Had the fastest commute of my life today. Picked up a new bike the other day which happened to be a fixed gear with hood style brakes mounted on road bars. The brakes are really only accessible when you're in the drops, and even though it's not a full track bike riding in the drops puts you in a pretty aero position. Now, I don't like having my hands off the brakes in traffic, and I didn't want to be *that guy* riding in a full aero tuck at slow speeds, so I ended up riding fast enough to justify riding in the drops the entire way to work just so I could have my hands on my brakes ;)

My 16 minute commute got done in 13 minutes though, haha

Welcome to the Forum!

The sunrise this morning was spectacular, lot's of whispy clouds to pick up the orange/yellow glow of the rising sun. Stiff wind for the morning, as per usual, head wind in one direction, tail wind in the other.

Nice weather (considering the time of year), had to deal with two idiot drivers, unfortunately.

While making a left in a double turn lane (I was in the right turn lane), a car nearly ran me off the road when he switched to the right lane after he thought he passed me. I yelled "Hey!" which made him jump and look back when he came about one to two feet away from me (he was still moving right). Second was at a T-intersection in a park where the road I was on does not have to stop. An inpatient driver was edging forward, waiting to turn left (across my lane). He saw me coming at him, stopped edging forward, so I kept going. Then the last bit of traffic in the lane he wanted cleared up and he turned. If he waited five seconds, I probably would have broadsided him.

Kind of a bummer because I normally only have maybe one or two incidents a month (now that I know a good route). Hopefully the ride home is better :)

The ride and weather were great. Unfortunately, again, I got a flat. This is my fourth flat in less than 2 months, and 3rd flat while commuting to work.

So far i got 2 from glass, 1 from a pin hole tube defect, and 1 from an improperly booted tire (damaged from my first flat).

I am not sure how much more I can take before I go buy some new tires. The ones i have are supposed to have flack jacket kevlar, so i am not sure what more can be done...

Stopped by my LBS last night and picked up a few items, including a floor pump that I stuffed in my pannier that stuck up about a foot and a half. Managed to garbage bag the top of the pump and put the cover on the pannier before the total downpour which was awesome! Second time riding in the rain and got completely soaked down the front.

This morning was locking my bike up at my gym for a shower when a pedestrian walked by someone else's locked bike. Something on them must have snagged on the bike because it fell down onto the ground, hanging out into traffic, and the woman didn't even stop to pick it up! Stood it back up so that passing cars wouldn't damage it. Total disrespect for mode of transportation.

Where are you riding on the road? If you're hitting alot of glass I'm guessing you ride way over next to the curb. Try moving out to the left a bit

My first commuter flat was from glass on the Greenway here in NYC. In fact the path squeezes to only a few feet wide at one point and it was littered with glass that morning.

I never ride too close to the curb. I think this morning's flat was from riding through the perpetually dirty streets of the Bronx (the first 3 miles of my route). I spend that whole time dodging bottles, broken glass, etc. I am sure i hit the glass today while passing a garbage truck - it may have come from them...

Hot, sticky and absolutely glorious!

Seriously, someone needs to petition GM to install turn signals in their SUVs. The unseen right hook nearly got me.

Reminds me of my buddy asking whether Ford delivered their Crown Vics without turn signals or whether the CHP mechanics disabled them themselves.

Anyway, today's ride was great. Stopped in for a big cup o' Joe and the Peets Girl said "Nice morning for a ride to work, isn't it?"

Yes, it is, Peets Girl. Yes it is....

Oh wow, sounds rough. Might even be worth getting wider tires if your route is that crazy

Great ride home last night--rode with another commuter from my bldg, we try to do this a few times a week. The funny thing is we were both trying to do a bit of a recovery ride yet we didn't get a single red light. Normally we hit 80% or more. Murphy's Law...

Uneventful ride this morning. Saw my wife going the other way (driving back from dropping The Kid at day care), waved and got a wave back. Made my morning. :)

keep getting more interesting, to datajunkie better to have a strange commute then one not at all. Otherwise for me today's ride hasn't happened yet but it will.

Finally a very nice ride home, low 80's nice ride.

Good ride today. Saw a blinking red light about a half mile ahead of me this morning....a commuter!!!!! I pedaled hard and caught up to him. Then he wanted the lead back, so I sped up and made him work for it...but he never caught back up to me. His bike seemed a little small for him, like a kids mountain bike or something. Regardless, it was a good feeling and my 7 mile commute took only 20 minutes!

Ride home was nice. A couple of honks, but whatever.

[QUOTE=talleymonster;7227838]. . . His bike seemed a little small for him, like a kids mountain bike or something.
QUOTE]

I see that guy all the time. Plaid shirt, blue jeans, and baseball cap, right?

Had to slow down for a peacock that was in the middle of the road, and didn't seem to see me until I was about 2 feet away. Was nowhere near the zoo or any farms. Must be someone's peculiar pet.

Not as hot, but running a little late on the way home so had to turn the lights on. Got a complement from another commuter this AM about my lights (they're extra large, made for automotive applications). Won't be long before we'll be commuting in the dark both ways.

Nice ride home. I was scooting along at 20MPH trying to keep ahead of the rain that was chasing me. Just about made it. Got sprinkled on but that was it. Tomorrow morning I think I'm doomed, rain-wise.

But hey, we need the rain! :rolleyes: :mad:

(Admittedly I do enjoy riding in the rain.)

Pretty hot day today. So I snuck out of work early in the afternoon and went to the beach for a swim. After an hour immersed in 70 degree water I was nice and cool, and so very happy. Took it easy on the way home. I love summer! :love:

It cooled down a bit so I rode the long way home. 17 miles round trip.

My right clipless pedal, a Nashbar Special Road pedal, malfunctioned on the way to work, and I had to turn back. It appears the spring mechanism reared its cheap, "it'll-break-sooner-or-later-you-should've-settled-for-more-you-dang-cheapskate" head. I tried to fix it, but to heck with it... I still have the platform pedals that came with my Jamis Satillite, so while my Look Classic Road Pedals are being shipped from http://www.wekeepyoucycling.com, I'll just use those. The price was good- Nashbar wanted $99 for them, and "the other guys" wanted $84- that's with shipping.

Had to drive in today, dont feel too good. But it would have been a very nice morning.

FAST. :eek: There was some dude on a road bike about 200 yards ahead of me on the MUP, and I needed some exercise, so I chased. Took me a couple of miles to barely catch him before we went different ways. Almost blew up. :o 22-25MPH most of the way. I do feel pretty strong though. 45 pound dualie MTB with all terrain 26x2.1 tires. Maybe I need a road bike.
:speedy:

We're finally getting a break in the hot spell that has fried NC for the past few weeks. A cold front came through yesterday, and although we didn't get any much-needed rain out of it, the temperatures and humidity are much lower today. It's suppposed to dip down to the upper 50sF over the weekend with highs in the low 80sF, which insanely cool for NC this time of year.

Tomorrow I'm riding a fast metric century with friends, so I took it very easy on my commute today. No point frying my legs beforehand. I've made that mistake too many times. It was hard holding back this morning with the cool temps and low humidity, but I don't want to be struggling tomorrow.

Beautiful morning. Mid-50's, barely any breeze. I shaved 10 minutes of my time this morning. Must have been different route I took, luck with lights, and one less pannier this morning. A little rabbit scared the hell out of me cutting back across the MUP, almost laid it down.