Interesting ride today, backing up after yesterday's 250km epic. Felt Ok going into the wind in the morning, yet nine hours later I felt lethargic with the tailwind. I think there's a message for us all in that -- only ride against the wind!

Pretty ticked off this morning. I noticed that my right crank arm was loose shortly after leaving the apartment. Upon confirming this, I turned around for home to tighten it. I had left my multi tool at my parents' house so I decided to throw my 3/8" ratchet with 8 mm hex attachment in my backpack just in case. Well, about a mile and a half into my commute my crank/bb interface was making horrible clicking and pinging noises so I stopped to check on it again-well the crank arm decided it wanted to fall off this time. I took my time and cleaned the oil/grease from both parts with my shirt and gloves and re-assembled things once again. I was determined to make it to work and really hammered it to make up the lost time. I was also so pissed (this is the 3rd or 4th time they've loosened) that I threw my helmet down in disgust--shattering it in the process. I rode for a while holding my helmet before tossing it in a trash can by the airport. The only good thing was that I passed a guy who later caught my draft and thanked me for the "awesome pull". He looked to be a serious rider, so I guess that made up for all the frustration.

67F and sunny this morning. Just a light breeze. Saw 3 more dead racoons.

I was riding along happily this morning until I was stung on the arm by a bee or wasp - it happened too quickly to see the culprit. The poor thing can't have stung deliberately, we just collided but it certainly knew how to fight back!

Rather than have the wheel repaired at the shop (broken spoke on Friday) I finally ventured to have a go and carry out the repair at home. I'm pleased with the results, the wheel is nice and true/round, and it was possible improve the balance of spoke tension - hopefully there will be fewer problems to come.

Cheers,

Ed

It was 60F/15C on my commute this morning, took the long way, it was great. We have been having a streak of great weather days (knock on wood) and I'v been getting the most out of it. I even got some nice mileage over the weekend. Saturday with my wife on the tandem (6th Saturday in a row I'm pleased to announce) and Sunday I rode with a group of over 100+ riders. Life is grand!

Not my usual commute yesterday, but it was very enjoyable. I had to deliver some materials back to the office last night so I hooked up the NightRider and blinkies and took a nice spin back downtown at 10:30 last night. Still hot and muggy at my house but cool and breezy on the Sacramento River.

Riding back through Midtown I was really surprised at the number of folks on cruiser bikes. None had helmets, lights, or blinkies, but they all appeared to be 20-somethings and they're immortal, right?

Two days in a row where I've had a car pass me within inches. I gave up on this goodwill towards cars crap. I fly the middle finger now.

I know I shouldn't but it's hard not to when you've just had the bejesus scared out of ya.

My first commute ever! I was a little leary going into it, because I am crazy/stupid and didn't take everyone's sensible advice to ride the route on a non-school day and figure out if I actually could do it. Because I am in training for my first marathon, I am beginning to feel as if I am (fitness-wise) an indestructable machine. Well,fate looked favorably upon this little fool today, and it was AMAZING. It took me about half as long as I anticipated - I'm not fast yet, but not a slug either. 30 miles round-trip with some monster hills (at least, IMHO), but it was nice and cool this morning and only 85 this afternoon. I had intended to bike to school and catch the bus home (thinking that the ride to school might really wear me out), but when I walked out of class I thought "Heh, I feel like riding home." So I did. Waaaaay nicer than the bus. I'm slightly unaccustomed to sharing the road with cars. I'm staying with my parents in Portland, OR for the summer, but during the school year I live in a podunk college town (Monmouth) where there's just about no traffic period. Anyway, once I get used to them whizzing by, this commute should be downright comfortable. I had a blast! Thanks again to everybody who offered advice initially.

I know it sometimes feels good, but the truth is it doesn't help one bit. If anything, it just makes the situation worse next time around.

I broke my $170 sunglasses when I got to work this morning. Snapped the frame. Kinda hoping I can find someone out there somewhere to repair them (the lenses are still intact), but I'm not hopeful around here. Oh yeah, Mid-winter morning temperature of 17 degrees C this morning. I am literally quaking in fear because summer is only a couple of months away.

Really enjoying the summer now, it was cool enough this morning to wear long sleeves but still not to hot by noon. We got into the low 80s in the afternoon but still not to bad. Saw about a dozen other cyclists today. When I got home from work, a set of wheels I bought on e-bay had arrived. They are Campy clinchers with SunTour hubs, just need to put together a casette & try them out on the Bianchi. Don

Tough commute on the way in today. There was a slight drizzle/stinging rain that fell all the way which made it hard to see and cold. Then the bulb in my head light went out so I was in the dark too. Seemed more like November this morning then July.

Hope the ride home goes better.

No ride for me this morning: 1) took a sleeping pill last night that I'm still recovering from, 2) woke to morning T-storms, and 3) didn't get a chance to fix my cranks last night or pick up my multi tool from my parents (don't like to ride without it). Tonight I'm going to remove my cranks, degrease them, and re-attach with loctite on the fixing bolt, hopefully this will keep them from loosening again. Bought a new helmet last night too, I should be riding again tomorrow.

Drat! I overslept. I was up way late last night. I didn't hear my alarm (assuming it went off). I drove this morning. Traffic was very light though!

My legs felt like lead this morning, but the computer indicates I made decent time. There were 24 other bikes out this morning. The temp was right at 60 this morning, we are expecting a high in the mid 80's for later today. A good day to be on my bike.

I finally took the step of commuting to work. What is normally a 20 minute drive only took 10 extra minutes by bike. I'm at work now and I feel great... more awake than I usually am at this time in the morning. Cleaning up once I got in (sweaty, smelly, dirty) worked out a lot better than I had guessed it would.

It's only an 8 mile ride (one way), but it's all along busy roads. I'll take some pictures soon! I never would have done it without bike forums!

YEAH! I'M BACK!... After almost a month I hit the road to work spinning with a smile on my face. The temp. was 70!, no wind, and very light traffic… what a great way to start the day. Y'all have a good one!

A beautiful, unseasonably cool morning in Austin made for a very pleasant ride, except for getting stuck behind a bus for a few blocks.

I hadn't biked to work since my baby was born in early May, but I think a combo of 3 weeks of TdF coverage and discovering this forum has reenergized me.

Now, the afternoon ride may not be so pleasant...

It was a great ride. What is your bike route? I ride down from the Arboretum area to downtown. bikeforums is great for info... nice peeps welcome gravelpot

Morning commute to work (6.5mi) was just awesome. I am usually a bit bored with this route but this morning I managed to draft a semi hauling 3 trailers until it out-accelerated me around 30mph. That's on a MTB on flat ground. I was pretty happy with myself. Then on a small hillclimb, on a bridge that goes over some tracks, I passed 3 other bike commuters, and left them in the dust. That was fun.

Some days the commute just seems to be at its worst, but this morning was one of the best. So glad I tried commuting on bike!

Thanks for the welcome...

My route is pretty short -- from 51st and Burnet Rd. to UT. I actually start out going in the wrong direction in order to get to North Loop and then take Guadalupe along the Intramural fields, hit 39th east to Speedway, which takes me all the way into campus.

Do you take Shoal Creek to get from north to south?

We are into a string of perfect cycling days here in Olympia, 58F at 6AM for my ride in & 84F at 3:30 PM when I go home & usually around mid 70s during my lunch time round trip. There are suddenly cyclists all over the place but most are not up to speed yet & ride slowly. Augie: [ I live in a podunk college town (Monmouth) ] My oldest son works for that college. Its really a pleasant place if you like small towns. Years ago (80s), when I was in grad school in Portland, OR there was a bicycle commuting map available that had all the streets color coded to show the best bike routes. I found it very helpful for my bike commutes to school & work. Helped me to quit using a couple of dangerous routes. I'm sure that map, or a better one, is still available if you check a local bike shop. Enjoy your Summer! Don

This is shaping up as the summer that wasn't. My tomatoes haven't started to ripen, mornings I think about long sleeves. However, today was one of my better wildlife spotting days, Doe with 2 fawns that were just losing their spots, joined by another doe, 2 pairs of turkeys, one pair crossing the road in front of me, a large raptor flying out of the woods on one side of the road into the woods on the other, and the ever present call of the Towhee. Riding was good, this evening I saw 5 cyclists, that's a lot for me.

Another gorgeous California morning. The Delta breeze finally arrived about 3am to cool the blazing valley.

My legs weighed a ton during the first mile from home but I had enough time to give myself a nice spin. I'm looking forward to the ride home if I ever get out of here.

Playing a little catch-up here, have been busy and not posted the last few days. Worked last weekend and dealt with the usual stuffy humidity on the rides home. We had thuderstorms last night and during the day today; the ride in at 11:00 edt way unusually cool and pleasant, the ride home at 8:00 was perfect. Wo;uld have just kept going for an hour or so, but my g/f was preparing a special birthday meal for me. Considering I had to work, it's been a great day.

Blinded by the light, I sometimes forget how damaging the Qld sun can be on one's eyes without sunglasses (I broke my $170 pair yesterday). Still, the temperature wasn't too bad (13 degrees C), and the days are still short, so it should be OK for the ride home.