Normally I'm rather annoyed with 10 mph headwinds, but the one this AM was a pleasure because it was blowing in nice cool, dry air....very refreshing. Commute itself was pleasant and uneventful. Legs are still a little tired from the weekend riding.

Dark as usual. Rode my Motobecane Nomad in so I had a fast quiet ride. Hot this morning but I had a nice breeze as I rode to help. Nothing else to report.
Ernest

Real nice morning, 66F with a tailwind! Yippie! Saw another commuter. Had to turn before I caught up with him. I love to look at other peoples rides to see how they do things.

Wind of the head. :) Not too bad, but annoying. I scoured my chain and put more air in my big ol' tires last night. Wound up passing 3 other riders this morning.

Yesterday I reeled in a statuesque blonde on a mountain bike. :o Eye candy of the Nth degree, she was. She started riding with her hands off the handlebars and I realized just how tall she was. Close to my 6'2" build. I passed her (to my chagrin) and said hi. She said hi back and was just as pretty on the front side. :p

Another good ride in 60 F ( 15 C). I came across a police car with lights flashing in the dark around 5:15 am this morning. As I approached him from the rear, I could not see anything in front of him. He was
next to a residential wooded area. When I got near the rear, he turned his lights off and pulled out in front of me. I was far enough back, to be able to stop, but clearly he was not looking, before he pulled out. He pulled into a driveway to a parking lot, and I passed. As I was preparing to turn left onto a highway overpass, another police car was making a right off of the overpass, going in the direction of the other police car. Just a happening in the post summer solstice dark.

Yesterday and today were similar rides in - mid-50's. Just cool enough so I wanted arm warmers.

Broke a rear wheel spoke on the way in today, maybe a mile from work. I've now got a nice wobble in the rear wheel, so my ride home is going to be an easy one.

july 14 at 844 est- rode bike in to work last night with safety vest on as usual. saw another regular commuter who i think works at a grocery store like me. ride in was lacadaisical as usual, in no rush to get to work and took in the sights and stopped to talk with a regular customer i saw on the way to work. my ride home was the express path as i call it. i seem to want to get home fast for some reason.
anyway weather is holding up just fine here on long island. no rain for quite some time.

Normal ride... meh.

First time in over a week though, due to various conditions that kept me from riding. Hopefully I'm past all that now.

Another nice morning for bike commuting, I saw 4 or 5 other riders too.
A city bus passed me a little too closely on a bridge, I wanted to catch up to let him know to watch out and give me more room next time but I let it go.
I am on vacation for a week and a half so I will be riding along lake Champlain in VT and taking it easy with the Mrs.

Cheers All~

Nice ride -- cool weather this morning for July. Maybe mid 60s? Saw 2 deer on the way home last night. I love seeing them this time of year -- they are so peaceful and there is plenty to eat along the trail, and they never seem startled when you pass them. There were a LOT of other riders on the MUP today. I think most of them passed me, but I passed a few too. I guess I need to pick up the pace! My bike is in serious need of some maintenance -- hopefully I can find the time tonight to clean and lube the chain.

Brisk morning for July, low to mid 50's (13c). Felt a bit chilly in the shadow of the mountains, but felt just right once I was in the sun.
I took one of my alternate routes in and reeled in a roadie, who was happy to chat for a mile or so before we had to go different directions. I was riding to his left, but still inside the white line, when I got buzzed by a landscaping truck with a trailer. A bit too close for comfort.

Other than that, I felt strong today - definitely getting those dusty quads back into shape. Just a hair under 20 mph average this morning for the 12 miles in.

Nice morning, but I felt sluggish getting up out of bed and it stuck with me. Slower than normal ride, but still enjoyable and I'm glad I rolled out of bed.

First commute by bike in a week. Man, I missed it, but special meetings and events here at work meant I had to wear suits all last week and over the weekend (when I also had to work). Good to be back on the bike. It does surprise me how much weaker I can feel in the saddle after just one week away from the bike (sadly, didn't get any recreational rides in either). Headwind didn't help either, except perhaps for keeping it cool (temps in the mid-upper 60s this AM)...

Oh well, form comes back at least as quickly as it's lost, so I'm sure by Friday I'll feel good and strong again. Glad just to be riding.

Cooooool, achy and funny!
 

Michigan....commute from Ann Arbor to Dearborn this morning. Cool (49 degrees) I wore a super thin wind jacket over my jersey but stowed it about 10 minutes into the ride. Neoprene gloves were good as were the knickers (I have some regular shorts for the ride home)

Achy because I did a century on Saturday (My second ever) and haven't fully recovered.

Funny because I came to a red light on Michigan Ave (A large boulevard with 4 lanes each way) at one point - saw a cop off to the side so decided to wait for the green. Meanwhile, a lady (term used loosely) at the bus stop was looking me over carefully. I turned my head to see what was up and she said

"Y'all allowed to do that?"

Now, as far as I can infer, she wondering if it was legal to ride a bicycle on Michigan Ave.....

I said "Definitely" and took off as the light turned green.....

bhop - nice reflexes, all that Jedi training must have finally paid off!

Commutes yesterday were uneventful in both directions, but this morning's ride in was, in a word, bizarre. Had a peaceful 5 mile ride to the subway station at North Hollywood and loaded my bike onto the subway. We get rolling and about 10 minutes into the ride the train slows down and finally stops in the middle of the tunnel. The operator says that they are having some technical problems, and to be patient while he does some troubleshooting. The train sits there about 15 minutes until he comes on the intercom again and tells us that he has been unable to correct the source of the problem and we'll have to evacuate the train and walk to thte next station. We all exit through one door, and have to walk single file along a 5 ft. wide passageway above the tracks. Interesting that everyone was in good spirits and there was no panic, despite there being a very noticeable smell of burnt insulation or some type of "electrical fire" type odor in the train.

We finally get to the Hollywood Blvd - Highland Avenue station and a train is there within a few minutes to finish the trip. Funny thing was that I was thinking of riding in door to door today and skipping the subway part of the commute, but I passed on it because I didn't get out of the house early enough. Next time I'll follow my instincts. . .

Cool, this morning. Took it easy, chatted w/ another commuter at a stop, briefly.

The ride home was HOT! Good grief it was hot! On top of that I was trying out these new powergrip pedals. I don't think much of them, they'll be coming off shorly. Nice ride otherwise.
Ernest

OH yea, very nice ride home.

Boy, I sure am glad I worked late and missed the heat.... it was only 102 when I rode home tonight. :P

..."only" 102... :O I don't think I've ever felt anything over 85°... The ride in was fine- had a bit of a headwind, though. My car needs an oil change, so instead of going straight home after work, I took a liitle side trip to Falmouth Quick Lube to see what time they open and close. A Toyota Echo pulled out in front of me and I was neck and neck for a moment while it got up to speed. Enter: The Strobe... hee hee... Then, later on, someone in a passing car said, "Bike Light!" I don't know whether he was giving a verbal thumbs up or he thought I didn't have a light. Well, oil change tomorrow- last time I got one was in February. Snow was on the ground:)

I forgot to mention.... as I turned onto the road with the bike lane, I tucked in behind a roadie. He seemed like he was just out for a casual ride, doing only about 16 mph, which was find by me so I tucked in behind him, riding my hybrid in jean shorts and a t-shirt. He knew I was there, and before I knew it, he had crept up to 17, then 18, 18.5, 19 mph.... he finally topped out a little over 20. He was cutting into a pretty good headwind, but with him in front I was able to keep up pretty well and followed him for about 3 miles. I was right on his rear wheel when he turned off onto a bike path (I was going straight). I called out, "Thanks for the draft!" and he answered something like "No problem!"

Later on when I was riding into the headwinds by myself, I didn't make such good time.

today was heat index of 106 deg only got yelled at once,and looks like rain on the way home tonight in about 30 minutes ; / . Overall a pleasant day heh.

Good morning all! Had a pleasant and hot ride in this morning. Dark as usual and already hot. I rode my Motobecane Nomad today. Took off the powergrip pedals and flipped the handlebars last night. Makes for a smoother ride. Road repairs everywhere so I was dodging potholes and parked construction trucks everywhere.
Ernest

Upper 50sF. :rolleyes: It's comfortable, but we haven't really had a summer yet.

I left 5 minutes early, and wound up catching and passing 4 other cyclists. Usually I'm lucky if I even see a cyclist. I also reeled in a commuter-roadie (with small panniers) but didn't pass as he was cruising around 17 and that was comfortable.

One guy I caught on a hill. Squeaky chain and all. I want to carry a bottle of lube around for mandatory de-squeaking stops. :p

A beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Best 32 minutes of my day, so far.

Biked over my first chipmunk today. Crested a small hill on a quiet street, was going about 10mph and glancing down.. Then thump, something ran under my front tire. I passed and it scurried into the woods. Dumb.

Weird to wear long sleeves on a mid-July morning. Mid 50s is comfortable, but not very summery. So much for global warming.

Got cut off by a car this morning that SPED UP to get in front of me and then turned right without signaling. I had to smile when I saw their bumper sticker. A silhouette of a bicycle and the words "Share The Road".

~65 degrees this morning at 5AM!

I was having a pretty nice ride to work. Taking it easy today and I started hearing a rattling noise. I just couldn't pin it down. I was starting to get worried as I thought it was coming from my bars or stem. Turns out it was my front light rattling... I'm relieved, yet kicking myself for not realizing it until the last mile of my ride.

Nice and cool heading down to the valley floor, very pleasant from there on. I left the house about 15 minutes later than usual and encountered MANY more othe cyclists - some on training rides, others on their commute. caught up with a guy on a road bike and chatted for the last mile or so before I turned off to the office.

Mapped my ride http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...24673411062097

This is my standard commute, which follows the easiest route I've found for the way home. I have other options if I'm in the mood to kill my quads, but I have been trying to move to 5 days a week, so mellow as she goes.