Sounds like it was not your day!

It was a good ride in, 58 F ( 14 C), with a chill going down hill. Other than that it felt good and it is good sleeping weather. As I was crossing a bridge that serves as an interchange, I remebered two months back, when between the off ramp and the begining of the bridge a rabbit used to be sitting on the sidewalk, and birds were very loud and flying everywhere. It was fun seeing the rabbit, but now it is just crickets. I like crickets, but not the darkness that brings them out.

Bit of a chill in the air this morning. Upper 40s. A rather large calico cat was crouching low in the grass next to some weeds, looking like it was hunting. Just as I was passing, it launched up and came straight down in the weeds. I heard a chipmunk's alarm squeaks. I believe the cat missed.

Also heard and saw some geese. Almost time for the studded tires.

ChipSeal put a post on my bike commuting blog about riding in the rain. The forecast is for lots of wetness, and after a discussion with several comments on that post, I was determined to ride in today, no matter how wet it got. The only problem was.... it wasn't that wet! I woke to hear heavy rain on my roof, but by the time I left for work it had stopped, so it was just a normal-ish commute on wet roads.

Upper 40's really???? That's FREEZING!!! I was thinking it was a little chilly at 70 this morning in Austin! thought I might have been happier with long sleeves!

Nice and comfortable this morning; clear skies, temps in the low 60's, no humidity. I just switched my 12 deg. spot bulb in my lighting system to a 24 deg. bulb, much more usable beem for commuting situations. I also replaced both fr. and rr. tires yesterday with some Pasela Tour Gaurds, much better performance than the Conti City Tours that were on before. In addition, the Pasela's seem like true 28's, whereas the Conti's had to be a 32 or 35 (even though it was stamped 28). The ride was smooth and fast and absent the squishiness and weight of the Conti's-we'll see if they have equal flat protection (an area the Conti's really excelled). Other than that, my new (+/- 2 month old) Race Face bottom bracket is already shot. It had been squeeling pretty much since installation but now seems to be losing grease and is clicking/pinging horribly. I've got a Giga Pipe on the way-it can't get here soon enough.

I'd ridden in on Thursday for the first time. Normally I ride a bike to the bus stop and catch the freeway bus. Trip is from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles, roughly 18 miles one way.

I decided, pretty much on a whim, to ride in again today. Door-to-door time the usual bus way is about an hour; by bike, it's 1:10. I left the house at 0505. Light and Motion Seca 700 headlight, DiNotte 400R taillight on a Turner 5-Spot with WTB Velociraptor front and Weirwolf rear. Yes, I should have changed to the Hemispheres but I forgot.

On Thursday I'd discovered that Pico Boulevard works well, Two traffic lanes, plus a parking lane, and light traffic. Today there was more traffic but still no problem. Not much to see; it's all just city. I'd prefer to ride in the mountains and listen to the owls, but this at least keeps me in condition for mountains.

Previously I'd ridden Pico all the way to Main Street and then turned north. Bad signal timing on that route led me to try Figueroa to 6th Street to Main. 6th is one-way so I expected better progression. Well, that's true... and everyone else uses it for the same reason. To avoid getting trapped by buses, trucks and cars turning to avoid the buses and trucks, I just had to hammer it and stay with traffic. Not fun. I was glad when I could make the turn onto Main. My nerves were still jangled when I got to the shop. Elapsed time was 1:15 this time due to some bad signals, and not being so energetic.

Still... I'm glad I rode.

Beautiful weather, and I left early enough to take more time than usual while I got to work. It was a good thing too, I had to stop for the geese that wanted to cross the path and a squirrel that was running the same direction I was riding.

clammy but not wet. No other bikes in sight, although I was also late, so maybe everyone was already at the office... rode fixed today, no trailer duty. Expect to trailer 4 yr old home the rest of the week, so this was my one chance non-geared.

Got up early for a long ride but not early enough: the kids heard me and came downstairs asking for a book. We read Yertle the Turtle and Gertrude McFuzz. Which is just as nice, if not better, for starting the day.

Looking for a little advice here. I ride a roadbike and today I want to go to the parents house after work. It's about 10 miles from my place, and about equal distance from work. Anyway, I always try to take back roads and avoid traffic even if it means biking a few extra miles (figure it's a better workout anyway!). But to get to my parent's, I have to go along a fairly busy road. It's a 2 lane road, but it's always got loads of traffic, and people going 40.

Since I really want to get to the parent's house around 5 30 or so, it's going to be very crowded. It has a sidewalk, but if I'm remembering right, the sidewalk is one of those "really old/beatup/cracking" sidewalks. Should I just ride on the right side of the lane and make people wait for me? There probably won't be room for them to pass me.

IF you have visibility (i.e., have a rear blinkie and/or high visibility vest with you), do it as a vehicular cyclist. Travel in left tire track of the right lane (not sure if you mean two lanes each direction, or two lanes total, but it really doesn't matter). You'll be amazed at show much respect you get from cars when you are squarely in their lane. DO NOT ride along the right side of the lane; it is an invitation to pass, and if there isn't enough room for all vehicles to pass safely, you're putting yourself in danger. Just take the lane and be done with it.

It wasn't so long ago that I would have tried it as a gutter bunny or maybe taken the sidewalk, but taking the lane really is the best, safest solution.

Today marks a change for me with commuting. Where before I always had a working car and I chose to commute, my car is currently not functioning so in order to get to work I have no choice: rain or shine, cold or hot, tired or not, I have to get up early and cycle the 12 miles to work. There is a certain aprehension and excitement to this; I am being forced to live car-free and for some reason.. I don't mind! I'm not exactly in 125-miles-per-week biking shape, but I'm not in bad shape either having been a 5
mile a day runner. Regardless, I took it easy this morning to try to keep my legs fresh for 5 days of travel, and eating well (probably too well) to help repair my muscles.

The ride in this morning was wonderful. It wasn't the fastest or easist ride; my saddle hurts, it's always lonely (I never see another cyclist in my suburban commute) and I overdressed a bit, but it sure was liberating to think... THIS is my vehicle.. it costs almost nothing, I can fix it myself, and sooner than I think I will lose that last 5 pounds. I can't WAIT for the ride home!!

Here are a couple different takes on clothing for different kinds of weather: link

Today (or thereabouts...I didn't have the foresight to note the exact date) marks my 4-year anniversary of riding to work every day. In 4 years I've driven to work about 10 times. I'm fortunate that my commute is only about 5 miles each way (though not so fortunate in that the lowest speed limit on my route is 45 mph).

first time i was able to pedal continuosly ( i believe cadence is the word?) both to and from work through interpreting some traffic laws liberally. between that and some extra riding yesterday my legs are hurting, but in a good way. strong headwinds on the way home too. could have done without those...

Very nice. I work from home these days, so I don't commute like I used to. But today I had a meeting downtown and so I decided to bike to it. I packed a change of clothes just like my old commuting days. Changed before the meeting and they were none the wiser. Total commute was 10 miles.

He he... it's all relative. I grew up in Austin, and, yes, I remember wearing a light jacket if it was below 70. I've lived in snow country enough (Colorado, Alberta, upstate New York, Utah) and prefer the cool,dry air. Now I don't even think of wearing long sleeves unless it is in the 50's, and I find the 40's to be refreshingly brisk. 70 is warmish, 80 is hot, 90 is hotter, and 100 is really hot (but with 15% humidity )

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Nice ride in this morning. 60 degrees or so, no traffic hassles.

Thunderstorms rolled through and it is now 59 and rainy as I approach time to leave - just about ideal riding weather for a crazy person like me.

First day back to work after a week off. Other then a couple laps around the hood testing bikes I am fixing and one 40 mile ride with some friends on Sat the 5th I had not rode.
Temp was nice Humidity was up. Caught some sprinkles on the way in for about a mile but not enough to really even get wet. Overall it was nice to be back in the saddle. Ride home was nice. Looking like Thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday so I will probably drive.

Fun ride home today. Some wind, not a lot; perfect temperature. Forgot my gloves.

Came home to three (expected) cross-country cyclists who contacted me yesterday from Warm Showers; they're all very nice, and are on their way to Boston via Brooklyn.

Great ride home this evening. Light rain and drizzle, but warm enough that wearing my hi-vis windbreaker on top and shorts on the bottom was just perfect. It was a very pleasant ride in spite of, or maybe because of, the dreary weather.

I've been back at it for several weeks now. Last week was the first time that I combined picking up my son and kiddie-seating him home from daycare (7.5 miles) to meet my other son coming home from kindergarten. Fun ride. It sure is hard to ride with a passenger with a deadline!

Today was gorgeous. Did the full 10mi R/T commute today and followed it with a 14+ mile R/T ride to church for a deacon's meeting tonight. I flew home, and raced a car and nearly caught them It was some teenagers giving me some friendly **** for blowing a completely empty late night red light, and I dropped it into first and cut through the headwind and raced to catch them all along the beach (Ocean Ave in West Haven). Had they caught this one light, I'd have had them. Fastest I've ever gone through there by far.

Seems like a relatively lazy summer off of my hight school teaching job and commute didn't take too long to work off once my commute started again. I feel great.

One thing that has made my bike/train/bike commute nicer is a switch from a 16" folder to a 26". Go figure.

I'm looking forward to my first real commute tomorrow. Usually just training rides. Might as well make my rides save gas money.

13 miles each way. A few dicey intersection/bridges.

Awesome.
10 deg C, low sun rising.
Felt like *my* ride today.