Maybe he wanted to race?

Ride home was uneventful which is good. Lots of dogs on the ramp leading down to the MUP. Enough so that I had to stop and wait for them to pass. Had a friend tell her hubby and her two friends that I take my bike everywhere. Not quite, but yeah, I do take it lots of places.

Picked up some toe clips for my pedals today. I haven't ridden with them in years, and boy did it come back quick. I'm sure I will eventually go clipless, but for now I'll go with what I know. Had a personal best time coming home riding with the clips, Kicked butt and felt good. Had a few sprinkles, but it didn't rain because I had my raingear in my rack bag. :D

nyergh. two people at work started conversations with me about my commute today. i'm done with the pr for the year. don't want to talk to another human for at least a week, and most certainly not about my freaking bike. would like to be left alone for a goooooooooooood loooooooooooooooong time.

late start - cat killing someone else's chicken bones all over the house in the witching hours, and then scaring me for an hour this morning by looking just enough like a cat who'd ingested cooked chicken bones. finally left her to it but fretted all day, specially since the kid left his cell phone off after school and i couldn't check - or tell him to leave me a couple of cinnamon buns. uneventful ride this morning - full of sunshine!!! and come to think of it that's probably why i'm in such a repulsive mood now. cold and dark coming home; nice actually except that my right knee really is killing me. stoopid world.

too late for squash players in the shower but there was an older guy milling around with his foursome in the common area with pressure bandages around both his knees. in retrospect and given my current mood i wouldn't at all mind going back in time and mugging him for them.

don't think i sang anything. the scale today says 145.

Cooler this morning in the low 40's but it was a nice ride in. Uneventful for the most part, but there were a few big trucks that had to pass me on a narrow road but they waited till it was clear, so I commend them. Going to be warmer today than yesterday, record highs I'm sure near 80. Shorts are in my bag for the ride home.

The ride home last night was uneventful - just the way I like it, cept for a 15mph head wind most of the way. This morning was beautiful for riding, low 40s, almost no wind, polite drivers, just an enjoyable ride. Supposed to rain later, I'll probably get wet riding home, oh well, it's only water. ;)

Ah, the usual crazy cager business yesterday... A miserable b!tch honked like crazy because I was in the centre of the lane on a residential street, to pass a school bus parked some 100 m (300 feet) away. What a MORON. She eventually passed me on the left in the left-turn lane and then turned RIGHT from there at the next intersection. That was kind of amusing anyway; I slowed down on purpose right after the second honk... to-o-o-o-o-o-ok my swe-e-e-e-e-e-et time to pa-a-a-a-a-ass that bus... :D

Other than that - great commute. I was returning in the dark and loving it (good for a change, anyway).

Rode into work for my 2nd time today. A little bit of fog along the Missouri River. It was warm and humid but right when I got over the river it was probably 10 degrees cooler. My distance in was 4.1 miles. It felt good, and it is a way to ride when family activities cut out my ride at night.

Traffic along the Chouteau was heavy but I have a bike lane or rideable shoulder all the way.

My ride was brisk this morning. It was my first time commuting in sub-freezing temperatures and it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. There was ice on the car windows but I didn't encounter any on the road. The mixture of water and leaf goop must have a lower freezing point than just plain water. Even at 30F I still had to stop on the uphill portion of my ride and peel back some layers to stop sweating.

My bike rode just fine after its trip to the bike shop. When I had a flat tire last week I took it in for the free new bike checkup. I also picked up a spare tube so I can fix the flat myself next time and I had them put in a pair of tire liners to delay "the next time" for as long as possible.

The worst part of the ride for me was on my long downhill stretch. I read the thread yesterday about quick release hubs not being fastened properly and all I could think about was not having checked the hubs myself after the bike shop. The wheels stayed on, the guys at shop did their jobs well.

My commute was really really great today.

I raised my seat a while ago, and it made my knees feel somewhat better. But my handlebars felt really low. Well, now I have my handlebars up higher, and, ooohhh, does it feel gooood. I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself. I finally feel like I can spin my legs around without restriction, and my back doesn't get sore from riding. Wow!

I saw a guy who was apparently trying to light a cigarette while riding the wrong way down the bike lane. Forgot to say my usual "other side please!" which I try to say when I see wrong-way cyclists on two way streets.

And I saw the usual flattened squirrels yesterday. I wish they didn't have to get themselves squished so often around here, but such is life.

Commute this morning was fine. It's election day so I passed a few city council candidates trying to glad-hand voters at the subway stations. Gave a friendly nod to a bus driver who gave me some space to get around him in tight traffic that I actually had to wait for. Gave the stink-eye to a couple cabbies that swerved in front of me to drop off their passengers. Told a limo driver that had parked too close to the bike racks at work that he should try pulling up a few ft. instead of manhandling the bike locked to the rack so his passengers could climb their fat arses in. And he manhandled the bike not 5 sec. after the owner had locked it up right in front of him. Some people got no respect for OPP. Had to wait while the passengers climbe in before I could lock up my bike.

beautiful -- it's still high 40s, 50s here in denver at 6:45 when i leave, and it's light out now in the AM, and been sunny for days.

of course going home it's dark by 5 - but i changed the batteries in lights last week so ready for that...

Another beautiful morning. Cool, crisp, and sunny. :)
Like last Tuesday, I rode to my PT appointment with base layer, vest, knee/arm warmers, full finger gloves, etc.
When I left and headed for work an hour later, it had warmed up enough so I didn't need the warmers, gloves, or vest.


It's so nice outside I keep asking myself why I'm sitting at this computer rather than riding. :crash:

Finally, a decent sunrise! I got a little cocky with my new spiked tires and almost lost it on some bumpy ice. I think I need to decrease the tire pressure and increase the contact patch. Riding the SS MTB feels slow compared to my skinny-tire special, but I'm getting to work at almost the same time due to lights in the way. It's a total bastid on the climbs... Oi!

Was it a blond guy with a German accent and a T-Mobile shirt? ;)

Speaking of guys with German accents, today is special election Tuesday in Kaleeforniya. Very quiet around the Capitol today.

I am getting more and more frustrated with how many drivers don't put their headlights on before sunrise. I estimated that at 6:30am this morning a good 20% of cars did not have headlights on. Sunrise is at 6:53am, at 6:30 it is very dim. It makes it so hard to see them, especially since it is overcast and greyish. Even after sunrise it would be nice if they kept em on. Legally in AZ you need them on before sunrise and after sunset:

"28-922. Lighted lamps required
At any time from sunset to sunrise and at any other time when there is not sufficient light to render clearly discernible persons and vehicles on the highway at a distance of five hundred feet ahead, a vehicle on a highway in this state shall display lighted lamps and illuminating devices as required by this article for different classes of vehicles, subject to exceptions for parked vehicles as provided in this article. "

Al

I gave it a second try this morning, and I left a little earlier this time, before 6 this time. Passed by maybe 25 vehicles in the first 1 1/2 hrs instead of the 1/2 hr it took last time to see 25 vehicles. This little bit seemed to help a lot. No rude drivers this time. Only two that were a little close, but I don't think I could have swung my arm & hit them, so I didn't let it bother me. One guy actually gave me a full 3' even though there was oncoming traffic that had to slam the breaks to accomadate him. People are amazing...

But not as amazing as the sights... Roosters & morning birds. Sunrise on the autumn leaves, like they're on fire. Mist coming off the ponds and the rolling hills on the farms. Seeing my shadow on the embankment to the side of the road. Warm enough to take my winter gloves off after the first big hill, cool enough to put them back on 30 min. later.

Thanks for everyone being supportive, and for posting. Sorry I posted negative last time, I didn't read enough posts to get the feel that this thread should read more like "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handy.

Redrom that's awesome. Glad to see you got back on the streets 'round these parts. We need you!

the commute in was alright today, high 60's, no real serious headwinds
my chain slipped off the gear heading toward a light... at least I was going downhill so I was able to coast to an open area where I could pull over and put it back on... killed my momentum though ... a couple cars passed too close also

the commute back was fairly uneventful too ... I'm having an easier time with the big hill on the way back to my house... as I turned onto my street for the last half-mile or so back it started raining... glad I wasn't stuck in that for too much longer than I was

Ride home was good. It gets pretty cool when the sun goes down before 5 pm. Had all my lights blinking and had to stop on the ramp down to the FDR MUP to let two other cyclists heading up pass. Neither had any lights. In fact, the only bike I saw with lights was a commuter roadie flying past me on 1st Ave.

Met a private security consultant (mercenary) at the pizzeria during dinner. He was showing me pics of himself in Afghanistan guarding our troops and training the Kurds in weapons. He made $200k tax free for that. I'm not sure how I feel about paying private security consultants who are better equipped than our troops 10x what our soldiers make and not taxing them to boot. Actually, I know how I feel about it. One thing's for sure, if he really can run a mile in 6+ mins. while firing two handguns accurately and hit targets 600 yds. away w/o a scope, I wouldn't want to meet up w/ him in a dark alley unless he was on my side.

Back on the fixie today after spending some $ and time on upgrades -- new SKS fenders, new modolo drop bar (the chop bullhorns didn't work for me), new tape job, new brake cable and housing, new headlight.. Felt good (but tough) to be fixed again after a week of easy coastin' on the roadie! I'll get some pix up in the other thread

Good commute, 43 degrees in am. Online poll, how many days, miles per day, total miles have you commuted this year?

Does anyone else get tired of saying oin your left? So on my way I am going about 20 and come up on a couple going about 7. It is now ~5:30 and completely dark, neither have a light on their bike. I click my lever 5 times and finally pass at 7.5 on the left. The gal says to me, "announce your presence please." I pull passed her, jump off my bike and clothesline her. Her bike flew forward and she landed hard on the pavement. As she lay all sprawled out on the bike path I said, how was that for an announcement?....Oh wait, that is only what I envisioned. I said, ya where is your light?

nice morning. nice evening, but bus part way home. planning to drive tomorrow, and kind of hope i stick to it this time. hope the car starts too. hope i remember how driving works.

A "little" cold was too cold- started out light with a long sleeve polypro shirt and reflective windbreaker with buttons... DOH!! Expected to be cold at first. Warmed up a little, but my chest stayed just chilled enough to keep me aware of it, made every minute feel like an hour. My fingers were a little cold, too. I had brought extra layers since weather predicted to be possible 20F in am. Not that cold, but slapped on my "weight loss" neoprene waistband and was good to go from then on. Originally bought it years ago to keep my back warm when it was sore/pulled it. I don't have any idea how it was marketed for weight loss. I think I decided I'd rather sweat a little than be chilled.

Excellent ride today!! ~55F and clear, no wind (supposed to be 10-20mph from SW later today though). Don't know why, but I averaged 18.7 today. My normal pace is 16 or 17mph...must have been the nachos I ate last night :-). Hoping the wind this afternoon is more West than South. If it is, could be my fastest commute ever!

Cyclocomputer said 24F! First sub-30 commute of the season for me.



Excepting holidays and vacations, I ride Monday through Friday, about 13 miles round trip. On my road bike, since April of this year, I've commuted over 1,800 miles. Add a few hundred more on the old mountain bike. It's in a shed at the moment.

Eek - If I do a rough calculation, since I started riding in June of 2004, I've commuted about 4,400 miles!