idc

6/10 - Since it was a Friday I figured I should ride the whole way to work ~8 miles downhill and back ~9 miles uphill. Nothing out of the ordinary except I got ANOTHER pinch flat (snake bite) on my front tube on the way home. Luckily it was almost at exactly the halfway mark so after putting on my spare tube (which took surprisingly short amount of time), I had enough energy to finish the rest of the ride without getting out of my saddle too much (a habit I'm trying to break). My fault for not having enough pressure in my front tire. I was getting lazy because I only own frame pumps. I think I need to get a floor pump at home to keep the pressures up.

Today I'm working at home but I think I'll go for a quick 10 miles or so at some point today (lunch break?) as the weather is beautiful.

EKW in DC

Beeee-yuuuuuut-iful morning, and I say that despite an 18 mph headwind. The northerly headwind kept it cool and dry. This morning's 7.5 miles in cool weather over flat terrain was a breeze compared to the nearly 50 miles with some decent hills to climb that I rode in Saturday morning's muggy warmth.

Looking forward to an afternoon commute cooler than most of last week's morning commute... and all that with a tailwind!!!

enigmaT120

That is the downside that the hydration fanatics (including me) don't warn you about!

HardyWeinberg

55F and M-U-G-G-Y

RyanCG

First day back in the saddle in almost 2 weeks. Also first commute of the season without additional school traffic, since the last day of school here was last Friday. After last week's heat and humidity, and the cold, raw and wet spring, finally getting some glorious spring weather here. About 55* this morning with a bit of a headwind and brilliant sunshine. Supposed to be 75* this afternoon, this is why I love summer in the midwest!

himespau 

Yeah, I'd swallowed a bug, but didn't want to drink any water to wash it down.

mjw16

Beautiful ride in this morning although, my legs are a little sore from Sunday's Crystal Ride. I blew a chain on the first lap and hammered to catch up once fixed. In addition, I think last week's heat and some additional miles on Friday took a little out of me. I'll ride out the week then, we leave for vacation on Friday morning. I'll have a week off the bike and focus on some swimming instead, that should allow for good recovery time. As luck would have it, it looks like DC area commuters are in for a great week.

CptjohnC

Gorgeous day today (as most of the other DC Area folks have mentioned). I almost regretted wearing a sleeveless T.

How do you folks deal with people who are pulled up past a stop bar while waiting for a red light? I'm not talking about someone getting ready to turn on red, or at a stop sign where they need to move forward for line of sight. This joker was pulled up past the stop bar, impeding the MUP crossing, while he waited to turn LEFT at a red light! I slapped his hood (open palm, nothing on my hands except glove -- makes a nice noise, but does no damage). He didn't appreciate it, and let me know so in not-so-eloquent terms.

The rest of the ride was smooth until I got to the national mall: first, 'they' were erecting a lighting scaffold at the bandstand near the Washington Monument, but didn't close off that side of the path... then there was a crew moving some object on Jefferson Drive which pushed a number of us up on the sidewalks. Nothing that spoiled the nice ride, though :-)

Went out for a short walking errand at lunchtime and had a motorist yell at me while I was crossing in the crosswalk; I had poked my head out past the bus stopped on the side of the road, and the first car stopped to let me cross (mid-street crosswalk, no light). Second motorist decided to go around the first car (the road is wide enough, though barely, but is pretty clearly one lane). I kept walking (I had what I felt was enough safety margin in case he DIDN'T stop) and he stopped. He then yelled at me "that's a good way to get hit..." -- ignoring the fact that I was in the cross walk well before he got there, and that he had passed another car in order to get to said crosswalk.

My momentary revelation from all this is that whether we're drivers, pedestrians or cyclists, we're never going to get along, because nearly everyone believes he or she is the most important user of the roads, and deserves his/her due.

eofelis 

It was a nice morning to ride in. There must have been quite a party along my usual 4 mile route: I had to dodge about 6 different broken bottles in the bike lane/shoulder.

Then in a place where there is a large irrigation canal and access road adjacent to my route I saw a dead deer lying on that access road. This is a residental area, a strange place to see a deer. I saw a person who lived in the neighborhood and told them about it so they could call the city or county and have it removed before it stunk.

caloso

I'm hoping to get out early and get in maximum miles before work every day this week. This morning: 90' of z1 spinning on the bike path. Tomorrow I'll probably do a set of 20' intervals. Life is good.

zoltani

Temp: 67.0°F
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Wind: from the South at 15.0 gusting to 28.8 MPH

Of course my commute home is South, so I guess I'll be fighting the wind!

daragild

My very first commute, 20 miles to work, 10 miles to errands in the city from work, 20 miles back. Wasn't bad but I was fighting a headwind both ways off the river. Definitely different carrying cargo, I think I'll inflate my rear tire a little more. Avg speed 10mph

fletchh

It was a very nice ride in at 59 F (15 C). Perfect mornings are always a wonder.

tarwheel 

Tough ride yesterday even though we had the nicest weather in over 3 weeks. Basically my legs were toast after a long hilly metric on Sunday in hot humid weather, and my legs would have preferred that I take the day off on Monday. No rest for the weary, though, so I just rode at a recovery pace. Compounding the problem were some new (and expensive) bib shorts that I was trying out for the first time, and they were terrible -- most uncomfortable cycling shorts I have ever worn. Back to the shop with them after I wash them. Amazing how cycling companies keep jacking up the price for clothes, yet they don't seem to get any better. My last pair of bib shorts cost half as much and are much more comfortable. End of rant.

vtjim

Cloudy, 53F/12C, with a tailwind of about 20mph/30kph off Lake Champlain, so the ride was pretty quick.

Fizzaly

47f Nice morning and should prove to be a nice ride home later temps should be in mid 70's

FunkyStickman

Good deal! And yes, riding loaded is quite a bit more work than without. Keep it up!

wisaunders

It was peacefully dark and quiet. Had to be at work early so I left at 5:00 instead of 6:30. Felt a little strange, looking like a winter commute in the dark, but it was warm like a summer commute. Not a lot of traffic out there so early too.

canyoneagle

A spectacular overnight thunderstorm gave way to a beautiful cloudless sky, wet streets and sweet morning air. 55F. glorious ride in.

Surrealdeal

I have been lazy lately and that needs to change. I have acquired the bad habit of running stop signs when going through low traffic volume residential neighborhoods in the early hours of the morning. Well today I carried that habit into a transitional area where there is a higher volume of traffic and I got called out by a motorist for running a stop sign.

He wasn't rude about it at all, which almost made it worse because I could not possibly have been more in the wrong, and I knew it.

I don't want to be "That guy." I decided to clean up my act and make a concerted effort to obey traffic laws from here on.

groovestew

12C, calm, light rain. I think this is the first real rainy commute I've had this year. Be nice if my rain jacket was actually waterproof. At least my backpack rain cover still is.

EKW in DC

Cool, dry weather continues today. Very refreshing.

Stopped by the store for some milk on the way home last night. I had forgotten how bad the bike parking is --- for a small, local chain of sustainable, organic grocery stores I'd expect better than a small "rim bender" type rack. Should mention it sometime; I think they'd be likely to respond if a couple people spoke up and complained...

HardyWeinberg

50F, gray, dry, nice

zoltani

+1

I really hammered it down today for some reason, and it felt great! Though got to work a bit sweatier than usual.

caloso

Going to be warm today: 94F. Summer is finally here!