Today was the first time in a week I was able to ride into work. Previous days had bad weather.

Today, I had a light drizzle and a light headwind. I still felt like I was flying until I got to work and found out that I forgot my ID badge at my aparment. Spun the bike around and then REALLY flew home to get the ID. By then I would have been late for work if I rode back so I drove the truck. :-(

I'll have to drive the truck tomorrow since I am driving 75 miles right when I get off of work.

Point of advice: when riding fast, locking up the back tire on a wet road is not fun! The bike kicked sideways and I almost went down. :eek: Maybe it's time to replace the bald back tire.

Gus. Taking the flats to the ocean, headwinds can be as much to blame for slowing down a commute as hills. I enjoy our California hills- mostly. However on a rush to commute to work, would not mind them disappearing for the day so I can get to work faster. Commuting 33 miles. Proud of you. Real committment.

Mornin all
This morning I left the house on wet roads, kept my speed under 16 mph to keep the water on the tires. It was a nice 55 degree morning, traffic was light and the birds were singing. The ride was way too short. What a great way to wake up and start the day.

As this is my first week commuting, I keep learning and enjoying new things each day. This morning I wasn't paying attention to pedestrians until I realized they were in the crosswalk I was heading for. Though I was no where near them, I felt bad that I couldn't stop in time to yield. But it made me appreciate the fact that I was able to tell them I was sorry, even though they were laughing at my expression when I realized that I should have yielded to them. There is no way I could apologize to a pedestrian if I were in a car. Riding my bike just makes everything seem more friendly. :)

Also, the day was gorgeous and there were very little cars to make me nervous. I definitely enjoyed the commute this morning.

Teresa

Good on ya, Teresa! I've become very aware of crosswalks too. As a whole I find that commuting via bike has even made me a better and more courteous driver. I tend to notice more of the environment beyond the confines of the 'box'. Yet another benefit of bicycle commuting. I wonder, were it made mandatory in driver education to first learn how to cycle in traffic before earning a motor vehicle permit, if we'd see an overall decline in negative driving habits. Hmmmm...

-Rob (sorry I included the whole quotation, but I felt it relevant)

Yay! Got my bike back after a week of no riding (which my sore knees probably needed.) The non-suspension seatpost and properly-fitting toe clips REALLY improve the ride. :p

It's cloudy today and threatening to drizzle. Nice temperature, and a slight headwind, which is always good to see. (Last week the slight headwind turned into a major wind that pushed me home so easily that I took a long, scenic detour.)

On the down side, someone got a Great Dane along the highway where I drive. Have I mentioned that Great Danes are the bane of my existence? This was a spotted Harlequin, looked to be maybe a 7 or 8-month old pup, but hard to admire its beauty when it's running at you snarling. I've never seen it before, so I assume it's generally tied up. A couple "NO! Bad Dog!"s slowed it down some. Wish I could get my water bottle out of my tight step-thru frame...

Following midnight shift, left plant at 7 am. Sun was bright, air about 60 degrees. Hated to see it end , even if do need the sleep. Can't help but notice when commuting to work and pass over the Interstate how backed up it is; and how nice the environment seemed once I got away from the concrete canyon, and all that dirty air and noise being emitted by the traffic.

Well, I left work at about 4:30 pm on friday. As I left the building,
I immediately noticed that ominous look of an impending thunderstorm. :eek:

Sure enough, as I headed eastward, I headed directly towards it. I could see the lightning flashing a few miles in front of me. To the south, it was fairly clear. I was headed to meet my wife about 12 miles southeast of work, but I had to head east before I could head south.

Less than ten minutes later, I was being drenched with heavy, suprisingly chilly downpours, which soon afterwards began to sting my flesh. I thought it was hail, but I couldn't actually see any hailstones, so I wasn't sure.

At a traffic light, after swooshing through a deep, moving "puddle" that drenched my foot (funny, the water was very warm) I felt a smile coming on, so I turned and grinned widely at the motorist waiting behind me for the light to change, as if to say, "Gee, this is fun!" I met up with a fellow cyclist who was also surfing that afternoon :) and we exchanged some friendly shouts; he gave me quick directions (I had headed south too early and found myself in unfamiliar territory) and we parted company comrades.

After a wierd experience riding just left of "gullywashers" in the street that covered half the lane, I finally hit Second Ave., which goes straight south. In a minute or two, I left the rain behind.

I arrived brimming with enthusiasm, although sopping wet, to meet my wife. I changed into dry things (plastic bags work wonders) in the bathroom, made a sandwich and ate a great meal while waiting for her. One thing I forgot was a pair of dry shoes, but I called my wife and asked her to bring some.

:D

Mornin Everyone.
Fridays ride home was just about perfect, I took the long way home, 28 miles. The sun was shining and the air was just perfect, not too humid. This morning was a weather let down, I got up to ride in and it was raining and raining hard. I decided to drive to work, what a miserable day this turned into, when I drive to work it ruins my attitude for the day. I should ride in the rain, I think I'd feel better. It's suppose to rain again for the next 2 days, I may ride anyway.:confused:

Ouch!

had my first major spill this morning - took a downhill corner a little too fast considering it had rained heavily all night - before I knew it my back wheel had come out from under me and I was sliding across the road - bad case of road rash all down my right side and the right shoulder/arm of my jersey was ripped to shreds

thank god I was wearing a helmet though - I distinctly remember an audible thunk as my head hit the road - also glad it was a quiet road as I could have slid underneath an oncoming car

got up, checked the bike and myself and decided to keep riding - I was on mile 2 of 10 - the rest of the ride was very pleasant!

Theres more rain forecast for this afternoon so I think I'll leave my bike at work - I won't be cycling tomorrow either as I am being sworn in as a US citizen at 8am!

Hey Brennser,welcome aboard! One of the things American families like to pass on from generation to generation are the stories of their immegrent ancestors. You will become one of the people who your family here will always remember.

Paul (also in DC, who often thinks of William Hamilton, even though he arrived about 330 years ago)

Today was my first commute of the year and also the first on my new road bike. What a difference from my mountain bike. It felt real good-fast and efficient. Hope I can keep it up. Roger H

Finally, today there was sunshine after a week of grey, soggy days!

I said to heck with cadence. Screw trying to get a good workout. No more rushing to be on time. I left home an hour early and went at a leisurely pace, enjoying the scenery. (Dandelions have appeared everywhere!) I got to work early enough to eat dinner and read a book out on the picnic table behind the library.
I had more energy on the ride home tonight than I have had since I started commuting, and more fun on the entire ride, too. Maybe I've been pushing myself too much. :)

Inkwolf. you refer to eating dinner on way to work and going home tonight. Just curious. What time of day do you do your commute and how great is the distance.? You like commuting at night? Afternoon shift would make the ride home about Midnight, No?

yesterday was absolutely georgeous here in Munich! (today is as well!) i left work a little early and rode out towards the country (instead of back into the city to go home) and explored some new roads... beautiful fields of bright yellow flowers everywhere - not sure what they are but i've never seen them in the States. apparently they are used to produce oil but fill probably 2/3 of the fields here in the area. A see of yellow, with green fields of grass and trees to the sides and then deep rich blue sky with a few white fluffy clouds... wow! rode about 20 minutes then had to turn around and actually ride home since i had told my girlfriend i would meet her... great ride in shorts and short-sleeve short although there was a little too much wind for my taste...

Mornin All
I left the house at 5:30, Here in Mass. this morning the sky is clear, the temp is 41 degrees and wind chill makes if feel 32. I turned onto the street and found 25 to 30 mile an hour head wind throughout my entire 19.5 mile commute and wouldn't ya know that Wednesday is my heavy load day. Mother Nature is not being kind with the weather here lately. The ride was tough but enjoyabe, I didn't feel the cold, just the wind. The ride home should be more enjoyable from a weather perspective.
Have a great day all.

It's 8 miles each way.

I have several part-time jobs, so I'm not talking about a full, 8-hour day here. :P Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I work from 5pm to 8pm closing at the library. (That will change soon--summer hour schedule coming up!) Saturday I work at the library from 9:30am to 2pm, Sunday I work at the local gas station 6am to 1pm (haven't tried commuting that yet--too early to get up.) and Monday (commuting impossible) I pick up a carload of Buyers Guides, work 9:30-5 at the library, and spend the evening until about 10:30 delivering my papers on an 81-mile route.

It makes for a varied and interesting schedule, with big chunks of time off in the middle of the week when nobody else has them, and not much money. I'm looking into getting a masters in Library Science so I could take over as main librarian when our current dude gets itchy feet. :)

Mornin All
Finally, the sun is shining, a bit on the cool side at 40 degrees, but no wind and the birds are singing. I rolled into work this morning smiling ear to ear 19.5 miles at 19.2 average speed on a 55 pound loaded bike. It is a great day.

So, mrfix, how far is your commute each way?

Inkwolf: Library Science eh? I never imagined such a thing existed. I guess there's more to librarianing than I thought. I'm imagining a semester in shushing, advanced shushing, Dewey decimal system calculus, aerobic stamping classes and some sort of computer degree to make sure the library computer system runs as sloooooowly as possible.

My commute is 19.5 miles each way. yours?

That's a long way. It must take a long time to ride that far.
Me? I don't ride quite that far.

It takes me anywhere from 58 min. to 1 hour and 15 min. depending on the wind and overall weather conditions. I treasure the time I get to spend alone on my bike, It's where I take care of all my decision making.

Finally we get a lovely sunny morning!

I chose the most rural route I could, about half of it off-road through woodland. The bluebells are almost over, but the Hawthorn (mayflower) is still going strong. Meadows are full of buttercups and hedgerows full of campion. The strongly dappled shade/sun in the woods made spotting potholes in the track interesting - perhaps it is time for new forks ;)

Thoroughly enjoyable.


Richard

I am so happy that I have begun commuting. I am hooked.

Today was my coldest commute of the summer. It was 32 at home, but the bank clock said 28. There was frost on the lawns and it took 2 miles to warm my fingers up.

I thought I would really dislike getting up an hour earlier. I choke down cereal and fruit then hit the road. I feel more awake and ready to go, than my caging coworkers.

My ride home is slower, but I usually treat myself to breakfast along the way.

Thursday I had a great commute inbound. Temp. about 50, light winds at my back, stoked and rested. Less than one hour travel time. :D

On the way home, one hour eighteen minutes!

:eek:

Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes he gets you.

:o

Let me start by telling you about my day, to set the scene. :p

Mondays I work a 12-hour day, which generally leaves me feeling pretty lazy Tuesdays. Unfortunately, my dog didn't share my desire to sleep in, and insisted on getting me up at 6. Determined to eat healthy meals today (to make up for my Big Mac Monday!) I started the day off with a bowl of bulgar wheat with raisins, eaten in front of my e-mail. Nummy.

Well, I just kept surfing the net. Ended up spending the WHOLE DAY (almost) reading the jokes in the joke forum. In the process, I decided to nibble just a few Tortilla chips before lunch. (Ate half the bag and a candy bar and called it lunch. :( Shame on me.) I got ready for work, and called to see if I could still make a camping reservation for the Kettle Morraine forest for this weekend. (Full up. Not a surprise.) So, I packed a banana and left for work in plenty of time to spend a relaxed break reading before work.

As I started to pedal away, I remembered that I hadn't checked the mail yet. Since I was currently broke and expecting a tax refund, I checked it. Glory be! There was a letter from the IRS.

It told me I owed $163, due to an error reporting my capital gains.

I started off again, but my obsessive nature wouldn't let me continue. I had to call the IRS and ask what the heck capital gains they thought I had!

So....you know how this goes....I called the number in the letter. Naturally, I am left on hold for some time. There was classical music playing, and it wouldn't have been TOO bad, except that every 30 seconds the music stopped, and just as you thought someone was answering your call, you'd get a recorded message. ("Your call is important to us! Please continue to hold. If you hang up and dial again, you'll have to get back in line behind all the other schmucks who got a surprise in the mail today!")

Anyway, I got one person who asked me what I needed, and put me on hold again while my call was redirected. Then I got another person (The Temp Help) who asked me all my personal information (to be sure I wasn't calling to gripe about someone ELSE'S account) and found out what my problem was. He asked if I had filed a schedule D for capital gains (I hadn't, I didn't HAVE any!) Then he asked if I owned a business. I said no, unless you count my delivering the Buyer's Guide once a week as an 'independent contractor.' He said, "Yes, that's it." :crash: Then he said "Hold on a minute." and put me on hold again.

Then (eventually) ANOTHER guy picks up and starts asking for all my personal information again! (By now I am watching the clock in a bit of a panic.) It turns out THIS guy is actually the employee who knows what he's talking about, so my call was transferred to him. (Yay!) He tells me that the $163 was due to a mistake I made calculating my tax, and (despite what the letter says) has nothing to do with capital gains. He explains thoroughly what went wrong, we figure out how I goofed, and he explains the rules and situation very clearly and at great length and arranges an extension for me. (I would have appreciated all this very much more if my commuting time wasn't ticking away.)

So, I finally get off the phone, and I have to work in 50 minutes. The fastest I ever made the actual ride was 35 minutes, and that was with a strong tailwind.

But after the chips and candy bar, I don't dare skip my exercise!! :eek:

So I hop on my bike and pedal as fast as I dare, what with my bad knees and bearing in mind that I have to make it home, too. The wind is against me. My chain pops off up my first hill. The bugs seem to be aiming at my mouth, and I do a lot of spitting. The road kill season has started, and a rather memorable possum, melodramatically sprawled belly up and clutching a little white lily, is in my path. (Okay, I'm lying about the lily.) There is more traffic than usual, and a lot of it seems to be huge vehicles. (Semis, the electric company's 'cherry picker' some kind of giant construction machine whose name I don't know, farm pickups pulling manure spreaders...) When I get to town, oncoming traffic forces me to stand in the middle of Main Street with my arm out in a left-turn signal for an uncomfortable period of time. But I actually get there with 10 minutes time left to change and scarf my banana. 40min--average of 12mph--not bad for a fat chick on a comfort bike. :p I'm improving.

I locked up the library at 8, and started for home. I had gone a few blocks when I realized something was different. I forgot my helmet!!!!! I did a u-turn, and then another one as I realized I hadn't brought my library key to work. No way to get my helmet till tomorrow. :/ As a believer in Murphy's Law, I felt sure that the one night I rode with no helmet was the one where I'd get crocked by a car.

The ride home was actually quite nice, though. There was a light pink sunset to my left, backlighting the sparsely-leaved elms and maples that dotted the fields. Quite pretty. And the wind felt good in my hair. ;)

If you actually read that all, I salute your endurance! :beer:

No, I salute yours. What a day!

Hi All
Finally, we have a nice weather day in new england, the start of my ride was a bit cool, but I warmed up quickly. It was a nice slow wander to work this morning, there was a lot of wildlife moving about, the traffic was on the light side. The ride took me 1 hr. 5 min for my 19+ mile commute. This afternoon is forcasted and 77 and sunny, I can't wait. Have a nice day.

My commute the night before last wasn't great. I was heading into winds gusting to 43 kph. To top that, I had smoke from forest fires up north driven down my throat. I was getting getting a little freaked out after a while because it was so hard to breathe. I've cycled in forest fire smoke before that was much thicker than the other night but I've never had it upwind like that. It's not pleasant.

The morning after work made up for it all. I sailed home with barely a need to pedal. I love it when I have to hold myself back at a stop light because the tail wind is so strong.

Wind is my friend and my enemyand sometimes just a jerk that keeps pushing me sideways into traffic.

A mile of the arterial I ride -- the mile that's in an economically depressed area that includes the city dump -- is being repaved, and with usual Philadelphia efficiency they stripped the road two weeks ago but there's still no sign of an asphalting crew. Other parts of my route in better neighborhoods have been stripped, repaved and repainted in three days, but this project could take all summer.

Of course cars and truck can still drive on it, and the trolley tracks are still functional, so what't the rush, right?

But the road is simply too rough to ride -- I tried it exactly once, and felt like I had to get off at the end and tighten all the bolts on my bike, and push a few of my teeth back in -- and so I've been exploring alternate routes through some, um, interesting back streets.

I guess all I can say is I'm just as glad it's daylight on both legs of the trip.

RichC