I got my first bike (let's say a "serious" first bike beyond my bike when I was ten), and I'm getting very excited with everything, accessories, advocacy, registering, learning lock techniques, how to change a flat, etc, etc.

So tonight it was my first night ride, from Harvard Square to my home 10 minutes away. I just bought a Planet Bike Beamer 3. It's not a huge light but it helps being seen. Next week I'm receiving in the mail a reflective vest. Wow, I feel I'm ten again

Thanks everybody for answering all my posts in the past two weeks.

Why in the mail? You can get them at Home Depot for less than $10.

Haahah, I bought it with the U-Lock in Amazon.

This was such a sweet and fantastic story. You are definitely an example. This week another cyclist asked me in a light if I knew a bike shop around the area. I invited him to stop in the corner and I searched for one in the iPhone. He was thankful and I felt great. Of course it's a tiny story compared to the German story, but it's definitely worth it to help people in the road...

within 1 hour of arriving at the house for the weekend, I was greeted by this.......

....Then this.....




Have a nice weekend. everyone....

....then the light faded......

It's that time of year again, temps falling then rising, 48 F ( 8 C) this morning. The first down hill was chilly. Oh well, this time next month, I will be clamoring for anything above 30 F ( -1 C). Easy ride in, and lots of dark.

Good ride today. I had to start my shift early today 0500, I need to get a light since I don’t have the Castro anymore.

44 degrees this morning - cold and dark. My ride starts with a huge downhill, so these days I've started taking laps through the development before I slide down the hill, just to warm up a bit. 44 degrees? I look at that now ... only 12 more to go before morning ice.

Uggh.... not my best ride but, at least, I rode. My son brought home a cold last week so we all ended up sick this weekend. On top of that, no sleep last night, he was coughing and waking up all night. It feels like I'm over the worst of it but, I'm pretty wiped out. I was listless and winded for most of the ride, sniffling and coughing too. The upside: no more creaking/squeeling/pinging bottom bracket-that was replaced on Friday and, the rear tire didn't flat (it flatted on Friday's ride home, then the patch gave out on Saturday forcing me to replace the tube yesterday). Hopefully, I'll perk up a little by this afternoon (plan on taking a lot of Advil Cold and Sinus-a miracle drug :-) ).

Nice ride in. Was taking it as a recovery ride since we logged in 140mi this weekend so poked along about 14mph. See a whopping four cyclists, cool mornings are starting to make them dwindle. Of course there had to be two of them doing the ninja imitation. Oh well.

Still trying to get my Edge all tweaked out, I think I'm getting there. Tempermental little bastiid it is.. https://connect.garmin.com/activity/13736848

Clear, calm, and 42F. Very pleasant. Only "MUP regulars" are out riding any more, it seems.

Passed a guy with a mountain bike who was stopped taking a picture of Rock Point. It was being bathed in the morning sun.

A very vanilla ride into work, weather-wise.

On my street, a car pulled out of its driveway in front of me (didn't see my light I guess.... or didn't care). When the car came to a stop and got out of reverse, I went around the back end and passed it (I was probably doing 15 mph to the car's "0" at that point. I came up to a stop sign a few houses later. One more block before the main road, with a car parked on the right about halfway down, so I took the lane (i.e., ran down the middle of my residential street), planning to pull over to the right after getting past the parked car. I didn't have to; the car that had pulled out of the driveway in front of me STOMPED on the gas after the stop sign and flew by at a pretty good rate of speed, engine still revving, and swerved all the way to the left curb to pass me just as I was alongside the parked car. As she went by, she said somethng at me which I couldn't hear over the roar of the engine.

Now.... I know where this motorist lives; any good ideas for one of those passive-agressive little notes I can leave on her car?

At daybreak I also encountered a bike commuter with no lights who was alternating between being a gutter bunny and using sidewalks (on both sides of the road, as available). Little chance of encountering pedestrians there in the morning but still. I tried to talk to him, "Hey, good morning" kind of thing, but he just road on without acknowledging me after we traveled the same road for about a mile. I think he was putting himself at risk more by jogging back and forth across the traffic lanes to get to the sidewalks than if he had just stayed consistently in the traffic lane.

doohickie - I'd report the driver for aggressive driving. You can easily get her name and address info, and license plate (if she parks outside or leaves her garage open). Unacceptable behavior -road rage- IMO.

Nice and cool this morning. 45F (7C), clear and dark at 6:30 when I rolled out. It will soon be time to wear long pants and full-finger gloves............

The new (arrived Friday) P7 "Nova 900" (aka magicshine) headlight did not disappoint. What a fabulous light for the money!. No dead spots, no hot spots, ample illumination with a good blend of focused light ahead and diffuse light to the sides. Phenominal light for under 100 bucks shipped. I'll post more as tome goes on over in the electronics thread.

Uneventful ride in. I saw perhaps 4 other commuters (with lights) and one ninja.

doohickie-I'd report her, too. I had my first really nasty experience with a yelling motorist last week. As he buzzed me, engine gunned, he yelled out, "Get the f___ off the road!" So I made note of the car's make, model and license plate number and submitted an aggressive driving complaint on the website of my city's police department. (I hope they actually take note of what's submitted there... I haven't even gotten a bot response, so next time I think I'll call.)

As for my commute today, pleasantly cool very enjoyable. About ten minutes from work near the end of the stretch of MUP I ride on, I spotted some money lying around on the path. No one around, so I guess it had just been dropped by somebody. Only a couple dollars, but hey, can't complain about free money laying around. They say money doesn't grow on trees, but the $ was under a tree... makes you wonder! LOL

Supposed to hit the mid/high 80s today, but starting in the 40s. Definitely equinoxy weather so far. Really need new brake pads to pull the 4 yr old in the trailer in the weather to come. Uneventful ride as far as I can remember, otherwise.

Rode the new bike in. Bit slower than usual as I'm still getting used to clipless pedals. Rides like a dream though . Getting colder in the morning, so I wore waterproof pants with sweats underneath. Big mistake, need some decent cycling tights. Felt like I was being steamed alive.

Had a 0 mph fall today. I hate those.

Friday I rode the new CX bike and on the way home I decided to pull off the paved trail along the river. Within 20 seconds, I had three goat head thorns in the front tire. Sheesh.

This morning I rode the road racer, hoping to do some intervals on the way home. Hopefully no flats today.

one of those Monday kinda days. Really cold (3C), didn't sleep well. Caught a nail downtown that tore my tire so badly I had to hop the train. Got stuck next to smelly, drunk homeless guy muttering about Jesus. Day can only get better from there...

has been ideal commuting weather last couple weeks, this morning included.

Tempted fate and embarked in the pouring rain this morning. Ten minutes later I got a flat, my first in months! Ride home is looking a lot better.

[QUOTE=canyoneagle;9713611]doohickie - I'd report the driver for aggressive driving.

I thought about it, but I think the more likely way to change her behavior would be to leave a note on her car, claiming that I've reported her.

The ride home was interesting. Strong thunderstorms are blowing into the area. I decided to take a direct route which included climbing a steep hill. The storm was coming up behind me, sucking all the air into it's low pressure trough, creating a stiff headwind. Being (just barely) a Clyde, pedaling hard uphill, and even a little harder with the wind in my face... POP! I busted a spoke on the rear wheel. I had to ride the rest of the way home like that, about 5 miles, with the tire rubbing the fender.

I've been home a little while now, and the storm still hasn't gotten here, so I guess I didn't need to be in such a hurry, but even at that, I was surprised at how quickly the clouds overtook me.

It was one of those bike commuting weeks that started not with a bang but more of a thud. I was so excited I was finally going to get to ride my road bike into work. It had been sidelined due to a wheel malfunction and I've been riding in my MTB, knobbies and all, to work.

In the ensuing weeks I'd made plans to switch from MTB pedals to real roadie pedals and upgrade my shoes to SPD-SL. So with a new wheel set and pedals 'n shoes I started off on one epic morning commute. The problem was this was my first experience with road shoes. (I'd tried a few test clip-ins and outs the day before and I thought I was ready).

Well I had to get the bike just outside the gate where I park before riding, a distance of about 50 feet, so I decided to put one foot on the pedal and coast along till I got past the gate (I usually do this in the MTB shoes with MTB clips). I coasted about 5 feet when my foot slipped off the road pedal and the next thing I notice the bike is taking me down to the pavement and I thought I'd just go with it and not fight it.

I landed on the wallet in my left rear pants pocket and oh how it hurt my butt. So much for the epic ride in. Luckily, this was about 6:45 in the morning and still pretty dark so no one witnessed my moment of clumsiness.

I decided I'd better take it real slow today; I'm not setting any land speed records today. After riding in on the MTB for 3 weeks, switching to the road bike was an eye-opener. Add in the over-stuffed single pannier on one side and we're talking one unstable set of wheels.

I'm going to switch back to a backpack now it's a little cooler in the mornings and look at adding another pannier to even things out. At least I've "broken in" the shoes and pedals!

The ride home was better; for now I just got to take it slow and easy.