so many roadkilled squirrels.

Cool again this morning. Around 35F when I started out. Nice to have the sun with me. Really felt like fall this morning. Even the smell of wood stoves burning. Trees are just now beginning to change. Today will be my last commute for 2 weeks as I am going on vacation for 2 weeks. I plan on riding a lot, but not the normal commute gig.

Have fun & stay safe everyone!

Bob

Commute in this morning wore me out! I rode home pretty hard yesterday to see how fast I could make it and then this morning I woke up to a strong headwind...Oh well, still feels great! I hope to have that same tailwind this evening.

Rob
www.pbase.com/robncindi/cycling

Today, it sucked!

A few weeks ago, I began installing the rear rack. It took a few weeks because the bosses had a little paint in them, and I broke one of the cheap screws in the boss. I attempted to remove it with a Craftsman screw-remover, and succeeded only in breaking that off in the boss. So, now I have a piece of cheap soft steel, with a piece of brittle hardened steel in the middle. My wife, bless her, suggested a diamond bit in my Dremel tool to extract the material. I successfully cleared the boss, chased it with a tap to clean up the threads, and put my rack on.

I got off to a late start leaving the house. I had removed the repair kit while installing the rack, and forgot to put it back on the bike before leaving the house. I remembered about a half mile away, and since I was running late, decided I would probably be fine without the kit, since I usually have no problems.

Halfway through my 10-mile commute, I start feeling "oddness" in the drive train. A couple of times, the chain shifted funny, and then the chain broke. Augh! I have a repair link in my repair kit, but it's at home!

I've yet to actually look at the chain, but I think the whipperman link was reinstalled incorrectly, and it came disconnected. It's all that makes sense, since there are no broken link parts still connected.

A couple of bus rides will get me to the bike store, but what a pain. There was even a nice guy who said, "Hey, I've got a repair link. Oh, wait, it's on my bike and I took the bus. Sorry!" :( :( :(

Hmmmm... bummer, Seanholio.
It was a soggy and dark one out there this morning on my bike commute in, at least it was warm (67F). I went out at lunch time to a light drizzle and 63F (temps dropping) but it wasn't bad. We'll see what my ride home brings, it will be raining but I don't know how much, and this is my 30 mile round trip day (not counting my lunch run)... oh well, it's all part of the adventure.

[originally posted by mistake in another thread, but it's really about the commute so here it goes]

I had a multi-modal commute this morning. We're having a new roof put on the house this week. The tear-off is so loud and messy that there's no way anybody should sit in the house while it's going on. So this morning we loaded the dog and kids into the wagon, put the bike on the rack, and drove to my in-laws. Got everybody set up, had a nice cup of coffee, and then rode to work.

Crummy day at work. :mad:

Bike commuting is amazing therapy. Sunny, windy, and cool. Very theraputic. Just what the doctor ordered.

I hear you on the crummy day at work. I got into an argument with my shift supervisor this morning, and then she held the grudge all day. Really professional... grumble...grumble... All I could think of all day was how great it was going to be to crank on the bike really hard all the way home to get all the frustrations out. When I got home, guess what? No stress! I love, love, love commuting!!!

49F & clear, the stars were bright @ 6AM today. First time out for my home brew lighting system & It works great. 55watt headlight plus a yellow xenon strobe front & rear. There were only a few drivers on the darkest part of my commute & they all straddled the center line as they passed. This is not usual behaviour. While I waited for a red light on Martin Way, a large trash truck pulled up next to me with its own larger yellow xenon strobes flashing. Driver looked over & gave me a thumbs up.

PICS..........Gota see PICS!!!!

Ca ca ca catchuuu it was cool this mornin'!!!
Nice & breezy this afternoon, but was in too big a rush to enjoy the sun (had an appointment at a golf course).

Today was a great commute. Wanna know why? Because it was my first!!!!
I spent all summer getting my big body in good enough shape to be able to ride the 8.5 miles to the office and back today, that last day of summer was it.

I felt so good, I'm doing it again tomorrow! I figure 16 miles 3 or 4 times a week is just what the doctor ordered :D

Great ride today,80 and sunny.Got some other guy at work to start to commmute to work . Thanks .

Good ride, lots of roadkill and broken beer bottles but no flats yet!

The wind in the morning is killing me! My commute is uphill into the wind on the way in and downhill with the wind at night, the ride at night is 15 minutes faster so far this week :)

www.pbase.com/robncindi/cycling

great rides this week - weather in DC is awesome mid-70s although a little chilly in the mornings - there were so many bikers and runners out yesterday I could have sworn it was a weekend

I'd like to echo Brennser's comments. This week has been great, and is forecast to continue to be so. It is wonderful not to be hot -- 62 F / 17 C is a welcome change.

While walking bike and daughter to the school bus stop, I saw my neighbor down the street hopping on her bike. Probably not just a fun run, because there was a pannier attached. It seems that there are now two commuters on my street.

Paul

I'm missing out as I wait for my sprain to heal. The weather is perfect and I have to stay off of the bike for at least a week. This is the second time I sprained my groin in the last 2 or 3 months. I did it about halfway through the first day of last weekend's MS 150 in North Carolina. I decided to complete the whole ride knowing that I would be really uncomfortable and require the week to rest up. Speaking of which, who rode which MS 150 last weekend? I did the Rockingham, NC to N.Myrtle Beach ride-the weather turned out to be ideal right on the heals of Ivan.

Correction, Paul H! When you're on a bike, they're all fun runs.

The weather this morning was absolutely perfect for riding. Today I wore a sweater and khakis and was super comfortable. The air was cool and calm and the drivers were relatively reasonable. Just fantastic.

Weather in Indy was chilly first thing this morning and warmed up on the way in. Was a great ride in and I'm loving commuting. My 2nd day in a row.

It's funny now that I've started commuting, I notice others around the office and in my area that are doing the same.

Great ride to work 80+ ,Try new way in to work today.
Rode in on the ss today . Thanks .

Cloudy, mid fifties @ 6AM, scattered showers throughout the day. Got caught in one on my lunchtime commute home & since I brought no rain gear, I got pretty wet. Had to change into dry clothes before I returned to work.

So many small pleasures during my commutes. The other day I was on my way home when I noticed this little girl, probably 4 years old, riding away from her Dad on the sidewalk. She was somewhat wobbily due to the probable recent removal of training wheels, but was doing fine. The look she had on her face could only be beat by the look that her Dad had on his. He glanced over to me and I said
"you should be proud", and boy was he taking my advise......
Thats the reason I commute, I would have missed that in my car.

This was one of those mornings where I just didn't want to ride the bike, I was up all night for some reason and I really just wanted to drive in. I rode the bike anyway, took the road bike again, I started slow and built up from there, I didn't feel much better when I got to work but I rode in. There was a lot of new glass on the side of the road and traffic was heavy but on the bright side, I didn't flat, didn't get hit, didn't get wet and rode the bike to work, that's a great start to what could have been a bad day if I drove the truck to work.

Near perfect weather, 60F and no wind. I made the mistake of wearing tights, so my legs were uncomfortable. Just didn’t have it in me this morning… I couldn’t get myself motivated to sustain a push. I was 1 mph off my normal average speed. My commute was work this morning.

back on the bike this morning, still warm and dry (about 60 °F) here. mellow-reeny. i missed riding yesterday because i had to be at a meeting in toledo (oh) at 8:30, and that's 60 miles from my house - i just wasn't up for it.

Today was the first time I have been able to ride all week. My ride has been in the LBS for repair. I paid $20 for someone to replace a $0.75 part. I'm ready to start learning how to do my own repairs. A thought for a different thread… I digress.

This morning was not as much light at 7:00 a.m. as there used to be… So, I get out my lamp, secure it to my handle bar, ride down the first hill, and stopping for traffic I break the lamp into a hundred pieces. My weight was on the left side of the bike and the front wheel was turned to the right. This along with not holding the break allowed the front of the bike to crash into a pole smashing my light into a hundred pieces. But, I digress.

This morning was a wonderful 72 degrees with no wind and little humidity. It felt great to be riding again. Have a great day!