I missed Thursday and Friday because of this stupid cold. I've been kinda laying low this weekend so I can get over this and get out there and ride. (plus I'm singing in church Sunday...nice time to get a cold)
People at work don't understand that I love to ride (when I'm feeling good) in what ever weather God throws at us. I miss my ride to and from work. It's become a major part of my day. Communing with God as I commute to work...it don't get any better than that!

This morning was a treat. Riding in the rain. Only done it once before. I am just geeked.
Introduction: I live in the Detroit, MI area and have only been riding 1-2 days a week till last month. I do a solid 3 days now. My commute is about 10-11 miles. Need to get some pics of the bike though.

Thanks to this forum I got some great advice about improving my commute both the bike rack and panniers to rideing the road tips. Great forum.

Gorgeous this morning. 60deg at 6am with just a hint of fog. i wish every commute could be this nice...

Great commute. 60F and a light tail wind.

Left the house at 4:45 this am, it was warm enough for T-Shirt and shorts today. Pitch black riding through a rural neighborhood...Kind of eerie when all you can see is what shows up inside your beam.

A couple of eyes lit up just off to the side of the road... then a huge coyote trotted across not more than 5 feet in front of my wheel. Spooked the crap outta me. Makes you pedal a bit faster though :-)

Don

I forgot to mention the skunk that I passed. Walked in front of me on the sidewalk and when I passed was only 2 feet away. I prayed I wouldn't get sprayed.

Good commute this morning. Fell back asleep for a bit too long, so I was a bit late getting out the door. And after completely cleaning and tuning the bike yesterday, all sorts of stuff was rattling or slightly out of whack. I had to stop a couple of times to make some adjustments, but everything should be back in proper running order on the way home this afternoon.

We are still waiting for a cool front to come and stay. This morning was a "cool" 75 degrees. Target for the end of the week should be in the low 60s. Yeah!

On another note, I kept hearing a "whomp, whomp, whomp" from my back tire. When I got to the office, I realized my rear tire is starting to separate and I have a small bulge sticking out. I have the wife on alert to pick me up if needs be. Now I gotta find a good replacement tire for the front and back (they are both due for replacing anyway). I guess it will be some research on Nashbar, performance bike, and my LBS today!

Chris

Warm again this week... highs are supposed to be in the low 80s! So much for "Brrr!". Fog today, which was totally awesome once I got on the Greenway. NJ was barely visible across the water, shrouded in the veil of mist. Very few peds, too, thanks to the "bad" weather. Chumps missed out!

Very fast ride today -- the lack of peds helped me keep a good rhythm going.

Oboe, whats your route and when were you on the greenway? I ride over the GWB and then down the greenway from 158th down to canal, then over the Manhattan bridge to Brooklyn. I hit the greenway at around 6:30.

coming over the GWB was surreal with the fog and wind. couldn't see the towers until you were about 100 ft away.

I left my bike at work over the weekend, then couldn't pick it up yesterday. I rode the bus in today. It was packed, and took twice as long as my usual bike commute. It started to snow just as I left the house, so we'll see how well the road bike does with that on the way home...

-3C, dark and a slight headwind. I passed two other cyclists this morning which is unusuall on my way to downtown Regina.

Today's commute was cool with a light mix of rain and snow off and on the whole way into town. As I type this, I look out my office window and see its raining pretty steady now. I forgot to charge the battery on the bike over the weekend. Had to stop and unplug my lighting system just after reaching town. Hope I didn't ruin the battery.

Good commute this morning. Overhauled and cleaned the bike really well.. lubed, adjusted.. and.. NEW TIRES! woohoo! Just some inexpensive slicks... but wow, what a difference they made compared to the knobbies! I made it to work 5 minutes faster than usual. Cornering is MUCH better now too. I'm just hoping I dont have mega problems with getting flats.

It was cool this morning, a pleasant change after last week. The ride was good as I hit the one light perfectly and managed to get to the office in about 10 minutes.

Today was my first bike commute...

Day One:
Did the park&ride thing to cut my commute from 15 miles to 7.5 miles, while I get a handle on everything.

Why did I decide to commute? I just realized one day that it should be possible, so I went online and found all sorts of info that got me motivated. I realized I have it pretty easy. Somewhat bike friendly San Jose, showers at work, side entrance at work, bike racks in our stairwells...

I did trial runs Sat and Sunday, so I felt prepared. I wear a high vis lime green jacket (quite cool this morning) , riding on my tuned up roadbike, last 5 miles is on a well paved bike path.

Got outta bed at 7:05AM, at my desk drinking coffee at 8:23AM. Not bad for my first day.

Problems: Well I forgot my bike computer, not a problem, but I'm trying to nail down my average speed and distances as I try different routes. Then about 1 mile into the ride my handlebars started to come loose. And finally, about 3 miles from work, there was a bobcat sitting in the middle of the bike pathway . Got my adrenalin going. I stopped and waited a couple minutes as he was stalking some squirrel. I then sprinted past him, or tried to at least. He turned and just watched me from about 4 feet away as I rode by. I then lost control and wound up off the pathway . My mind is spinning as I am trying to analyze the best spot to reenter the slightly elevated asphalt pathway. I'm clipped in, and I could feel the cat ready to pounce as I'm about to wipe out; however, I manage to find a spot to reenter and I speed away. I look back and the bobcat never moved.

That's going to be an interesting ride in the dark as winter approaches.

SharpT

Wow, some dangerous wildlife out there folks... This summer I was touring a region with lots of black bears, and happened to be riding at night on an unlit country road surrounded by forests, mostly. Boy was that scary! The funny thing is, though, that I actually did meet a dangerous animal that night... and it happened to be a dog. Somehow, with all this fear of bears I forgot about the domesticated animal threat.

Anyway, no commute today since I visited my parents on the weekend and they drove me to the university this morning. I had to take a bus+subway home and it felt very weird.

Nice ride in this morning. A very light fog that shimmered through the headlight. Was fun to watch. Staying dark later. Probably need to upgrade lights to get a little more distance with the beams.

Great ride this morning.
Great ride tonight.

Great ride in today, weather is at the point where it is to cold for a t-shirt, but not cold enough for the jackets I have. This will be the first year I try to commute through the winter, and I think a good "breathable" shell is going to be key (all the jackets I have now are standard windbreakers/ski jackets...it's hot air baloon season in my town (Albuquerque) there is a big week long fest for it here...but none to be seen by my house. I think I may ride in the long way tomorrow to see how many I can see.

I had a great ride this morning too. The air was chilly and I felt comfortable in long pants. My bike was almost silent, except for the whirring click of the recently overhauled drivetrain. I like the soft sound of a clean lubricated chain riding over the freewheel cogs. When I left the house it was still dark and very little traffic was on the streets. I am looking forward to the ride home.

Ditto on the good ride.
Ditto on the "I need better lights."
And ditto on the scarry wild life...coyotes aren't supposed to be around these parts. I found out, though, that if you scream like a 6th grade girl it scares them away. (My apologies to any 6th grade girls who might read this.)

Very foggy here this morning, I had to take my glasses off half way to work. I couldn't keep them from fogging up. Any suggestions of what you all have used that might help me?

I actually had to put on my sweats coming home...it was just cool enough that I didn't feel comfortable in shorts, especially so soon after getting over this cold. My recently healed broken foot really hurts...I wonder if it's because of the weather change???

Last week I rode only 48 miles (lowest total since I had to take time off in May cause of a sprained ankle). Today was first time on bike since last Tuesday... Felt good to be back in the saddle again

Was sick all weekend, so I didn't do my regular long ride on Sunday, but atleast I felt good enough to start commuting today. Rode the SS. It was a good, fast ride to work and home. Have a good night.

didn't sleep much last night, and was the most tired i've ever been. tired going in, tired coming out. at least one knee is making ominous signals at me. the weather was nice both ways though - no rain, and clear and cool by the time i came home. another ride home in the dark, and this time i did cross over and use the correct side of the bridge. bleah. it is nicer riding with traffic flow, but this side of the river is NOT innarested of bikes and people who ride them to work. it's a class 1 highway with a bike/pedestrian sidewalk both sides of the bridge, but apparently no protected means of easily getting to the side i'm supposed to be on from the side i come from. there are unprotected/unorthodox means, but they're not easy either. i'll have to get my map out and find the right detour, i think.

and lord, i don't like the arrangement at the homeside end once i get there. there's an exit that peels off to an island mid-river, that has to be crossed on foot. the way it's placed, cars coming into that exit have about 15 feet to see me at 80+kph. i hate city planners; i zarking do.

but i still love my little kilometre of off-road track on that side. i think i love it even more in the dark. it's funny how the passionate hate and the passionate love don't mix together and mellow each other out. i am NEVER going to work in this part of this city again.

songs: dublin blues, guy clark. chain up the swings, michael marra. rant, martin bennett.