No rain here this time of year...Had a break in the heat...For almost the whole week the highs have been mid-80's, during the inland part of my ride. Nice.
Slowed down getting to work..Ran into an intersting touring type..Talked for about 8 miles instead of riding at my normal pace...Good rider - a bike policeman who works the beach on a mountain bike......Gets to be a good rider..Has from time to time to out race someone trying to escape on another bike..Says, have to ride pretty strong in such situations.

This thread is 217 pages long. Amazing!

This week was kinda crappy for my 40k commute. It rained three of the five days. Its not so much I hate the rain, I just hate a filthy bike. So I cleaned it last night and just before the ride home today it poured for 1/2 hour. Bike is filthy again.

Went the "long way" this morning about 8 semi-hilly miles instead of the 7 mile mostly flat route I usually ride. First time I've gone that way since I started commuting. I remember that first commute last month being harder than I thought it should be the ride this morning was easy by comparison due to increased fitness I believe. Coming home I pushed harder than usual since a tasty pasta dinner was awaiting me.

Ride in this morning was incredible. Had to be at work by 6, still dark out while I was on the road. Beautiful full moon, nonexistent traffic. Surprised a fox who was checking out some roadkill on my route.

On the way home this morning I took the long way through Temecula's Wine Road.
Love that road..But, normally traffic is awful and rough about it's hilly terrain.
BUt Saturday, 6:30 AM..I was mostly alone...Hilly but only two miles further. I had thought it more. Too early to stop by some of the vineyards great deli's..
Since it is the higher route(elevation) way home; the fog was much less severe.
Liked the ride...That early sun is pretty rough on the eyes.

Took a few days off to catch up on our gardening & visit the grandkids down in Salem. Thursday afternoon was fairly hot (86F) but before we left, I went for a 12 mile ride. Nearly home, I was riding through an intersection where the cross traffic had to stop. Fellow in a Buick was distracted by a load of active kids & started his right turn without seeing me. I must have skidded a bit because my rear tire suddenly blew with a sharp bang, sounded like a 22 or 38! That got his attention but I had to walk the remaining distance home. Put in a new tube this afternoon & also prepped one of my touring bikes for Monday's commute.

20 degrees C this evening, humidity made it feel much warmer. I might have to get used to that in the coming months . Lane-splitting the Sundale Bridge faster than usual this evening -- 33km/h was the minimum recorded speed, then I accelerated continually for the rest of the bridge. Just as well, because it gave me enough speed to avoid a driver who quite deliberately swerved at me (fat chance in the gridlock, moron!).

Felt tired today. I rode a bit with buddies of mine on tour from Cardston, Alberta Canada to Salt Lake City, UT. They took it easy on me and still kicked my a$$. So, that is why my legs felt tired this morning.

Today was the first day to ride my "new" Bianchi San Remo tourer to work. Boy oh boy, what a plush ride.

Is everyone on vacation today? Geeze!

The ride home was interesting. Pushing through a gust front from a nearby thunderstorm. Plenty of lightning, although not very near me. No rain either. I hate dry thunderstorms. All they are good for is starting forrest/range fires. I also learned that cross winds and aerobars are not a good match.

Sticky, humid, 84F/28C, but at least it wasn't the 90% humidity we had yesterday. August has arrived and brought steamy summer temperatures. The ride was extra quiet and smooth as I spent yesterday detailing and installing a new chain, general tune-up. No faster than usual, just smoother. I have given up on fast.

Patches of light drizzle this morning and 15 degrees C (I don't even want to know what the humidity was). Looks like the end of "winter" well and truly -- assuming anyone seriously believes it ever started!

Overcast & about 58F this morning but burned off by Noon & we had a nice, sunny day with a high of 78F. The light breeze kept me cool on the way home. Saw 11 or 12 fellow commuters today. They are finally coming out larger numbers. I wave to all of them & some wave back.

Hit a huge storm on the way to work the other day, got there soaked from head to toe. Too bad my usual commuter with full fenders was unavailable (couple of broken rear spokes - fixed yesterday), so I had to use my winter bike (old rusted MTB) with the seat completely lowered - I had to stand up the whole way (not so bad, only 4 km's). What really got annoying was stopping every 30 seconds to wipe my eyes. No shower at work, so my hand towel and a pair of dry shoes and socks came in handy, even though they were a little wet (they were in a bag in a schoolbag and still got wet). At least my uniform stays at work, therefore dry at all times.

Today was a nicer commute, though it was to the mall, not work (about 30 km's round trip). It was hot and humid, and I got caught without my cycling clothes for some reason. Still a nice ride, but some idiot actually ripped off my "third-eye" helmet mirror! Just when I thought I was theft-proof... I had thought of everything: well-locked bike with helmet attached, and with my lights, computer, bottle, and wallet all brought with me. Guess when I buy another mirror I'll have to think of bringing that with me as well... *Sigh*

Another night, another crazy Gold Coast commute. I could handle the morons driving down the wrong side of the road if they could make up their mind that this is where they want to be. Still, I'm so arrogant these days that I didn't even slow down for the "obstacle" course. I just flew straight around/through it while the rest of the traffic banked up for miles behind Queenslanders who haven't figured out how to park yet. Looks like I get to use this emoticon again tonight...

No traffic obstacles here, but it is mighty humid & hot here in Oxford. At the moment, we're all hoping for a good thunderstorm to clear the air. Otherwise a good speedy commute this morning.

Cheers,

Ed

Had a good commute this morning in. Rode in on my old 1989 Schwinn Woodlands. Spent Saturday Taking it apart and giving it a complete overhaul. It rides great and did the job this morning. I will probably go out and get some Planet Bike fenders and go ahead and make this my permanent commuter.

I had a great ride to work this morning. The temp is a mild 78F but with 98% humidy. That is midwest weather for you. It will probability be raining this afternoon. I am starting to hear noises on my bike. It has about 2500 miles and I haven't done anything to it, not even oil the chain. I'll see how much further I can go

I got caught in a downpour yesterday afternoon that I tried to wait out under the 14th st. bridge. I quickly realized that it wasn't going to be a passing shower, as it turned out it rained for the rest of the day and most of the night, so I continued on. There were quite a few riders taking cover under trees and changing flats, presumably, on the side of the trail . I asked everyone if they needed help and they declined. I got home soaking wet and immediately got in the shower, put my clothes in the washer, and my shoes in the oven to dry out (the whole apartment smelled like baked, wet shoes). This morning's ride was much nicer although it was very humid and foggy. Other than a fallen limb (that I barely avoided) and some localized flooding, it was an uneventful ride. I spun behind another rider until I passed him at the airport and got into work a little early. Hopefully it won't be hot and sticky on the ride home.

Great commute today. Boy I love this "new" bike!

Just wondering if anyone else is riding through massive amounts of tree sap? Its very sticky in the morning and wet in the afternoon.

I had a great sunny 15 mile ride in this morning. I noticed on the weather radar that a storm was coming in so I took an early lunch (actually I left 15 minutes earlier then usual). It was a good thing I did because it started to sprinkle on the way back to the office and after I got settled back in it really started to pour. Hopefully it will be through by the time I leave here, but I'm not to optimistic about it by the looks of the radar. Oh well, I'm glad I brought my rain gear... no big deal, it's all part of the adventure.

I was having a good ride into work this morning until about five minutes from work I got caught in a downpour. Which isn't too bad except that just seconds later my back tire went flat. Nothing like changing a flat in the pouring rain!

Totally overcast & 60F at 6AM, stayed cloudy all day. By lunchtime it was 70F & on my ride home it was 76F. Even with all the clouds the humidity was only about 65% so we had fairly pleasant riding conditions. Don

Today was hotter, 87F/30C, but still drier, only 74% humidity. Windless = breathless today. When I got home I asked Dan for a big hug, and he backed up saying "NO, No, get away, you are a radiator" So now I know what kind of machine I am.

16 degrees C this morning -- can you believe that "officially" winter still has another four weeks to run? No, neither can I.

It was a strange sort of commute, early on I went on a psychotic attack to just make a couple of traffic lights that were orange at the time (got them both, ra!). Then I got owned by some gusts of wind, recovered, got delayed by more traffic morons in Surfers Paradise, recovered again, before hitting a loooong traffic light delay just before work.

Just another commute folks.

I've had a great summer commuting-- almost no rain, no big breakdowns, no crashes. It's been boring...... and very nice!

Today I met another cyclist on the road at a stoplight. A Japanese collage student. He's riding a steel "U" frame one speed, full chain guard, head light, tail light, frount tire mounted generator (looked top of the line), 700 wheels, with high flanged, quality looking hubs, with Panaracer touring tires I had never seen before (again, looks like top end stuff)

The kid's got a good stainless steel pump and a nice black backpack. He's not really dressed like a hardcore cyclist, he's wearing polyester slacks and tennies, but he can handle a bike. He askes me how to get to Tacoma. I tell him he's already in Tacoma and ask what part of town he's heading to. He tells me he's going to L.A ?!? So I tell him to fallow me and I take him across the east corner of town and get him on the back road to Portland, Oregon.

So I say goodbye and wish him luck. I ask him how long the trip to SoCal is going to take. He thinks about 25 days, maybe more. I ask about climbing hills with the one speed. He just laughs and says he'll push the bike uphill on the tough ones.

Totally crazy kid! I hope he makes it.