It was nice this morning, cool, but just barely cool, bright and sunny. It took about ten minutes to get to the office.

I am off on sick leave tomorrow. For the week I was 4 commutes of 4, and for the year I am 20 for 20. A good start so far.

Wet streets but no rain and surprisingly warm. I yelled at a kid riding his BMX on the sidewalk. He nearly took out a pedestrian coming out of a coffee shop.

Another nice commute this morning. I was taking it easy, having gotten in a fun ride before breakfast. Sun was shining, and plenty of commuting cyclists were out and about. Very pleasant. Then the hill on my ride showed up, and it was time to get into hill-climbing mode and hammer. I guess hills just do that to me... I was intending to sit and spin, but that lasted for about 30 feet before I decided it would be like any other commute and stood and hammered. Funny thing is, on my morning non-commuting ride, I went ahead and sat and spun. Maybe because it wasn't right at the end of the ride.

Good commute today! clear & cool with the Green Lights on my side. A nervous couple of moments though. A Tow Truck decided to pass me down the "Car Door Alley" portion of Comm. Ave with car in tow. An M.I.T. officer pulled out from a garage and nearly into the bike lane (and me) before he noticed my blaring twin beems :eek:.

Something interesting happened on my evening commute yesterday. I almost never get passed by a bike on my commute, not that I try to race everyone I see. If someone does pass me, I usually just try to follow them for a while to see if I can maintain their pace. I only pass back if someone is actually slowing me down. Anyway, I was coming down a slight grade, not pushing super hard, maybe 19mph, when this guy on an xtracycle loaded with gear blasts past me. :eek: Intrigued, I jumped anaerobic and followed him for the next mile. I think we averaged about 26mph. In my commute gear, that's about my limit. I know we slowed down significantly to take a rr track, and the lowest I saw on my speedo was 21mph. Just as I was about to blow up, my route takes a sharp right turn. He took it too, and had to slow down significantly to make it.

Me: "That was a pretty zesty pace."
Him: "I'm cheating."
Me: "What? How?"
He points to some kind of battery powered motor pushing a second chain ring on his left side.
Him: "This thing puts out about 200 watts."

We went on to have an interesting talk for the next mile or so until we split up.

Still on Lunch :D

Something similar happened to me this past Saturday during a solo ride. I was around mi 17 of my 21miler and I see this guy up ahead. Now, I'm not trying to catch him, but I'm clicking along at 22~25mph in some spots (slight tail wind me thinks) so I catch him fast. I ended up getting bottled behind him at the town center and eventually a red light, he knows I'm there.

When the light turns green, I just expect to go right by him seeing he's been glass pedaling the last mile. Wrong! he drops the hammer as I try to go around, so I moved to his rear wheel and waited for pace to settle where I proceeded to, drop a gear, stand and go!

He ended up getting back on (traffic) as we both yelled at the same car. We talked, he was toward the end of 40mi ride so that would in part explain why he was tooling along. We exchange niceties until the next major intersection where I went straight and he went left.

Sorry for the long post :o

:roflmao:

Sounds like a stokemonkey.

http://cleverchimp.com/products/stokemonkey/

Your in Madison right? Maybe it was this guy.
http://todd.cleverchimp.com/blog/?p=77

It was cold this morning!! Temp was 34, but I braved it and had a nice ride in. Missed yesterday because I messed with my front derailuer and ended up having to take my trusty steed to the LBS. Also this month, I am going to track my vehicle miles as well as my cycling miles. So automobile miles as of 2 Feb 06 - 40.6; Bike miles as of 2 Feb 06 - 17.0. So I am starting the month in a deficit mileage.

I'm almost positive it was that guy. He was wearing the same jacket, and that looks like his bike. He said the kit cost $1300, and that he was the only one in the area that had one, so that is almost certainly him.

Well, after 3 weeks of no commuting by bike I'm back on it again! YAY!!! I couldn't ride in to work because they are remodeling the bathrooms here and the one with the shower was off limits. I still rode on the weekends but it sucked not being able to ride to work. I missed it.

Anyway, the showers are operational and I'm back to riding my bike in once or twice a week. :beer:

BTW-My commute is 10 miles one way with a fair number of hills. I bring my work clothes the day before and ride in in spandex & clipless shoes on my road bike.

It was 45 degrees this morning when I set out. I wear my short sleeve jersey, full length leg warmers, arm warmers, a windbreaker vest and I have toe covers on my road shoes to keep the wind out. I was chilly at first but once I got warmed up I was fine.

Ride home last night was great, but I was feeling it by the end - took me 6 minutes longer than the ride in. First time I've done the full round trip, so I don't know if that will be the norm or not, but there was a distinct headwind for a good portion of the ride, and I'm pretty sure it's more uphill on the way home.

Anyway, intended to ride this morning, but was running very late getting out of the house, so threw the bike in the truck with plans to drive halfway and ride the rest. Hit the 4-way stop at the local high school (I never go through there at that time of morning) and waited - NO LIE - 15 minutes to get to the front of the line. Long story boring, I was now too late to ride at all, and drove all the way in with the bike in the pickup. Looked kinda dumb getting out of the truck in my hi-viz vest and riding shorts with knee warmers, carrying my backpack with the hi-viz cover, and walking to my office... We're headed out on vacation tomorrow, so I won't need the truck - hoping I can wrap things up early enough to ride home...

Nice ride in this morning, 25F, snow/ice packed roads halfway and clear roads the other half. 38F at lunch time and sunny and all clear roads, took a long loop at lunch and plan on taking the long way home after work. I'm going to enjoy it because we are suppose to go back to normal temps after today.

:cry:
Even the worst day bike commuting (short of serious accident) is better than driving.
Like with many things you don't realize how great you have it until you can't have it any more (very bad knee in my case). :cry:

Al

Yup, that had to have been Mike, and the thing puts out more than 200W -- maybe it wasn't at the time though. His commute is 20 miles each way.

Todd, I swear your going to get me to sell my scooter and buy a stokemonkey.

He said his commute was 20mi each way and something like "this thing is putting out 200 watts". I may have made a phrasing error in my post above, but it sounds like it was definitely Mike. I didn't mean to imply the distinguished Stokemonkey wasn't capable of more, I was just trying to repeat what he said.

And if you're out there reading this: Hi Mike!http://community.the-underdogs.org/s...happy/wave.gif

The Ride Home:

It was dusk when I left work and soon I won't need my light(s) and newly purchased Hi-Vis vest, our course that is unless I get stuck working overtime. Fair commute, less wind than normal so I made good time.

Going up Comm.Ave (Slight Incline) I had a guy on my right driving a 80's Volvo beater like "I'm gonna park...no I'm not!...I should park here!...No...Not here...Maybe here...Umm...NO!". Once he notice I'd been trying to pass him for the last 100yards, he put his hand up as if to say "sorry, I'm an idiot".

Meanwhile, I have some knuckleheads on my left blowing there horn at me like it's my decision to make http://forums.probetalk.com/images/smilies/icon_no2.gif.

last night we got 2+1/2 inches of rain, so much my kitchen flooded. And the dirt/gravel road I ride on for a little while on my commute, was mud. It was fun watching the cars sliding around on the road ;) and I was sliding around too. Even with my fender, I had mud on my rear cargo. but once I got on the paved roads, even though they were covered in water, it was better.

The commute today? Like any other day. Get up, get dressed. Unplug bike from battery charger (for the halogen bulb, which can blind you.). Go outside. Turn on lights which are bright enough to signal the space shuttle. Get on the road. Notice that even though you emit the light equivalent of a lightsaber, somehow the drivers in the morning still can't seem to see you. Bike 4 miles to the train station, while noticing all the nut case drivers pulling 40 on a 25 mile per hour road, and of course, most drivers can't drive... either that or they feel that early morning is the time to break every rule in the book, especially if they're in a BMW, Mercedes, or Volvo. Lock up bike at the station, go to work. Come back from work, check to see that bike's lights weren't turned on to burn out the battery by juvenile delincuents in what is a largely white, rich, republican neighborhood with white kids who have tons of money and no discipline, and a racist attitude to minorities. Especially minorities on bikes. They are really clueless though. Being called a n!gg@r when you are completely asian has got to be the most messed up way to make a racial slur. And these are kids who go to private schools that cost as much as tuition at a university.

Anyway, I digress.

Get on bike, get on the road at night. Notice that you still give off enough light to make the Eiffel tower jealous. Notice that STILL, the drivers STILL DO NOT PAY ATTENTION, and seem to always drive as close to you as possible. Bike defensively. Bike home. Rest.

How's my daily commute? That's my daily commute. Welcome to the South New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. Bleah. I did this as a student and engineer in Boston. I brought home my lifestyle. Looks like I brought home the jerks in the cars as well! :(

amazing weather again today... high of 57 degrees... this is supposed to be the last week of it here in the DC area though

the ride in was alright although I've noticed lately there seems to be a little bit more traffic than usual... maybe this is just because my new class schedule is putting me on the road during the morning rush hour

I got out of class at 12:15 so I rode around town for a couple hours before going back

the ride back was through gameday traffic but it was more going the other way so my ride back was mostly clear

my chain/gears were showing signs of needing a cleaning/lubing on the ride so I promptly did that upon returning home and then did a post-cleaning ride around the neighborhood for a few minutes

4/4 weekly commute (vac tomorrow)! almost hit punk bicyclist going home (10PM) who was riding w/ another from parkinglot. he had no lites and peddled right out into road w/o looking. my rig has 1 rear blinkie, 3 side (2left- 1 right side) blinkies, 1 headlite, and 1 helmet blinkie. i am fast and silent though (benefit/doubt),let them know (Yell) = no crash. a good week!!

My typical roundtrip commute is about 4 miles. I took a detour that added 15 miles. The detour included a reunion w/ some friends from college and about a 5 hour break from riding. Ride home was fast and fun. Great night and great ride!

Rode to work in the rain today. I decided not to put on my raingear and just go for it. It was warm at 52 degrees so th rain kept me from getting too warm on the way to work. I felt drier when I got to work than when i wear my "breathable" raingear. I need to get fenders for my MTB, the wet black stripe detracts from the hiviz properties of my HHCMF shirt. I really need to get a rack and lights for my roadbike,I bet I could really fly to work on it. The ride home was boring, except the local police kept shadowing me, several different patrol cars, I guess they were waiting for me to blow a stop sign or light. :( They killed the fun!

Great ride to work & home today.Got to ride the ss today.
I hope the rest of the week stay this warm .
Have a good nite .

A nice little ride home. I've been wondering whether I should bring along my headband, but I only need it for the downhill portion on the way home. At a bit under a mile long, it really doesn't last all that long, and it would be so inconvenient to put it on just before the downhill and to remove it again afterward. Especially when the entire commute is only three miles. So no headband for now.

Great commute this morning, 50F with the sky a beautiful indigo. I got an early start so I added a few extra miles and then on a whim rode my the doughnut shop for a treat. A couple of customers admired my bike and its lights. Rode back to the office and found someone had slid the spec sheet for a Surly LHT under my door with a sticky that read "this looks like your kind of bike."

easy ride, nothing silly happened. =(

I rode home in the rain just before dusk yesterday. No big deal for me, but it was for someone else. About 2 miles into my ride, a Chrysler minivan riding in the opposite direction comes across the yellow line, accelerates toward me and honks loudly. Then he quickly gets back in his lane.

I try to be a good Christian, but I really wanted bad things to happen to this guy. I'm sure he would have taken delight in running me off the road, and no doubt would have if he was traveling in my direction.

Punks using vehicles as weapons is my biggest fear of commuting.

After a night's sleep, I realize this fool already has demons working his bones. He's got a sad life.

I forgive him.

I'm glad we have a bike room at work and so far I've been spared the need to "Get Ghetto" out on the road, so that's always a plus. I grew up in one of the three Boston Districts always featured on the news when it comes to illegal activity and I beat the odds, but I can "revert" in the drop of a dime if provoked.

The Ride:

Fair ride today! Rain, Wind, Puddles but I arrived early, safe and mostly dry so it's all good.

What I've noticed:
1) I need better wrap around glasses to keep the water out
2) I need some Rain-X or some other anti-fog
3) I need to get some water proof gloves
4) Perhaps a different helmet cover other than the Yellow LG one that makes me look like Big Bird.