My commutes have been great the past week and will be awesome for another!

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Nice weather makes all the difference for me. Been riding an extra hour on the way to work every morning (normal commute is 15-20 minutes). Sweet!

Yea weather here in Indiana has been so great for a while now. We will probably pay soon.

Rode into the wind the entire way into work this morning. That was a tail kicker. I also left late today, got hung up at home, so I ended up right behind a city bus for a few miles. Besides the obvious downside of carbon monoxide in my lungs from the bus, I also ended up having to slow down every time the bus stopped to pick up people at a bus stop, because the bus used the obviously marked bicycle lane as a bus lane. GRRR. I ended up riding the sidewalk to get around it. I felt bad, like I had violated some sort of code, but I couldn't be behind that bus. Was that so bad? I would have gone into the road, but the bus was already taking up half of one of the travel lanes, so traffic was already constricted through there and I didn't feel that it was a safe move to get tangled up in that.

Starting to get cooler in the morning, deployed the Canari windbreaker...don't want to break out the leg warmers just yet. Talked to another guy who commutes yesterday on the way out, in the elevator, he was complaining to another guy about how he got s**t from someone in his office for going out on lunch rides in his lycra riding shorts, she complained that they were too skin tight, so he can't wear them any more. Of course, while he was complaining, I got on in my gear. We commisserated about how lame some people are, you get a bigger eyefull just walking down the street.

Nice and cool this morning. Aside from unfolding a train bench onto my leg (ouch), it was an uneventful ride in.

First commute in a week. A tad chilly this morning (temp was 64°), almost went back for my long-sleeve jersey, but decided to wear my wind breaker instead. Bike seemed heavier than usual, so I took it casual this morning (about 13 to 14 mph). Gave the Romisen flashlights a good work out; very nice. :thumb:

took the extra long way home from work yesterday and this mornings ride was good too, i am still trying not to wear gloves in the morning because i just like the solid grip on the bars

it's so fun to just carve a new route home just turning on some new roads

The ride in this morning was chilly and wet. Fortunately the showers in my office building only have cold water, so I was conditioned for it...

This "nor'easter" we got in Southeastern NC looks like it'll be fun to head home in, too.

Mid 50's this morning, clear and no wind to speak of. In other words perfect. Just wore shorts, a long sleeve base layer, and a brightly colored T-shirt over top of that. Made a point of counting other cyclists this morning and counted 12. Seemed less than other days. Pretty uneventful ride except for the 4 kids walking to school on the MUP and they could not figure out what side of the path to move to as I was heading for them. Made the 12 miles in just under 47 minutes, not the best time but not the worst either.

Light tropical storm rolling in, so I got a ride from the woman. It feels weird not having a bike in my office.

The bad part was an explosively flat tire at about 35mph coming down Novelty Hill in the drizzle and dark, only 2 miles into my commute.

The good parts were:

- My new Gavia Plus tights kept me really warm and dry as I was changing it
- It happened close to a street lamp, so I had plenty of light to work by
- I got it changed in about 10 minutes from stopping to rolling again
- It was the rear tire, so I didn't wipe out when it went all insta-flat on me

Today was my first day back on the bike since returning from Texas late Monday night.

Temp was a bit chilly. I guess I was in Texas long enough to get used to the 75 degree mornings. Sunshine1 and I rode together to the top of the climb on her route, then I had to turn back to head for downtown. I sure enjoyed riding with my "best girl" on my first commute back. Thanks for riding with me, sweetie.

Ended the morning commute with 20.5 miles and almost 400' elevation gain. Not bad for the first time back out there.

beat the rain and stayed dry this morning so at least I will have dry clothes to put on 5 minutes before I go get soaked for the ride home. Yesterdays ride was crazy with the wind...at times felt like I was riding into a brick wall!

Not a bad ride in. I did manage to hit every single light going through downtown. That's 6 0-40 sprints in <5 minutes. The last one was kinda feeble, but oh well.

Yet another great day to ride, cool in the morning, sunny all day, light winds..just terrific.

However, a short distance from house, a family van was backing out of a driveway where upon I used my warning bell to let the driver know that I was approaching. The van stopped, let me pass, and all was fine until I was about 500' down the road when the van roared up behind me and attempted to pass to the left only to find a large truck in the oncoming lane. The driver could have just slowed a bit to wait for the truck to pass but insisted on forcing the issue. I have seen this numerous of times but this time it was so close that I immediately pulled into a driveway to avoid contact.

What got me was this road was a country road and the van had roof top mounted bike racks (i.e., the driver should have known better). I guess this is just a commentary on the risks people are willing to take in order to shave a couple of seconds off the clock to get to work on time. If they could only appreciate the negative outcomes that their actions might have on bikers...or anyone else. After all there are ~43,000 people killed on the roadways each year (~120 people each day, equivalent to a plane crash a day), but I guess people feel that crashes only happen to the other person and not to them.

Now that I'm done venting, I'm looking forward to the ride home. Tomorrow, it is supposed to be rainy. Time to get out the rain suit.

Fast ride in for the morning. I had a light tail wind all the way.

Just Wonderful
 

Weather in low 60's and a tail wind !- temperatures have finally moderated here in the land of the heat index. One thing though - I ran over a squirrel. How can you run over a squirrel on a bike? He went back and forth, back and forth (like they do) and then back and for..... whump whump - didn't quite make the last forth :eek: . Looked back and he was hopping off but with a decided hitch in his gait. I guess if he wasn't able to successfully dodge a bike then he was probably not long for this world anyway in the neighborhood he was in. Maybe he will live over it.

cloud/rain means the (ever-shorter) day's worth of sunlight does not zip back out into space at night so warmer mornings. yay I guess.

Skipped the gym this morning and instead cleaned up the bike from last night's ride in T-storm. Left later than usual and coasted to the office at a very leisurely pace rather than push myself. A couple college age guys went past me....I usually pace my way to the traffic light. They sat and waited awhile....I timed the light perfectly, and as I made my left turn, they were still waiting for the light.

More and more bike traffic these days. I don't feel alone anymore!

Tomorrow is my last commute for a couple of weeks. Sunday we head for vacation...two week cruise in the Mediterranean. I'm looking forward to some downtime from the office grind.

Happy riding all. Be safe.

Heavy, heavy legs. You know those days when you keep looking at your tires, thinking that they must be flat? That was my ride this morning.

I had the exact same feeling this morning, only I kept looking behind me to try and find the anchor I felt I was dragging.

Today? 20mph headwind. I'm on knobby tires. It's Thursday, which means my legs are tired from the week's riding. I missed breakfast this morning.

Much fun was had. I think my string of curses at mother nature added about three miles an hour to my speed. :3

Sadly enough I didn't get to ride today :( But I hear it's good to take a break....occasionally.

The sun was shining, the temp was cool, but comfortable. Perfect. And I had to take the car (I seldom drive) into the shop for a $400 worth of maintenance. Some days I wish I were carless.

Oh man I thought that was just me! I have been feeling like my back tire is flat all week. My legs have been put through the ringer this week from work.