long, sweeping turn that you're exposed to potential cross traffic if you don't hustle to get through it. Once I'm on the other side of it I try to stay in the bike lane but, am often buzzed several times on my short jaunt down to Duncan Ave. Depending on timing and traffic, I've even cut out that intersection entirely by cutting through the (closed) service station parking lot, past the Suntrust-on the sidewalk, then, to the southbound lane of traffic on Mount Vernon when safe. On the other hand, I sail through that intersection in the morning, of course I'm doing that at 5:50 or 6:00 in the morning, there's little traffic at this time. It's funny, I've been riding into DC for 8 years and have only encountered aggressive/angry drivers near home, never once in DC. I still can't figure out what is so upsetting about cyclists to drivers, we may only slow them for a few seconds whereby they immediatly pass us and continue on unfettered. I would certainly recommend reporting license #'s of such drivers, if nothing else it could increase police patrols and/or encourage improved traffic devices for cyclists. Hope your ride home today is uneventful.

No commute yesterday, took the day off to pack and do stuff in preparation for the move to my new home next week.

My word but it's humid here this week. I'm not sure showering is even worth it with the bad A/C in my locker room.

As mentioned I move next week. The new house will only be about 3.5 miles from my new job. I find myself considering alternatives. Riding a route that's totally indirect? Riding in, running home that afternoon, running in the next morning, riding home that afternoon, and so on? I'll have to see just how easy the new commute is.