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.

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 . 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.

Ride to work was a little challenging physically. I was able to ride at a pretty good pace through the whole ride. About half way I think my muscles where warmed up and it was much easier. I walk in to work every morning feeling like a bad ass. I don't think my co-workers understand.

Since I don't work tomorrow I decided to take a long way home for the first time. I was glad I did it. My body has been getting used to the same distance so it was good to give myself some new scenery and a longer work out. I will make this a habit.

bike path ride in this morning. quiet and gorgeous but a little bit of head wind.

It was at my back on the way home and I made great time. sweet.

... as a bike commuter for 10 years, mostly in Chicago, and recently in the NW suburbs, I am amazed still at how motorists think it is okay to slam their horns when passing cyclist.

Given, I try to be as visible as I can- light colored clothing, reflective vest, reflective commuting bag, blinking taillight, reflective tape and bike reflectors, headlight.

Also, I always wear a helmet, signal early and often with my arms and hands, check behind me and ride close to the shoulder as much as I am able. But still, on two occasions, I have had motorists lay on their horns this week. It makes me nuts!

Anyway, at 5:00am today, given it was a bit foggy out, I was midway through my ride and I could see the headlights of a vehicle from behind... I continued cautiously, but confidently riding, and as the pickup truck passed, the driver decided to lay on their horn... No, I didn't crash, but was quite irritated as my blood pressure spiked for a moment... What happened on your commute today?

Great ride! My commute is 3 1/2 miles there and back. Due to my work hours, I always ride in the dark mornings. Took my time and enjoyed the coolness. I was somewhat spooked (that weird feeling). It was particularly dark this morning and I had waken up from some crazy nightmare. So I was jumping at the slightest sound but it was a good commute either way.
I'll go around the park on the way home today.
Ernest

Wet and cold. I was tired, I slept horribly last night.

Great Weather:
I commute to a bike ride.
Had a tan Honda pull up beside me, SideWalk the driver yelled.
I told him where to put the sidewalk.

Really nice commute even though I had an unusually confrontational interaction with a driver. With two lanes open next to me he blares on his horn and starts pointing and screaming at me with the window up ashe's going by. For the next few minutes of my commute I looked for him at every traffic light until I finally found him stopped in a pack of cars. I rolled up beside him and banged on his window hard enough that he jumped to get his attention and then yelled at him "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?". He got all timid and rolled his window down a crack and said "you need to stay off the road" and I forcefully shot back "no you need to read your ****ing traffic law. I don't need to ride on the sidewalk, I don't need to ride on the curb either. I can ride anywhere I want to and if I catch you honking at me again I won't be so friendly when I come looking for you". Then I rode off through the slow moving traffic and left him behind.

Felt good honestly, scares the **** out of aggressive drivers when you take away their bubble of anonymity and confront them at a stop.

Oh and the weather was fabulous

Little chilly, but everybody was just so damn nice and cheerful this morning, waves, good mornings, nice bike, nice helmet...must be Friday.

Damp and cool, but not too bad. Riding without the backpack was great.

I need a pannier to schlep my laptop to and fro work...Too bad the good stuff is expensive!

Wonderful weather this morning. 61 when I left the house around 6:15. This is my first week of riding full time so my legs are pretty dead, but that didn't even put a damper on the beautiful morning ride. I actually pulled off the road to watch the sunrise. Just gorgeous!

A few miles later I am at work starting the grind. I think I'll take one of the longer routes home if this weather holds out.

Cheers!

Nice and temps were perfect...
Running late so consequently had to do a mini sprint on the fixed to work. Legs feel all pumped up and only a little dry heaving after a 20+ mph, 10 mile sprint to work with loaded bag...

oh well, its fun and why my legs are kinda large...