5th commute home. For some bizarre reason my commute home was 8 minutes faster than the commute to work. Which is incredible considering that it's uphill. I'm not sure what got into me, I just felt like pedaling as fast as I possibly can. Beat my first commute home by over 42 minutes. I am feeling very encouraged by my progress.

I didn't ride to work Monday and I'm taking a day of vacation tomorrow, so I only rode to work 3 days this week. On the way home Tuesday, I rode a couple of miles off my usual route to stop by Performance Bike to pick up an order, and ended up with 29.6 miles.

I thought today was just going to be another standard 105 degree ride home, but I was mistaken. When I went to leave work, I noticed my front tire was low. I pumped it up and headed for home. As soon as I walked out of the shop, I noticed the dark clouds in the north. I didn't think too much about it. Most of our storms come from the west, so I figured this would stay north of me.

Just over halfway home, I could tell that front tire was getting low again, so I stopped to pump it up. It was obvious by then that this storm wasn't moving east, it was coming south and gaining on me. I hadn't quite finished pumping the tire up when the 50 mph north wind and dust storm hit.

The south ride down Crowley Road was nice. I would have averaged over 30 mph if I hadn't hit every traffic light red. But when I turned west on FM 1187, I was dealing with a 50 mph crosswind, not that much fun on a faired bike. The storm faded before it reached me and all we got at home was wind and dust. It looks like the cooler air reached DFW Airport early enough to end our streak of 100+ degree days at 40, two short of the record.

You just reminded me; 20-30 mph gusts on the trip home today, all cross-wind. My panniers cover my rear wheels pretty well, so multiple times during the ride I felt my rear end rapidly moving to my left. At first I thought I had a flat, as the sensation of losing control in my rear usually happens when I flat. But when I looked down the tire looked fine.

At that point I realised why the UCI bans aero covers for both wheels in its races

Today was my first commute. It was a very interesting adventure and I learned a couple of lessons that I'm sure will prove beneficial in the future. Lesson number one: don't blow through stop signs. As I was approaching a stop sign on a side street a truck was approaching the same 4-way-stop intersection on my right. I thought I had made eye contact with the driver so I continued through the intersection without stopping. It was about this point that the guy in the truck started to go through the intersection. He stopped short, blew his horn, and started cussing me out. Not one to be outdone, I gave back as good as I got and that was about the time he gunned his engine and turned in my direction. He pulled up alongside me, rolled down his window and continued yelling expletives. Eventually, like 20 seconds later (although it seemed much longer), he turned off and went on his merry way. Lesson two: ignore people when they yell at you. Don't get involved in a verbal battle when you were at fault in the first place. I probably ruined his morning by causing him to have to stop short and if I had been following the traffic rules, none of this would have happened. Does anyone else "blow through" traffic signals? I feel comfortable doing it when no one is around, but will definitely not do it when there is another vehicle at the intersection. My 8-mile ride this morning took my 35 minutes. The ride home took 38 minutes. My legs were a little tired. I have to drive to work tomorrow because I have to go to Orlando straight from work. I am, however, looking forward to my ride on Monday!

2nd commute this week today. beautiful weather, although i really need to get the real lights out for the morning. my first 10-15 minutes are pretty much dark now and the cheapo led flashlight taped to my helmet ain't cutting it.

ride home was great. perfect weather, not too hot.

about 2/3 the way home, somebody in a cage passes me, pretty much uneventfully. then then lowers his window and raises the one finger salute. i just laughed and returned the wave, but, i used all available fingers.

i thought this was odd. i never get this type of response from cagers. most are very courteous. the very next car passed me and a rather hippy looking young dude hangs out the passenger window with a big grin and gives me a thumbs up and yelled something. i smiled and waved to him as well, just like i did to the previous car.

reminds me of that penguins cartoon where the head penguin says "just smile and wave boys, smile and wave".

very wise advice.

and it just keeps getting better....regardless of speed.

I was married in Aubrey, just outside of Dallas during the record.

perfect rides today, perfect mid 80s temps.

Just one a-hole runner in the bike lane going the wrong way, giving me the "wtf dude?" shrug when I don't give him enough space.

Back to zen

Today's commute was... interesting. I ride on a road that is in not-so-great shape because there isn't much traffic on it for my area -- it's quite popular with the local bicycle commuting crowd. I tend to ride a 6-8" strip of the road that is in the "best" shape. To the right is the battered remains of the asphalt in the form of gravel that can easily dismount a rider, not to mention all the poorly installed grates and meter holes. Most people on the route are quite patient with bicyclists, which is good, because there tend to be a lot of us. Today, though, sphincters were falling from the heavens...

On the first leg of my four-part commute today, I got clipped by some guy in a grey minivan who passed me on the right, after jumping the curb. My first bike-car accident. Didn't get hurt, but still... unnerving. Wish I'd got the license plate, but I was too focused on regaining control of my bike.

On the third leg, I had another encounter with my favorite breed of road warrior: the honk-and-hover. This particular specimen hung out maybe 2 feet from my rear wheel, close enough that I couldn't slow down to get over, leaning on his horn for about a quarter mile, thanks to just enough oncoming traffic that he couldn't pass. Like I said, most people on my route know that there are just pieces of the road that bikers just can't get over to let people pass, but this hero of the road was just too important for patience. After about 300 yards of constant honking, the horn on his car descended into an inconsistent warble, only to die maybe 50 feet later. I could hear him pounding on the switch, and the horn motor clicking to no avail. So the jerk takes a quick right trying to make the block and get in front of me at the next light. At said light, I passed him stopped at the red light in the straight-or-left lane. His face was incredible. I actually felt sorry for him.

What's funny, is, I was making really good time for my ride. I was catching up to traffic at every stoplight, hitting them just right so I didn't have to even slow down much.

:shrug:

My commutes are a lot less adventuresome than some of you. I seldom get honked at, yelled at or right-hooked and rarely ever see other cyclists. Nice ride this morning. I decided to take it easy and ride at recovery pace because I'm doing a century ride tomorrow. My legs have been kind of tired all week, so I decided to just listen to my body and slow it down, which was kind of hard because the weather was cooler and less humid than usual.

I took my best bike by the LBS yesterday in prep for the century because it was shifting kind of funky in low gear, something that just started last weekend. Good thing I had it checked. The shifter cable was down to one strand in the right front shifter. Also a good thing I have such a great mechanic who will check out my bike on short notice.

55f Not a bad morning, I switched positions at work and now start 30mins earlier so I get to work now at 5:45am.

Another good morning. Temps around 65F/18C with a tailwind.

Blonde Trail Hottie was way the heck up north, about a mile from my house. Never seen her that far north. Today she looked me and smiled for half a second, then quickly looked away. Maybe she's just shy.

Then a few miles later a runner going the other way on the MUP says: "Mphphh mphphmdhd mppgg?!" Er, 20MPH wind in my ears. I can't understand him. So I slowed way down and asked, "What?" I thought he was warning me about glass or something, but he just wanted to know the time, which I gave to him.

Passed by a group of emergency medics on the trail, one carrying a stretcher. Shortly later, a cyclist was down on the side of the path, another one standing next to him with a cell phone. He must have lost it on the sharp turn - people tend to swing wide on it, both directions. I hope he's OK; the paramedics didn't seem to be in much of a hurry.

Beautiful morning. Not a cloud in the sky and no wind at all. And I overhauled my bike last night so it had that new bike smoothness again.

I busted another spoke on the way home last night... I had to limp the last 8 miles at sub-superhuman speeds.

I had to drive in today, will take the wheel in to the shop over my lunch hour so that I am good to go on Monday.

Oh yeah... The right front tire on my car has a slow leak in it, and it had been so long since I drove that I had a flat tire! Luckily I own a little air compressor so I was able to get the tire inflated to the point where I could get to a gas station to finish the job. That repair is on the list for tomorrow.

Even when I drive I still get flats. I guess that I'm better off on my bike - At least I can fix those flats myself.

Morning commute was beautiful and uneventful~

The last month the LOWs were in the mid 80's and Highs between 105-115f. The last 2 days were rain and tstorms. Today it was 68f on the ride in. It was foggy, but I loved it.

Another cool ride in and I suspect it'll be a nice ride back out.

Seat on my bike is starting to come apart, just about at one year of commuting.

Commutes are less comfortable than I would like thanks to seatpost issues meaning I can't get the saddle adjusted right. Nose a little too high, but serrations/teeth on single bolt seat are chewed up too much to hold the proper angle. New two bolt seatpost (now on order) will be a godsend when it arrives.

The cooler, drier conditions are quite welcome. Knock on wood, but the NWS isn't showing any highs above 87 for the next week!!!

Oh the weather outside's delightful, and my ride was just the right pull...

Seriously -- gorgeous ride. So much so that several conversations begun by other cyclists started with "Wow I can't believe how gorgeous it is..."

I give. Vacation next week, so I'll be riding, but it won't be commuting (though I expect to do many errands on the bike). OBX here I come.

My ride home was amusing. I avoided the MUP entirely because of a huge music festival that had turned one section of the MUP into a zoo with tourons and brain-dead muppets.

Out on the road, I found myself reeling in a city bus. I ride this bus once in a while and the number of stops it makes is maddening. People will get off, and someone will pull the stop cord the second the bus starts moving again for a stop that you could throw a rock at from the previous stop.

So I pass the bus as it's letting people off, then it catches me at a red light. Light turns green. I sprint. Bus can't pass me because it has to stop again.

Basically I rode 2 miles along that bus route and never saw the bus again. It's *that slow.* The road isn't congested. The bus just stops way too much.

Evening commute was hot, and all uphill. I really need to get a bigger bike...

You know what I just realized? I'm the only commuter in Las Vegas.
It just struck me that I have the street, as far as bicycles anyway, all to myself and I certainly have the MUP all to myself. I literally am the only person I see commuting day in and day out. And I have probably the most perfect commute in that the MUP is in perfect condition, I ride by any services I could ever need or want. The landscaping is beautiful. I have direct access to the bus system for the duration. And I don't have to deal with any cars. This is for 14 miles a day. Where the heck are the commuters in my town?

My commute was pretty aggro this morning. They have my bridge torn up and it's effin' annoying.

It keeps getting easier. It's good to be getting back into the swing of things.

I got a "good job, saving the environment, saving gas money" from a motorist at a stop light. I also heard a lot of horns today.