Took the day off from work to hit the river and see about a nice largemouth and grits supper.

Took the Townie3 and utility trailer loaded with the 25 qt. cooler, my pack and two casting outfits down the road to the canoe livery. They were closed when I got there so I got on the cell to their office. No answer, but found out by the recorded message that they've gone to their winter hours, which means closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

"BAAAAH!!! WTF??!!!"

It wasn't the ride that caused the consternation, but the missed bass and grits dinner. Oh well, I'll be back Thursday of next week. Can't do it tomorrow because I need to get a project at work finished up. Looks like grits and mullet again tonight.

The ride was very nice, ~3 miles one way, oak canopy road, very little traffic, no bugs, cool, almost chilly in khakis and a T-shirt. The pieces of PVC pipe that I Zip-Tied to the frame of the trailer to carry fishing rods vertically worked very well.

• Construction had me fighting heavy traffic from the start
• Pothole knocked off my rear light
• Saw a dead cat.
• And it is getting sort of hot

Sounds like a bad ride and when I pulled in to work, I was convinced it was. But as I let things sink in, I was not so sure. Then I started to type this just to get it out of my system and now I am convinced that it was great.

• Construction had me fighting heavy traffic from the start.
  At least I was able to fly by much of it. It was even worse for the people in cars.
• Pothole knocked off my rear light
  Fortunately I heard it clack away and was able to retrieve it and the batteries with a minimal amount of car interaction. If this had happened in the dark on my way home, I would have never found any of it. Bad event, but timing could not have been better.
• Saw a dead cat.
  Reminded me of why I ride and why I should be careful about the drivers around me
• And it is getting sort of hot.
  And this is a problem why? Most people are wondering if they have enough layers, I am wondering if I have enough sunscreen!

All in all. I am glad I ride. Sometimes it's hard, but is always worth it.

I was a little chilly coming home, especially cuz I took the super long way by going in the opposite direction from home to run some errands. I added about 12 miles to my ride home which is about 2-3 miles depending on which route I take.

The ride home included some jarring bumps that I didn't see even w/ my light on and a car honking for a long time cuz I was in front of him instead of the other way around. I just grinned and thought, "At least I'm not behind some slow-ass biker!".

Ever feel like the wind is going to blow you backwards? Yeah, that was my ride home. I was supposed to meet my wife about 10 more miles away from home, but there was no way I was making it. Had her meet me at home.

I just got my bike's service done at the shop and rode home. (thank god, the bike guys were as friendly as usual, they even let me tried an expensive high performance racing bike which i totally had no intention to purchase at the moment)

Its getting windy here, i can hardly on 2-6 gear on a flat road. When i was stopping near the traffic light, a big as truck flew past me and blowed me half meter to the left... But the ride was still enjoyable, i also plan to ride in the wind again tonight just for fun.

DC was a beautiful ride in this morning. I took the last few days off because the last distance ride I went on killed me. Finally felt strong enough to tackle a ride into work - part of me knew that it was time to take the bike out!

Played some bike polo with a crew out in DC - wiped out twice but no sever bruises to complain about - have to start learning how to handle my bike instead of just ride fast and in a straight line. The ride home at 10pm is great - no headwind! Even the potomac was still. It was so good that I even got a chance to practice no hands for a a while! Great day for a commute.

30 MPH headwind in the morning and 18 MPH headwind going home. Stupid wind!
Good ride anyway, just wish the wind directions were reversed between morning and night.

the ride this morning ruled... nice day, and I'm having a much easier time with the hills... I've shaved a good 5 minutes at least off my commute since I started a month and a half ago

the ride back tonight was alright, a few knuckleheads honking and a couple people passing too close, the nighttime seems to bring out the bad drivers out here

such a schlub, me. i'm tired.

cold, clear, grey morning ride. puddles all drained away. not nearly enough sleep last night, so i was late starting out, and button of all buttons. tired.

the ride was a write-off as far as not dying in the first block, so i kind of lost the main plot and started to hyperfocus on tiny side-things instead, like timing the light at the bottom of the bike path on my stopwatch. chunnering away to myself, leaning on the button and channelling frank burns at it: "come on, come on, come on; what the zark is your stupid problem? rome is burning; the sky is falling; CHANGE ALREADY!!" secure in the knowledge that Nobody Bikes To Work Anymore In This Weather, and i've got the world to myself. and i look right, and there's another commuter on a loaded white commuter bike at my shoulder. dunno how long he'd been there, but once i'd finished yelping and almost falling over we had a nice little chat about something or other until the light finally did change. i'm not too sure what. about five minutes later, heading onto the bridge, i kind of remembered his nose and it occurred to me he might have been the manager of my kid's summer team. it's hard to tell under a helmet. it was that kind of day. still is.

woman in the health club sitting all by herself on a chair outside the door to the court, like a kid in high school waiting for the principal to come out and Deal with her. waiting for her partner, i guess. she got an eyeful of my whole flight-squadron gear while i was weighing myself right beside her, and she was VERY impressed when i told her where i'd come from. so impressed that i didn't have the heart to tell her how milquetoast my performance is considered by Real Commuters. so i swaggered a bit and spit in the dirt and answered her technical questions about 'don't you get COLD' for her like i really was some kind of rareified astronaut type with special knowledge. then i went and washed myself.

still tired coming home. there's a new person in my 4-person cube these days, and she - i tracked this - never let more than 40 minutes go by ALL DAY without starting a new little popularity session with the other denizens. fries my head so i hardly know which way is up. i've really messed something up with my gearing system, so i didn't have all my gears on the way home and that didn't help, but i was kind of too far gone to notice what kind of difference it made.

lawd. just put me to bed and don't bend me. today the scale says i weigh 150.

Cool ride in this morning but it was nice riding into the sunrise. Lots of cars out this morning but overall they did well passing me. Didn't see another commuter today like I have most of this week. Should be a nice warm ride home this evening into the sunset.

No more commuting for me. I got the axe yesterday. Out of the blue, no reason given. I guess my position is bein eliminated. <sigh> Back to full-time student for a while I guess. At least my road bike should see some more love in the near future.

^^^Ouch baby, that hurts ...

Today I got a friendly nod from a motorcycle cop, a rarity in this roads. I waved back and he saluted! It made my day!

The rain and wind are back today so I got wet riding in. I haven't figured out how to dress for my commute yet (this is week six) so that I'm warm enough on the easy first three miles without cooking myself for the last two. I was getting chilly until I hit my first hill, then I could feel the warmth spreading through my body. First the legs, then the rest of me soon after. By the crest even my fingertips were toasty and I was gloveless at 44F degrees. If only the hills were at the start of my commute instead of the end.

Damn, sorry to hear that.

At the risk of sounding lewd, what are you wearing?

Sorry to hear Oboe. What field are you in?

Foible, dress for the third mile. Your body will warm up once you start riding.

My commutes have been great all week, the weather has been perfect... nice and brisk in the a.m. , bright crisp Autumn sun. I just want to ride past the office and keep on going... I woke up early to take some longer routes in to work a couple days this week.

I saw the guy who almost ran me over last Friday at my LCS (local coffee shop) yesterday; I tried to get his license plate # when he left, but the rear gate of his pickup was down, and I couldn't make it out.


Tough break, oboeguy... I wish you the best of luck.

Around 40F this morning, with a full frontal headwind from the bowels of Hell. I ride along Champlain lakeshore so I get it bad if there's a south wind. Looks like 35-40 knots. Big waves. Pretty to look at but slow going.

All I can say is: It better be that strong on my ride home. Tailwind good! Weather report indicates it will be so. Yay!

FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUDGE!!!
Sorry to hear that oboeguy. I know how it feels and I sympathize. I just heard 750+ positions were declared surplus yesterday in my company. I hope none of them is mine. Anyways, update your resume, register for unemployment and enjoy your time off while you find another job. It's kinda refreshing how you now have plenty of time to enjoy yourself during the day and slowing life down to check it out to enjoy it better. Good luck in the job hunt. BTW, you might want to describe what you do in case any BF'ers hear of anything.

Always listen to the voice in your head telling you something's wrong. Like today, I ignored the voice telling me something was wrong before I left. I thought it was telling me to wear a helmet so I ignored it. And of course, I got tapped on the elbow by a cab's side mirror on the way in. When I say tapped, I literally mean the gentlest of all taps. My elbow didn't even hurt and I only noticed it cuz I was wearing just a t-shirt so nothing to pad me out. And we were coming to a stop. So I knocked on the dude's window, yelled that he hit me cuz he didn't roll the window down, he ignored me for a bit then said something I couldn't hear that looked like a denial. And get this, when I rapped on the window, the backseat passenger threw her arms up in frustration like I was keeping her from being somewhere. I was angrier at her than I was at him, the stupid, entitled b!tch. Anyways, I made a big show of getting his hack no. so I could report him, smiled at him the smile that says, "You're screwed dude!" and rode off.

When I got to work, I called 311 and found that if I filed a report, I'd have to come in for a complaint hearing to testify about what happened. Since I only got the gentlest of taps and feel I got off lucky, I'm not gonna pursue it. Now if what happened to Slvoid happened to me, I'd pursue it, but since no harm was done, I'm not gonna bother. Yeah, yeah, I know, he needs to take responsibility for his actions, the next person might not be so lucky, etc., but realistically, if I walk in w/ no evidence of harm, and no witnesses, it's his word against mine.

BTW, I figured out what that voice was trying to tell me before I left. It was trying to tell me that my shoes don't match! I have a black pr. and brown pr. of the same model shoe. I put one black and one brown on and now I have to spend the rest of the day walking around like an idiot.
FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUDGE!!!

Curious, did that make it particularly warm?

ROTFLMAO (@ you).

West Kentucky is having a very dry fall - great for riding. Beautiful ride in today (I make a loop out into the county before heading for the office) for the most part - temps in the mid 50's around sunrise, dead calm under stalled high pressure.

Downside of dry - color is spotty as trees turn - some gorgeous, some going from green to brown. Big worry - when the leaves finally drop (they are late now), and if it doesn't rain big time, lots of fires are likely.

Speaking of fires - tobacco curing is in full swing, interesting smell, hope there's not too much tobacco crud in the smoke. Smoke went up today, not laterally into a ground hugging haze when we have not only high pressure but a cold air inversion system overhead. Hopefully this industry of death is experiencing its last gasp.

Yesterday I decided to ride the 35 miles home instead of my 18 miles and 15 by bus. I arrived home 10 minutes later!
The only bad thing was the road cyclist who yelled at me. Stupid me for not paying attention. Stupid him for over reacting. I was not even remotely close to him

This morning's 18 mile ride in was fine. The hills are getting easier and easier. The only problem is my lower back on part of my right leg. Thank goodness my boss is a licensed massage therapist.
She does it as a side job. Lucky me

First and last commute for me today:

I've been riding all year to get in shape, working up my recumbent legs more recently, using my Dad's recumbent. I spent an afternoon with Google's hybrid maps a month ago finding the safest backway route to take. I've been driving the route to and from work to become familiar with it for the past 2-3 weeks, and rode it on the recumbent last Sunday to test it out (it's a beautiful ride). It's over 21 miles each way. I've cleared out the storage closet here at work that has an old shower stall, bought and installed shower hardware and spent a couple of hours scraping the decades of filth off of it, and scrubbing repeatedly to catch glimpses of the Almond fiberglass. I brought my clothes, toiletries and extra lunch in yesterday, and went to bed early last night.

I was about half way along when I was nearly hit intentionally for the third time, and I called it quits. Each time it was a truck; with a company logo painted on the side or carying a trailer or one of those construction workhorse "dumps" on the back. I was run off the road once, honked at and yelled at, each time it seemed that they were trying to see how close they could get to me without actually hitting me. I don't care if I have the right, there's no way to discuss it with them.

I have to say, I think the "Share the Road" thing means something different to them than it does me.
I don't know when the message is going out to these people, but if it does, I think our advertising dollars would best spent on the NASCAR circut. Gee was that discriminatory? Like I give a F#ck.

Redrom - I'm from Durham too, where were you commuting to/from? And what roads were you on?

No, the bottom level is cold. (According to Dante, at least... I think.)