Spring is definitely on the way. Nice ride today, birds-a-chirpin'. A little sluggish since it's been a while since I rode, but give me a couple of weeks and i'll be back in form.

Wow, Velos back...must be spring. Was nice AM ride, best of '05. No jacket, no gloves. The bike at the train was waiting for me with a front flat but I didn't even mind with the great weather. PM ride is calling for shorts!

Bike path rush hour. Saw at least seven other people riding today. Felt superior, because I had ridden all through winter (except for when the trails were caked in ice for a few days).

Yep, I'm back. I took most of January and February off because the ice and my travel got in the way. No turning back now.

It was going really well until . . . I was on my approach to this difficult intersection with a shared straight/right turn lane with a red light/ green arrow. I had moved to center lane position because after two years of negotiating this intersection, I've found that is the safest position, and allowed under Missouri law. Position to the right, then traffic will move to my left and cut me off with a right hook. Position to the left, then straight moving traffic will be on my right after the intersection, bad news. So I'm perfectly in the middle of the lane, about 100 ft before the intersection, and I get the beep from a car behind me. I maintain position and speed. The car zooms past me close on my left and turns in front of me. Small blue sports car. The light is red. I position myself close to the rear bumper, a small blue sports car. I note the license plate. Missouri 846 MGB. 1 second passes. The driver roles down his window and shouts, "You need to be over to the right." I respond, "I have the same rights to the road as you do." Driver, "You have to stay to the right." Me, "Learn to share the road". Then all of a sudden we are shouting at each other at the top of our lungs, "^&*(^&*(*()(*^&*#&*&W#)&#@$^%@#^#$^" . . . I ended up chanting "8 4 6 M G B . . . 8 4 6 M G B". He sped away with the last profanity. What I learned. Wow, anger close to the top. I am glad I did not pull up to his driver side window because surely it would have escalated. Spit was flying from my mouth as it was. I sort of like that position for the confrontation. The worst he could do was back over me. Um, guess that is pretty bad. Maybe side position has it's benefits. Somehow I felt safer at the back. It was so heated, I'm sure he would have taken a swing at me if I were at his window. As it was, his head and shoulders were out the window yelling backwards at me.

So I missed an opportunity to educate my fellow traveler as to the finer points of the rules of the road? ie. riding to the right EXCEPT when the lane is too narrow to share? Somehow, I don't think this was a teachable moment. I was attacked at this very intersection 1.5 years ago by a driver wielding screwdrivers, big hairy backwoods lookin dude. Maybe if I were totally zen, I could have de-escalated the situation. I have some growing to do.

BillH, I think we've all been there. I'm glad he didn't throw it into reverse....

This morning is absolutely gorgeous. It hurts to come into the office. Just kills me.

Man, yesterday it got up to 60F/16C, now at mid day today and the current temp is
20F/-7C. None the less I still had a nice ride in this morning. I'm about to head out for lunch for a cruise, the sun is shining. I've had a taste of spring and now I'm ready. Oh, I took my studded tire off yesterday... I hope that isn't an omen.

Finally back on the commuter this week, after spending most of this year so far out of the country. It was a nice feeling... though my legs are definitely aware of the lack of riding lately!

Spring for sure today. I left my coat at home and enjoyed the warm breeze. Rhere were several people out there riding in shorts.

Paul

What a beautiful day! Portland's supposed to be sunny for the rest of this week. My commute started out alright, although biking when you need to #2 kinda sucks. Not to mention that dead raccoon from last week is still on the road *ick*.

My new drivetrain should be showing up this week, and I'm gonna be helping my roomie with his bike for the triathalon coming up. I'm pretty excited :B

Snow is compacting, it is still a chore getting my bike to the basement at work but if the snow stays away not for much longer. Sick of snow. On the plus side, tonight was warm, 44F/7C, and I could spin fast for the first time in months. It felt good to get my winter tank up to decent speeds.

53F & partly cloudy at 6AM today, 64 & sunny with some clouds this afternoon. I wore only a sweater this morning & was much to hot, left it at work & rode home in short sleeves.

I went to work it was 60f and when I came home it was about 30f . Still a good commute . Have a good nite .

Things didn't really go to plan yesterday. Half-way through the ride to work and there were horrendous crunching noises coming from the front wheel bearing. Then a tiny piece of trim from inside my STI shifter came loose so that the rear brakes were jammed on. Both problems were sorted eventually yesterday evening, but the wheel bearing thing is becoming a bugbear.

Today's ride was lovely :)

Cheers,

Ed

wet & cold

come on spring, hurry up already!

Today was a little unusual in the commute department. Yesterday morning I took my grandfather to the hospital and kept his minivan for the day so he didn't have to pay parking; since I ride by where my grandpa lives I dropped the van off this morning and finished my commute from there. When I got to work I had a voice mail from my grandma saying she saw me drop the van off and continued to tear a strip off me about riding my bike when it is snowing and people are having trouble walking. She finished off by telling me I should be more careful than to take chances riding biking when it is weather like today. Today is -3 with a slight tailwind and just enough snow on the ground to make the ride eternally peaceful. Sorry Grandma but I just gotta. I probably shouldn't tell her I crashed today. Studded tires are great but they aren't invincible. A skiff of snow on top of uneven ice makes for an interesting ride on the bike path. The roads were just fine though.

Overall, another great commute; even with the tongue lashing.

yuck.

One word: Wind

Make that five words: A whole lot of wind

What she said. Spring has left, was here but a day. It's all my fault as temps reached 70F/21C yesterday I swapped out my knobbies for the slick. They felt soooo nice after a winter of crude. Well today brought 33F/1C and rain, now changing to snow. Well, I guess I'll put back the knobbies for a few more weeks.

Quite interesting. Rode in 42 F / 6 C in a warm rain and 22 mph/36 kph wind. As I rolled into the office garage, the temperature had dropped 5 degrees and the rain was turning to snow. Out my window, visibility is now almost nothing in heavy snow,and the temperature is approaching the freezing point. It is quite a view out there -- rather like a large snow globe. Being from New England, I'm always happy to see snow.

Paul

I'll 2nd the Atlanta commute: Wind

Great commute in. Mid 40's and clear besides some fog the last mile. I also met up with a fellow commuter that I have not seen since last fall. Our workplaces are pretty close and when the timing was right we used to meet up in the same spot 2 or 3 times a week. It turns out that I hadn't seen him for several months because he had a mountain biking accident last fall and ended up with a broken back. He is just now getting back on the bike and starting to commute again. I just figured that I hadn't seen him because his work schedule had changed. It was good to see him and I'm glad he's back at it.

nate

Very nice. No shouting matches, no nasty confrontations. The only thing remarkable occurred at this one intersection near home that is almost always deserted, like 99.9999999% of the time there are no cars. It's a T-intersection with a downhill to the T so I've developed the habit of just zooming downhill and leaning into the left hand turn. Nope, not this morning. I set up for my turn and a car approaches the intersection at the exact speed and distance as me. So I screech to a halt. Oh well. At least there was good line of sight in order to stop in time.

I picked a hell of a week to make my return to commuting, I'd been off the bike since the end of October due to a groin injury. Warm but wet this morning with a steady downpour and temps in the low 50's. My new Performance commuter jacket kept me nice and dry, although my lower body was soaked within the first 100 yards or so. I'm a little hesitant, however, since the temps are now in the high 20's with gusting winds and heavy, wet snow.

PaulH--are you planning on riding home in this? I don't have studded tires and am a little concerned with ice/snow, although it looks to be melting on the street.

Today is one of those days when you wonder why doesn't everyone ride to work. Absolutely gorgeous again. 50s this morning, high 70s for the ride home.