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.

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

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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

Got up extra early to make a delivery about a mile in the other direction. Fun riding on my country roads in the dark, couldn't see the computer so my cadence was naturally by feel. Felt really good to get to work early too.
Ride home went quick, saw two sandhill cranes which aren't overly common in this area. Had to pick up my daughter directly after work, had a nice tailwind for once.

Yesterday was a wild ride. Wind was bad, we are getting the after effects of Frances up here. Wind gust up to 26mph. Nice misty rain, at sometimes it was a hard stinging rain. Needless to say the ride home was not typical.

Ride in this morning was much better. No wind and cool temps.

We are getting the remenants of Frances up here. It was pouring when I left this morning. A good north wind was blowing however it really didn't bother me. About 1/4 into the ride I hit the path along the lake shore and began to head west into the downtown core. The sky was grey and featureless as the rain continued to pour. The waves were rolling into the shore line nice and strong. Even though I was wearing my Gore-Tex jacket I was still soaked through because I had the vents open as the tempurature was nice and mild. Then all of the sudden I had a thought, all I could think was, "This is great, I love this." Yep, that's pretty much it. :)

frances reduced to a wisp of her former self, last night, the morning roads merely moistened. another mellow ride; the town has been repopulated with students, but they don't get out too early. going home, i have to be more careful.

Nice clear sky, mid 60s, nice clean air courtesy of Frances. :D

I drove in this morning, then went for a ride before starting my day. I know that it is technically not commuting. With the sun coming up later, this approach lets me get in a good ride and get into the office on time without having to leave in the dark. I do have a good light and putting it on indicates that summer has come to an end. I'm not yet ready to end my summer.

Nice morning for a ride. I took the Cherry Creek path out of downtown. I didn't count but the path was full of allot more riders than I see on my regular path (S. Platte).

Had a lovely ride in this morning and a lunchtime ride with a workmate. So far that adds up to about 30 miles, and there are least 10 more waiting for the ride home home. Great!

Ed

Raining cats and dogs this morning, rode through lots of poodles!!! The remnants of Frances meant steady rain and headwind of 30 kph gusting to 42. I was so abosrbed with finding a route around the puddles, I missed my turn into the driveway and rode an extra 100 metres in the rain!!

Had to ride the 'stand-by' commuter bike this morining. I dropped the Bianchi off at the LBS after work last night to get a tune up done. Oh, I'm having them put new gel tape on the bars as well.

The weather was nice and in the mid 50Fs. I may be riding in rain on the way home.

Hey pinerider, I'm catching back up to you on bikejournal~! Better watch out! :D

Whee!

I took last night and this morning off, because I've only been doing this for a week now and was starting to feel a little noodly in the leg just thinking about riding. I don't want to over-do and wreck myself - I'm not in great shape </understatement>. I felt really *twitchy* on the bus home yesterday and to work this morning, and was so so glad to be back on my bike this afternoon.

And it was a lovely, lovely ride. Jorge, the sweet and charming maintenance guru at the bikestation, topped off my tires (forgot to bring my pump) and when I grumbled slightly about seat height, he did a fit for me right on the spot. Adjusted everything, and gave me some really good advice about where my feet should fall on the pedals and how to hold my heels for a more efficient ride. He also told me to take my bike back to the LBS I bought it from and exactly what to tell them in terms of tightening and stretching and what-not. It was really educational - I sound like a dork, I know, but riding a bike for transportation at 33 is a lot different from riding a bike for fun at 17, which was the last time I rode a bike before last week. ;)

This trip felt great - I made better time, and felt better doing it. At first, my right knee wanted absolutely no part of proper form, and complained extensively, but it got used to it after about a mile and I settled in for probably my best ride yet. It was cool out, just cool enough to scare some of the moms and tourists back inside, and the lake was beautiful.

I love my bike. :D

Cloudy with showers this morning, by afternoon, & we had sunshine & a light breeze, 74F seems just right for commuting in comfort. Don

Picked the Banchi up from the LBS after work. With a fresh tune-up. Set my best time and avg. speed yet for my route. 18MPH average speed! It was a good ride home. Temp around 75F. Like Don said, "<snip>74F seems just right for commuting in comfort."

I really enjoy reading Merryish's entrance into commuting, makes me excited to get up every morning to ride! (I'm not a morning type)

As temps go I kinda prefer 60's.

Cool & foggy this morn, I left rather late too. Did see a fellow commuter that I haven't seen in the a.m. before going the other way, could barely make him out with all the moisture condencing on the specticals.
This afternoon's ride was clear, sunny & 73F. Nice.

....Must have been waiting for me this morning. As soon as I wheeled the bike out of the shed, the rain started. As the journey progressed, it became heavier and heavier.

Happy riding,

Have a good weekend,

Ed

Nice mornning, I rode on wet roads all the way in, it rained all night but stopped about a half hour before I left. Temp. is 64 degreesF and the humidity didn't seem bad. Traffic was heavy but moving along, I took my time and averaged 15.3 miles per hour. The weather is forecasted to clear and tomorrow is suposed to be a beautiful day.