Another beautiful N TX morning. The ride in was very nice. A guy out for a 25 mile road ride in the dark before work freaked me out a bit - he "snuck" up on me at a stoplight. When I started moving, I couldn't figure out why that car behind me (you know, the one whose headlights made my shadow huge?) didn't move over a lane and pass me. Did a quick look back and was surprised to see a guy on a bike with a really bright headlight behind me. He said "hi", and passed me. I didn't intentionally try to keep up - he's a skinny guy on a CF speed machine, and I'm a fat guy on a 24 lb CrossCheck wearing a backpack, after all - but for some reason my body can't resist the challenge regardless of what my mind is telling it. I didn't keep up with him, but stayed close enough to catch him at the next light a half mile or so up the road. We rode together for another mile or so and had a nice chat, and then our paths diverged. First time I've ever seen anyone out on the "real" roads for a training ride before sun up.

I bonked about halfway into the 15 mile ride (hmmm - maybe because I tried to keep up with that guy?) and was glad for the Gu in my pocket. Need to take a look at my pre-commute breakfast and see if I can find a way to avoid that on back-to-back commute days.

Had a good ride this morning through fog initially, then clearing as the sun rose. Layering was my friend this morning as it was pretty chilly when I started, then warmed a little once I was under way.

I'm 225km from my 2011 goal of 2000km so I know it's reachable within the next month if I keep at it when I can. It's getting hard to get up early in the dark again but I'm doing better at it this year than last.

Cheers!

Drove halfway, biked in the rest of the way (3.5 mi) on my MTB, as we're expecting rain in the PM. I'm giving my MTB (mentioned here) a good wet weather test.

Tough ride in, didn't have much in the tank and knees were a little creeky/sore. I managed to stay dry and only felt a little sprinkle when I was nearly at work. Wife didn't get to ride today, I was hoping her first week back on the bike would have been an "all ride week" but, she was running a little too late and left the bike covered, in the back yard. I saved a baby snapping turtle on yesterday's ride home. He was walking across the MUP and, at only about 1.5" long and dark, I thought he was too vulnerable to cyclists who wouldn't see him. I picked him up, put him in one of my water bottles, and dropping him off in a shallow part of the river, near the sailing marina. Cute little thing, hope he makes it. Looks like intermittant rain for the afternoon ride home, hopefully I can time my departure well.

Bravo! Congrats. Welcome to the commuters' club!

Fog was very thick this morning, left a blanket of wetness on you after riding through it. I'm sure it wreaked havoc on the car commuters, so I was glad to be on the bike with the light traffic on the MUP. There's a 50% chance of showers this afternoon, which means there's a 50% chance that it won't rain at all. Either way, I'll be fine.

55 & rainy this morning. Then the rain stopped and the wind began. It was one of those rides that you just have to get through. Looking forward to the return trip this afternoon when the wind will be at my back.

Pushing 60F, gray, and muggy.

Rode home w/ my 6 yr old down to 2 wheels last night:

Cool crisp morning. Practiced my pedal stroke the whole way. Easy and fun. Managed to pick up another pace car along the way too.

+10C so it was warm enough to wear shorts for the ride in. I probably should have worn more than just my baselayer shirt. I wasn't cold while riding, but got a case of the chills after changing at school. Taking the stairs up to the 5th floor of the library usually warms me back up though.

The 700 x 28 Continental Ultra Sport I'm using on the rear of the bike feels a lot slower and mushy than the 700 x 25 Kenda Kriterium I was using last week. At first I thought it was either my imagination or the wind. I have a set of folding Gatorskins on order that I should get in about 1.5 weeks.

It's getting cool enough at 7am to break out some warmer clothes now, 50s. Tights, a light fleece and/or jacket, smartwool socks, full finger gloves. I even used a skull cap this morning. I don't like cold ears.

Ride home at 5pm is very nice, 70s.

My current concern on my commute is that my route is straight east and I ride just as the sun is above the horizon now. Most of my route has an ok bike lane/shoulder but 1.5 miles has deep gravel to the right of the fog line. I worry that a driver will be impaired by the sunlight and drift over towards me. Some parts are shady which is helpful. I try to ride to the left of the fogline to drivers aren't tempted to try to squeeze by me.

I have loved bike commuting for the last year since I moved into town. When our office was downsized enough that we needed a different space I was hoping that my commute would slightly increase from3 miles to as much as 6. I just found out that we are moving to the other side of the street from my condo complex. Next years total bike commute will be measured in tenths of a mile per day, might as well start riding the fat tire pub cruiser or walking to work and sell the beloved graduate.

Enjoyed the fog this morning. Nice dense low cloud bank allowed for good visibility but tops of tall buildings, etc. In the distance disappeared into the clouds.

Got new brake pads in the mail @ work this AM. Kool Stop salmons. Put em on at lunch. Good thing. My brakes were worse than I realized... It'll be nice to have REAL stopping power again. (here's hoping i don't endo with the first use of the front brake! LOL)

Also got crank puller and BB tool today. Hopefully by this weekend I will find the time to replace the left side plastic cup on my UN-54 BB, which is cracked and creaky now, with the nice metal one I've had around for a couple months.

Cloudy but not rainy out now as I prepare to head home. Wish afternoons were cooler than this, but 75 is better than 100, so I won't complain.

Great commutes today.

Fastest commute so far this semester this morning at 59F with fog and no wind. https://ridewithgps.com/trips/399037. I couldn't believe all the idiots running around with no lights on during the thick fog. I found a stop light that I couldn't trip. Unfortunately it's pulling onto a busy road and I definitely wasn't going to take my chances by running it with the fog. There was a van stopped right behind me, but was about 20-30 feet behind me. I kept trying to motion for it to pull up, but they weren't getting it. Eventually when the van moved closer the light changed, but it probably took about 5 mins.

76F and partly cloudy this afternoon with winds from the SSW @ 6-10mph. When I pulled onto Rt 20, something major was going on on the other side of the road. There were 4 or 5 police cars on the shoulder with lights flashing, a tow truck, and two vehicles. Not exactly sure what was going on and it didn't look like the any of the vehicles were damaged from an accident. Maybe I'll see what happened on the local news.

It took longer for me to get access to my bike than it did to ride home. My access card didn't work, so I had to walk across campus to the parking office. Then waited for 20 minutes while they messed around with the card. Then walked back to the bike cage with a parking guy, where neither my card nor his worked. So waited for a locksmith to come by, who discovered that the battery that operates the latch was dead. That's about the 5th time in the last year I've been locked out of the cage.

The ride home was quick, with my max speed hitting 45.5km/h.

edit:
While locked out of the bike cage it gave me time to contemplate how I might get into it without a key, then I saw it! Using a pole about the length of a broom handle you could easily reach through the chain link, push the handle down and open the door. Some security!

Good riding today. Actually, it's like that old saying about sex: "It's all good; it's just that some's better than others."

This morning was lightly foggy--just enough to provide a bit of ambiance. Almost romantic until I dropped my chain about 200 meters from l'arivee (grimy little sunuva*$^@#).

Some contractor driving a full size truck lost his 5-gallon water jug into the middle of the road. I was nice enough and picked up the water jug and moved it to the sidewalk. One, it'll reduce the chances of an accident. Two, it'll stop the build up of car traffic. Three, it'll keep cars from swerving into the bike lane.

Warm, warm, warm.
65 by the time I got to work this morning - at about 7:15 am.
No arm warmers needed.

It's now 78 degrees and cloudy. Looks muggy. I expect to be very sweaty by the time I get home. Tomorrow rain is likely going to arrive...got to get the rain gear ready.
Rain and in the 70s, not so bad really.

Really, really wet. Poured for the whole 16 miles into work. Quit raining all day. Started raining (monsoon) the whole 16 miles back home. The skys are clear again.....


I think I made the gods angry.

Was going good until I got about 300ft from my house. A fly flew into my nose. I'm not sure if it flew out or is still in my nose. It feels a bit harder to breathe out of my left nostril (where the fly flew into) than my right nostril. Will see how it is tomorrow.

LOL. On my commute, I passed by a sign that said it was 71, thought it was downright cold, and started thinking about getting out the winter gear.

You shouldn't be nosey like that.
I said that. I did. I heard it...nosey like that. : )

Best ride in. 70 this morning as the sun came up and I pulled into the office. 100 on the way home like it always is. Miught get a break from that in 9 or ten days though, even though the ride was not unpleasant.

A very wet ride in, with some flash flooding. It is still warm at 65 F (18 C), and that makes all the difference in the world. About halfway in the rain slowed a bit and that made the rest of the ride fine. Now, drying everything before I leave, becomes the task of the day.

I read an article on BBC yesterday about sucking in car exhaust. Appar up to 6 hours after eating car exhaust, if a person has coronary issues, a heart attack can be triggered by the car exhaust.