Perfect day for a ride; low temp and humidity. Very enjoyable ride; great way to start the day!

Gorgeous! 65f no humidity. Wish I could go back out.

another damp morning but the mist felt really nice and i was only a little bit wet when i arrived at work...had a late night with friends but that didn't slow me down much

I missed my turn on the way in and had to sprint through traffic for a few extra blocks. Wheeeeee!

Almost got squished last night between a cab and a parked car. The cab kept drifting closer to the parked cars until I squeezed past. That's when he saw me and stopped.

This morning was nice except for the overly aggressive SUV driver from NJ who didn't want to share the lane with me and a new wrinkle in the road that developed recently and I needed to hop my front wheel over. It's been getting worse and looks like it could cause me to stack if I hit it too hard.

Yep. I just walked over to the exit kiosk and asked them to call Lovely Rita. When I walked by at lunch, there was a ticket on the windshield. I don't know if it was towed but it was gone by the end of the day.

I assume he learned his lesson. No one in the space today.

3 incidents in last 2 legs, when I usually have none.

In the am, I ride a bike lane E then cross 2 eastbound lanes of cars to get to turn lane then cross last 2 westbound car lanes to get to work driveway. This am, a long line of cars in passing E car lane, so I just got into the slow lane and waited for the last passing car to pass, by then the bigass diesel pickup w/ bigass trailer that everyone else was passing decided he'd try to pass me, so I just pulled in front of him and into the turn lane. (if they'd just pulled back to the slow lane after passing him I wouldn't have done that, I would have gone to plan B which is to go to the light farther E than my office, crossed there, and come back down the W bike lane). Anyway, I stayed ahead of him until I braked to turn, too. He was not going fast, just thought he was going faster than me. Not really an incident I guess. I might have been being a passive-aggressive jerk, or even an actively aggressive one, but anyway I neither impeded the flow of traffic nor got hit so I don't feel too bad about it.

Yesterday pm, trailering 3 yr old home from daycare, I was at a stop sign, saw a car coming from my left, so didn't go. This turn is the last stop-sign mediated intersection at the end of a longish straightaway, before a string of light-mediated intersections, so I know I never need to go too fast once I get to the light section 'cause they are timed to alternate, you cannot make 2 lights in a row. But anyway, the car gave me an angry wave like 'get going', so I did. I kinda got to going fast 'cause I didn't want to annoy him by slowing him down if he thought I was crossing the intersection rather than pulling in front of him, so was going really fast and just barely realized in time that the next intersection was backed up from gridlock at the next intersection after that, had to swerve to avoid rear-ending a minivan. The guy who let me in followed me almost the rest of the way through down town, as it happened. Whatever. I felt bad for making myself go fast in response to perceived interests of the rest of traffic. Maintained traffic speed the rest of the way, anyway.

Finally, but first, yesterday at noon, my 6 yr old had a run-in at his school yesterday. On the one hand, he's really good at not trusting cars and picking up things like reverse lights that might let him know a stopped car is about to move. On the other hand, we usually go to/from his school at least an hour before or after it opens/closes, so he doesn't often ride in the full hubbub of people dropping/retrieving their kids. So he crossed the crosswalk across the bus driveway right when an illegally parked east-facing minivan backed up and turned into the N/S driveway, one smooth move, 1st step of a 3 point turn to take them home to the north. He just swerved around her (leaving the crosswalk he was in, going farther back toward the bus loop) and moved up the sidewalk to take the next crosswalk N-bound, but she freaked out (understandably). I managed to calm her down and also remind him that he really needs to pay more attention at all times. She wasn't angry at him, or if she was she was at least as angry as herself. I've attached a diagram for that last one.

Gorgeous morning! Bright & sunny, 75 degrees. Not a cloud until I got to the coast, where I ran into the Great Wall O' Fog (tm). About 2 miles of swirling mist, herons & gulls, then out into bright sun again. Beautiful!

Uneventful week on the roads for me, but other stuff:

Monday morning I ran into another commuter from my building, a guy I'd never seen before. Turns out he started commuting (been a recreational rider for years) about a month ago. Nice guy, and he gave me the info for some group rides he does that leave from near my house. Even better, they're slower rides--my only bike is my commuter, and though she's dependable and great for commuting, she's not fast--and they ride on Sundays, which is my day off from kid duty.

Monday night I rode home (5 miles), took a short break, then rode about 7 miles to pickup Ultimate Frisbee. Played for 2 hours, then rode home. Damn but I was dehydrated, tired and sore!

Yesterday morning, still tired etc., I slipped on the steps from my house to the garage, gave myself whiplash and landed flat on my back. Now I was tired, dehydrated, and even more sore than I'd been. And my rear tire was flat (2nd time in a week or so). That sucked. Then there was a horrendous headwind for me on the way home.

I got pulled out on today going by a school. A car inched out, blocking the bike lane trying to see around another car to turn right. From a few yards away he looks right at me and proceeds to go. I immediately took the lane, with him on my right; pointing him down to stop in the bike lane as I rode by. The second I got back in the bike lane another car was randomly stopped right in front of me to let their kid out. I had to retake the lane, right in front of the guy I just passed (before he started accelerating). As I proceeded through the obstacle I gave a gentle knuckle knock to the front corner panel of the stopped car. That's my customary way of 'honking' at vehicles that are creating a dangerous situation for cyclists.

Long-term solution. Find a different route to work Ride safe.

No riding for me for a few days. Got hit by a car on the way home on Friday. Slow moving crash - some bruises on my knees/legs but no lasting damage. Getting a new front wheel & the rest of the bike looked at. I have a road bike - but no desire to ride it...

Definitely avoid school zones. I'd rather ride through the bar district at 2am than a school zone at 8am.

Sorry to hear you had a stack, edbikebabe. Glad you are OK. Don't let 'em beat you!

I'm riding my 'other' bike again, after getting some new brakes for it. It actually stops now! Makes a change, but feels very different to my SS. Quite jittery; I think it's the narrow tyres. Still fun, just different. And gears certainly make the pull up through North Sydney a bit easier!

Second day commuting 15 miles total! It was around 92f with 50% humidity, not bad for central Florida. I was a lot more confident on the road and when I was waiting with the other cars in the turn lanes The first day I commuted it took me 45 minutes for a 7.5 mile ride and today it was only 40 minutes. I seem to notice that after 3.5 miles I am no longer tired and my body is ready to get going and I can kind of kick up my pace. I do think I need to readjust my seat or buy something... maybe I just get use to being sore or something? oh well I had a great time today

I figured it looked like it wasn't about to rain, so I could get my bike home today without getting wet.
I got about 1 mile, and... boy did it come down! I was near a subway station so I hopped on the subway (it was just late enough that they allow bikes) and when I got out, it looked so innocent and dry, like it never rained.

I think I am forced to shelf my bike for the next 7 days until the weather becomes nice again. Grrr.
I'd take out my rust-bike and attempt to ride that down to work, except without a rear brake (tire wobbles too much and needs replacing for the last 3 years), I'm not sure it's safe for a long commute.
Maybe I ought to get that tire...

Yeah, your whole region down there needs a few days (or weeks to adjust). Man or woman, you're going to be sore starting out. Get some cycling shorts with a cammy (pad). And if you're into manicuring that region be mindful of ingrown hairs (not that I would know)

Oh after reading that it sounds really bad! I meant to imply that I or a friend might have had a bad experience with cycling and ingrown hairs; not that I was upset about not knowing whether you're manicured...oh dear, I fear I've said to much. Is there a reset button on the internet!?

Was a beautiful day. A little warm (high 80's), but no head wind both ways. Rode about 15.5 miles today and had a driver almost kill me. I was riding on the left side of a hill, going up the hill and a guy driving a truck turned onto the road and purposely swerved towards me to try and scare me and yelled out his window "get the @#$% off the road!"... I tried to get his license plate number but couldn't read it fast enough... he was going like 45 through a residential area.

It was bright enough when I woke up but it was really chilly. I braved the ride in a tshirt but eventually put my jacket on. My arms were so cold it stung just to touch them. brrrr.

Today's commute was an average commute until a tractor trailer decided to take right of way to make a right turn from the left lane as I was getting ready to walk my bike across the crosswalk. Fortunately I saw him coming and figured he wouldn't stop.

Then on the way home, I get to the last 1/4 mile from my apartment, and am crossing the crosswalk. A lady is walking on the sidewalk near where I'm headed and tells me she has mace. Normally the people I see on my commute to/from work I'd say have a good day or something like that, but she shocked me with the I have mace comment. I admit, it was 2am, but I've never encountered someone this paranoid about a guy crossing a crosswalk with a bicycle. Oh well, but I got a laugh out of it on the last bit of my journey home and it was a reality check for how little faith some people have in other people these days.

When was the last time you got mugged by a guy on a bicycle with lights on, rack and panniers?

Current temp: 57*F <------- YES! And the angels did sing.

No riding for me this morning since I have to make a couple trips by car. I may take the bike into work this afternoon after lunch. Sure feels weird not to be jumping on the bike this morning.

Note to self: dont pack briefs with spaghetti in your jersey pockets. Any other meal I pack and its fine but the spaghetti didnt like the zip lock bag...go figure. Yesterday a squirrel hit me but no harm done. Its been a real nice week of commuting the mornings have been nice and cool

Good. The mornings in Raleigh this week have been glorious. Sunny and cool.

I saw a bright white cat with its head smashed in though.

What a day! Cool sunny and tailwind, perfect ride. I rode about two miles before realizing I forgot my wallet. So I ended up with 17 this morning. 17 very fine miles.

Made the final step to converting my bike to road bike for Grabwaar. Bought an absurdly expensive Specialized saddle (toupe). I really don't understand this saddle, when I get off the bike my butt is less sore then when I got on. Yet the thing is hard and has no more then an 1/8 inch of padding. I rode it last summer and finally bought the thing. Ride in this morning was just as good as I remembered.

Leaving for Grabwaar tomorrow!!!