I miss Vancouver. I didn't own or ride a bike during my entire 6 years living there, and I wish I had. Sadly, I doubt I'll be lucky enough to live there again; though, I will likely have the opportunity to live in many other interesting places.


I would say it seems borderline suicidal to try running red lights on a bike along that section of Cambie in Vancouer, but that would be understating it. The roads in Vancouver are already extremely narrow (compared to what I grew up with in Toronto, and am currently using in the Twin Cities)- there just isn't a lot of room for error under the best of conditions. Plus, it's riders like that who give all cyclists bad names. Why is it that drivers seem to have a better memory for bad cyclists than they do for bad drivers?

My commuter bike is out of commission right now, it's getting a frame transplant... but the weather's starting to get cold before 7:00. I'm going to have to seriously get my wardrobe together soon if I'm going to keep riding.

Wah, wah wah. I'll hopefully be back on the bike by Friday.

Great commute home at 55F with rain and winds from the NE @ 8mph. I couldn't find my main rear blinky this afternoon. Unfortunately I think it's floating around on campus somewhere. I used the light that's permanently fixed to my bike as my blinky. Sadly I have yet to see another bicyclists that has outdone me, or even come close as far as lights/reflectors go in low visibility conditions. I saw another bicyclist that I see regularly not too far from my house heading the other way with no lights at all or any hi-viz things. I'm kinda surprised because this person seems like an experienced rider, and I would think they would know better, especially at 5:45pm in the rain.

Decided to try the "cycle chic" thing today, just to see what it was like. I think the last time I wore a skirt or dress on a bike was when I was 12 and my mother wouldn't let me wear pants more than one day a week. So, I pulled a pair of lycra tights on over the pantyhose just to make sure I didn't flash anyone inadvertently and set off down the road in my denim skirt and medium heeled dress shoes. It was doable, but the skirt tended to bunch up and get in the way. Plus, the tights were needed. Either that or shorter cranks to keep my knees from flipping the skirt up so much at the top of the pedal stroke. Because the top tube slopes so much, I only had to pull up to a curb to get my leg over it to dismount at the end.
Coming home, another cyclist pulled ahead of me at a red light. This normally annoys me, because they're assuming they're going to be faster without knowing anything about me, but I suppose the sight of the purple heels and skirt could have justified this assumption. Felt good to pass this person, who really wasn't very fast at all. The skirt slowed me down only very slightly.
Would I ride in a skirt again? Probably not. It wasn't all that comfortable and it doesn't take much time to pull one out of a pannier and put it on at work. Still, good to know I could pedal off somewhere close by at lunch time without a complete change of clothing.

Did the long commute today. Rode 70 rather the usual 50 km (roundtrip) by parking the car further away. Weather was better than expected in the 12-14 degree C range with a slight NE breeze and no rain (hurray!). The trail was practically deserted and only encountered a couple of dog walkers on the way in. A bit of drama on the way home as I fear the Mongoose took out a chipmunk that decided to cut across the trail between my wheels. The little guy ran off into the bushes. Also, saw a deer and I think it was a buck because of the size of the critter but it was starting to get a little dark and I couldn't be certain.

cool and crisp here in DC today. Got out a bit later than usual which I did not like at all, way too much vehicular traffic. Taking a break until Tuesday...now gotta fly to Chicago and run on Sunday. Can't wait.

intense wind and rain on the way in today. Fortunately on the way home the wind was less and primarily at my back. Happy for good rain gear.

It was a tad warmer this morning at 47 F ( 8 C), enough to ditch the jacket. The ride was good and the afternoon is supposed to get up to the lower
70s F, ( lower 20s C). I am taking off tomorrow as a spate of good weather is being forcasted for the next couple of days. No doubt, I will be heading
out somwhere to camp.

Moist this morning. 50F with a quartering tailwind. No rain though. Only saw one other cyclist: The regular morning trail cutie.

Also saw a cute little bunny wabbit.

Tomorrow, I drive to work. First time since June...of 2009. I'll say 15 Hail Marys and 10 Our Fathers and fast for 7 days to make up for it. Please forgive me.

Great ride in Today....very dark but a pleasant 45F and not much wind. Caught up with the early biker that was running late. He is usually about 5 minutes ahead of me. Afternoons have been in the mid 60s. Absolutely perfect commuting weather...if only it would last another 6 mos...

Finally got new tires last night on the way home after three flats this week already (the lastest in a rash of flats with increasing frequency). I pushed my cheap-o Nashbar tires way too long. Got a pair of Vittoria Randonneurs (700x32) and installed them last night. Those things are a bee-otch to get on, but it was worth it. Hope to get some good life out of them.

The ride in this AM was sweet. Felt like I was flying... maybe because of the narrower/better tires? I used to run cheap 35mm tires, which I think ran larger than stated size. Now I have higher quality 32mm tires, which I remember reading somewhere may actually run a little smaller than stated size. Or perhaps it was just the extra energy I seemed to have this AM. Woke up at 6, about 30 minutes before my alarm and was wide awake. Very odd. Nice to have a little more time in the AM and still a little early!

I picked a great Morning for my first commute. about 6 miles each way. A crisp Jersey Shore Fall Morning. About 55 out, light wind, light traffic. I think I am going to like biking to work. Here is my sweet ride.

6C/43F, mostly calm and clear. Nice ride in, but it felt chillier than yesterday, even though the conditions were nearly identical. I pushed myself a bit harder this morning and made good time, even though I took a slight detour.

45F, gray

Can we keep this weather? High 40s F on the way in. Yesterday's high was mid 70s, today we'll be around 80. A little warm, but the humidity is low so not too bad.

Still shuffling around the wardrobe to figure out the best option. Tuesday, I found an awesome REI cycling jacket at the thrift store for $6. It's way better than the one I have. It cuts the wind better and has nice zipper vents. I also picked up a polar fleece beanie so I don't end up with a ribbed forehead. Today I wore a cycling jersey and a hoodie under the jacket. Just jeans on the bottom. So a lot less clothes changing going on.

mrdelprete, welcome to the club! Warning: it's addictive!

The day just isnt starting off good, i wore pants for the first time in almost a year, (weather predicted a high of 50f) so i thought it was gonna be cold, which it was not, pant leg refused to stay rolled even with velco closure around it and got caught in my chain about a million times. On top of it all i ended up with a three day weekend cause i was sick and the poor poor knee just does not like three days of no activity. But on the plus side im gonna go frame shopping after work

2d day in a row that I drove.

4th consecutive day riding the bike in 20 km one way and my legs feel it today. Did not feel strong. Tomorrow it rains, so I take the bus and train.

Started early to the bakery for a ham/swiss croissant freshly made and a latte. Then, after taking bike and ped counts for the WA State bike count day at the corner for two hours in the shade and cold wind (I was warm until the last 30 minutes) I booked as fast as I could to work in the sun. Took a good 10 minutes to warm up enough to relax. Traffic was heavy but not terrible. It was nice riding to work in full daylight - sunshine even! Sun! Then I got to eat the plum danish when I got to work. Now it's really cloudy, will start raining at any time so will try to beat the deluge before I get home. Tomorrow I will be prepared with rain gear.

75 Degrees F, sunny. Perfect weather. Traffic was okay, not too many trail hogs on the MUPs, and no one tried to door me in the city.

One error on my part riding the center line of Chain Bridge Rd - bikes coming up the hill, and I got stuck adjacent to one of the rare left-side-hugging cars, which made it hard for cars to pass the other cyclists. I now know to be more careful to anticipate and find better holes.

Off the bike for the next few days, and they I'll start commuting to the new office (on the other side of the Mall :-))

20 °C Partly Cloudy - Humidity: 88% - Wind: 24 km/h SE
Very good commute today a lots off traffic and some rain but very funny. My commute is about 7km each way. I have to bought something to cover my legs when its rain.

55 and beautiful!

Nice commute today at 49F and sunny with winds from the S @ 7mph. Unfortunately I forgot my clean shirt to change into, so I have to go throughout the day with my all-white loose fitting wicking shirt on. It's not too bad, just a little dirty and has some grease on it from my bike. On Wednesday I couldn't find my rear blinky and figured it was gone. When I pulled up to the bike rack on campus, guess what I found? My rear blinky was sitting on the ground right near the rack. I'm pretty surprised none of the other people who ride didn't snatch it up.

Kind of an odd commute today. Two incidents to report: 1.) I was in the right lane of a road with two lanes each way and left turn median. I had to turn left. I saw two sets of headlights behind me, the first one was too close so I waited for him to pass, and when he was by, I moved to the left lane; the second vehicle was WAY far back. By the time I changed lanes, all of a sudden the second vehicle was on my tail. Must have been doing 60 in a 35 zone. WTF... Then I moved to the left turn lane and he zoomed by me. It was a cop and I think he was getting ready to pull over the first vehicle. Whoa. If he had been doing anything close to the speed limit, he would have never come that close to me before I made my turn.

2.) Similar setup. I'm in the right lane. There's a vehicle in the left lane behind me. There's a pickup ahead, waiting at the median to complete a left turn into the road in my direction. Apparently he's waiting for me to go by. He waits. He waits. Finally, he gets tired of waiting and pulls out into the left lane, right in the path of the other vehicle behind me, who had to hit her brakes pretty hard to avoid rear-ending him. She gave him a blast of her horn. A quarter mile up, she and I both turn right into the parking lot at work while the pickup zoomed by, honking at us as we both turned into the parking lot.

This, you see, is why motorists hate bicycles. They make bad decisions, don't want to be held culpable and need someone to blame it on.

Chilly morning went back to shorts and shouldn't have, 44f. I guess fall has gotten here.