The commute back home yesterday (5/25/2011) was pretty easy. The co-worker I rode in with was having great difficulties so I just plodded along with him. At one point when we stopped I told him his seat looked low. We chatted and he said he thought the entire frame was too small for him and after looking at it I agreed. He is about my height so I traded him bikes for a trial run. When I got on his bike and pedaled my first thought was "This sucks donkey ass!" as the seat was too low, tilted too far up in the front and generally not working for me. He on the hand felt like he was riding on silk it took so little effort to move. Reluctantly he gave me my bike back and I realized how freaking hard he was working just to get from point A to point B, let alone try and keep up with me (because I'm awesome).

Since we were slowed we got caught in the rain and was quickly soaked. I didn't personally care but I figured with how hard he worked and how soaked we were he deserved a beer. We stopped at a local joint along the path and had a pitcher.

The entire commute for the day equaled 29.71 miles. Next I'll try leaving from my house and going for the full deal. That should kill me.

There hasn't been much interesting to report on the commute lately. It's warm enough now that I've had to switch to carrying a full change of clothes with me. I did have something funny & dumb happen this morning. I was approaching one of these stupid (for cyclists) traffic calming things we have in Atlanta. Like this:



I'm in the right lane and need to get left to pass through the crosswalk area. I look back, there's a car about 30-40 ft. back. I signal to get left and the dude screams around me and barely missed the curb cutting back in front of me. His rear bumper had one of those Coexist stickers. Classic.

8C, drizzly, breezy. First time in 3 weeks riding my fendered drop-bar MTB, but I could have taken my road bike because the streets weren't really wet enough to need fenders. But I recently put clipless pedals on my MTB, so it's as fast as my road bike anyway. (no, not really.)

i was cut off before in the same manor by an oregon driver with a "share the road" license plate!

Yesterday, I rode to work. After work I met a group, then we rode to dinner (Vietnamese Pho restaurant). Returned through downtown as the Mavs took the lead, to wild cheering at the Fox & Hound, stopped off for a "ginger ale" at the T&P Tavern, then finally rode home, arriving a little after midnight... total for the day of about 53 miles.

The ride home from downtown with a moderate tailwind was a zen-like experience.

50F sunny/cloudy/dry/rainy/windy

Well the Soho is no longer a virgin. I got drenched riding home today, including pea-sized hail!

But it's a joy to just turn a hose on it, and run a couple of dry towels around to finish the job. No lubing. No cleaning. No grease.

Had a 9mph headwind with gusts higher than that. It sucked. I'm trying to get fit and I know it helps but F7U12!

Bleah. Rain. Another nice February day. At least I got a workout.

Nice, except I saw something I'd rather not see again, ever - a stray dog getting its leg run over by a car. Not the driver's fault, but as a dog person I was horrified by the outcome.

Picked up an eight penny nail in my back tire just past the 1/2 way point...I walked an 1/8th of a mile to the nearest driveway to get off the Highway and then proceeded to put my skills to the test. It was the first time I tried to replace a tube along the road in the 3 years I've been commuting. It went better than I expected and I was back in the saddle after about 15 minutes...the delay kept me from biking to the Worlds Largest Brat Fest Take Your Brat To Work event before work. I'll be headed there for Lunch. Bikers get a free Brat! :-)

Beautiful, chilly, morning for the bike commute even with the flat it was GOOD!

Good but cold again this morning. I took it easy today and dropped back on my speed & rested my legs a little. Oh yeah, and a stretch of the trail I had to slow down and work my way around 7 wild turkeys. That's a traffic jam I think I can live with.

Commute in Michigan? I do not ride in cold rain, so I have only had 2 goods days so far this spring. This morning again 45 degrees and rain, rain, rain. . . Hope spring comes soon.

Nice tailwind today, but geez, it's been pretty humid in Austin lately.
Also, today is the last day of school which means my commute is about to get a whole lot nicer. When school is out there are so many less cars and the ride is much more pleasant.

It was a great ride... and it sucked. The ride was great. Low traffic. Nice temps. Nobody buzzed me or honked. Then I got to work, and while getting out my badge to get into the building, I snagged my glasses, and they fell onto the concrete and wound up severely scratched.

Oh, and I forgot my lunch.

On the commute home yesterday afternoon I didn't quite outrun the storms that blew in. About halfway it started raining on me, conveniently just as I got to Krog tunnel. So I pulled in, bagged my electonics, and continued on. I don't mind rain on the way home if it's warm out. The thunder and lightening and the wind starting to whip up was something else. I did make it home before the nastiness started. Downpours, hail, high winds. The winds were something. I actually joined the dog in the bathroom once when I saw the trees bending half way over and swirling.

I know exactly what you're talking about. Last week I was riding home from a bar at night with a slight tailwind. I thought it was just the beer but it was pretty cool on the senses just cruising in the dark (with lights) but not feeling any sort of wind.

Good way to start the holiday weekend, commute into work in nice temps (high 60's-low 70's). Plus early dismissal likely from the big man this afternoon means some extra miles on the way home if I decide to put in some extra work on the trail and roads. Good times indeed.

Went through some water just before turning right. I was fine until half way through the turn I decided my tires could probably take more of a lean. I thought, don't be a puss, your tires will hold. I was wrong. Nice strawberries on my knee, hip and elbow.

45F, sunny, clammy. Feeling beat from the end of bike commuter month, giving blood, and a brutal headwind.

Don't always post here, but I had a couple interesting commutes this week so thought I would.

Yesterday - we have a big campus where I work with a pond near the entrance that is probalby 15 acres. There are always waterfowl, a couple blue herons, carp eating in the shallows so you can see their backs out of the water. Yesterday I had the extra treat of a bald eagle that came swooping down to try and catch a fish just as I was passing by the pond - awesome sight. We're a defense contractor, and I kind of think of him as our mascot -- looks like he might hang around all summer cause he's been here a while - last time I saw him a couple weeks ago he was walking in the shallows stalking the carp.

Today -- we had some pretty powerful storms last night with high winds. Took out lots of trees in the area. So about halfway through my 14 mile commute I come to a road closed sign. The guy manning it said there were power lines down about 4 miles ahead (about a mile from work,and any detour for me woudl have been a pain). I proceeded, knowing the area and knowing I could walk around on the RR tracks or in backyards/fields if I had to. Turns out I didnt', but hte best part was 4 miles of riding in complete solitude next to the rain swollen river! Rode right up the middle of what is a 55mph two lane road They should close the roads more often.

A little chilly and windy (seemed worse on the way in), but I was feeling great when I got to work. And I felt even better when I saw the moron sitting in a rugged off road SUV parked in the parking space closest to the door smoking a cigarette with the engine running.

47f, sunny, no wind. The dirt portion of my commute was nice and tacky. Somehow I managed to attract the attention of a horse, and it decided to follow me (much to my surprise).

I was zombie-like this morning. I really don't remember a lot of the commute. I made it here in one piece though.

It was cool with a light misting rain.

Nice weather, about 70 and lower humidity.

So nice, in fact, that I almost forgot that I nearly got right hooked in my bike lane this morning. Brain dead driver would have taken out pedestrians crossing, too... but he stopped at my healthy yell.

Other than that, though, not too much traffic this morning, and I'm anticipating a pleasant ride home this evening, while the cagers are stuck on the highways. I'm really really hoping the boss will decide to let us out early, though.