Well, 94-97 degree weather aint that big a deal. I intended to start out slow and slow down, but it turned into a typical commute time. Pretty warm, biggest problem is sweat in my eyes. At about 11.0 miles a Caddy pulled out in front of me, stopped and just set there, not pulling out onto the road from the intersection we were at. They were waiting for the road to be clear for 10 miles in either direction before they pulled out. Because she had cut in front of me, not dangerous, I seen her coming, just pretty damn rude I was probably a foot behind her back dual exhaust back bumper. About a minute the sweat had soaked into my eyes and I could barely see, then after a minute or so I realized I really could barely see and I was starting to have a hard time breating. The fumes from the caddy were really starting to get to me must have not been fuel injected, it was stinking rich. There was a pickup truck right behind me and really no place I could go. About the time I was about to get off my bike and jsut sit down somewhere the caddy finally pulled out. It was so clear me and the truck behind me pulled out too, soon I could breath and see. It was still pretty warm and I was a moving wet spot. thank goodness for the 20mph head wind, kept me cool while I pedaled twice as hard. Still had about 4 miles to go. One more drink of warm water and I was moving pretty good again.

Sounds like I am complaining dont it? Not really it still beat the heck outta drivin.

Hot! The cyclocomputer gizmo was reading 90+ F. Ridiculous. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen 90s since 2009. The tailwind was nice I guess.

I was feeling a bit grouchy with the heat so when I noticed some sketchy guy on a mountain bike sucking my back wheel after I slowed way down for a couple of super-slow tourist-cyclists and a bunch of rough MUP, I dropped him like a really hot rock when the MUP opened up.

Heh... Following up my own report from yesterday! :P

Damp. Big storms blew through over night. 68F/20C and humid.

The city has closed a short section of the MUP due to a washout. :mad: It's a quick detour for me but it involves dismounting and climbing stairs. The way the city prioritizes anything that is NOT car-related, it'll be months before they fix the trail.

Storms blew through WI last night too....much cooler Today....Nice ride in with a slight headwind. It's Bike to Work Week in WI this week and the local bike shops are sponsoring a Bacon on the Bike Path event about 4 miles away from my office. I'm headed there in a couple minutes with 4 of my biking coworkers...Ummmm Bacon! There will be mechanics offering free quick bike tuneups there as well. Gotta love the Mad City!

42f Chilly it was raining most the night and the streets were wet, the cool wet air actually felt pretty good this morning.

I overslept this morning and had to drive in to work. On the radio the newscaster said that today is "Ride your bike to work day." LOL!

50F and sunny. Shouldn't have worn my coat.

85 degrees at 8:45 this AM on my commute and headed for the century mark this afternoon. <snark>I just LOVE summer in DC.</snark> Is it fall yet???

'twas similar here in SLC. Mid 40s F, the skies had cleared after overnight rain. Good ride in. My fingers got a bit chilly.

I didn't look at a thermometer this morning, but it was definitely warm. They say we need to get used to it, as the heat is here to stay. I saw 104 on a business thermometer thingie yesterday afternoon.

Rode to metro this morning and made AMAZING time on the MUP (16.0 MPH average speed from start to finish) but I credit that primarily to arriving at the one stop light on the route while it was green. Perhaps I should have taken it easier this morning, though -- I was pretty much dripping sweat the entire metro ride, and the train was CROWDED! I even brought a spare t-shirt to throw over my duo-dry top, but it wasn't enough to keep me from dripping. I may need to rethink my summer commuting plan a bit if the heat really does keep up. Bought a new mirror to replace my lost one. Haven't really had a chance to try it 'under fire' as my entire ride today was MUP, but it appears to be functional. Same brand, but different model than the last one, and the mirror on this one is MUCH tighter in its socket, which might prevent the loss I experienced with the other. If not, I'll be looking for an alternative this weekend :-)

Tomorrows plan is to ride home to work and back... maybe it will be cooler?

Re-learned a lesson yesterday when I went for a quick jaunt near dusk: Bugs swarm at dusk, esp. around creeks. At least I managed not to get any up my nose.

bacon
 

Only in Wisconsin! Do they also have a "Brats on Bikes" event?

2nd fall in as many weeks, ridiculous.

I think a grease truck must have leaked grease all over the road sometime last night. I was starting to turn left at about 5 mph and my bike shot out from under me, sliding about 10 feet. I had to ice skate shuffle over to it, very slick. Took the fall with my hip mostly this time, small scrapes on elbow and ankle.

Don't know how you folks can handle that kind of heat and guess it is like people not understanding how we can ride when it is so freaking cold.

Thankfully... we do not see many 100F days and summer temps like to hang in the mid to high seventies and will often get into the 80's.

Temps are supposed to stay in the low 70's for the next week with some prediction for rain and thunderstorms, which we get a lot of.

It was hot. That ride home after work...now that is gonna be interesting.

Awesome day. I was able to leave as the sun was rising and was able to get in almost 2 hours of tempo before work.

The heat has officially made drivers stupider. They were all over the place and for some reason, there was a parade of buses a couple miles long to make the commute more challenging. Lanes? If cyclists can get tickets for not riding in bus lanes, drivers should get tickets for not being in one. Made it to work and saw a dude wearing a t-shirt w/ a bike on it that said "MPG: Infinity" get off the subway.

Hail storm last night, lots of slimy leaves in the bike lane that had been beaten off of the trees and slush piles.

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...t/IMAG0001.jpg

took today off, road with my wife. win/win :)

A rollercoaster, that's what! And it was my first commute, too (you guys peer pressured me in ;))

I rode to work (about 5 miles one way) and made it fine and dandy, locked up on a bike rack, everything was fine. Well, I almost wrecked when I turned in too tight at a turn and the pedal rubbed the ground. But it's all good.

Until I come out to the parking lot. Flat tire. This is my first commute and I didn't really come prepared, no pump, no extra tube, no slime kit, nothing really. Luckily Wal-Mart is next door. I buy the tube and ask to borrow a pump and they won't let me! So I give up and start the 2 mile-ish walk to the LBS. Along the way, I start hearing thunder. The weather man said 10% chance of pop up storms! I ducked inside of a car wash and I just gave up and got a ride home from my dad. Ended up raining for like 4 hours.

But now I'm happy again because I broke my record on changing a flat and I got selected for a sweet scholarship I was hoping to get really bad.

I guess I won't go back out until I get a little more prepared. :thumb:

I did my first-ever bike commute today! I was surprised at myself, really. I started my internship downtown four weeks ago and I've been putting it off, but I finally gritted my teeth and just did it. And it was great! My route was 9.5 miles mostly through quiet, residential neighborhoods and a hike/bike trail along a bayou that delivers me almost to the front step of my workplace. I was worried about traffic and sweatiness but I didn't encounter any reckless or mean drivers, and I brought a change of clothes and wet wipes to clean up. I stopped to visit a friend on my way home, which was a nice break. I've discovered I'm a slowpoke but that's ok, it's less time I'm in a car or at the gym. Coming back the sun was setting, there was a lovely breeze, and I saw lots of fellow cyclists. I'm planning to do it again tomorrow as well.

My one question though, is how do you all deal with bad roads? I don't mean the occasional pothole or crack in the pavement, I mean crumbling, cracked, buckled, debris-strewn asphalt across the entire street. About 60% of my route is like that, and while I'm not in danger of crashing, I get tired of all the jostling. Any tips?

I should add...I could choose a route with perfectly smooth, debris-free pavement, but then I would be riding with 35+ mph traffic. I'm more worried about the cars than the roads.

Awesome!!

Fatter tires, pretty much.

You probably could ride that section once you get a little more confidence. However, don't feel like you have to. When you're ready, you'll know. I ride on roads with high speed limits, but only for very short stretches, or on the shoulder. As you go, you'll figure it out, and you'll want to try different routes to mix things up.

Keep at it!

Hey, kudos to the first-timers! :thumb:

I had a great ride this morning. Not warm. Not cool. 60F/15C with a light tailwind. I met up with a couple of roadies about 2.5 miles into the ride. I came onto the MUP from a detour (they had gone through the closed section... bad roadies... bad!) and pulled out behind them. They were mostly cruising between 16 & 20 so I stayed behind them for 4 miles until I got to my turn and they went straight.

Yesterday I rescued a painted turtle from the MUP. :o Cute little guy.

Last night's commute was HOT. 101 when I left the office, but that was the official (read in the shade) temp. I'm sure it was even hotter in the sun. Took it easy and went the shortest route home, partly to minimize exposure to the heat, partly because I had an appointment to make.

This morning's 82 degrees felt cool compared the last couple days, mornings included. Supposed to be a good 10 degrees cooler today than it has been, but that still means 90+. Good commute otherwise. TGIF! Happy weekend everyone!

This morning was about 70F. Not too bad. Traffic was OK, but not great. The worst part was running over some tar from some new road construction. It was stealth tar. There was water on various sections of road from irrigation systems, so I didn't think anything of this particular wet section... until I noticed that everything started sticking to my tires. I know what I'll be doing at lunch today.

Great job, first timers!!!!!!

Today's commute was really nice. 45F, cloudless sky, sun peeking over the mountains and splashing across the valley.
I rode the Marinoni today - first ride since converting it to (a more approopriate) drop bar road bike (just installed 25mm Conti GP 4 seasons last night). Wahoooo! The bike is more in its element now, and it was a blast to ride.
The only glitch (which I knew would be an issue) - my chain line isn't quite optimal (about 5mm too far outboard in back) since I've swapped the fixed gear cog for a freewheel on the S3X hub. I lost the chain off of the rear cog a couple of times when I was really cranking it out. :( Chain tension is pretty close to optimal, but I may tighten it up a bit to prevent the derailment. still, what a hoot. That bike is so much fun to ride.