cyclezealot

20.3 mph average..Congratulations..My commute might be easier if not for confounded hills..Like the hills, but I know it lowers my average...25 mile commute with probably at least seven miles of climbing, effects the average..
Often on a long flat heading towards the ocean, I cruise for long distance at 15 to 20 MPH range..But, even in the flats, seems really strong headwinds constantly effect that...Like to think I could do 20 mph consistantly.

Ed Holland

Great ride this morning until.... I reached the driveway to my workplace. This is a very narrow driveway (room for 1 car) and I had to give way for a minibus in the opposite direction. After this, I set off and the driver that had been waiting behind decides to overtake - too close for comfort - and gives me "two fingers"* when I protest. Well, I am determined to have a few words, knowing that at least this time I can catch up with the individual in question. Luckily I was in a good mood and feeling composed, decided not to use foul & threatening language (we work on the same site after all) so I approached with a civil "sorry about that" (shouting etc.) but did you need to do that? His charming response was "You tu*d". Charming! I continued to give a very civil but firm browbeating, conversation variously involved the following:
Me "Why did you make that manouvre?"
Him "I was trying to get around you"
Me "Why, there is only 100yards of drive?"
Me "how much time did you save?"
Him "I didn't know you were going to swerve"
Me "I was only just setting off as you squeezed past, you need to give cyclists a bit of room"
Him "Why don't you learn to ride a bike?"
Me "if you rode a bike we wouldnt have so much trouble getting to work in the morning"
Him "I do ride a bike"
Me, pointing to his car "That is it is it?" I couldn't resist that

OK enough... But I'm quite pleased that I was able to keep things civil and explain the pointlessness of the whole thing. It was just plain dumb



*an ancient English greeting made in defiance to French forces at Agincourt by English longbowmen. Now in more widespread use.

ridealot

Good ride home last night. Traffic was normal and the wind was calm.

Warmer temps on the way in this morning, around 50F. It was rainy though, steady showers on the way in. Going to be like that most of the day I think.

mjw16

Great ride in this morning, but it's starting to get chilly out there. My rr derailleur is having issues so I had to switch to friction shifting which, when using downtube shifters, isn't the easiest thing. On the plus side, it forced me to work in a higher gear and my legs got a better workout for it. I made good time even though I had little perception of speed since I couldn't read my computer in the darkness of my 5:30 ride. I saw another rat run across my path, I'm now convinced that it was a rat that I ran over yesterday even though there was no trace of him on the path last night. I guess we'll get some rain this evening and tomorrow-my goal is to ride through the winter this year.

jharte

Excellent ride this morning. 47deg. Thick, dead air. I did happen to spot a couple of 'stealth' runners. I like this time of year. Ed Holland, I envy your sense of patience with drivers. I have learned I must keep my mouth shut if I have an unpleasant encounter. For some reason, my vocabulary becomes very limited.

westman2003

Beautiful ride in. Temp was 3c (37f). No wind or angry drivers and I mostly hit green lights

cicadashell

nice 50 °F overcast but a flat tire...poo. most likely one of those rocks i ran over. will examine later.

kfriel

Well I did it again. Second time commute. A short one, 3.2 miles but enough and a nice one. Little bit of a sweat but earlier in the week I had packed in a sweat towel and some anemities. Sure wakes one up in the morning. Working on the bike slowly, got a rear rack now need to get a bag. Downhill on the way in, moderate hill tonight on the way home.
Kevin
Specialized Crossroads in process of becoming commuter bike.

Zin

38F when I left home this morning. Light breeze. I'm finally going to have to break out the head lights. Man, only 6 more months of dark!

Socksshep

Nice ride home last night, but no ride this morning. My wife is worried about me riding if there is rain. Well the rain never came but I had to drive because I had a meeting I couldn't be late for and then the other person was late for the meeting. My best average was 17.2mph, but I am confident that over the next year with enough of this continued cycling I can move that up to around 20, after all I have only been riding consistently since July.

I have a mountain bike, will changing the tires to slicks add some speed? About how much if any?

Stubacca

Socksshep - slick tires on an MTB gave me another 2 or so mph average, plus a lot more cornering confidence. Changing to a cyclocross bike with slicks got me another bit of speed.

Great ride home last night. Just warm enough that I didn't need the jacket.

No ride in this morning thanks to an early meeting and a lunchtime appointment. Just makes me look forward to tomorrow even more!

SaskCyclist

An awesome ride in this am. 1000's of Canadian Geese on the lake preping to go south I would assume. Some stay for the winter but only a fraction. The steam was comming off the lake and made for an awesome picture. Too bad I didn't have a digital camera with me. It was -4C clear and sunny.

Tree Trunk

Bad commute this morning -- riding my MB instead of commuter. I haven't checked to make sure the seat bag had everything I needed. Of course, as Murphy's Law goes, I had a flat five miles from work. There was a spare tube, but nothing to inflate it with. My frame pump is on my commuter and the CO2 inflator is with my road bike. STINK!!!! And I didn't have a Presta adaptor so using the compressor at the gas station wasn't an option. This morning was the first time I have been late for work due to a flat. A friend of mine had a Presta adaptor and our shop at work has a compressor. The spare tube was a patched tube, too. We'll see if it holds out on the way home.

On the positive side, I was only a half hour late and did not blow my perfect attendance (and the nice bonus that goes along with it).

ollo_ollo

49F & clear at 6AM today, bright stars with no moon. I rode my Motobecane Grand Jubile & hit every light green: 12 minutes total commute time for my 4 mile commute, a new personal best & 20 mph average speed. Not bad considering the small hill I climb early on. By my lunch commute home a high layer of fog had obscured the sun, supposed to burn off & be 74F this afternoon. Don

PainTrain

It's been a warm dry autumn so far in the Sacramento valley, but that means fire danger is high. This morning there was a spectacular dawn as the canopy of smoke overhead was lit by the rising sun. Didn't bring the camera of course

Rogerinchrist

After "playing around" with those adapters for several months I found that they don't work with every type of pump, so out they went! All the bikes at this house now have Schreoder valves! I even drilled out my touring rims to make the switch, no more diggin' for an adapter that might not fit a pump anymore!! Easier to find a hardware store tube out on the road too.

Today's ride was uneventful, dark and cool goin' in, & sunny an cool comin' home.

JavaMan

This morning I put on my jacket as usual before going outside. When I took my bike out at 6:15 AM, it was warm! It felt like more than 60 degrees. I took off my jacket and put it back in the house. It felt wierd riding in the dark without a jacket, but somehow I managed it . Rode part of the way with a woman on a new Specialized road bike who's been commuting for 3 weeks. She was from Estonia.

I decided to lower my seat a little before riding home. My legs felt great. I made 18 miles in 61 minutes, then sat down and ate a big steak. Life is good.
Tom

Alphie

Nice and cool going in for the 12-9 shift today. Very cool with misty rain coming home. Will have to wear the windbreaker tomorrow if the weather stays like this. Got my 10+20=30 watt dual halogen light in the mail today. That will nicely replace the Cateye 3 led lamp i've been using. The led light is just not enough to properly illuminate a completely dark road (especially on the quick downhills.

spidercyclist

Nice ride to work and little rain on the way home.
But still a nice commute today . Rode the ss today to .
Thanks ...

RichardW

Good rides yesterday, one of those lucky days when if there has to be a wind (and on this coast there always is) it's only against you going down hill and it's boosting you up hill.

Bad news; in the tin box today which is a shame. It's raining hard and I love cycling in the rain. Passed a taxi cab on its roof on the way in.

tonyedgecombe

Cold and wet ride this morning, it was great! I think I must have turned a corner in the last couple of weeks because I just don't worry about the weather or even if I'm slightly off colour, I just get on the bike and go.

ridealot

Ride home last night was damp. Wet roads, mist in the air. Slippery manhole covers.

Ride in this morning was wet, tempature was pretty nice. Showers again today.

westman2003

Ride home last night was great. I picked up my 7 year old daughter from piano lessons and we road about 5 km before mom tracked us down and we loaded everything on the minivan

This morning temp was 7c/51f. Light rain beautiful ride in.

cicadashell

i was unable to fix yesterday's flat while at the office so i was cheated out of the opportunity to ride home in the rain. today may be another story, however. damp, 50 °F, smell of wet leaves everywhere, trusty patch kit/pump/tools in panniers...bring it on!

Zin

Nice to see Calgary represented here now!

Around 50F and gusty winds this morning. I just can't believe how warm it was! Big'ole raccoon in the middle of the road. Rode the Jamis again today. I'm going to miss riding that bike once the snow hits and I'm forced to ride my winter commuter!