mjw16

No ride today, first missed ride in months. My rr. hub is being worked on, couldn't stand the noise any longer and dropped it off on Friday. Hopefully it's servicable, if not, hello Chris King classic mtb hubs..... (pipe dream, I know). My mechanic (Bill at Spokes Etc) put my tire/cassette on a loaner wheel and said I could pick up the bike but I was stuck in Baltimore and not able to get there before they closed. Should be back on it tomorrow and ride out what looks to be a great remainder of the week.

DataJunkie

I did not feel like riding the train this morning. Instead rode from the trail head park to work. Decent 23 mile ride. Gorgeous morning and I had fresh legs for the first time in months due to taking the weekend off from riding. Woo hoo!
First morning in warmers for quite sometime.

caloso

On Sunday the race bike got a wash and lube, plus I fixed a balky brake caliper. Met my buddy for our standard prework tempo ride. Perfect temperature, no wind, and end of season fitness meant for a fast ride this morning.

Zin

Cool and sunny this morning. TV said the temp was about 52 when I left home. There was a little "bite" in the air. I almost stopped to put the wind vest on. Glad I didn't because once I was out and got the engine warmed up it would have been to much.

It is nice to actually feel that "bite" in the air. Autumn in just around the corner.

rumrunn6

The skies have cleared despite predictions ... ready to fly!

HardyWeinberg

Ran out to Target at lunchtime for an errand, and the bike rack was full! Managed to snag a spot hanging off the end.

talleymonster

AWESOME! I bought some clips for my pedals this weekend and today was my first ride with them on. I love 'em! My commute to and from work was a breeze today, even with the 102* temp.

77midget

Fastest time home so far. Managed to average over 17mph and total time was 32 minutes! Also managed to slide in between weather patterns, as it started raining again about 20 minutes after I got home!

jyossarian

Forgot my helmet so I went back for that. Realized I forgot my bike shoes and said, "**** it!" and rode home on Candys wearing Skechers. That's the 2nd time I forgot to switch shoes at the end of the day and just left them at the office rather than go back to the office and change.

rumrunn6

ride home was good
I just might be able to do this every day this week

HardyWeinberg

Nice ride home. Warm and sunny. Spent the aftermath loading station wagon full of junk for a dump run tomorrow am. If I get some more work done at home tonight for my job, I can drive to the dump and then back home and bike in. Otherwise, will just drive to the office from the dump.

trombone

Nice ride in for me. Still chilly, but lovely weather. Left early, so traffic was light.

coldfeet

So, I've said before, the section near work is notable for the polite ( sometimes too polite ) drivers. Tonight,.... one of them decided to be the exception. the road isn't exactly wide, but the full size cars ( and pickup trucks! ) managed to give me 2-4 feet, how come the dink in the Toyota Echo couldn't manage 9 inches?

Bad move sunshine, I got your number, and I saw which company car park you came out of!

Tomorrow, print out appropriate rules, and leave them under wiper with short note.

chephy

Rode to a remote meeting instead of regular workplace today. A pleasant surprised today on a ride that included a 3-mile jaunt across a major valley + expressway + railroad combo. If I remember correctly, the road I took (Eglinton Ave E, for Torontonians) used to have the rightmost lane reserved for buses, taxis and carpoolers at rush hour, which, legally speaking, forced cyclists into the middle lane... not a pleasant place to be. I even started a BF thread to discuss what cyclists should do in such a situation.

Well, a year later there seem to be new signs on which welcome motorcycles and bicycles (yay) into the reserved lane. Not a huge improvement, since car drivers in general ignore this designation, but an important one from a legal standpoint. Also it seemed to me that the rightmost lane has been widened, which allows for comforable lane sharing, even with buses.

This is great news because there are no nearby alternative routes across that major barrier.

ban guzzi

three hours of sleep, cooler thankfully and I replaced the bike computer for the fixed gear since I'm using it to commute on this summer. I hit 31mph downhill at one point! Averaged 16.4mph for 20 miles. Good enough for me and my pannier laden commuter! I'd love to step up to about 80 gear inches but I don't think I'd make it up the 1 mile hill to work...without heaving anyway.

girljen

I just now got home. I had class, and left work late.

On the way home, I smelled some very strong cologne, mixed with spilled beer. I looked over and saw a small house with every single light on, and the driveway and front yard littered with cars. There was a party going on, and someone was trying desperately to get laid. It was funny.

Other than that, the ride was uneventful and mellow. I took it way slow because I'm overdressed (a turtleneck is awesome for an air-conditioned building, not so much for a bike ride), and just enjoyed being outside.

rumrunn6

coldfeet - Sounds like a couple of Prius drivers I've come across. I swear some of them are jealous that we are using less gas than them!

bugly64

My wife had me get some of those baggy bike shorts with the bike shorts built in. I felt like my tires were coming off the rims and couldn't get comfy the whole commute. I like regular shorts or pants and my B17. Now she has two pairs of those shorts. The pair she got from me is bigger though.

MIKEnDC

Had a nice, non-stop ride in this morning in continuing cooler weather. We have a brilliant weather pattern in place for most of this week, it appears (brilliant anytime really, but particularly for August). Lows in the lower 60sF (15-18C) and highs around 80F (26C) or a bit above.

I, too, am thinking autumn. I have some leave time I need to use and am contemplating a tour somewhere. If I can cobble together some kind of touring rig, I'll see what I can manage. Right now I'm thinking maybe Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway in late October (during the week when the road won't look like the Beltway in rush hour with all the leaf-galkers). Or maybe take Amtrak up to the end of the line in Maine--up the coast to Acadia and maybe loop over to the White Mtns and back to Portland. Dunno yet--so many miles and so little time...

Yeah, yeah, I know. Wrong forum. So sue me.

Big Ron

Just about perfect ride in this AM. 57F, clear skies, saw a few meteors from the Perseid meteor shower. Also saw a group of 3 people commuting together at ~ 6:15. Never seen a commuting paceline in these parts before. Sadly, I wasn't able to talk to them as they were stopped at a T intersection waiting for traffic to clear. I saw in my mirror that they did turn my direction though. Hope to see them again.

tarwheel 

Another great ride in Raleigh. We don't often get weather this cool in August. I wore a t-shirt under my jersey for the first time in quite a while, and should have worn my long-fingered gloves. I saw lots of joggers and walkers but only one other bike commuter. The Olympics seem to be having the same effect as New Year's Day -- we'll see a lot of people out exercising for a few weeks, and then they'll go back to sleeping late.

cg1985

Little cool this morning, but I don't notice it much when I am riding. Was a nice ride. Played with my seat angle a smidgen just to see if I liked it, mixed thoughts, probably change it back.

On the last part of my commute a giant semi was behind me. I was going to let him pass, but we kept coming up to red lights, and I always take the lane at lights, just for safety. The highway overpass is the last part of my commute, usually I take a quarter mile detour to go over the highway where there is no merging lanes, but I forgot to take that left and had to go over it. The semi was going to merge on the highway, so he didn't pass me because he wouldn't have time. So I start hammering on my bike up the overpass and as he speed up to merge he looked over, smiled and gave me a thumbs up for sprinting up the hill for him.

If only everyone was like that.

vtjim

Damp like yesterday. Overcast and in the low 60s. Bit of a tailwind, which was nice. Saw some other cyclists. Ran into a bike-commuting co-worker at the light near work.

rumrunn6

cg1985 - That trucker was a professional. He's probably seen a lot, and enough to know when someone is making an effort and has there witts, as opposed to so many brainless wonders wandering the roads.

It rained my whole ride in. Last night after my ride home I adjusted my rear derailer and cable, and both brake calipers. I was for it this morning. Now I need to adjust my front derailer. My new custom built (by me) bike rack which carries tools and tubes slipped down a little and the screws underneath rubbed against my tires making a whining sound. I thought I wrecked a bearing or something. All it needed was a tug to pull the compression clamps on the fork up a little higher. I guess I have to keep an eye on those. They stayed up but I haven't checked them since I installed it. I think once a day before my ride should be fine. My left knee felt a little weird. I wonder if it was the cold rain.

Anybody wear tights that cover their knees?

girljen

It was chilly! (58 degrees counts as chilly for me)

Other than the fact that my little ears got cold, though, it was a mellow and pleasant commute. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it, it was just a nice ride. I like it when that happens.