Didn't ride to work all weekend to give my body time to rest (I really needed it). The ride in today was awesome, not too hot or humid, and I took it easy as to not wear myself out too fast like I was.

One thing I did notice today is that taking it easy, I was still much faster than when I was pushing hard when I started1 1.5 months ago; makes me feel good :).

Beautiful weather today. Coolish. Not to humid (65%). Light traffic.

I was riding in the middle of the left lane (construction/parked vehicles dotting the right lane) right behind another car. There was this taxi behind me. He honked me and when I pulled to the right lane to turn he yelled at me to keep to the side of the road. I felt like cussing him out, but I wasn't interested in getting beaten up...

Maybe you never had this happen to you as a kid, but I did. I can remember driving on a main four-lane road and being stopped as railroad crossing gates came down. Traffic would line up on either side of the crossing. After 30 seconds or so, a guy in a little yellow railroad work car would toodle past at a slow speed and wave as he went through the crossing. I would think, "We had to stop for that?"

Well, this morning, I was that guy. As I rode my normal route, which cuts through a church parking lot and exits at a stoplight on a main four-lane road, there were no cars on the opposite side of the intersection to trip the light. So, thanks to info my dear wife had found, I stopped on the traffic switch that is about three car lengths back from the intersection in the church lot, where no one could see me. I waited about 30 seconds and listened as the traffic from both directions slowed to a stop. My light turned green and I took off. I had to pedal quickly because the light doesn't stay green very long and I was three car lengths back. As I pumped accross the intersection in my bright yellow shirt on my bike with blinking lights and small wheels (lwb recumbent w/16" front and 20" rear), I knew people are thinking, "We had to stop for that?"

At that moment I was thinking, "I have the power!"

Least ways to say, the ride was good!

Bruce

'Twas a cool ride in, bordering on refreshing. I was hungry, and so I didn't give'r when I could have. Traffic was so sloooooow, I missed three lights that I always make. Booo!

2nd day commuting. Good ride this morning. Weather was great.

Although i did get a flat (same place on the tire as my first flat from my first commute), so i patched it without taking off the wheel and i hope the patch will also help to protect the tube from future damage. i also booted it with a small piece of cardboard from a box of raisins. It should be good for a while, but if i get any more flats on that same spot, i'm gonna have to replace the tire, or do a better job with the boot...

Just not feeling into it this morning.... could've been the vodka, but it's hard to stay mad at the vodka. I'll forgive the vodka, in time. There was one heck of a head/crosswind this morning too, weathernetwork listed it as 20kph but it was totally steady, not gusting. I missed the rain by about 1/2 hour. In fact i have yet to cycle through rain this year, i always seem to miss it or i'm out of town.

cooler ride in, legs felt strong...felt zippy on the fixed bike this morning
saw a couple of other commuters, they seemed to be in the zone and cruising along too fast to see me or wave but i saw them

Well I had been picking up the parts needed to do a fixed gear conversion on my bike. I had a new wheelset cranks, ect. Over the weekend I went on and installed my new front wheel because I broke a spoke in the original one.

Last night I decided to do some checking over my bike. I'm removing the rear derailleur so that I can test fit the rear wheel when for whatever reason the bolt that holds it to the frame broke when I loosened it. gRRRR! I didn't have another bolt so my only choice was to go ahead and convert my bike to a single speed. The rear wheel has a 16t cog and the front is ran on the biggest gear. I was afraid that it would be entirely to hard and I'd be worn out before I got to work. I was surprised even thought it was harder to pedal I think the lightness of the new wheels and the lost weight of the derailler evened it out. It did seem harder to get going but once I got going it wasn't bad at all.

Slow, cool. Still sore from Saturday's singletrack adventure. Attempted to huck a two foot drop, result, epic fail & injury. Ripped up my right leg, saddle nose bruised my left instep, sore right shoulder. Will have to ease up on the commute this week & break out the Tiger Balm.

Pretty quick ride in today, cooler but still pretty humid.

Great! Warm (50sF), blinding sun, fast.

First commute after a week's vacation. Overcast and low 60sF, with a headwind, but not too bad.

No bike commute today. Carpooled with Mrs. Caloso and the Wonder Twins. Just as well. Last week was my first 200 mile week since March.

I forgot, I got cut off on the MUP by a deer. I watched to see if a second one was coming, then followed her for a while, was tickled by the clop-clop-clop of toenails on pavement. Very much like the coconuts in Holy Grail. Then she jumped up the other side to cross the freeway exit ramp.

beutiful morning for commuting :thumb:

snapped a few pics with my mobile phone. Enjoy (Bay Area California)


http://www.fototime.com/2997F6CB594EBBA/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/F937ECA90F520B9/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/3C4D4FC609BCB94/standard.jpg

paying my dues to the cycling gods
http://www.fototime.com/4C60A220E98D402/standard.jpg

Hi! I had my first real commute to work today. (Tested it out on Saturday, but didn't have all my stuff with me) Since I'm in southern CA, it was a mild and overcast from the morning ocean fog. Made all the hills OK and took me the same amount of time as with nothing on the bike. Traffic was very light going in, so I'm not too worried about getting smacked by a car.

Of course, now I have to ride home....could be a different story later today. :)

How do pictures of a commute make my mouth water? I'm stuck in an urban commute :(

Celebrated my 2-month commuting anniversary this morning. Perfectly normal commute, and expect the same for the afternoon.

I top 800 miles for the month in a couple hrs. Nothing amazing but odd since I reduced my mileage. Last months 1000 mile month was far more difficult than one would expect for 200 additional miles.

Nice commute this morning. I was running a wee bit behind and slowly made it up as I passed my checkpoints. I have places on my commute that have certain time goals to ensure that I will show up to the train on time. This is the best method I have found to make myself show up on time. My own dorky mini race with myself and father time.

Monday 7/28/08
 

Nice idea for a thread. Our commutes are always different depending on traffic and weather. My commute is 17 miles door to door. As a bonus, after work, I go another 5 miles to my GYM for some upper body weight training, and then finish my day with 22 miles home. I was off last week but kept active, and thought I would try commuting 3 days. I usually only do this 1 or 2 times a week, so 3 will be a major accomplishment.

This morning wasn't bad. Temps in the 60s. We had a lot of rain yesterday though and the street sewers were overflowing and didn't smell good as I got sprayed on the legs. I hope I don't a disease from my water bottle. yuk.

I usually stop for all red lights but today I cheated a little and it worked out OK. I really want to beat a previous record best time of 50 minutes that I did 2 years ago on a mountain bike with slick tires.

I'm ashamed as I haven't commuted via bicycle in about 4 weeks. We had our first big heat wave and it knocked me clean off of my bike. A couple day break turned into a week, then into two weeks, and so on. I swear in this heat, the more days you spend off the bike the easier it gets to stay off of it.:(

Anyways, the morning ride was very nice. My best speed to date. 7 miles in 25 minutes. I was happy, but I really don't worry about the time. I leave a full hour before work starts to ensure enough time if I have a flat or something. I didn't notice the temp, but it wasn't too warm yet. Probably in the high 80's if I had to guess.

The ride home was a gauntlet though. Several drivers passing me way too close, 105* temps, slight headwind...plus I'm just coming off of a month long moment of weakness:D. I actually had to get off of my bike for a minute or two and collect myself to make the last push into the headwind to get home. I started to entertain thoughts of driving the car tomorrow, but I quickly dispelled them. Once I could see my street I knew I was going to be OK. And a super hot shower to wash all of the sweat of, followed by several minutes in the cold water, and I feel completely refreshed. I have the slightest bit of a headache, but nothing an Excedrin won't take care of.


P.S. I need to quit smoking!!! I quit before cold turkey for over a year. But one day I picked up a cigar and that was it. I've been smoking ever since, about 9 months now.:mad:

bayareawheeler, those pictures are awesome. I too wish I had a rural commute!

Tonight was a tough slog. My legs were really sore this morning from the weekend, and it was a bit warm. Nonetheless, I was able to make a decent pace home, and had some surprising power left in the old quads for the last hill.

Tomorrow is a day off, since I have a meeting at another facility tomorrow morning, and then need to drive to my office, and cannot fit another 1.5 hours of biking into the day......well, I shouldn't, that is. We'll see.

Got into the low 80's and overcast, so really nice weather for riding. Both rides were great. On the way home I had a nice tailwind and decided to flog it. Almost a record time for that route home.

I reduced my calories yesterday to 1800 since I was not riding. Then I ate a bit less than I should have today and hammered it into and from work. My goodness I feel like crap. Emergency PB&J to the rescue. You think I would have learned by now. 43 miles on a 1000 calories doesn't seem like it would be too bad. Guess I short changed myself yesterday.

My commute involved our mid summer late day storms. Very chaotic wind directions. Headwind, side wind, tailwind, and then kept switching. At least it was not a straight headwind the entire way. I could have used a bit of rain.