First bike commute since early last month! 24F degrees. Very bumpy, but I couldn't take the waiting any longer. The rail trail is snow-covered and foot-tracked (causing the bumps), but it shouldn't be much longer until it clears. We need some good rain to wash it off, and we might get that starting Friday.

I'm still in pretty good biking shape, having walked roughly 5 miles a day (round trip) to a bus. I can't wait to switch to the lighter and more nimble Peugeot. Then later this year, I'll be in the market for a brand-new cycle of some sort.

Cool, cloudy, and a nice tailwind!

(rant start) As my son and I were walking our bikes through a *very* busy intersection (as we do every morning), we got honked at twice (both times from people in huge SUVs) for being in the crosswalks, walking when we were supposed to! Trying to do the zen thing and let it go, but I usually end up yelling at the cagers. As much as rising gas prices will impact the price of most items, I do take some glee in the knowledge that it might get some people out of their monster SUVs, because in hits them where it counts, in the pocketbook. (rant closed)

Hope ya'll have a nice day.

Beautiful crisp clear spring morning (-3c) sunny, but with no wind and less than usual traffic due to March break. And....wait for it...no inconsiderate, impatient or reckless motorists! Wow!

Excellent ride. chilly but sunny, high 30'sF.

very nice - upper 30s and mostly sunny. i ditched the tights, balaclava and waterproof shell for the first time in 2005 and felt wonderful. wonderful! it's simply wonderful, i tell you, wonderful to be alive.

High 20s, brilliant sky, wind at my back. Took it easy coming in, but made the ride in the usual time..could the wind have helped that much?!

Looking forward to mid/high 40s for the ride back, hoping the wind stays low.

40's rainy and wet. Something new happened this morning. It amazes me that something new can happen after 7+ years of riding. On an empty sidestreet, this 50-ish lady in a compact car with a crystal cross dangling from her rearview mirror pulled up beside me, rolls down her window and starts a conversation with "How do you ride in the rain? I'm a cyclist too, but my brakes don't work in the rain." My first response kept to myself was "take your bike to a shop and have them install new pads and properly adjust your brakes". Not wanting to be rude, instead I shouted over the rain and motor noise, "I have special brakes for mountain bikes, cantilever brakes". "Ohhhh", she replied, "I'm glad you told me" and sped off. It seemed strange. I thought for sure, "Oh great, what did I do now". Strange but nice.

I didn't ride in today: it's pouring, my rain bike is disassembled in the basement, my wife's bike has no fenders, and I have an appointment today that I couldn't get to on bike. All good reasons, right?

Still, I found myself overcome with guilt, frustration, and eventually admiration for that one guy I saw bike commuting this morning. Way to go, Unknown Commuter Guy! I salute you.

30F. Mostly cloudy. Dry. Nice ride. Winter storm on its way for the next 2 days.

This is my first post in the commuters forum. I am beginning a bicycle commuting blog which I doing to try and keep my thoughts organized.

It is supposed to rain today; probably at 5:00 p.m., but I rode in anyway. My commute is 18 miles one way; with mostly downhill coming to work and mostly uphill going home. The ride in was good.

Have a good day!
barb
my commuting blog

Wow, 18 miles one way in OC. Ride on!!!

Wet, windy and the bike path was covered with branches. Despite the obstacle course it wasn't too bad. The rain was consistent but light. I was a little to warm with a base layer, long sleeve jersey and my Gortex rain jacket. I'll loose the base layer for the ride home.

Morning 17.5 mile commute -- tired legs + 34F + 9 knots of head wind = 2nd slowest commute of my life
Afternoon 17.5 mile commute -- 45F + tail wind = fun!

Only bad thing was one bad driver. I was coming up a main road and he failed to stop at his stop sign before entering the main road...it was very close.

My all time worse commute? The one where the driver actually DID hit me!

Fine weather this morning. No problems with cars. Overall a pretty smooth commute. Still having problems with left turns per instructions at bicycledriver.com. Commute went better than my last ride home when I fell off my bike! Still have a tendency to draft off other cyclists when they pass me when I should really just go at my own pace.

Mechanical problems forced (?) me to ride mtn. bike today. Bike weighs something like 40 lbs and has very agressive knobby tires - not the ultimate commuting ride. Oh, and its suspended (bouncy).
Anyway, ride in was helped a great deal by 20-25 kn of tailwind. Good, but if it does not let up, i am in for an incredibly slow ride home.
Auto people were generally cooperative today & temp. perfect (65ish).
Looking forward to next ride, hope you all are to - ENJOY!

Just below freezing at 6AM today, but it was clear & dry . For the first time since last Fall, I rode in without a headlight! Just blinkies front & rear & sunglasses to mute the rising sun as I reached work. Gotta love Spring. Rode in to the capitol grounds for a demonstration with some co-workers & it was really warm & sunny, great fun & hard to go back to work in the afternoon. From today's WFSE Union newsmail:
[A few dozen anti-contract picketers gathered across the Capitol campus.
They attempted to block the Federation rallyers as they made their way
across campus back to union headquarters. At one point, an anti-contract
picketer drove his 10-speed bike through the Federation crowd that was
peacefully walking on the sidewalk. When the Federation group realized the
anti-contract crowd had blocked the street-level crosswalk across Capitol
Way, the Federation marchers peacefully altered their route over a nearby
pedestrian overpass] Our Washington State police reprimanded the union people for blocking the sidewalk, being confrontational & leaving their permitted area & we later received an apology from their spokeslady. Just for the record, we were about 75 strong & it was a 27 speed Torelli! Don

Good ride to work and home . Still need to dry up a little more . The high today was about 40 f.
Hve a good nite .

Wet ride on the way home last night. Got some misty rain, and then some hard rain about a mile from home. Not bad otherwise.

Ride in this morning had damp streets from the rain all night and tempature right around 41F. Soon as I pulled in the garage the sky opened up and another downpour happened. Supposed to be that way all day.

Traffic was lighter than usual. About 50F the sky was clearing but the roads were still wet. I've had worse commutes.

I jumped the gun on my trail commute yesterday. The ride home put me into 3 or 4-inch thick mashed potato snow. Wet, heavy, frozen granular stuff. The front tire plowed through it, wildly steering left and right. In the deeper snow the back tire simply gave out and lost traction. Bike stalled. I dismounted and walked to the next section of easier snow. Repeated this process several times.

I had two different joggers overtake me when I was riding. I felt like a dork!

Feeling badly outmatched, I stopped at a dog park and phoned my wife for a dust-off. She came with our dog, I loaded the bike into the cage, and the dog played in the park.

RAIN, rain and more rain. Usually I say it's better than a car but I'm not so sure that today it was. Train was late, single track section was flooded. Ok Ok It was an adventure so it was better than a car....but just barely.

Today's commute was GREAT!!! 50F (10C) and bright sunshine.

Then it happened, when I was about 1.5 miles from work. I was at a stop light on a narrow 4-lane road and was taking the lane. I was also at the front of a line of cars. The light changed and I started off down the street. Before I had gone a block I heard a loud screech and saw some sideways movement in my mirror. Apparantly the driver of a Honda Civic (directly behind me) thought his car was small enough to squeeze by me. The loud screech was either the Honda driver slamming on the brakes when he realized he couldn't squeeze between me and still be on the right side on the lane divider line, or maybe it was the screech of the dump truck's brakes that almost plowed into the Honda. Luckily I was in front of a wide driveway and pulled to the right just in time.
I decided to let the line of cars pass while I looked to make sure I didn't "soil" my shorts. My heart is still pounding. I think I'll bypass that stretch of road and take a side street from now on.

F**king Atlanta drivers. Each one thinks s/he is the only one in a hurry.

I have "commuted" here in Canada for about a year, once or twice a week...a nice 25 km. ride, some large hills to get a good workout. I was never quite serious about it - just on my mountain bike, knobbies, and a large backpack. I am moving to Europe this year (Netherlands), and will be commuting full time...hence my questions in another thread around around panniers. I consider myself a newbie to true commuting. The commuting there looks likea way of life - bike paths from town to town and through the towns as well. I am looking forward to it, unfortunately, a short ride (5km) to work...may have to take alternate routes through the Dutch countryside!

Wet roads and dry roads on the way in today; no other issues. Last nights commute was eventful because it poured down rain all the way home. A headwind caused the rain to pelt against my skin which sort of hurt. I need to figure out something to do about my feet during rain rides. I tied 10 gallon trash liners around my feet and taped the top to my leg warmers. This technique only worked so so with the water leaking in through the top of the bags. The water sloshed around my feet, and yet somehow the liners kept the inside of my shoes dry when combined with toe warmers. I think I my the connections in my headlights stopped working from the rain.

Barb
my bicycle commuting blog

If it is too long a ride to cycle in on the other days, there is always the "drive and ride" compromise. Gear yourself up, throw the bike in the truck/on the racks (depending on your vehicle), and drive halfway - lots of places to park for the day - find a Wal Mart lot, mall parking lot, or better yet - get ot know someone who has parking along the route - and use their spot during work hours. This way, you still get to ride..