On vacation today and tomorrow but had to wait around for the AC technician to show up and replace my coil so I didn't get to ride, at least the AC is under warranty and tomorrow is another day.

First commute day since Monday, though I did ride on Tuesday. Today was payback for all though. I biked in this morning, which is 10 miles. I had a product demo w/ some of our engineers from 2-5 today, so at lunch, I suited up again, and biked to one of our Engineering facilities, which is 12 miles from my office. Hit the meetings, and then 8 miles from there home. so, was able to fit in an extra 10 miles today and was actually home earlier than normal-I love biking on 'company time' (kidding a bit-had the boss' endorsement since I was supposed to have today off!!0

Nice ride in. 85*, no ind at all, no cars at all. I think I'm finally getting the timing of the traffic lights down. I made 5 out of 7 today!

A little hot coming home. 107* with 15 mph head winds with 25mph gusts. I just keep telling myself that all of my coworkers are still trying to get out of the parking garage.

Woot! New front derailleur cable. I feel like going back to the LBS and complimenting the guy who did the work because he set it up perfectly. It shifts all nice and smooth, front and back. Better than new! I should fray my cables more often.

So... I had a nice ride home. Zipped right along with a light tail wind. Stopped to admire the scenery over Lake Champlain, and realized I was in the middle of pockets of downpours. Took off for home and it started raining. This guy in front of me with a horribly-positioned helmet (way too far back) stopped in front of a wall of rain. I went by him, said, "Yee hah!", and plowed into it. It only lasted a minute or so. I got wet but not soaked-through.

Fun ride.

Bleh. I was supposed to have today and Friday off, but my unit is short-staffed so I agreed to put off my long weekend until the end of the month. Commute was fine, except for the destination.

The ride in was nice and fast - getting noticeably darker in the mornings, might be time to spring for a more powerful headlight. Getting ready to leave this afternoon and one of my coworkers (a fellow bike commuter) said he saw the radar and the area was under a severe thunderstorm watch. I looked out the door, and sure enough, a wall of black was bearing down on the base.
I hopped on my recumbent and hit the gas. It was basically a time trial all the way home (12.5 miles), with the thunderstorm looming in my mirror the whole way. I've never ridden my bent in the rain, and didn't want to start today.
I made it home 3 MINUTES ahead of the storm at an avg speed of 17.5 mph (including stop signs) and 10 minutes faster than usual! Now I know how fast I can get home if I need to!

It was nice. Right until the chain snapped. At least I was right by a bus station.

I now need a new chain. Are all chains the same?

How's that work? Maybe I ought to replace mine, too...

I heard a "ping ping" noise like something in the spokes. It only made the noise twice so I didn't worry. Then I looked at my speedometer and noticed it said 0 mph. I looked down further and noticed the wire just hanging there. I guess I smacked it harder than I thought yesterday playing polo.

Oh it's doubly-smooth with a new chain. Mine is about 2 weeks old. What you do is: Wear your chain, big chainring, and cassette into dust, then have the LBS replace all of it. Then, you want to make your front der cable almost, but not quite, snap. Have them replace that too. If they adjust it all right, it's really nice.

I got an sram 9-speed with a power link. Already took it off and cleaned/lubed it once. Really easy.

Already sounds like there is a lot of options. Gonna have to learn what they all are

No, they're not all the same. If you've got 9 gears in the back, get a 9-speed chain, etc. Your LBS will be able to set you up if you have any Q's.

Hot commute this afternoon - found a brand new car wash sponge on the way though! Not riding the bike tomorrow but on Monday I plan to pick up a reflective day-glow-yellow safety vest I saw discarded on the side of the road this morning. Should come in handy when DST hits again and it's pitch dark on the commute. Hurray for road-booty!

Yeah, have your LBS help you. I really like having a powerlink so I can pull the chain off without any trouble. I'd guess most LBSs will give you that by default. Mine does.

biskil1 - good job!

lets see the rig

Back at it after riding the Courage Classic (130 miles! three passes!) this weekend and taking a couple days off. It was super hot but a nice ride, I feel stronger after all the climbing I did this weekend.

Pulled up next to a super nice new Ferarri at a light, then another bike commuter pulled up beside me talking about how cool the car was. Strange moment.

It looked like rain this morning, so I drove in... I worked 7-2 today at the Alamo (Shaw's Supermarket in Falmouth), then went to the bank to deposit $5.00 into my checking account so a $150.00 payment to Bank of America Platinum Plus Visa wouldn't bounce (life on the skids...) then I stopped by Cove Cycle ( Sheister Shop, but not as bad as BikeZone) and bought for $1.00 each two presta valve adapters. Cage traffic was at a standstill, and I can't wait to ride in tomorrow. I feel like taking a ride right now and doing a Sprinkler Search, hee hee...

On my way home today I hit the 500 mile mark for the month which is a lot for me, but YTD I'm only at 1,766 so hitting my goal of 4,000 for the year will be tough to make.

Commute home was interesting, i got lost . The road i usually take was ripped up for constuction, so i tried coming up an alternate route. That was also ripped up for construction but i was able to negotiate it. It brought me into a new development (which is the cause of all this road ripping) and i got lost. It's typical new neighborhood with curvy roads that double back and keyholes and such. It wasn't too hard to get through though as i could cut through using sidewalks.

You guys inspire me. I'm getting ready to come in for my 3rd day this week. Life on the skids ...? tell me about it. using the bike 3 days saves me $24. and so I'm hoping riding the bike will help pay for the bike!

I'm back Baby!! Got in a scuffle with a car 2 Fridays ago, (the driver pulled out in front of me, I hit his/her car, he or she fled the scene- *******)

Anyhow, The road rash scabs are mostly gone, the bruises have faded to that ugly yellow, and my separated right shoulder is functional enough for riding, although still giving me pain mostly when sleeping or changing clothes.

The ride in itself was uneventful other than the beautiful sunrise...Mid level clouds turning all shades of red, orange, yellow...Very nice!

Sunny. Low 60s. No wind. Wound up in a peleton. Well, of 4 bikes. Not going very fast though. I caught up to someone. Then we both caught someone else. Then all 3 of us caught a 4th. Nobody wanted to pass. 15MPH or so. We did pass a couple of other slow solo riders though.

Today I felt like I was making good time. And I was!

The guy on the yellow Raleigh was back. At first I thought it was a ten speed, but a second look and I noticed no derailer, or shifters. He just left the Cogs on, and has it as a Single speed. Probably left the cogs on to change what ratio he was at depending on the conditions. He also took off the original drops and put on bullhorns. This suggests he is a pretty avid cyclist.

He said hello this morning. I opted not to try and keep pace with him today. He's in better shape than I am, If I see him again I might ask about his bike or whatever.

The rest of the ride was nice. Made it on time. It was a bit warm, but It could be worse.

Big Ron - Welcome back!

My ride in was good. Light traffic, temps not bad, motorists, etc were nice. I felt good and strong. I just might be getting the hang of this! Maybe my next week back to work after 7 days off I'll be able to do 4 days! Maybe even 5! OMG!

Yeah ask me tonight how I feel ... yuk yuk

The commute in this morning was hot and humid, but otherwise pleasant.

Yesterday I did an alternative commute (cycling/MARTA train combo) and filmed it and put it on YouTube. The URL
is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHF7LgFH4fU

Some days I wish I had some bike traffic on my commute. I swear I'm the only one out there! Gets lonely sometimes...

I did pass a fellow bike commuter on the way home yesterday though! I was so excited to ring my bell and say hello!!