Another beautiful morning. Blue sky. Sunny. Temps in the mid 50sF. Rode with one dude on an MTB for 2 or 3 miles but he seemed to bog down on the slightest of inclines, so eventually I passed. Caught up to another guy on an older road bike. Passed him too, and caught up to another rider right before I left the MUP for the streets.

On the ride home yesterday, I ushered a garter snake off the MUP.

ride home last night went well and this mornings ride was great as well. No problem with the air quality degradation - at least I don't think - who knows, maybe I will fall over dead later on - the day is still young

have a great weekend everyone

it was an enjoyable ride, very little wind and the sun was bright...left the house a little later than i usually do, i think next week i may mix it up a bit and try a new route which may make things a bit more interesting and longer
enjoy the weekend you cyclists you~

On the way home last night the conditions were perfect for a new max speed record. There was a stiff tailwind and i have one long sloping hill just outside of Nisku. I accelerated slowly all the way, about 3/4 down i hit 55kph... then i hammered on it and hit 68.7kph at 120+ rpm in my hardest gear. Fun fun.

Sunrise on the Trinity Trail this morning was just stunning. Best commute of the year, so far.

I hate Toronto. What's with all the rain? Or at least rain predictions...

I was about 2 miles from my destination, when I saw in the distance.. a wall of rain that was pretty impressive.. quickly detoured about 2 blocks to the people mover, got to work after worst of rain passed by, but about 20 minutes later than I would have had I just hammered through it.

Deciding factor was lack of visibility, rain isnt' bad, but if cars can't see you, that makes it easier to hit you... Happy weekend!

Didn't get to ride in today; I over slept. :/ I must have hit the alarm button last night when I was moving things around in my room. Oh well.

Ride home last night was pretty good. Wind was up - 25-30 MPH, pretty steady, and in my face for half ther ride. I was tired starting out, so had a good mindset - gear down and ride, don't worry about speed. Made it home in decent time allowing for the wind, and felt good when I got there. I did have a bad traffic encounter on the way. Made a right turn onto a uphill section of a two-lane road with no shoulder. The hill's not major, but it's a small-ring start as the transition from one street to the next is pretty steep from a dead stop. Traffic was clear as I turned, but I saw a Mack truck of some sort cresting a hill about a quarter mile to my left as I entered the lane. Kept an eye on him in my mirror - he was coming pretty fast, well over the 35 MPH speed limit. Heard him gear down and slow, a bit too close behind me. We crested another rise, and he downshifts and accelerates to pass. I thought it was fine until I realized he was pulling a long flatbed trailer with a bulldozer on it - he was LONG and SLOW and didn't have enough room to pass due to the oncoming Escalade in the other lane. If I'd seen how long he was I would have bailed down the grass slope off the road, but I didn't catch it until too late - he missed me with the tires of the trailer by no more than 18 inches as he moved fully back into our lane to miss the Escalade. Idiot.

No ride today - celebrating anniversary with my wife tonight and have some errands to run to get everything ready for the surprise I have planned for her. Have a good weekend all - catch you next week!

Second day this week commuting on one of the fixed gear bikes. The geared bikes were becoming too easy The narrow tires and light weight pretty much make up for the lack of gears, when I compare it to my mountain bike based commuter. No rest through coasting though and I have to practice leaning my body more than the bike, to prevent pedal strike in turns.

Thank god. Back on the bike today. It was a perfect day for the commute in the Eggo. Decided to try a new route and take it REALLY easy all the way in. Added 10 minutes to my ride, but it was great. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna change to riding that way every day. It's beautiful down there...

Fighting the urge to just go order the xtracycle today. I told myself I have to stick with this for at least 3 months before I'm allowed to buy an xtra [which will mean having to buy a new MTB, since I can't give that up and I only have the one bike.]

Nice ride in today. Great weather, hoping for more for the ride home.

Nice morning. Found myself at a traffic light with FOUR other cyclists - a first. We were quite the brightly colored flock for a couple of blocks, then went our separate ways.

Took a shorter commute in today. Wife dropped me off outside of her office, about 7 miles from where I work. After getting a little lost, I found my route just as the sky darkened and the headwinds picked up. I pushed hard and got to work 2 minutes before the rain hit HARD. Luckily for me I missed it, and it only rained for a few minutes.

Unluckily for my coworker, he did not miss it and got dumped on. His sadness was short lived while we all stood around and drooled over his new shiny (and wet) Bianchi Pista.

Very mellow. Rode most of the way through my neighborhood no-handed. Just for fun.

I had a kamikaze pants clip today. I put on tan pants this morning, so I grapped the springy Dahon pants clip that came with my folding bike before I left the house. I was on the platform waiting for the train, and I pulled the clip off. It spring back to it's original shape and threw itself on the train tracks.

pinch flatted today on a trail on the way home. got the wheel and tire off easily, got out the spare tube... having levers, a tube, etc. made me kinda happy b/c i wasn't sure, have been changing bags a lot, meant to ride home on the road... I.e. was UNPREPARED...

so anyway, got that far, pulled out the pump to start the tube and... hmm, schrader only? no flip-over thing? blah, it's my wife's pump, my daughters destroyed mine a long time ago and i meant to carry c02 and... damn, better call the wife.

i hate getting picked up.

i blame my rack being back-ordered. i hope it comes in today.

Two flats today...and my pump is conveniently out of commission at the moment. Fun walk home...

Twas a great commute with the new rig, a Jamis Aurora. About 1/2 way home, rain was visible in the distance but ducked into a Valvoline Qwik Change (how ironic), and missed most of the rain. Commute is 15 to 20 miles depending on route, 18 today.

It was so nice out this morning, chilly but not cold, not too windy, and quiet. I realized I was going to be getting off work late, but the moment was great because I realized I was going to be riding home in that beautiful weather. The ride did not disappoint.

Just completed week 5 of btw every day. Have a perfect score. It's been very hot here with record breaking temps of up to 100+ but I've enjoyed every minute. Gas prices is only a small part of why I bike but it makes for just 1 more reason. As if I needed one. Just got to get the dwifey interested in doing her part.
Later,
Tony

I tried to stop for coffee, but my usual coffee stop was closed. It opens late on Saturday. So I decided that since I needed something to wake me up, I should just do intervals! Whee! Thank goodness for baby wipes, body spray, and spare deodorant.

This was absolutely a screwy week for bike commuting in NC. We started the week with the hottest weather we've ever had this early in the year -- 4 days straight when the temperatures hit 100F or higher. Then a large wildfire that has been burning near the coast sent a huge plume of smoke over the eastern half of the state, with high levels of air pollution. I skipped riding Monday due to the heat, but managed to ride Tues, Weds and Thursday. However, the smoke got so bad on Thursday that I ended up catching a ride home with a coworker rather than riding in such polluted air. Drove again Friday because the smoke was still bad in the morning. Hopefully we won't have another week like this, but it could happen again because they are saying the fire could burn for weeks if not months.

This was absolutely a screwy week for bike commuting in NC. We started the week with the hottest weather we've ever had this early in the year -- 4 days straight when the temperatures hit 100F or higher. Then a large wildfire that has been burning near the coast sent a huge plume of smoke over the eastern half of the state, with high levels of air pollution. I skipped riding Monday due to the heat, but managed to ride Tues, Weds and Thursday. However, the smoke got so bad on Thursday that I ended up catching a ride home with a coworker rather than riding in such polluted air. Drove again Friday because the smoke was still bad in the morning. Hopefully we won't have another week like this, but it could happen again because they are saying the fire could burn for weeks if not months.

Commute was great until I got downtown before going up the hill and noticed a broken spoke in the rear wheel , it was the bus for that part of the trip. On Monday I'll get extra spokes.
What can I say...if it's manmade...it's a FORD...Fix Or Repair Daily...I don't care what it is.
Some guy yelled at me to get off the road since bikes don't belong there...I wonder how much longer he'll be on the road ???
Gas prices I imagine will not come down or stabilize any time soon.
I miss my truck and look forward to driving it for camping, etc.