Nearly lost it to a steel grate with bike tire sized gaps. Whew, was lucky on that one. I'll remember that area now. Got a flat on the front shortly after, I'm thinking pinchflat although it must have taken a while to bleed down.

Arrived to aork on time but grumpy.

Not today (I am telecommuting today), but yesterday. There must have been an accident on the highway because my surface street commute home was bumper to bumper cars.

Passed about 2 miles of cars (all not moving) while going 20-21 mph on my bike. It felt really good to be on a bike.

Had some rain possibility predicted by the weather guessers for the ride home. Normally I would take the T700 or the M400 with fenders but I had so much fun riding the 77 Super LeTour yesterday I decided to ride it again today.

Ride in was nice and I am getting better at the shifting. Didn't have nearly as much chain skate on the hill. I am missing my SPD's on the hills though. No rack on the bike for shoes and I really don't like bags or back packs but I may just have to go back to that. I have no intentions of putting racks on that bike and trying to travel lite these days.

Rain came in as predicted but I managed to get home between the storms. Wet streets in places but no biggie. Definitely was a good ride despite that.

Think I need to finish servicing the 84 Fuji this weekend and ride that some next week.

Buddies are talking about doing a lunch ride 40 again this weekend but I think the Silver comet is still closed from storm damage on the part we usually start at. May have to change launch points. I may have to ride the LeTour if we still manage a ride and be the odd man out with a $45 CL Schwinn in a group of high end road bikes. Not really new to being the odd man out as I ride Touring bikes mostly but I still ride one of two nice T700 C-Dales I have (one is set up more like a cyclocross and the other is full on touring with fenders). The Le Tour is more road bike then what I normally ride.

Well, I figure I might as well post about this week's happenings.

My sister drops me and my bike off at my college because it's early in the morning and we need to be at schools at similar times anyway (carpooling!) and I ride home. It's about three miles and this was the first week where I rode home every day. It was... interesting.

On monday it had rained early in the morning, around 4:30am (it woke me up) and the ground was all wet and my fenders were able to be put to use for the first time and it rained a little on my way home. A raindrop went right in my eye despite my glasses.

On my ride home tuesday, a couple of guys shouted "Whoa! Retro!" at me. I was riding a '73 Schwinn so I took it as a compliment.

On wednesday it was incredibly foggy (made for a fun marching band rehearsal) and a bunch of water condensated on my on the car ride from my house to the school. I was riding to the bike rack to lock up my bike and went to brake and I didn't stop and nearly crashed my bike when I went off the sidewalk into the grass. There was water on the wheel rims ~___~ I'm okay though, didn't fall over.

On thursday I nearly got hit by a school bus. I was passing an elementary school and they had just gotten out so there were a lot of kids around. I head to an intersection where bus was waiting at a stop sign and I didn't have one. I was about 5 yards away from the intersection when the bus started turning. I had scooted all the way to the curb and nearly got hit, and then one of the little ****s on the bus stuck his head out the window and was yelling "move! move!" I hate little kids. I even knew the bus driver, too. He was the driver sometimes for my high school/middle school buses, I think he was driving the middle schoolers. I wish I had thought to write down the bus number.

On friday I managed to get up all three hills on my route without getting off my bike. Yaay! And the weather was really nice.

If commuting is always this eventful, I don't ever want to drive again. XDD

I rode into an "interesting" part of town this evening. There was a Parents Association meeting at the small college my son is attending. I didn't know about it until I was leaving for work and my wife mentioned it. It started at 5:30. I told my wife I probably wouldn't go, then decided I would. The school itself is surrounded by a very run down neighborhood; there really isn't a good way to get there by bike. So I gritted my teeth, picked what I thought was the least bad route, and went.

The route included riding through some very heavy urban traffic. At one point I just decided to bag the vehicular cycling thing and ride the sidewalk over two railroad bridges. I think the cars appreciated not having to wait for my pokey butt to make up up the hills. Then across the freeway that bisects the city from north to south. On the east side of the freeway the neighborhood goes down really fast. The traffic thinned out a bit though, so I was back to the vehicular cycling thing. I was thinking I would make it no problem. For the last little bit I decided to cut through the neighborhood just south of the college and pop out opposite it so I could just cross the busy road it's on and head in. That was almost a mistake.

My biggest worry when riding through run down areas is not so much the people. I have an average looking bike and even though I run lights and a hi viz vest, I don't think most people would give me a second look (although I am a cautious when I see groups of youths). Anyway, my big fear is dogs.

So here I am cutting through this neighborhood and there she is- a pit bull in the front yard of a house. I think she saw me about the same time I saw her, and she stood up to greet me. She wasn't acting particularly aggressively but I didn't want to take a chance. I hopped off the bike and got it between me and the dog. Once I stopped moving fast and started to look human, she seemed to lose interest mostly, although she still kept an eye on me. I walked the bike back a couple houses to the last corner, and turned and jogged over a block. Maybe the dog wouldn't have chased me but I didn't want to find out. I don't think the locals bore me any ill will, but they may have enjoyed seeing a dog attack a pasty white boy.

After that it was just a few more blocks to campus. I stayed on the lookout for more dogs, just in case. But that was pretty much it. I was willing to try the ride during daylight but when the meeting let out after dark, I let my lovely wife sag me home with my bike in the trunk of her car.

Today felt like the first day of fall. The baked-earth afternoon warmth of summer is gone. Now it's almost cool. Still, beautiful and sunny, and I passed a lot of cars by the roadwork bottleneck. Call it a 6/10.

Todays commute was great. My legs are still in pain. I passed a roadie going uphill stayed in my saddle will he was pumping out of the saddle. This as on the 12sp Volkscycle with two panniers and fenders. Great day for this stuff. Perfect weather for a ride.

Great commute this morning! I rode my new bike into work for the first time and it was awsome
I don't know if I'm sold on the drop handlebars though (it's a Bianchi Pista track drops.) I'm thinking I may throw on my Bullhorn bars.

6:48am~ 8:55am , 23 miles. not too bad i guess. climbing hills were nearly impossible. nearly fainted for 10 minutes on the tennis court floor. fixed conversion.

Man looks like you are running some big gear on that. What is that a 52/16 combo? Hilly where I live and 40/18 was a LOT of work.

46x16. 69 g.i. i believe. it flies on flat road but climbing hills can get difficult. i love it though

i used to have 52x16 but i felt like i was riding on a 1960's cruiser and it was a hassle to even ride on flats, so i changed it to 46.

Great commute this morning. It started with my son waking up early (5:05am) so I got to have breakfast with him.
I rode the new bike in today and I am really liking how it handles. I put on some bullhorns last night and they freaking rock! Pumping up the couple hills I go up were a breeze.

it was hot, but well worth 32

A MT I also did Gates Pass @ Tucson MT. Park AZ USA.

I changed up bikes this morning, and rode my MTB in. Noticeably slower, but a nice ride at 50 F ( 10 C) in the dark morning. Went to the farmers market yesterday, as I do for a couple months in the summer when local produce comes in. Tomatoes did not do well this year locally, because of the cooler summer. We just did not get enough of those 70 F ( 21 C) nights to help the tomatoes along.

Damp pavement today, from lots of rain last night. Mid 50sF. No wind. Squirrels seem to have lost all sense of fear. One just sat in the center of the MUP and didn't flee until I was right on top of it. Even then, it just walked off slowly. I think it gave me the finger!

I also escorted a cat across College Street in downtown Burlington.

That fixed gear bike (above) looks sweet. I want one. Drop the saddle horn!

Great thread guys! thanx for sharing the experiences!

Ember - when riding in rainy weather, try pulling the brakes in intervals while you ride, this helps a lot when stoping.


Today is my 3rd week of commuting!

usualy i ride to the docks in Old San Juan and ride a boat to the bank district. but today i arrived and the boat just went away ... no matter! i can ride this so i got to it......rode the whole way, and it was fun as ussual.

Half way thru i decided that riding the bike trail from a nearby park would be safer overall, since it had no car traffic, so i went back to enter the park, not knowing i passed it 15min ago lol went thru a pretty bad neighborhood, even saw drug dealers ...so i pushed fast thru there!..got to the park and it was all so nice!

the weather was perfect! wind blowing a lot of trees, joggers, saw 2 bikers...the cycle trail ends at the port i arrive in boat, so from there i rode the ussual 4 minutes to work...got here at 8:28, 2 minutes before work! google maps is concluding i rode around 11K

A little colder this morning at 38F. I rode today with toe covers on my shoes for the first time. They seemed to work reasonably well. I was a little slower than usual due to a long ride in the mountains yesterday.

Paul

Windy--very windy today. It'll be at my back on the way home, though. Much cooler than it's been lately, too--probably around 45-50 this morning. Felt like fall for the first time.

I switched my tires just to try out these new ones, I had Conti Ultragators and switched to
Nashbar Prima 2 Plus Road Tire, and I am really liking those tires, it was a comfy ride, like I was on air. I just hope they have good kelvar belt the roads in Manhattan are crazy.

The ride was the same nothing changed maybe I rode a little faster due to this tires, and you know what, they seem to handles bumps real good I was impressed. It was not rough like the Ultragators..

Oh I happen to see a rodent layed out on the Westside bike path on my 5am commute and dude was big and fat.

Headwind all the way. Will I be so lucky as to have a tailwind on the way home?

Same here, and I was wondering the same thing!

Brrr. First a.m. below freezing. Since both the BF and I just got bikes we're going to ride them until we can't plow through the drifts anymore. I'm seriously considering setting up one of the beater MTBs as a winter bike - there are a couple of nuts around here who go year-round (-40 C not uncommon at all during Dec/Jan/Feb.)

Stiff headwind this morning for me as well, so I drafted a beer truck for about a mile on the way in. It would have made a great promotional photo for Coors Light, having a cyclist seeming to chase the truck - except that it's a terrible beer.

Much faster, mph-wise, but not here notably earlier. Definitely fall today, low 40s. Sunny at least. Still struggling w/ front canti brake, glad no trailer today.

Yeah, with my short commute (6 miles each way), I've noticed that luck in light timing has much more to do with my overall commute time.