Wow.. was really windy this am. I mean Really Really windy. Was blowing down the hill at 35 or so and the wind was still blowing past me. Had to hang on to a light pole at a crossing to keep from being blown over. At one point I have to backtrack a couple blocks and headed into the wind...It completely stopped me. I ducked into a residental neighborhood to got some cover and it helped just a tad.

Was blown uphill the last couple of miles, and that was pretty cool. Had to keep the tumble weeds from gettin sucked into the spokes.

The last 4 blocks were crosswind, and I knew by the cloud of dirt and debris that it was going to be bad. Rode through with a good 20degree lean just to go straight. Then a huge gust blew me into the curb and I macked my pedal. As a last valant effort to take me down, the wind blasted me with a shower of pebbles... not sand or dust mind you, but large, painful, 50mph pebbles.

I stopped, shook my fist at the sky and said, "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT ?" then pulled into the parking lot at work.

Cow Orkers were in disbelief that my bike was in the cube today... I was too.

Don

I live near Croasdaile in Northwest Durham, I work out on 54 west of Chapel Hill. I head down Cole Mill to Hillsboro Rd (Rt 70) which I get off of almost immediately onto Neal Rd. I was almost hit the first time, and then separately run off the road while I was coming up the hill on Neal Rd after it goes under 147. I then take Neal to Bennett Memorial Rd to 70 again for another spit to Old Rt. 10, where I had my third encounter and gave up. Ironically, this is where the ride gets amazingly beautiful; Old Rt. 10 to New Hope Church Rd across Old 86 and then to Union Grove Church Rd., back over to Old 86 in Carrboro (w/ bike lanes now) to Rt. 54 West (with a healthy paved sholder)

Amazing really, on Sunday, late morning I couldn't have imagined a nicer ride.

You went to a lot of work to prepare for your commute and you definitely did your homework choosing your route. It sounds like you had a horrible first commute and I can certainly understand your frustration. But don't give up on it yet Redrom! Maybe some slight adjustments to your route will make a big difference and it's likely that it won't be that bad every day. Sorry you had such a crappy first commute though!

I'm afraid the route hasn't been created that will keep me away from ignorant motorists.

I wear shorts, a t-shirt, polar fleece hooded sweatshirt and a hooded rain jacket. None of it is bike specific, just stuff I had around the house. With both hoods up (under my helmet) I'm not quite warm enough when I start out. I just don't get a workout until after the halfway point. Once I hit the hills it's a different story, I warm up quickly and no longer feel the cold.

My wife had to point out the obvious to me, I can pull over and adjust my clothing if I need to. (after decades of car commuting that is an alien concept) I've been trying this, pulling over after the first hill and taking off the hoods, and that seems to make enough of a difference that I'm not overheated by the time I get to work.

While I was riding to work this morning, my wife passed me in her car on her way to drop off our daughter at school.

No big deal I guess, except that I left the house a good 15 minutes after she did.

Cloudy and cooler today. Found a new route that gives me a glimpse of distant coastline on one side and even more distant mountains on the other. Air quality is clearing this time of year in LA so the views get nice.

Gosh. Writing in this thread. Is sort of cathartic. Like a blog, but less about the writer and more about the topic. Nice. I will see how long I can keep this up.

Strong wind out of the south, southwest this morning - great coming in for the most part, probably gonna be slow going tonite though. Temps were great this morning, mid 40s I think, supposed to get up to near 70 today. Came up on two deer grazing at the side of the road this morning. Two cars had just passed them ahead of me, but they didn't budge. When I passed I probably could have reached out and touched them, I even said 'Hello!', the didn't seem to even notice I was there. Too tame or just deaf?

Are ya gonna tell us the story, or make us use our imaginations?

Maybe your are not used to with the constant rushes with death. Time will change that.

I wore my tights today for the first time ever.

Wow. I'm hooked. I'll never go back, never do you hear me!

Warm, comfortable, I'm totally sold .

It really isn't that exciting . In addition to that fact, I'm sure the other cyclist didn't think he was yelling. I may have been over reacting. I tend to do that when I am tired. After all, it was the last 3 miles of a 35 mile ride.

Anyways.... my rear brake was rubbing a bit due to the wheel being a tad out of wack. To temporarily fix the issue before I take my bike into my LBS for a tune up, I opened the rear brake up a tad. I was trying to hear it rubbing and rounded a corner to fast while looking down. The other cyclist was a good 200 feet away and gave a loud "YO!"

Irritated me for no reason. Why I am still irritated must have something to do with my aching back and leg.

Oh well.

Y'know when I was trying to imagine what roads/areas would be filled with aggressive bastards, I thought exactly of where you're riding!

I'm sorry that you had such a negative and scary experience.
Beck

Today was the first time I rode all the way into campus and all the way back from campus. 100% bike! It was windy though, and for some weird reason, I had a headwind going to campus and back from campus.

I had to run a red light though, but there was no other way around it. I took the lane to stop at a red light, since right after the light is a very narrow bridge, and I don't want to get squeezed into the cement wall. For some reason, I couldn't activate the light, and the person behind me was stopped way behind me. I motioned for her to move up, but she wouldn't budge. I guess that's the consequence of living in a bike friendly town.

I'm waiting for my order to come in from Nashbar (slicks, platform/clipless combo pedals, and shoes), so I'm getting really excited.

Thanks for the kind words, fellas. I was in the financial industry for a while there.

Gusty, heavy rains and 43F here...I more or less 'rode the wind to work'
Radar shows 5 storms moved through this morning...don't know how many more are in the queue.

No commute today. Stayed home to give the grandparents a day off from childcare. Just as well, it looks like rain.

Might be time to combine your hobbies into a financially viable business. NYC could always use another good bike shop especially if you cater to the rider who always rides instead of the riders who buy bikes and never use them.

Seinfeld always struck me as that particular sort of character.

He always had that bike hanging in his hallway, but I also got the feeling that it was rarely ridden.

He was too busy driving his collection of Porsches to fool around on a bright green mtb.

Ride home was nice. Nearly endo'd going downhill, but I recovered and kept going. Lots of moron cagers zig-zagging all over 1st Ave. which makes me glad I wasn't driving cuz I'd have gotten crazy road rage. Also glad I wasn't driving north on the FDR cuz I was zipping past them too at a sedate 16 mph. Now it's time for some serious high speed driving and running over peds in MC3: DUB Ed.!

Just the opposite here today a reserve officer with the local PD "california stopped" over the STOP line, the crosswalk, and almost crapped himself when he did see me. Guess he needs me to watch out for him. Gave him the stinkeye, darn wannabe-cop Don't bother telling me to call in a complaint, I've done it before about local crime and been told by a Public Information Officer that my problem was a personal animosity. I'm not down on law enforcement, I volunteer with the Sheriff's Department. I just think this guy is a lousy example to the cagers around him.

Tomorrow I commute to work. It's a new location, same job. We moved last year. Looking forward to it greatly! I went over the route carefully today in my cage. Gotta get plenty of rest tonight. Hope it doesn't rain.

41F, 20MPH wind gusting to 30MPH coupled with rain showers made for an interesting commute in at 5:45AM this morning. Not much vehicle traffic and I didn't encounter any of the regular cycle commuters I usually see. Don

Heh, you're the second person to suggest that. I really appreciate the compliment! I'm not ready for that sort of investment, though. I have too much to go gain from my fancy education (I should be Oboeguy, Ph.D. by May) right now, but it is something to keep in mind.

i almost didn't ride to work today. prescribed myself a rest day because i was so beat yesterday and my bike seems to be coming completely unglued. my plan was to drive, do some of the grocery stuff to clear the rest of the down-time schedule a bit, and see if i could figure out how to put the bike right in the freed-up time. i went to bed not intending to ride, woke up not intending to ride, made coffee not intending to ride . . . somehow that changed this morning by the time i had everything unpacked and set up to go in by car instead. so i thought about it for a while longer, poked myself here and there to see if i was just imagining how fine i felt, and in the end i just added more lube to my chain, told myself i'd just take whatever mechanics came up as a convenient enforcement of not pushing it, and i did go by bike.

and wow am i ever glad that i did. you just never know ahead of time which rides are going to turn out to be the ones you don't think you'll ever forget - the experiences you'd just never have if you didn't commute by bike. that weather was incredible even to cars, but i would have had a completely different picture of it if i'd been inside one. it was raining hard and cold, and as soon as i got out of the alley and onto the road all the wind hit me. just amazing weather - real, real wind, and real gusts. wild sky, wild rain, trees going nuts, sirens at every major intersection, traffic more or less stopped . . .

i know it sounds silly, but it was so cool. our weather is so damn uniform most of the time, but this was like a holiday from the ordinary commute, like those days when you go to school and something's happened to put the entire routine into disarray. i rode down the bike path section getting blown eight inches sideways at every cross street, and singing sea chanties at more or less the top of my lungs. i mean, you sort of had to. it was that kind of spirit in everything. by the time i got to the bridge i was just barely restraining myself from hooting and giggling out loud.

out on the bridge it was even wilder. i made a note to myself to watch out for the gusts up there, since it's so much more exposed than the road, and there is that whole issue with the barriers-at-centre-of-gravity point. so i wasn't stupid, and i was even ready to be so freaked out i'd have to get off and walk. it was a little freaky, but it didn't change my mood. the part i wasn't prepared for up there was how those gusts seem to suck all the breath out of you when they hit. very odd. i was not frightened, actually, but if it had kept up for too long i probably would have got off and ducked down just long enough to get my breath back, because it was starting to feel like panic. it was another thing you'd never have known if you hadn't done it: the whole behavioural model of physiology causing affect, not following it. when i got to work i emailed a friend with apnea to tell her about it.

at the intersection on the other end of the bridge, i got joined by another commuter, who must have been behind me over the bridge. just in time i noticed that her 'wow' was more wide-eyed than happy, so i bit off the 'wasn't that incredible?' part of my answer just in time and just said the 'yeah!' part. we had a quick, breathless little conversation about the whole wind-speed thing and the half-assed nature of the whole bridge design wrt bikers, and even the weirdness of the pathway on the opposite side with its corrugations and its lunatic tilt. i was very happy to hear that she also feels like she's falling over all the time on that side, and she also has to work even on the downslope. then the light changed and she took a different route.

the towel-dispenser guy at the health club seemed pretty pleased to see me and my demented beam, but i didn't get any eavesdropping in once i got past him. i had such a manic perma-grin going that the squash-players took one look at me and stepped back a pace (the spot of oil dead centre on my forehead probably didn't help much either). only other thing was that by the time i got to work my brakes seemed to be more or less shot, so once over the bridge i was careful, i swear.

it rained like demons most of the day, and then after all that it was calm and soft, just a very high grey cloud everywhere. i spent some time tinkering experimentally in the parking lot before i set out, and got my brake cables tightened and my gearing (apparently) more sorted out than it's been all week.

today just totally rocked. it's my new best-ever.

songs: 'south australia', the pogues; 'sickbed of cuchullian', the pogues; 'bottle of smoke', the pogues.