Sask: I hear ya on the smell. It's my favorite part of the ride. Around here in the spring we have an over abundance of flowers that have incredible aromas, right now honey locust and viburnum. I also like to smell coffee brewing and bacon frying as I ride through the neighborhoods. Like you, I always see some old folks walking and some geese floating on the river.

That sounds fantastic!

Al

Soaking rain this morning. My wife offered to drive me in this morning and I agreed, then changed my mind while showering. I just got back the Daily Bike from getting its wheels trued and FD adjusted and it's California Bike To Work Day. So I slapped the Race Blades on and rode in like normal.

I'm glad I did. 60F, calm, and damp just makes for a great ride.

Happy BTW Day, everyone. (Or as we call it: "Thursday.")

Well spring is over in Atlanta. I got seriously sweaty on the ride in this morning.

It's raining here in San Jose for Bike To Work Day, but they gave away enough stuff to make my day.

I stopped at the VTA sponsored energizer station and got an "I Biked To Work!" sticker. It's green and looks like the "I Voted" stickers you get on election day. I'm wearing it now. I hung the bag from my office doorknob so passersby see it.

19 miles this morning, 2 energizer stations and 1 bagel stop provided by work. It was raining for about 3/4 of the ride. Rain when I left home, then about halfway the roads were dry and it hadn't rained at all. So I took off the rain jacket and said to my bike-pool buddy "Wierd that it's not raining down here!" then 5 mins later I was getting rained on. Oh well, at least it wasn't cold. This was the first time I've ridden the new bike in the rain. I can't get fenders on it because the big tires I put on there don't afford enough clearance. I decided to ride anyway and it wasn't so bad.

anyway, I love the reactions I get when I ride to work in the rain, then tell people that I rode 15 miles (a little further today since I met up with a friend).

I also had a bagel stop provided by work. Altera Corp.

"Steel is real"

When they saw my bike at work(as mentioned, it's Bike to Work day here and it rained), they said "Aw man, today is a TERRIBLE day to bike in."

But then people started showing up over an hour late, grumbling at how bad the traffic was...

I had a nice ride but didn't see any other bike commuters. I left after the rain which was also after the Energizer stations that are anywhere near my route had closed, so it's about even.

Too funny. I just came back from the Sacto Bike Fest where I picked up sticker at the REI stand that says:

Never A Bad Time To Ride!

Good ride to work , but some rain on the way home .
But still a good ride . I hope ,I can ride to work tomorrow. Have a good nite .

Too fast. I need to find a way to extend my route again.

Awesome ride! It was warm enough for shorts an a T, so that's what I wore. Nearly every light on the way was green. It felt like I could go on for much longer, but alas I was running a little late.....

Well it I got lucky on the way home yesterday. The rain had all stopped about 2 hours before I left work. Nice cool ride home

This morning it was humid out. I was real sewety when I got to work. Supposed to be another great day!

Dud. Rain. Exploded tube. Metro.

Hey DC folks - did anyone ride for Bike to Work day? I can't believe that WABA actually encouraged novices to ride to work in the city in the pouring rain - it seemed like a recipe for major disaster to me.

In recognition of Bike to Work Day, and despite a steady rain, I rode this morning. This will be my 3rd "all ride week" of the year. My waterproof jacket did a great job but my exposed legs got a good soaking. Surprisingly, my shoes remained fairly dry although my socks soaked through. My cubicle is adorned with various articles of clothing hanging out to dry. Too bad for WABA, I'm guessing turnout was low to non-existant for their activities. I saw only one other rider, who looked to be a courier, those guys will ride through anything. Although I managed to stay pretty dry this morning, the ride home will be another story-It's absolutely pooring out there right now. Cheers to anyone in the DC area who braved the weather and rode today.

It was one of the ugliest commutes of the year in DC (due more to the wind than the wet), but the WABA people were generous with their food, enthusiasm, and freebies. I didn't spot any novices on the road, though I suppose they could have been underwater on some portions of my route. :eek:

Yesterday I got a chance to double my commute. We had some overtime that kept my work unit late but we had some downtime about 7 so I hammered home, fed the dog, fed myself, grabbed my lights and blinky, and hammered back to the office. Nice to get an extra 9 miles.

Absolute piece of cake. There were about sixty people at the little breakfast stop/raffle thing at the something-or-other park in Rosslyn. The cream cheese for the bagels ran out pretty fast -- that's one indication of a turnout that well exceeded expectations. I arrived at about 8 because I had to prep my daughter for her oral presentation in school today. I would have to assume that there were more people there earlier in the morning. Lots of fenders, rain capes, and Gortex -- I'd have to assume that there were few novices there. Then again, it was the same way last year when it did not rain -- also seemed to be about as many people as last year.

No major disasters. Every time it rains, car traffic comes to a halt, rendering the cagers harmless. I rode past big backups on the GW parkway on the way to the Rosslyn stop.

Paul

How weird. National Bike To Work Day, but I have Fridays off all summer, so no work to bike to! I went biking anyway, 21 miles of biking just for the sake of biking: Bike for the Heck of It Day! Bike 'cause You Love It Day! And boy, does bike commuting get you in shape: I got on my roadie, first geared ride in six months, and rocked!

I got back, looked at the temp, and at 09:30 AZ time, it was almost 95F! Al, I hope you have something cool waiting for you in the fridge at home!

Sorry for the rain on East Coast, but I hope everyone has a great bike to work today anyway!

Well today I did it... I rode the entire way from Issaquah to Redmond, 13 miles one way.

The ride was full of pain, sorrow, happiness, and even tears...

I started out at my place at 5:55am and then headed down black nugget topping out at 45 mph. Then I headed down North West Sammamish rd in front of Costco where the bike lane ends and says to use the path next to the side walk. So I took that path and down toward the end near the AMPM there are some wooden bridges that were very wet. It would have been nice to have some notification they were there and that the bridges are slippery etc... So I hit the last bridge and my bike few out from under me and I fell. I will be sending mail to Issaquah city about this one

So I got up and there was suppose to be a bike stop put on by Issaquah city and Issaquah Ski and Cycle next to where my wipe out was. But they were not there...

I kept going down NW Samm. and made my way behind the elementary school where the I-90 bike path is. I was flying down the path when it curved left and down a small hill then back right again with a rock wall right in front of me... I was just starting to notice the path was covered in moss when I also noticed the left hand turn was a lot sharper than I thought. So I pulled the brakes and ended up sliding sideways into the rock wall. Then next thing I know I'm picking my self up off of the ground and putting my panniers back onto my bike and noticed blood flowing freely from my left pointer finger. (I'll be letting Issaquah City know about this one also...) And then I noticed a nice woman walking her dog, she stopped briefly to ask if I was OK and I said yes, so she kept on her way. I was looking at my cloths when I noticed something on my left upper arm. I have an alien trying to get out... There is now a softball sized bruise that looks just like an alien is trying to break out.

Just as I started to take off again I saw one of the other cyclist that I usually ride the bus with and we rode the rest of the way up the trail where he turned to go to the I-90 bridge route to Seattle and I kept going to catch 140th to Redmond.

The rest of the ride was uneventful other than the fact I realized that I could make it to work in less than 1 hour ridding the whole way.

I was going to stop by a large breakfast that is going on for people that rode today, but I decided I didn't want to hang out with anyone that actually had a good ride....

So this weekend I have to go and get a new spoke, may have to have 2 tires trued up again and get some rest...

very nice to be back on the bike again, after a mid-week trip to kansas city. the rain stopped overnight, and all that brilliant sunshine warmed things up just so. i do think there are a few more folks out there than usual.

It is amazing getting on a many geared bike after riding fixed for a while.
Sounds like a nice 21mi ride
I need to leave at 1pm today for a dr. appt., so while heat wont be at full yet (forcast 106 today -112 fror Sunday), sun will be intense. I am having fun with bike thermometer, seeing how temps fluctuate depending on road type. Yesterday up Rural in more resdential area it stayed around at 97-99, then on Southern with heavy traffic and lots of concrete it hit 106.
I know you are sorry for those in the rain, its a pain for those who must ride in it, but it is hard to explain how badly I would love it if it rained soon, but likely it wont rain again until august, late july if we are lucky.

Al

Cold and cloudy this morning a little rain at the end.
Cool and windy on the way home. Not a perfect but not a bad day for BTW. Glad I did it. Probably the only one in the County that did the BTW today. Small county very rednecky out there.