Wolf - Good - don't rush it. Walking is good for everything.

Matt - Thanks for the warehouse tip.

It's staying dark so much later!

Other than that, I don't have much to report. I spent my whole commute off in my own little headspace, with my eyes and my legs doing their thing while my mind was daydreaming. Before I knew it, I was at work and hadn't broken a sweat.

Not looking forward to tomorrow. Rain forecast throughout the day ... :(

I spent the whole ride home off in my own little world again...what can I say? I've been in a reflective, nostalgic, navel-gazing kind of mood. It took me until I was turning on my street to realize that my legs and my lungs were both screaming at me. Then I looked at the clock and realized that I had made one of my best times yet, without even trying.

I'm not saying you are me (lucky you :) ) but be careful. The daydream type commutes are where I have a greater tendency to determine that I am unable to fly and end up checking the density of the pavement. :p

I'm finally riding my bike to work tomorrow bishes! I have loved you and hated you all for being able to ride while I could not ;)

My knee has been feeling really good over the past couple of days. I'll be multi-modal commuting by bike & bus & taking it easy. Starting off with two to three days a week and seeing where that goes. I'm fruggin' happy. :D

Good point. I see enough of my coworkers at work. I haven't taste-tested the pavement in Arvada to see if it's the same variety as the pavement in Aurora, though....:p

I drove to work today on account of the rear flat ( bike's upside down in my living room, with one wheel on- 2nd finance payment is due the 17th, replalcement pedals are coming in soon:P I was driving along and saw a helmetless rider going against traffic, wearing what looked like MP3 earbuds. A little further up the road, a helmeted rider was going with the flow, but on the same side of the road. I thought to myself, "Trainwreck!..."

Monday

Mainly cloudy skies with periods of rain. Cool with highs only in the upper 60s to 70.

THIS IS THE WORST DA OF THE WEEK. I got up really earl hoping to find a window of opportunity ...

60F/15C with a 5-10mph westerly (headwind for me). This is the coolest it's been in quite a few weeks, I think. Very refreshing!

I wonder if this has anything to do with those SmartWool glove liners I ordered the other day. Naaaaa...... :D

Had a great ride today. Rode my road bike for the first time in about a month. I have been riding my fixed gear exclusively and I noticed a definate improvement in leg strength. On another note, I counted 8 riders with no lights at all. I left home at 6:05 am, so it was completely dark. Most of my ride is on a bike path so you pass within a foot or two of oncoming riders. At least they could see me.

Finally I can post about a commute in this thread. Commute into work today was great. It's funny how a bike somehow makes you seem friendlier to other people. I rode the bus for a month while my knee was healing without a "Hello" from anyone. This morning I show up with my bike at the bus stop and had 3 folks come up and talk to me.

Was nice this morning. Overcast but no rain. Low 60sF. A woman cyclist was lying on her back doing stretches on the MUP. :D At first I thought I was going to have to render first aid. She looked a little startled when she noticed me. Probably embarassed. We said hi to each other. She wasn't hard on the eyes.

COMMUTING STINKS!

... only kidding.

But those dam cagers ... this one woman illegally crossed the double yellow line around a blind curve right be fore a set of train tracks even though I took the lane and put my hand out to keep her from passing. She got lucky but could have been toast and taken someone with her.

Another highlight was the truck style side view mirror in the road that everyone was driving over shattering it and making pieces fly all over toward me. Glad I was wearing eye protection, but I'm not looking forward to going home that way. There was lots of glass ... :(

I got lucky and missed any rain. Going home ... now that will be a completely different story.

OK - gotta work!

Just got my bike back from the shop on sunday. Got new shifters: Ultegra Bar ends, New Levers: Paul Comp cross levers, and new Handlebars: Bullhorns. Oh and a new stem.

Bike feels a little lighter, the old components must have been heavier than the new. I need to play with the handlebars a bit to get them in the right position, but the bike felt great, and fast!

Also, the opened up a dunken donuts on one of the routes I can take to work. BONUS.

Gaaah! Late!!
I took forever to get ready, and had to make up for it by dropping the hammer. Every time I do that, I tell myself that it's gonna be the last time. It never is.

Are you noticing that days are getting shorter? It's still light when I leave for work in the mornings, but it won't be long before it starts getting dark again. We are having a bit of a cool spell in NC -- cool for August, that is. Morning lows have been in the 60s the past few days and highs in the upper 80s. Feels nice and my commute times have been shorter due to the temps.

Took the day off my bike on Sunday after riding a fast metric century on Saturday. Went kayaking for about 2 hours, and it felt great. Good workout but great recovery from cycling. Legs felt very fresh this morning.

I did almost 60 miles last Thursday and didn't ride until this morning. I felt real good for my 17 mile commute. It was fun to feel and even see the difference the new bearings and grease have made. I flew last Thursday on the Cap Cod Rail Trail, but it wasn't until I did my regular commute that I really appreciated the improvement.

I dislike how long it takes to get my ass in gear in the AM, and I even got up at 4:30!

Is this a place for commuting rants as well? Because this morning was a bad commute for a Monday or really any day.

very cool this morning. Around 63 degrees at 8am. Weather claims humidity is in the 70-80% range, but i thought it was really comfortable today. Maybe being on the water helps a bit.

Rain is predicted for the ride home. i haven't ridden in any significant rain yet, so i'm looking forward to it ;)

Cooler - 65 degrees and humid, light rain spits. The afternoon ride home will almost be guaranteed wet - the forecast is for rain, very heavy at times. I'll have to check the radar and time my departure so I'm just riding in rain and not thunderstorm/downpour.

Was riding through a temporary construction zone as a road crew was working on some potholes when a guy barked at me, obviously trying to intimidate or scare me. Offered a universal greeting as I went on with my ride. Shortly thereafter, pulled up at a light behind a fellow commuter (female, yay!) offered a "Good morning" and got a smile back in return. We both were heading to the same place (university), but I turned off before her (guess she was going to a different part of campus.) This represents the first time I've seen a female commuter in the AM on the way to the U. I was extremely impressed that she used every proper hand signal (more so than I tend to) and followed every traffic control device (more closely than I prefer to... stop signs suck, but I don't blow through them at speed, she stopped!) All in all, an enjoyable morning commute. Other than some storms predicted for midday today, the weather for the rest of the week looks really good for commuting! Maybe I'll do all 5 days this week!

Back in the Saddle today! After being on vacation for a week, it was back to the commute this morning. I was loaded up for bear too, since I needed to replenish my supplies, but the new gearing on the new crank still made the trip in good time. My wife is on vaca for this week as well, and has the dogs and such w/ her, so I am free to stretch my evening commutes out as much as I want. Tonight i am thinking of heading to my brother's house, then home, which would give me 20 miles instead of 10. We will see!

I was taking it easy this morning, enjoying the cool August morning and all of a sudden - POP! The tire wasn't flat but it was hard to pedal and I stopped about 1/2 mile later. At first, I couldn't find the problem. Finally figured out the pop was probably a spoke and sure enough, there was a broken spoke. The back wheel doesn't turn at all, but I managed to ride the final mile to the office. If I can't get it fixed/replaced on the way home, I'll finally have to figure out how to use the rack on the bus. Bummer.

it felt really good to be back on the bike this morning, took a couple days off last week due to the rain so my legs were really fresh this morning or so they performed that way

didn't rain on me this morning but it may this afternoon, hopefully there will be some sun in the forecast later this week