canyoneagle

3 miles into the ride my nexus got stuck in 6th gear. At least it didnt slip, but it was a singlespeed ride in today. No biggie, as it is mainly downhill and flat on the way in.

The ride home should be.............. ummm....... interesting.

caloso

A beautiful morning, calm and cool. My legs were a bit heavy from racing yesterday, but it was good to get out and spin.

Ballard

Started practicing my commute for my new teaching job. Not hot at 6am, but this Houston weather is tough after about 11am.....Commute path takes me 18miles, mostly through parks. Very peaceful

dcdirewolf

+1 on the Jazz Mandolin Project.

canyoneagle

Update on the "frozen Nexus" - problem solved - the shifter wire had come off of its track and had become wedged. Easy fix - I just unhooked the cable as if I was doing a tire change, and re-installed it. WHEW!

Iphelix

My first day commuting and it was wonderful...20 miles round trip...I couldn't wait for work to be over so I could get back on. Any suggestions for cleaning up without facilities on hot summer days? Mon and Fri are dress down for us so that's not a problem, but I want to ride every day...Also anyone know any good raingear////snow? I have a Jamis Citizen commuter and plan to ride as much as possible...My first goal is 60 miles a week.

canyoneagle

Rolll-pack or fold your change of clothes and load them in your pack or pannier (I recommend a rack and pannier). Keep a small set of travel toiletries, deodorant, washcloth, wet wipes, a razor and towel at the office.

Allow yourself some time to cool down (last mile on the way in plus 5-10 minutes) then do a sink sponge bath. If your bathroom is fairly public, load up a washcloth with warm water and a bit of soap and retreat to a toilet stall then strip down and get to business.

Towel off, dress up, and you're in business!

bhop

Ride to work was pretty good. Light traffic for some reason..

Afternoon, not too bad. Traffic was heavier, but seemed 'normal'.. for L.A. anyway.. overall pretty good,

that is, until I nearly won a prize..... of the door variety..

I generally try to stay out of the door zone, but somehow I wandered a little close to the parked cars and wouldn't you know it, someone flings their door wide open causing me to hit the brakes (luckily I ride with my hands over my brakes in heavy traffic), slightly swerve in the small space I had after I took a quick glance to my left to make sure I wasn't gonna get squashed by a car/bus/truck, and curse very loudly throughout the ordeal. I think my squeaking front brake, along with the cursing, might've helped them notice me enough to pull their door slightly closed (not all the way of course), but enough for me to squeeze by and catch my breath behind a stopped bus.

I feel pretty lucky. I think if I were a couple inches more to the right, I would've been a goner, or if they had opened their door a second later. Man.. I'm gonna go have a beer now..

Bob N.

Nice ride, stopped by the bank so they could see what I look like all sweaty.

Saw the red light runner in Georgetown coming a mile away...which is nice. I waved hello energetically.

neilfein

@bhop, glad you're okay. You have good reflexes.

First afternoon train:
A gentleman on my afternoon train was carrying an empty water bottle, and crinkling it. Loudly. Often. Stop it!

The train out of Newark was laid out cattle-car-style. The only place for me was standing, away from any walls, with my folding bike held upright between my knees. People were all around me, and I was barely able to reach handles to steady myself as the train shook its contents like a can of soda.

While reaching into to my trunk bag to grab a book, the train again lurches, throwing standing commuters towards the front of the car. As I fall, I reach - frantically - for the handle I know is behind me, I accidentally hit somebody's nose. Someone who had his face against the handle. I asked the guy how he was, and he nodded that he was fine before sliding back into see-nobody-speak-to-nobody commuter mode.

This was, literally, a jarring ride.

Big Ron

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.

Big_e

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

JoeSoMD

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.

vtjim

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. 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.

fletchh

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.

rlrct

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.

acorn54

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.

Doohickie

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.

jpdesjar

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~

Allycat24

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.

canyoneagle

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.

Tigerprawn

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.

EKW in DC

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.

twentysixtwo

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.....

El Gigante

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. . .