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Ow. I was on an annual Canada Day ride up Highwood pass yesterday, and after two weeks of only commuting, it kind of kicked my ass. Today, there wasn't a whole lot of "go" in the legs. I've been carbo-loading with doughnuts and Coke all morning, so I should be fine tomorrow.
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Nice and quiet morning today. Mid-60's again. I didn't see too many people today. Must be the holiday.
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Originally Posted by jterribili
(Post 6985682)
haven't posted this week at all!...so busy...
Monday and Tues were good commutes. On Monday I did an extra 10 miles taking a midday trip to the DOT facility next to the fairgrounds - nice riding in the 9am hour when most all traffic has arrived at their destination - Hillsborough St. was quiet! Yesterday on the way home, I came across a couple of guys with their bikes inspecting one of them on the side of Raleigh Blvd. I stopped and asked if they needed anything. One guys had lost the nut holding on one of his cranks (very cheap and old bike). Needless to say he could not use his bike. Not only that, but they were going to Sanford which was about 50 miles away! So I told them to ride with me on the side walk (I always ride on the road with traffic, but these guys couldn't) and I would try and fix their bike at my house. Took a long time because we mostly had to walk the bikes. I didn’t have a nut that would fit so we used some duct tape to attach the crank. I gave them the rest of the roll of tape, fixed the other guys seat (he had a really beat up old Schwinn that would have been nice to fix up!), pumped up their tires, printed them out specific directions to Sanford and gave them $5 so they could go to Harbor Freight tools and get a nut - I also gave them my socket wrench and appropriate socket to tighten. Hopefully they made it there! I would have given them a ride, but we only have one car and my wife needed it. Funny thing was, they were going north on Raleigh Blvd. and Sanford is SW of Raleigh - they would have never made it anyway had I not run into them! Of course while I was walking my bike with them on the way to my house, we had 3 bike commuters, one of them on a recumbent pass us - I ALMOST NEVER see that many bike commuters on my way home - really uncanny. Must have been a funny sight with me all 'Freded out' (safety vest, blinkies, ankle bands, etc.) walking my perfectly functional bike with a couple of guys with no helmets, barely working brakes and bike with parts falling off as we went!:roflmao2: |
Originally Posted by Itsjustb
(Post 6986131)
First day on the bike this week. My lovely daughter brought home a stomach virus from day care--how nice of her!--Friday and I got it Saturday. Although the ride today was fine, I think I came back too early. I feel like garbage, my arms tingle just from holding them above the keyboard to type, and I think I'm still dehydrated.
Replaced the rear tire on my commuter Saturday night--before I got sick--and the ride today felt/sounded weird. Although this tire is a slick like the tire being replaced, it's got a little more tread than my old one so more noise/vibration. And finally, I arrived at my bldg today to learn there's been no hot water all week. I know, many of you don't have showers at all so I shouldn't complain. But I will anyway--when you're as skinny as I am and you've been sick for 4 days, you really don't need to be drenched in nice cold water. |
On the way home last night I nearly had a 23 MPH head-on with another bike. Long after sunset this noob was riding shoulder on the wrong side of the street with black clothing and no lights of any kind. With the rain and oncoming headlights I only noticed something was there as I passed him/her. Fortunately there were no cars behind me so at the time I was in the middle of the lane, instead of on the shoulder.
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Saved a small furry white dog from being squished this morning on the way to work. The little yapper ran right out in traffic, then past me on my bike, then back down the sidewalk, back in traffic again, back to the sidewalk etc.
She finally came when I whistled really hard and held out my hand as if I had a treat. I called the owner who thanked me profusely and gave me $20. |
Very windy and another flat. Two days in a row.
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Got into work really quickly, thought there was a tail wind but on second thought I think there wasn't any wind at all. I got to my department and parked my bike, a few minutes later I heard an explosion that sounded like a firecracker. I new right away what it was, my tire blew. I must have over inflated it and the difference in the temp in my area was too much. It was so loud people from other departments poked their noses in to see what happened. I replaced the tube and rode home on an under inflated tire; anyone else find it hard to get fully inflated with a hand pump? Otherwise it was a great day.
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Originally Posted by clg
(Post 6989583)
Got into work really quickly, thought there was a tail wind but on second thought I think there wasn't any wind at all. I got to my department and parked my bike, a few minutes later I heard an explosion that sounded like a firecracker. I new right away what it was, my tire blew. I must have over inflated it and the difference in the temp in my area was too much. It was so loud people from other department poked their noses in to see what happened. I replaced the tube and rode home on an under inflated tire; anyone else find it hard to get fully inflated with a hand pump? Otherwise it was a great day.
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[QUOTE=I could barely get 50 lbs in my tire and usually put in about 120. Thought it was just me that could not pump up my tire with a hand pump. Anyway I had my wife come and get me instead of taking a chance on messing up my rim.[/QUOTE]
I don't know what pump u use but the one I'm using sucks and next time I order something I need I'll also get a better pump. A guy at work thinks I should get a CO2 pump but years ago I didn't have so much trouble pumping up a tire to pressure; 95 psi with this one or even more for my road bike. I don't know how much I put in the tire but I wasn't concerned about the rim, it was enough. It's so much better to have the tube explode when you have reached your destination rather then while your on your way. |
I think mine is a serfas, whatever it is was not cheap. Think I will find a better one though.
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Originally Posted by clg
(Post 6989583)
I got to my department and parked my bike, a few minutes later I heard an explosion that sounded like a firecracker. I new right away what it was, my tire blew.
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Fine, uneventful ride in this AM. 4 for 4 this week. Had a pleasant exchange with a white panel truck. He did me a small kindness by using his turn signal and not being impatient with having a cyclist in the lane in front of him. I gave him a wave and he gave me a toot on his horn. Much better than the typical exchanges i have had with panel trucks...or any trucks for that matter.
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wussed out this AM, raining quite a bit. My wife drove in this AM so I still did not have to drive my truck.
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Drove to work today for the first time since June 13 -- almost 3 weeks. Would have liked to keep the streak going but the laundry was starting to pile up in my office, and I needed to restock food and supplies in my office and do some other errands. My other excuse is that I'm riding a July 4 metric century tomorrow with friends, and I want to rest up my legs. I have ridden almost every day for the past few weeks, and the old legs were starting to feel tired. So, hopefully I will start another streak going on Monday.
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Today is my short riding day, 10 miles one way, and I needed it, two consective 42 roundtrips and my legs were sore as heck. Anyways, on the way in I was crusing along taking it easy and then a cyclist pops out of nowhere; he spoked me lol I'd actually seen him at least 5 times going in opposite directions but this time we were going the same way.
We talked about our rides and how far we were going. I don't think he was a commuter but he's pretty dedicated to getting out every morning and riding around downtown Houston. In all, great ride into today. Houston mornings have been awesome. |
another beautiful commute this morning. The weather here in NC this week has been perfect. Hope you all have a great 4th...see you next week.
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While getting on the bike today, noticed a gouge the size of a half a dime in my new bontager tire. All the way down to the tread. Didn't think it wise to ride with that much tread showing, so had to drive in, in spite of a picture perfect day. Rats.
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Got shouted at again by a warden on Pyrmont Bridge (MUP). As I approached him, he yelled 'slow down, slow down'.
Now, there is a problem on that bridge with cyclists hooning over too fast. I'm supportive of measures to get them to slow down. And that's why I take it nice and steady. There was no one in the vicinity, and I was probably doing about 10km/h. He then called out '5km/h speed limit'. (That's about 3mph). Now, this is odd, because (aside from the fact it is actually quite hard to ride that slow) the area is clearly marked with 10km/h speed signs. So I stopped, and queried the warden about it. He was adamant that it as 5km/h. I asked him about the sign, but after at first refusing to believe me he told me that 'it was wrong'. I was a bit annoyed about the whole thing, to be honest. It's quite clear that the wardens are shouting at all cyclists, regardless of whether they are riding irresponsibly or not. If you are on a bike, as far as they are concerned you are going to fast. Period. And the fact that they clearly don't know what the speed limit actually is (he looked very confused when I told him about the signs) hardly inspires confidence. That kind of spoiled an otherwise nice ride. Oh well. |
Nice weather today. Got a late start but still only saw 2 other commuters. Guess everyone took the day off.
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Pretty nice ride in today. Only one idiot in a cage. I'm riding the white line on the left side of the lane because I'm turning left and actually am in the process of filtering up to the light. Anyway, the lane on the right is wide open, and some numb nut in a small car, like a corolla lays on his horn behind me. Like, damned dude, you can't drive past me? there's a good 12 ft of space and your car is at maximum 7ft across. I almost stopped and walked back to tell him he had no business behind the wheel of an auto if he could not drive through that space. I've seen Semi's drive through tighter spaces.
Anyway, the rest of the ride in was really nice. |
Finally a 17 mph tailwind in the morning when its not wasted (Lakefront path is too crowded to ride fast in the afternoon). Got up to 25-27 mph. Record commute time.
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On the way hone yesterday, I rolled my folding bike into the train and I noticed that there were three road bikes in the car to my right, and a fw more in the next car. They were part of a larger group of tourers, going from New Orleans to New York City. I'm not sure how they managed to get touring bikes on the train during rush hour, but they did.
When we got off the train at Newark Penn Station, they got off with me. there were 50 or 20 of them! They had flags and bags and were wearing hippie-style clothing. A wonderful distraction from my daily commute. |
glorious day
drank green tea with lemon legs felt strong didn't have to get out of the clips for the whole ride this might be a first |
Reasonably quick despite a respectable headwind. Upper 60sF, and overcast. Didn't see anyone out riding. Maybe the weather chased them back into their cars. Supposed to rain a lot today.
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