TRUE! I agree with you! My girlfriend is a milk 'n corn fed Iowa-born woman and travels the same route I do while biking so I cannot get by (safely) staring at the (non-deciduous) scenery of Des Moines while biking without dire consequences!! ; )

--now 80 degrees and windy--- and I AM out of here!!
... actually I met my IA girlfriend as a result of commuting.... she worked at a place along the route I took... wouldn't have met if I had a car!

47F @ 6AM, bright full moon shining through thin layers of fog in the Western sky. Had a good ride in on my Moto Grand Jubile & met a regular commuter near the Ecology building turnoff. Nice to see someone else my age commuting.

Good commute of 9 miles into work this morning. A really trying emotional day today at work (a close student took his own life last night), so the trip home, especially with the errands I had to run afterwards, was a bit hard. One of those days when I wished that I would have said "chuck the weather" and ridden the "good" bike that isn't for rain.

Lovely day for a ride today, going and coming. Though, it also seemed to be rugrat day. This is why I don't mind cooler weather: Every time the temp goes over 60, the multi-use fills up with toddlers. I almost ran down the cutest little kid while I was going around a much bigger kid, just because I didn't see him. Children are just built too close to the ground to be out on a path with bikes without their parents. They've got all the smarts of your average toy terrier, with none of its sense of self-preservation.</grumble>

But it was pretty, and warm, and there was a tailwind on the way home, so it's all good. Also, this was the last commute of my first five-day bike-commute week! I've been doing two days, one off, two days, weekend off... so it's kind of cool to just push through five in a row.

Very humid on the ride in this morning. Got a little more sweaty than usual, then arrived at work to find my usual parking spot in the store had been replaced by merchandise. Not a problem though, got an alternate spot. On the ride home I decided to just spin, one of the few days I've done this. I was still pretty damp getting in tonight. I really can't complain about the lovely warm weather we are having, though.

Good Sunday ride in to work today. My girlfriend bought a pair of the ultra cool black Nike cycling gloves for me yesterday, so I had to wear them of course, even though the weather was a bit warm for the long-finger gloves.

Went to the pub to celebrate Halloween tonight, so I rode home in the car with my S.O. Got the day off tomorrow, so I'll drive down and pick up my bike.

Took the short route today for two reasons 1. I wanted to be sure my chain is OK after repair and 2. I have another damn cold starting.

Not only that, my Sunday ride ended with a frame failure, so I'm down to 1 road bike at the moment.

Cheers,

Ed

Strong headwind this morning. I love those mornings, because they are always a test to my strenght, and I get to work feeling so pumped. This is better then coffee!!!!

I'm glad I'm not in a car on those mornings, and that I am exposed to this wind. Pressing on the gas in a car doesn't make you stronger when you're going agasint the wind.

I cleaned and lubed my chain yesterday. What a difference. I was starting to feel friction building last week. It was also jumped from the small gear on the back to the 2nd smallest, then back again. After checking my tension and low point needle, i figured it was something else, that problem is now gone too. Mars and mercury were shining hella bright this morning, at least I think it was m&m. I should check some astronomy sites and verify it. It was -7c this morn in calgary.

Lube and proper air pressure = fast commute!

I had a nice ride with a 15-or-so MPH tailwind. I'll be paying for that on the ride home, unfortunately. Maybe the wind gods will smile on me and lighten up before I head out.

A rollerblader decided the leaves on the trail were more interesting than looking ahead, so she proceeded to drift right into my way. Frantic bell ringing woke her from her stupor and she darted out of the way. I suppose I'm lucky she didn't panic and crash right into me. Bladers are a menace. No offense to bladers.

22F/-5.5C at the start of the trip this morning. Cold, breezy and bright sun. Felt odd being back in sunlight for the ride. Now the ride home will need the lights.

That reminds me of Dom Irrera's old stand up act.

"Your sister is a ****. But I mean that in a good way."

Today was Boulder's first snow - still waiting for my winter tires to come in ... there was no ice but there was some re-frozen snow on the bike paths and in the bike lane. The cruchy re-frozen snow was a little funky on my slick tires but the road was plowed so I took it. I made it without any trouble. The snow looks like it'll melt by the time I get off work so no worries. I ordered some studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106's in 26 x 1.75 (https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp) for my Bianchi Milano - they should be here by the end of the week. It's a nice commuting bike and the 8 gears are enough to get me up and down the hills -- my commute is only 2 miles or so each way and except for the occasional spaced out college kid driving with a cell phone stuck in their ear, it's generally calming and uneventful.

Back to work after a week in the Midwest to visit family: Chicago for my Dad's clan; Iowa for my wife's Mom's clan. Bike related news: I really admired the bike station at Millenium Park in Chicago; got an invitation to stay and ride with my wife's cousins in next year's RAGBRAI; saw lots of bikes in lovely little Decorah, IA, but what's up with leaving them out on the steps to get rusty?

Anyway, on the ride in to work today I got buzzed twice in the space of a couple blocks. I was mad at the time, but after thinking about it I should have taken the lane. I was riding too close to the right and was encouraging drivers to pass too closely. Tomorrow, I'm right in the middle of the lane. If you want to pass me, then use the other lane, people!

And it's a beatiful day too: mid 40s when I left the house and should be low 70s this afternoon.

Ah, yet another cloudy gloomy day. I think we might be setting a record here. It felt strange having daylight riding in this morning, actually it was rather nice. Of course it will be another story going home. We've made it up to the mid 40's F so far this afternoon. I'm still taking the long way both ways, life is good.

Today's ride?

I love my bike!

My first ride in the pouring rain. Kinda liked it. My boss has gone from thinking I'm insane to just sighing when she sees me walk in stripping off the bike gear.

commute sucked today. I've had 2 days off and I could barely get 4 miles from my legs. WTF?! They feel like I rode hard all weekend. Oh and I've had trouble breathing all day. Short, shallow breaths all day.

oh well.....try again tomorrow.

Ya I hear you on that one I have lots of problems with bladers plus they take up the whole bike path and most wear head phones so they can't hear you , they don't look when they turn ,and the worst is at night when I am riding home and the bladers are on the path in the dark no flashers nothing and they don't see you till the last minute sorry but I find them to be a bad hazard from all my run ins with them,,,,,,.Steeker

Sounds like a high-smog day; check the air pollution information.

My ride sucked today. Temp was around 80, so it was warm again after a couple of weeks of nice, cool weather. I rode to the LBS, about 3.57 miles, bought some DeFeet Woolie Boolies for later this winter. Checked out some winter jerseys, planning to buy one. (Side note: why are these things $65???) Chatted with the owner about building a bike.

On the ride home, something inside just *clicked* and I gave up. Rode the bus home.

Good fast ride to work & home. Nice day .

Had I known, I might not have rode into work today...A real workout out..
Heading north against very strong headwinds for about 10 miles as I paralleled the I 15 corridor into Temecula..Radio reports said some gusts were up to 30 mph..All headwinds... It was like 10 miles of a 8 % up grade..Almost turned around a went home..Glad I didn't.....When I got to work, I ate like a horse..Soup, Cranraisins, and a nutri gran bar... BUt, it was almost 70 degrees, not bad...Headwinds caused me to average only 11 mph...Of the 26 miles, I was probably fighting winds for 13 miles..
See how the work out keeps me awake through the night..Big believer in recovery drinks, after a big workout..Feel good now.
Man, winds can be strong here, when taking on certain passes.

I've gotta quote the whole thing! As the winter rolls around, I'm going to start posting the NWS winter condition warnings. Things like, "winds up to 40 mph, windchills in excess of -40F, exposed skin will freeze in a matter of minutes". Fun stuff. Anyway, in any weather it's about making the smart decision about when to call it a day and stay out of the nasty stuff. I hope you had drop bars; there's nothing like a 30 mph headwind to make you learn how to tuck and crank at the same time.

AJ..Not sure I had 30 mph winds..Just what the radio said was predicted for the gusts...They must have been at least 20 mph...At least it was reasonably warm.
Some times I could do a better job of checking the most current weather predictions.
ALways hope the AM newspaper is correct...During the winter, need plan to have the right gear for the return..Hope so.