WonkerJaw

Good morning all! It was a good ride in this morning... 68 degrees and low humidity and no wind. To make it even better the weather should stay in the high 80s to low 90s all week.

RicardoJM

Wow - I did my first commute in on a fixed gear. It was a slightly different route than usual, just over 16 miles. It didn't seem like I was going very fast, but it turned out to be my 3rd best time ever. I guess I coast quite a bit on my geared bike. I did notice that no one passed me this morning.

It was a great morning for a ride, there was no wind and the temps were in the upper 50s. I saw 11 other people out on bikes this morning.

Merryish

Beautiful, clear day by the lake, and a really nice ride in. Cool breeze, bite of fall in the air, blue sky - lovely. I made better time today than I did Friday (my first bike commute day!), by about 10 minutes. Still love the Bikestation, and there were actually other women in the locker room today, so that was kind of cool, too.

Zin

Welcome to BikeForums Merrish. And welcome to the bike commuting addiction!

mtessmer

Well, I had a great long weekend (four days off) and a great ride into work this morning. It was a little cool (52F) but clear skies... dark, but clear. Yep, I have to use the lights in the mornings now, that's a drag, but I do enjoy the beautiful sunrises. I should be a great ride home too, it will be a long time before I have to use them (lights) going home.

Rogerinchrist

Now don't laugh.........I finally hit the 500 mile mark this morning.
Low 50'sF slight tailwind. The road kill is really starting to pick up, saw a racoon & a black mink. Upper 60'sF this afternoon & that head wind was back again! I've been messing with my position the last couple of days, yesterday was that handlebars, today I shifted the saddle forward and up a bit.

Merryish

. . .

Today in Merry's Solitary Self-taught Bike Commute Practicum:

Headwinds: Nature's Resistance Training or Proof that God Hates Fat Chicks

Discuss.



Beautiful ride, though -- even at -3 miles per hour, getting passed up by toddlers on foot. The lake was dark, dark blue except where it was crystal green, and the sky went on forever.

Rowan

That's a mighty long commute!

With all the minks I am reading about as being roadkill over there, why don't the animal rights activists start campaigning against drivers? They did a pretty good job on the fashion industry back in the 70s and 80s. Mind you, here's an opportunity for the fashion industry -- recycled mink pelts from roadkill. Very chique.

Oh, and yeah, rain overnight settled the dust, cleared the atmosphere, and I had a very fast run into work this morning. A few spots of rain, but nothing to worry about. The cloudy skies and rain still about the mountain obviously scared off the fair-weather riders.

caloso

Should be a frying-pan hot ride home: 99F according to the NWS. C'mon Sun! We can crack triple digits!

Zin

Wind is your friend!

Chris L

I wrote about the bad-hair day in my blog on Sunday evening (I don't think I've had any reason to update since then). Not sure if I'll get time to type it out a second time during my lunch break. The bike coped OK on the Monday and Tuesday subsequently, but today is repair day.

Consequently, the Green Machine had a rare outing this morning under overcast skies and temperatures that I *estimate* were around 22 degrees C (the thermometer is on the computer on the other bike, so no official reading today). I copped every red light on the way to work, but that didn't seem to matter too much, the green machine flies! It didn't really feel like I was getting anywhere, but the clock on the time when I arrived at work told a different story.

Rowan

I'd like to read the blog, Chris, but the link in your sig comes up as an error -- URL could not be retrieved.

Chris L

Hmmm, I better look into that.

ollo_ollo

Nice commute today but definitely getting colder (51F)in the mornings. I wore a long sleeve jersey but stuck with my shorts for the afternoon heat. Finally saw another commuter. He was setup for Winter with a heavy jacket, long wool socks, wool gloves & a stocking cap under his helmet! To top things off, he wore a back pack. Can't imagine he was going to ride very far without overheating.

bikebuddha 

Ugh, wet this morning and dark. We're drying out from the remains of Frances, this afternoon looks promising.

cicadashell

cool today, a bit of a tailwind on the way in, which means low pressure to the south, which means wet weather coming on. i resisted the temptation to hitch a ride on a cement mixer. this has been a full week now of riding the new fixie and i've never been happier!

WonkerJaw

68 degrees and a little bit of wind that made it a bit nippy. To Metro Bus 1806 and 8806… EAT MY DUST!

Merryish

Today as I zoomed along the Lakeshore path with a strong wind blowing from the north/northeast, a gigantic rogue wave leapt up over the path and attempted to drag me into the water. I kept pedaling and didn't even wobble, but I was up to my chain in Lake Michigan for a few seconds there.

The Chicago Bike Station, if anyone is interested to know, does not have laundry facilities. My sneakers are sitting in front of a fan in the empty cube next to mine, hopefully drying in time for the ride home.

Merryish

Thanks, N7CZinMT! I think I'm as addicted to the forums as I am to the rides.

mjw16

On my ride home last night I almost ran over a couple of ducks. I was rounding a turn near the airport and noticed 4 or 5 mallards crossing the path. I then became distracted and didn't see the remaining two until I was right on top of them. I was cruising at about 16 mph when they decided to cross (they had been fairly well camoflouged in the grass). I was about 4 feet away when they scrambled out in front of me. I got a finger on the rear brake (useless) and managed to steer quickly to the right, passing in between them. I thought for sure that they were gonners-I could see their feathers, eyes, feet in perfect detail. Fortunately I missed both of them and we each continued on our way. That could have been bad: dead duck (s) and/or me crashing into the GW Parkway. This morning's ride was less eventfull with the exception of a little rain, cool temps, and the first use of my new headlight. I got the 10 watt Planet Bike Insight. What an improvement! Mounts in a couple of minutes and the battery pack fits nicely in my water bottle cage, not to mention the fact that it's four times as powerful as my old one and casts a better beam. I felt a lot more confident maintaining some real speed on what is now an almost completely dark trail. I also like the idea of being more visible to cars in the city. Looks like my afternoon ride will be a wet and wild one with the remains of Frances moving into the area.

caloso

This morning I got out of the house at a decent time and got in a few miles on the race bike. I've got at 72-mile ride around Tahoe this coming Sunday and I'm worried that my recent lack of saddle time is going to hurt me.

A beautifully cool and calm morning, the only time to ride in Sacramento this time of year, especially today when it's predicted to be 103F/39C this afternoon. Nearly got right-hooked at a light near my office. I noticed that the car had diplomatic plates, which is kind of unusual for Sacto. Luckily, the driver realized that he'd passed me just a few seconds before and stopped to let me pass through the intersection. Good karma for you, Sir!

Paul L.

Had a good ride in. Took my daughter backpacking yesterday and boy are my legs sore! Anyway, luckily I ran into a slower commuter this morning and we chatted for several miles as he preffered the sidewalk to the street. Don't get to chat with too many who commute on a bike around here so it was a really rare event. Nice day for a commute as well. Glad Summer is getting ready to wind down so we can get some cooler weather!

Rowan

Fast ride home last night in twilight then dark.

OK run into work this morning. Overcast, but about 11 deg C, which is pretty good. Came across a newbie on the bridge -- you could tell by his erratic pedalling technique. He was riding with another more experienced commuter. Good for him.

The wattles and other acacias are coming into bloom. The yellow flowers cause havoc for people who suffer from hay fever, but the scent takes me back to my first big tour -- Perth to Adelaide across the Nullarbor, including a section through south-east Western Australia to Esperance. The scent of the wattles was thick in the air. The paddocks also were filled with the yellow flowers of canola.

Laika

Absolutely horrible. It rained hard this AM and traffic was absolutely snarled all morning, peds on the bridge who's subway lines were out were even more clueless than the usual lot, and the way home wasn't any better. The consolation was that the woman in the white Lexus SUV (alone in the SUV, naturally) who nearly hit me got stuck in traffic 20 yards later, so I was able to roll up to her window, which was open, and say, "Man, you really suck at driving!" and roll away before she had a chance to say anything.

ollo_ollo

It was nice out at 6AM & I had a fast ride in. Met another commuter today but since he came from a sidestreet to my left while I was 1/2 way up a hill I was climbing at a pretty fast clip, I just said "good morning" & kept on up the hill. I slowed at the top & rode slowly over the crest & down the other side but he never caught up again. It was clouding up at lunch time but I thought the rain would hold off until my 3:30 PM quit time. Wrong! got caught in a heavy rain shower on the way home. It was about 65F so the rain wasn't that bad, even without fenders. I just had to deal with the wet clothes & shoes when I reached home. Don