2nd day of commuting ever - went very well. I almost didn't bike, because I have to pick up a suit near work, and can't really carry that with me. But then I figured I would just pick it up on the next rainy day... Less saddle soreness today, so I think I'll get used to it and be fine without having to get a new saddle.

Made better time than yesterday, since I know the route a little better.

Oh, and I got a "cool bike" from two female pedestrians on the way. (I have a Dahon Speed P8 folder).

I'm so glad to be doing this!

Went the old way today. Yesterday on my stealth route, I surprised a homeless guy under a bridge and made his cat run away. I felt kinda bad about that. He looked so surprised. Good ride, maybe I'm getting a little faster. Maybe.

Great commute. Today and last night. The termperature is hovering around 0C in the AM and 15C in the pm with very little wind and full sun. This morning was another one for my record books. 24 minutes door to door. I droped every cyclist I could see that didn't turn off to go a different direction. I went for a hair cut last night on the way home and the stylist who I sort of know seems very interested in how and why I bike everywhere. The funny part is he works about a km from his home and drives all the time. I guess the cost of driving and risk of living a shorter life just doesn't mean anything to him. I find that I understand less and less and have a lower tolerance for people who can't motivate themselves to pull their butts off the couch and enjoy life.

Rant off.

Uneventful . . . Day #2. I'm on a roll. For those keeping score, the negotiation of the combined straight/right turn lane went as planned today. I was first in line and positioned enough left to let right-turners by but there were not straight-goers so did not learn what they would do. However, I acted as traffic cop by waving through hesitant right-turners. Must have waved through 3 cars, mostly over-polite women. The male drivers had no qualms about buzzing me. Fine as long as they don't hit me.

The weather has been spectacular all week. :beer:
I guess summer is right around the corner. It was 52F (11C) when I left the house. I was wearing baggy shorts and a long sleeve T-shirt. Had to pull the sleeves up all the way at the 4 mile point. :( :)
The ride home is supposed to be 78-80F (~26C). I can feel those warm breezes already. :D

I did have to admonish an elderly driver who passed me kinda close (~12"-15") (~30-38 cm) in a shopping mall parking lot I cut through. There were no other cars in the parking lot so she has PLENTY of room to go around. Caught up with her in the bank parking lot. She said she didn't realize she was so close. :o

What is that, about 5 or 6 city blocks? He can't be bothered to walk? I wonder if he might be persuaded that he's ruining his car by driving it such short distances?

Had to take the Car today...

Bike was stolen while I was at the school, mentoring a grade 4 student. :mad:

I locked it up to a tree & we were shooting hoops outside, about 50 feet away. The bike was in iat him & started running toward him. He was very quick & hopped on the bike & took off. I couldn't catch him... wasn't sure I wanted to attack someone in front of the boy I was mentoring anyway.

Wouldn't you know it, my insurance is useless in this case... $500 deductible plus a premium increase for next three years totalling $250... works out to exactly what my bike with the accessories is worth, so no sense making a claim. :(

Looks like I'll have to fix up my old Norco Montery road bike (c. 1987) & ride it for now. :(

I'm scheduled to give a talk to our department tommorrow about bike commuting... kind of ironic that I'll be driving to work the day I give the talk.

...sorry, just had to vent.

There is construction going on on the bike path so I decided to cut across town. The ride is about 3.5 miles less but the traffic lights slow it down. Timewise its is a couple of a minutes shorter. Weather is nice. My new open pros are still true after breaking 5 spokes last month on two different low spoke count wheels I happy to be back on some 32s.

Hang in there guys...when we get heavy rains here or I'm too sore, I tell myself that there will be better days. And today was a better day with no rain, hail, frozen fog etc... a wonderful commute.

:(

good show! don't stop. it's quite the way to get going in the morning. ever have any questions that might make your commute easier, fire away.



* * * * *


as for today's commute? today was a good day.
crown heights, brooklyn ---> hell's kitchen, manhattan = 39 minutes
not too shabby for me.

Rode in extra extra early (730 am!) Seeing more bikes and more fixies on the road now. cheers.

Good ride to work and home. Had to work over tonite.
The good thing was it was 70f when I went to work, the bad thing it had to be in the low 40 s on the way home .
But still a good ride . Have a good ride .

Good ride this morning. The weather has cooled a bit, it was about 3 C on this ride. I had to wear pants instead of shorts. My eyes teared up from the cold in the first 100m, but then returned to normal. Wearing glasses helps, I guess.

Another thing that helps? Clipless pedals for climbing hills. The small and medium climbs were not too bad, the large climb was an effort, but not like the first two times. I feel like I'm getting stronger already!

However, I have to take a different route home, one that takes me up a hill that's just about the worst around. There isn't even a sidewalk in the direction I'm going. Perhaps I'll go around the long way.

Howdy folks: Last nights commute was a bummer. A freight train derailed and slooooowed the lines. I could have bike all the way home but wimped out, should have tho' took almost 3 hrs to bike/train home. Today the rail lines are slow so I drove 7 milesand biked the remaining 18 miles. Little traffic and great weather.

Clever: sorry 'bout your wheels.

:: sob ::

Didn't bike this morning. :( Have to pick up a suit for my brother's wedding, and it would have been a little difficult biking home with it.

Ah well, I guess it's good to give my body a break after my first three days of riding since I'm completely out of shape. :rolleyes:

After yesterday's commute, when I felt sooo slow both ways, this morning I actually felt zippy! Funny how that happens. Fastest time so far this year.

Sorry to hear about your loss.......if you had it locked to a tree how could you have prevented it? If I remember right you had a hybrid; I wouldn't have thought hybrids would not be on the list of top bikes to steel....but then again it probably really didn't matter. He was probably just looking for a ride. Check with Saskatoon's finest; maybe they will pick it up by chance when the kid ditches it.

Anyways, get that Montery fixed up. You don't want to miss any more of awesome spring commutes than you have to.

I was flying today. Normal avg is mid to upper 14s MPH but today I did 16.1 MPH and had two stops that slowed that time down. There was a bit of a tail wind but my legs were feeling great too and I was flying up the hills. :D

a new development at the combined straight/right lane intersection. Another cyclist, who appeared to be a newbie, was first in line at the intersection going straight, right turning Suburban behind him, Honda, then me biased left. The newbie took the lane so the right-turner could not turn, much like I had done for years. No big deal, didn't catch up to him to discuss the intersection! He will learn. or not, I dunno.

I was all dressed to commute (would be only my 2nd commute, first was on Tuesday) and then the news says thunderstorms are moving in, even though not a cloud in the sky. I haven't yet invested in rain gear and riding in a storm didn't seem like much fun. I get to work, check the weather and in an hour their prediction changed to 40% chance of showers. I am bummed out, but I guess I will commute on Monday, when they aren't calling for storms. Maybe I should pay less attention to the weatherman?

a little cooler today, fabulously sunny, rather windy. riding is often the highlight of the day.

Thanks SaskCyclist.
I just got my old Montery back form the Bike Doctor, complete with new cartridge bottom bracket. I think I just doubled the value of the bike! :) Actually it's not a bad ride... very simple mechanically, and it's got a pretty compact frame - very responsive.

I've filed a report with the police. Spent a couple of hours today checking out all the pawn shops in town - nothing yet. My boss is seeing if he can convince the company big-wigs to help me replace my bike. I doubt they'll do anything, but it sure was a nice jesture from my boss!

Fortunately I put the platform pedals back on my Marin before I went to the school so I wouldn't have to switch shoes... so I still have my Eggbeaters! :) When I get to work tommorrow I'll put the Eggbeaters on my Montrey (left my bike shoes at work).

Can't wait to get back on a bike tomorrow!

Good ride today to work and home . Got home right on time . Have a good nite .

Another cooler ride this morning, about 3 degrees C again. I'm still pretty slow going up those hills, but at least I don't have to stop to rest anymore (after only four days' riding!) I think I'm gonna take off an hour early today (I have hours banked at work) so that I can avoid the predicted rain.

I'm having some mechanical problems though. First off, I can't seem to clip in my left shoe, though the right one works perfect every time. More adjustments are needed, I suppose. Also, there's a squeak that's in time with my pedalling, so I'll have to check that out when I get home. It sure makes stealthy approaches tricky!

Mediocre ride this morning. Weather was nice, but I can feel our Georgia summer quickly approaching. And I forgot to fix the busted cleat on my shoe yesterday, so I had to try to jerry-rig it this morning. Ended up accidently drilling a hole through the shoe while trying to remove the stripped allen bolt and then burning myself on the overheated drill bit. I finally gave up and borrowed my roomate's shoes which are too big for me. Hence my arches are killing me and I'm wearing my Crocs for the rest of the day at work. Maybe this means that I get to stop by REI on the way home and replace my nearly 10 year old shoes? But I'm getting psyched up for the Brasstown Bald stage of the Tour de Georgia tomorrow and hopefully another great chance to see some world-class biking close to home.