It was good to be back on the bike today. I think my tire pressure is a little low, but I'll be fine for the ride home.

First day ever! Perfect this morning 60 F dry. It rained a bit after I got here and the temp feels like it has dropped 20 deg! Should be dry when I leave.

awkward and peaceful...

An old ex girlfriend from 12 years ago got on the train right next to me. She didn't recognize me fortunately. It was so packed that she was about 2 feet away from me for about 20 minutes. Scary stuff, she is one of those that I would rather she forget about me.

Did see a 4 point buck walking down the tracks, that was kind of cool. Don't see that every day.

Otherwise all the drivers were courteous with some even striking up conversations at stop lights.

Again with the headwind, I think it's getting worse. And yet, I'm still slowly getting faster. I was really able to hammer the last half mile of the commute, I was keeping up with traffic. Felt pretty good about that. :3

Lost a nut to my toeclips, though. Gotta remember to check them more often. Should be fine for the ride home, I'll raid the garage for another one.

WET and WARM. It's not supposed to be a pineapple express but it sure feels like one. We got a late enough start that my wife decided to drive even though there was a lull in the rain at that point. So she took the 3 yr old to daycare, and if I am to retrieve her tonight I'll need to go home 1st to pick up the trailer, which makes for a tight schedule w/ her daycare and the 7 yr old's after-school program both shutting down at 6pm.

I had a hurtful ride in. Only because my legs are just wiped out from the week. On the next to last hill coming in, I decided I was just gonna take it easy and got in my small gears and just pedalled through it.
I was mildly amused after getting to work, showering and dressing. I see one of the supervisors had ridden his vintage Trek in (can you believe someone GAVE it to him?!?). I was glad to see he rode in. Hopefully he'll ride in more. His ride is sweet. 78-79 Trek 710. Needs a little updating, but someone took good care of it. I told him if he ever wanted to let loose of it to let me know. 8)

No kidding, its supposed to get in the mid 60's today. Im going to get wetter from sweat than I will from the rain.

Tips from experience:

1. "Limp" into your LBS and wail about your lost screw. They may give you another one for free out of their scrap parts box and if they're not terribly busy they may even put it on for free.

2. Use loctite or superglue or even two-part epoxy on the screws and nuts to keep them from loosening.

i had some rusty metal plates from some other clips that i decided to use on my new pedals to keep the screws from loosening up and i think the little bit of rust against shiny new pedals is a nice touch...i think the textured surface of the plate keeps things tight or seized up one or the other...

Great commute today from Oakland to San Pablo. About 23 miles each way on flat mostly bike trail. Just gorgeous weather and I took my time, stopping for breakfast on the way out and a burger on the way back home. Met an interesting character named Harl who was working on a four corners U.S. bike tour.

Pictures here..
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/forums/?ID=107200821

In a pinch "white out" makes great lock tight. It almost works too good, you may not get some fine threads back apart, ever...

fun ride home. Wound up time-trialing it w/ another guy I passed on the way and he then decided to keep up. We shared about 95% of the same route (at least until I peeled off at the end of my road) and, what made it more enjoyable, good luck w/ lights and cars (no red-light runners to deal with)

Today was a crazy day I didn't know how many kids I'd be bringing home until late. Just the one, after all, so rode to his school and biked home w/ him. Beat my wife and daughter home by half an hour.

Awesome commute home today. I took the "long" route (about 13 miles) and rode around the local lake. Found a new use for my "Take-A-Look" mirror: watching the sunset when I'm eastbound!! Nothin' like the sun setting over the water as I'm pedalling home.

Holy Ninja sidewalk cyclists on the way home. If i was handing out the free blinkies i would've had to take out a second mortgage. Okay, slight exageration, i saw 4.

Ride home last night was great. The Down Low Glow really made me feel safe and seen; practically every car that passed me got completely into the other lane to do so, although I did have a few come a bit close. I had one person yell out, "Hey! I like your bike." Man, that never gets old.

Today's ride was hellish. Had headwinds up to 9mph the whole way in. Hopefully that means I'll get a good tailwind tonight. Getting off work at 7:00 tonight, so I'll be riding home in the dark that whole way.

Friday evening's commute back to my car was almost a disaster.

I was riding my upright bike, and my pannier fell off (again), with the laptop in it. This happened as I was crossing the bridge in heavy traffic.

Luckily the car behind me braked to avoid running over the bag, but he was following pretty close, and the bag was under the front of the car when he stopped. I ran back, grabbed the bag, jumped on the sidewalk to get everything squared away, and waved to the driver.

If I use the pannier on the upright bike again, I'm gonna zip-tie it to the rack.

I left my clunky work shoes at work lastnight so I didn't have to stuff them in my backpack today. The mailman dropped off a package from Nashbar- it contained my Ascent V cyclecomputer and my bar end blinkies. I didn't have time to install the computer before I left , so I did it after I got home tonight. Numbers appear when I spin the front tire, so I guess it works- I'll see tomorrow, weather permitting..Tonight was misty, but I got home before the clouds opened up.

As usual in the mornings, I just could not get my butt out of the house. This morning was BAD, though. I left five minutes late, so my commute to work became the Late To Work Time Trial Stage.

I dodged a couple cars delivering newspapers. I hate those things. They don't watch for anything except their next delivery stop, they drive erratically (without signaling, because their hazards are on), and if there are two of them, they will drive two abreast going the same direction down a side street, very slowly, giving me no room to pass. Their only saving grace is that they roll with their drivers side windows down, so they can hear my bell.

Rant over. Anyway, other than that, it was a nice and very quick ride.

:roflmao2:

This is day #7 of straight commuting. Lucky me, i get to work all weekend :p. Legs were pretty sore yesterday on day #6 but i took it really really ez and they've recovered nicely, maybe even better than they would with time off.

The commute home last night was sublime. First complete ride at night. There's a section of E. Railroad, where it runs behind the old VA home, that has no streetlights and my lights, including the Down Low Glow, stood out spectacularly. I made a quick detour to the Subway shop about a block from our apartment to get me some dinner before heading home; first time I was on Pass Road at night. A little nervous, but no problems. Trés cool.

My commute to work began well- I usually have to dismount and wait for a break in traffic, walk briskly across a two lane road (Route 28- the main drag...) and then clip back in. Today I had pleasure to just roll out. I was met with a headwind, however, and it slowed me down a bit. I got to work on time- worked 11:50 AM until 9:15. My cyclecomputer is working, though it's set for a 700x25 tire, not a 700x23, which is what I have. It says my average speed was 11.3 mph. Gotta work on that... Anyway, the ride home tonight was fine- it was good to sit when I got home, though.

I had snow this after noon, yep the first real snow of the year. Some is still collected on the cars outside.

For the last few months, I only half commute, going to my office with my folder, and come back home with bike inside my wife's car. Just too much rain here in Balikpapan, East Borneo.

Beautiful stars today. First day back on the bike in a month having just returned from a job in the Philippines. It was warm there. It is cold here in Maryland. I need better socks.