First commute this week. Between the weather, work schedule, and after work sports activities for the kids, I hadn't been able to get on the bike this week. Suprised that other BF DC posters did not get any of the severe weather yesterday morning. We got hammered further west of the city, which is why I cancelled the commute yesterday and drove instead. Weather this morning was perfect, 50-55 and sunny, not much wind. Felt good to be out on the bike.

35F (2C), cloudy with sporadic drizzle/snow and very wet streets. Very pleasant, except when I turned for my Westward jaunt across the valley. A steady 15-20 MPH breeze from the approaching storm provided a rude wake-up call, reminding me that I am still riding the Singlespeed wheel. I think I'm going to slap the Alfine back on this weekend. This area gets too windy to have my primary commuter limited to one gear.

It is supposed to stay cool all day, with steady snow expected to arrive around lunchtime.

I had an awesome experience yesterday.

While I was riding from my place to see a concert last night a guy yelled "Go **** Yourself" and flipped me off for no reason other than I was in his way. Two years ago this kind of thing would have made me mad, but instead it just bounced right off of me. In addition it actually made me feel great! Why? Because I was enjoying myself so much, just happy to be on a bike at that moment, and I actually felt sorry for the guy to be stuck in a car and so angry. The more I thought about this the better I felt and I really enjoyed the rest of my ride. It was a very strange experience.

This was the first time someone yelled at me in Seattle, and I am glad it was a positive experience!

Just like this AM, the ride home was a blast! I'm liking this new bike. Feels fast and comfortable. I'll give it a couple weeks before I'll consider selling my Aurora, but this rebuilt Kuwahara Carerra seems to be a lot more fun to ride.

Heh heh heh........
Yep. Snow. This pic was at the local coffee shop on the way home. The poor trees were in full bloom, too.

Rode to daycare with my son on the TAB today and then rode to work in the sunshine. First commute to work in daylight since last fall.

Fun morning commute. A guy caught me when I was still in Maryland. We exchanged lead several times for several miles, over 40 blocks. We did not exchange words (I spoke briefly but he is either deaf or aloof). We did not work together. At one point I had a huge gap on him, later he had a huge gap on me. He's the guy in blue. I thought there were three riders behind me when I turned around to get this picture (Rhode Island and 16th NW) but I guess one rider turned left on 16th.


Evening rush hour. Lone rider on the Met Branch Trail over Rhode Island Avenue.

I did my first commute of the year today. Last season ended in the emergency room, and while I'm physically fine, I just haven't been as excited about riding this year after that experience. Beautiful day in NYC. I am SOOOOO out of shape, I could barely make it up the Manhattan Bridge on the way in, coming back was a bit better.

had to ride down to milton and back to deliver a 1TB HDD (bike is way faster then uploading in this case)..
nice long ride:

-saw bunnies.
-talked with some other riders
-my front derailleur snapped in half. leaving me on the small ring, not a big deal.
-got yelled at by some guy in USPS semi-truck.
couldn't hear a word he was saying over the sound of his engine. so i came up to his window and told him to get out of his truck so i could hear him.. he sped away.

Man what a beautiful day! Cold front came through and was in the mid 40s! So had to get the light jacket back out. Ride how was like being in an air conditioned room. The cold front sucked out all the humidity. Then as a Bonus I stopped by the Tent sale at Performance on the way home and scored a new pair of shoes for $10!

The ride in was pleasant. Mostly down hill and calm. Some cars, but, no one tried to "teach me a lesson" about riding on the road (two lanes each way, no bike lane and all sorts of crap in the gutter).

The ride home, not so pleasant. Up hill (I'm used to that) and a stiff head wind (not so used to that). Nobody yelled at me, but I swear that if a couple of the cars that sped passed me had an extra coat of paint they would have hit me.

I mostly kept my head down and ground my way home.

The ride was nice today I had the wind with me both ways which was a switch from the the opposite every other day I have been riding the last couple weeks. I passed a neighbor (who I also went to college with) that was jogging preparing for the Lincoln Marathon and I also passed a friend that commutes to the University nearly everyday but this is the first time I have seen him on the ride to or from work. It was a nice warm day and I rode my bike every day of the work week for the first time in months. I usually only add up the gas savings as a bonus motivator, but $7 in one week ain't bad.

So glad I am not the only one experiencing cold again, I mean really this is crazy. Monday was in the 20s, Wednesday in the 40s and now again today freaking cold. It was 31 on the ride in and maybe 40 on the way home. I am usually sweating on my Friday commute home as I only have 10 minutes to get to my other job so I fly but today I had on jacket, beanie and gloves and I averaged about 15MPH on my single speed and I was still shivering when I got in the house. Oh warm weather come back please.

Twas the season of flats this week.

It being a law of nature that flats never happen in good conditions, my first was at 10.30 at night in a howling wind and driving rain. I took refuge under an underpass, changed the tube and made it home. Then next morning on my way to work, the back flatted again. changed it pretty quick this time BUT it wouldnt inflate. I spend far too long wondering if there was a prob with the pump but of course I must have pinched it putting it in. So after much muckng around I changed it for another new tube and this time of course, it worked.

last pic looks like my ride in tokyo, only road is wider!

Not too bad of a ride in at 55 F (13 C). On Friday, I walked out to a flat rear tire, so I figure since it took all day to get flat, maybe the hole was not too big. I pumped it up and made the whole just under 10 miles. I was expecting to have to pump it up every few miles. On Saturday, I took it apart, ran the tire and found a piece of wire, no bigger than a couple cm. I look out for broken glass, nails and screws, but there is no way to look out for a piece of wire that big. On the balance it has been 8 months since my last flat, so not too bad.

We are hitting the sweet spot weather wise in NC -- ideal temperatures, low humidity and the pollen is finally going away. I went kayaking with my wife yesterday afternoon, and my legs felt great today after taking the day off cycling. Rode my De Bernardi racing bike this morning and made great time as it was the first morning in a while when I wasn't bucking a headwind.

52F/11C today, with a gnarly headwind that's supposed to carry through and become a tailwind this afternoon, FTW. I think I saw something far behind me on the MUP but it never caught up.

I spent some time cleaning the bike yesterday and it "felt faster" today. I put a couple of amber spoke reflectors on it. One on each wheel. I'm wondering if I should but two on each wheel to even it out.

39F Nice morning, really tired though going on an 8day work week so far, painted half a parking garage over the week end and I'm a little sore.

2C, clear and sunny, maybe a bit of a tailwind. Forecast is for an absolutely beautiful spring day, so I may get to ride home in a T-shirt!

Tough dropping our baby off at the day care for the first time, but the commute following that was nice.

I had a flat Friday morning, too. I had just checked the tires and topped them off the night before, so I knew it went flat over night. I probably could have changed the tube and made it to my bus in time but I decided to just take the motorcycle to work instead. When I got home I filled the tire back up to find the leak but couldn't find it. I did short rides both Sat. and Sun. and the tire still hasn't gone flat yet, so I rode this morning. Weird. I wonder if I had the valve core cocked a little and fixed it when I filled it back up.

Two straight days peaking above 60F suckered me into putting summer slicks on (32mm vs 37mm 'off'season tires).

So anyway it's back to 45F and drizzly. But at least I wasn't gullible enough to take the fenders off.

Also, flopped back to fixed and replaced rear solid axle w/ hollow + QR skewer. So far so good on the wheel-sliding front (back, I mean).

1st commute of bike commuter month, although biked w/ the kids to Safeway yesterday too.

After the 5 Boro Bike Tour yesterday, I wasn't too sure about riding this morning, but I had fun with my go fast machine on Friday, so I toughed it out. Legs felt a bit tired/ weak and my butt hurt a bit, but nothing too bad. Didn't press too much, just enough to get my legs moving again. Weather was a bit chilly (low 50s) and the breeze off the ocean was moderate, but all in all, I felt OK. Pollen season seems to be in full swing, and my tires were coated in yellow powder by the time I got to work.
Forgot my belt though. I have an emergency pair of pants, emergency socks, and an emergency dress shirt in my desk drawer, but no emergency belt. Have to change that.

It was about perfect today. Not too hot or cold, a slight tailwind, and few obstacles to maneuver around.