First morning of my new earlier commute. Starting my ride an hour earlier at 6:30am EST. It was a very peaceful ride. I know I'm going to need some lights here soon....and fenders, and a rear rack, and some grips/bar ends. I can see I'm going to need more money to support this hobby =D

One of my fastest commutes of the year this morning. A mtn biker passed me on a hill about 1 mile into my commute, not saying a word. I rarely ever see any other bike commuters, so I was surprised. I drafted him up the hill and dropped him on the downhill without hardly pedaling. Mtn bikes are so slow with knobby tires. That got my adrenalin pumping, so I picked up the pace for the rest of the ride and got to work about 2 minutes faster than usual.

re: "I can see I'm going to need more money to support this hobby"

that's for the 1st year only - once you get your rig (& backup rig) set, then it's just maintenance stuff. what? no backup rig?

Stop thinking of this as a hobby. It's how you get to work and you shouldn't have any hesitation in outfitting yourself with the tools that get you to work safely and reliably.

Picked up my twin nieces (6 years old) from their summer day program today and it was nice to see all the kid sized bikes parked there as the facility is in the valley... am thinking that there aren't many kids this age who ride as far or who would pick the hardest route out of the valley.

Taken with a level camera... grade is somewhere in the 18% range here.

I had a strong headwind all the way home Monday night, Tuesday's ride in was in the 90's, or so it felt; I forgot my water bottle, left it in the freezer. On my way home I thought my peddle was broken, it was dark so I couldn't see what was wrong. I wasn't too far from home so I thought I'd just continue on and see what was wrong when I arrived but before I got there the peddle and crank arm came off on the left side. Good thing I haven't thrown out my old/wrecked bike from my accident last year. I'll need the bolt from the wreck to reattach it. Imagine my surprise when I lifted my foot and not only was the peddle attached to my shoe but so was the crank arm, last thing I expected to happen.

I'd like to here more about the MagicShine taillight, I'm using two super blinky's.

Sheeting rain this morning all the way. I brought my bike into the foyer today as it is supposed to rain all day. I packed for rain, so except for a spot
here or there, it worked. My riding clothes are dripping all over the place in the office. My shoes won't dry out in time, but if it is still raining, it won't
matter. One bad driver this morning pulled out right in front of me from a side street. I am always prepared, as I trust none of them. Drivers just don't expect bikes in heavy rain, although I was all lit up, just like every day.

I kept thinking how nice the ride in the rain would have been, if I was not going to work. It would have been nice just to keep riding and find a dry cove somewhere in a wooded area, eat lunch, make a cup of tea, and head back at a leisurely pace before dark.

Ride into work today was good. When I left the house it was raining lightly, and about 65 (18C) degrees so I wore a fleece like jacket work gave me for the first three miles then the rain stopped, and I was plenty warm from riding so I stowed the jacket in my pannier and kept going. I'm not sure how I did it but sometime last night I managed to pull my groin. I was a bit worried about the ride into work since my car has been at the office since Sunday, but after getting on the saddle, I didn't notice the pull at all. Much like my ankle that's not fully healed, I guess bicycling just doesn't use those bits the way walking does.

I followed the suggestion of another member and attached my Fenix PD30 flashlight to my helmet. Most the ride was pretty dark so I left that light on constant at the middle setting ~ 35 lumens. Was great for reading things like my bike computer, and lighting around corners before actually getting there. The Magic Shine headlight was everything I had hoped it would be, and more. I used the fast strobe setting to light my way in the dark. It's fast enough as to be nearly constant on. It's not as bright in any one spot as the Fenix was, but the size of the cone of light is very impressive, and inspired a lot more confidence riding in the dark on some of the rural roads I take to get to work.

The magic shine taillight freaked me out a couple of times. Mostly because as I would pass some low signage along the side of the road, I would see red flashing in front of me!!! I doubt it's any brighter than the Planet Bike Superflash. In fact I'd wager the Superflash is a better taillight overall. I do like that the Magic Shine taillight uses the same battery fitting as the headlight, and the same battery chargers as the headlight. I envision getting a second large battery, wiring the two batteries in parallel, and then wiring both lights into the common power source down the road.

Extremely hot and muggy this morning, already 80 F at 6 am. The TV station I usually watch was forecasting showers all afternoon, so I was thinking about driving, but the National Weather Service and other stations were much less certain about the rain. NWS is calling for 30% chance of showers, and I'll take those odds, so I decided to ride after all. Got off to a late start with all my dithering about the forecasts, so I kept a fast pace for the second morning in a row. It was so hot and humid that I arrived at work totally drenched in sweat. I was trying to beat my time from yesterday, my fastest YTD, but got caught by nearly every red light, which has a way of destroying your average speeds.

61F/16C and sunny. Comfortable, with a very light headwind. Passed a few cyclists today. Mostly recreational but maybe a couple of high school commuters.

I hate to say it but I'm starting to see and hear (insects) subtle signs of a waning summer.

Needed to get to work quickly, so took a taxi... and arrived at exactly the same time I would have if I had biked Less sweaty, though, which was about the only good thing. At least we're out of the high 30s Celsius and into the mid-30s (93F instead of 100F).

I guess I do have a crappy Magna MTB I could consider my backup rig =p

You're right - unfortunately my wallet doesn't agree with us. Little by little though, I'll make it work! I'm having too much fun not to =D

Almost got sandwiched by two cagers today! Accelerating from a stop light on a one-way/3 lane street. I'm in the far left lane approaching a turn at the end of the block. The cager behind me is riding my bum. As i approach a curb-cut blind driveway another cager pulls, out heading the wrong way directly in front of me. This driver was doing one of those rolling pull outs, since he was looking to his left thinking traffic might be coming from that direction, when in fact 3 lanes of accelerating traffic was coming from his right! I had to fishtail it onto the sidewalk, and the cager behind me had to lock his brakes to stop only about 3 feet from the front bumper of the car facing the wrong way (where i previously was)! I would have been smooshed had i not jumped out of the way.

This is the best part. Immediately afterwards, i was kinda shaken and happy to be alive, meanwhile the cager behind me is giving the wrong way driver an earfull. I just gave the wrong way'er that "you're an idiot" look and moved on, a little to shaken to get mad. About a block away i was thinking how the guy behind me, who was riding my bum, probably thought he did nothing wrong. From my point of view, had i been crushed, it would have been 50% his fault. Either way, I'm sure the wrong way driver felt like a freakin' idiot being looked at like an idiot by a cyclist, and chastised by a driver.

Gotta stay on your toes folks!

Oh, that's what you were talking about...I don't think I've ridden that hill, but wouldn't mind giving it a try. Where is the trail head?

My commute this morning was very typical. 13C, low winds. I took my Bianchi road bike to 65er last night, and he fixed the doohickie on the thing and now it doesn't rattle anymore. At a stop light, another cyclist pulled up beside me on a Trek 520. That is a beautiful machine.

An odd ride in this morning, my contact slipped out of position so I rode about 10km with blurry vision. Things were a little chilly this morning, I expected it to be warmer considering how hot it was when I went to bed last night. I took it easy because I stayed up late helping my wife study for her apprentice exam. I hope she does well today!

Tacked on a couple extra miles to last night's ride home to help clear my head a little. The weather was pretty nice. Could have been a bit cooler, but at least it wasn't blast furnace hot like it has been sometimes this summer.

Contended with the rain on the way in this AM, but from what I've gathered from ppl who arrive at work before I do and from the rain shower we just had, my commute in was during a lull in the rain. It was still a good trial run with the Coleman poncho I picked up at a discount store last week for a couple dollars. The poncho worked great. Kept my upper body dry w/o making me too hot. Only problem was when the back got to blowing around in my wake, it rendered my glasses-mounted mirror somewhat useless. Something to ponder over for possible improvements.

I can still tell from the way my legs are reacting that I hadn't ridden much the two weeks prior, but I'm starting to feel better.

about 60f and fast fast fast yay new tires.

Today was a good day. Wait, let me rephrase that. Today was an awesome day! Though it was pretty windy (4Bf), the day started good with a tailwind. I finally arrived at the office in 51 minutes (25km).
I was prepared for a nasty headwind in the afternoon, when I found out that the wind had turned around. I actually had even more of a tailwind as I did this morning. Arriving home, I clocked out at 42 minutes!

So I've set a new record, over 35km/h average on my commute.

Thanks and respect to the guy in the Banesto suit, letting me tag along for about 2km and keeping me up speed. You rock!

58F, gray, BREEZY. Trail-a-biked my 5 yr old to her new camp at the middle school. 3.5 miles for her, stretched my total from 7 to 10. Will take her home by a different route to compare difference.

Yesterday:
On the way home I was riding per usual speed. From behind I heard a funny clikety noise. Within moments a fat dude on a bike overtook me! He was wearing t-shirt and pants. in 33C 50% humidity conditions! I was stunned. Thought I must've had a flat. Nope. All seems well. Am I in the wrong gear? Nope, seems to be fine. Cadence is OK. So how the hell this oversize fellow overtook me so easily?
Partly driven by a mix of WTFness and competitive nature, I made the chase. Finally got close to the MegaClydesaurus and saw a BIONX box on bike frame. Whew! What a relief. Paced him for a while. Then he stopped short of climbing a bridge and dismounted. Maybe it ran out of battery? Dunno. But I left him at the foot of the bridge.
While I admit, I do harbor a bit of a disdain to assisted pedalling bicycles, I am glad at least it got a person to ride who may otherwise not. So thumbs up to them.

Today:
Came head to head with a salmon. It was on a busy road. I went as near to the right side as possible in an effort to persuade him over to the outside of the bike lane. But the salmon abruptly stopped. Without a choice, I had to go on the outside. Told him that he was on the wrong side.

The 520 is a beautiful bike... spent some time with my friend's '06 last week and was most pleased with it.

That is the hill that brings you up from Victoria golf course and tops out on Victoria Hill and brings you up to LeMarchand Mansion... it's a km from top to bottom and a lot of people end up walking it.

At the middle you can break off and climb up to the east and ride up to Ezio Farone park.

Took the river road this morning and used it as interval set (5x5' at threshhold with 2' recovery between). Had a tail wind for a good portion of it, so I was flying. I love that.

Yesterday afternoon about 4:30 I'm cruising west down Pine Street, no cars behind me, moving pretty quick past 3rd and coming rapidly up to 2nd. Ahead across 2nd, as I'm entering the intersection on my green light, I see a woman holding hands with two kids (around 7/8 yrs old) STEP INTO the intersection, into the lane I'm starting to veer into on her don't walk signal. I yell, "DON'T GO!!!" because I would not have been able to stop in time. She steps back onto the curb with the kids and as I cruise by she yells at ME: "Don't yell at me!"

WTF?

I skid to a stop, look up at the don't walk signal, point to it and say, "It says 'Don't Walk!'"
She says, fully yelling at me, "I am not walking!"
I say, "But you WERE going to cross in front of me!"
She says, "I am NOT walking!"
Good grief.
I say, "Don't yell at ME."
As I ride off into the sunset, she screams, "Don't yell at me!!!!!"

Seriously.
That was our conversation.

Other than that I'm loving our warm weather, it's in the 70's today so maybe people's heads will be screwed on straight again.

First time back commuting after two week vacation and man my legs are out of shape. Great to be back on the bike though. However I broke one of my pedals so now I have to find the time to get new ones.

32C/89.6F on the way to work this morning, which actually felt cool.

The only problem is that encouraged me to ride faster. I was even sweatier when I got to work than when it was 39C/102.2F last week. Sigh...