hot. humid.

Left my riding glasses at home yesterday, of course, I got hit just under each eye by: a wasp and something like a June Bug. Both big and painful. Otherwise, the rides are ok and I've been knocking down "all ride weeks" left and right. Upcoming bike maintainence will include: new wheels (Mavic Open Pro's creeking relentlessly), rr. brake cable, bottom bracket. I think that's all...

Rode geared w/ my 8 yr old today, going to pick up 4 yr old w/ trailer in pm. Totally cush ride, real difference between 32mm 80 psi and 2.0" 40-50 psi

Meh. The normal commute. 100+ for this afternoon. That's gonna suck.

Hehehe! I'm back after a long time away from commuting. Problem was lack of a job....
Now I have a nice easy roll in to work, and a choice of longer hilly routes home. Perfect

I finally got my bike back from the shop after breaking a spoke. Its feels good to get back on the asphalt and commute to work. Have to get new pedals for the Madone so I can tear up the streets!

Mostly good, except; 1) almost right-hooked by a car, I did have to lock-up the brakes, 2) had to lock up the brakes again to avoid hitting a rabbit on the MUP (SART for those in Orange County, CA).

Fun ride this morning. Just shot the shizznit with my buddy JF about our kids and bikes and our kids riding bikes. You know, the important stuff in life.

Tailwind from Hel_ um_ Heaven!


Nothing like cruising on your high-30-pound dualie MTB in the low 20MPH range and barely working at it.

I need new rear brake pads. They've been squealing a bit lately and now the wee tab thing is starting to hit the rotor's "spokes." Not so good. I'll do that tomorrow.

Wishes it was as hot and dry in the morning as it is in the afternoon. Hot or not, I like my ride home so much more than my ride in. But I guess I'll take what I'm given.

I had a wet ride ride home tonight. At least when it rains it is cool...

My daughter got the 9 mile trailer ride home vs the 5 or so that she's become accustomed to. We stopped at a farm stand for raspberries when we still had a couple miles to go to get to her brother's camp.

I took the seaside route so I could get a seabreeze. I got to work with a ½ hour to spare, so I ate 4 bananas, a quart of 1% milk, and a 32 oz bottle of Blueberry G2 Gatorade. I drank 50 oz of water before I left. I took the main road home- it's more direct and at 10:15 on a Tuesday night there's little traffic. I'm working at 7 tomorrow, then I'm off Thursday.

Quiet ride in this morning. Dark as usual. Nothing to report and that's always good.
Ernest

Good this morning. Mid 60s. Light tailwind. Damp pavement from some thunder storms last night, but otherwise dry. Saw some guy hauling a shopping cart overloaded with huge bags full of empty cans.

OK but the air quality stinks - very humid with less oxygen per liter I think. I'm hard on myself in the morning but I think I was breathing harder than I should have been. I think I need to adjust my rear cones again. This is twice in the past 300 miles. The new rear wheel however is holding up very very well and is still as true as day 1. All the spokes continue to feel the same. I'm keeping a very close eye on it. This converted hybrid however will not be my last bike I can tell you that. I want to get my money's worth out of it but I'm still dreaming about the Trek 1.5 and Fuji Touring ...

morning STATs:
13.34 miles
27.1 mph MAX speed
16.4 mph average speed
48 minutes saddle time

Nice ride today, warm but a nice following wind. Also, ensuring that I was well hydrated through the night seemed to make a big difference in how I felt. I sipped on a big tumbler of Gatorade + water (50/50 mix) and finished it up this morning. I wasn't as fatigued and the legs felt much stronger than they have in a week or so. I had a good sweat going as it was really humid, and managed to hit 30 mph in a short sprint down 15th street (I think the car beside me was pacing me to see how fast I could go). I hope to have as nice a ride home today.

A very pretty morning, 72 F ( 22 C). I got in late, because I had blood work and I like riding in the light of the morning. I just don't like staying late, so there is a trade off. Thunderstorms predicted for
this afternoon, so we'll see what the afternoon will be like.

Late night = late start this morning. The first part of my ride is downhill, so I was going at a good pace (for me) and when it flattens out, I usually slow down a bit. There was a guy behind me, and I kept thinking he would pass but when he didn't, I just kept up the pace. Finally when the trail ends and hits the road, I slowed down to get some water and he said "nice pace" as he passed me. I said "thanks for the help" and I meant it. I need to be pushed now and then. I hope he didn't think I was being sarcastic. Today's pluses: some bad bumps on the trail have been repaired. Minuses: a lot of glass in Cady's Alley and on Key Bridge. I may have to start carrying a whisk broom.

Got my A ride back yesterday afternoon after having a broken spoke taken care of. I thought the LBS could do this quickly, but they didn't have bladed spokes in stock, so it took a day. I need to take care of this my self from now on.

Any way this mornings ride in was absolutely perfect. Low 60's, no humidity, no wind, lots of sun. This was also my 100th commute of the year (yes I keep track of things like that).

We have been having monster thunderstorms almost every afternoon for the past 2-3 weeks. This week is no exception. Yesterday the forecasters said it would be the driest day of the week with about a 1% chance of rain, and we had a huge storm in the afternoon. Fortunately I drove. I biked again today even though they are calling for a much higher percentage of storms. It's all a crap shoot. Amazingly I haven't been caught in a storm yet, but I've come close quite a few times.

Beautiful morning. Ovecast lifted and sun came out........ended up following 2 different garbage trucks. As they were collecting, they were blocking the bike lane and 3/4 of the right lane, there was a lot of traffic....so it took a while to get around........ so sun and stink for the mornign

No bike commute today, or for the forseeable future. There's a recall on my bike!

This was my first bike commute since I rode my Electra Townie into work on bike-to-work day. Today, I rode a used Lemond Big Sky SL that I picked up for a steal on craig's list (my first road bike ever). I shaved off 20 min. from my commute with the new bike. That is saying a lot since I am out of shape right now. I must say that I love biking to work! I could not believe that a truck actually backed up when he saw that he had crossed over the crosswalk that I was going to use to get to a bike path.

I plan on finishing the week off on my bike, and then . . . the sky is the limit.

I find it ironic that I am starting to commute by bike during the same week that my hometown is celebrating Hot August Nights, a week-long classic car show and street party. Here is to celebrating bikes rather than cars.

The overnight low was 95F. My 7:30am commute was 99F with a 98F heat index. That is why I like having showers at work!