Forget to mention that the rain was so hard that it must have washed most of the lubrication off the bike, because on the way it creaked and squeaked with every turn of the pedals.

So I gave it some TLC when I got home.

Last night on the way home a Miata used the bike lane to pass on the right. It happened about 100m in front of me so no danger to me. I thought that I should just let it go but, by the time I reached the light, I caught up to the Miata and decided that I would try to politely inform the driver.

The driver looked to be a teenage girl. The top and the windows were up. I knocked on the window. She didn't roll it down but gave me a "what the f?" look. I said, "Please don't do that." Again, the "what the f?" look. I said, "Please don't drive in the bike lane." Out came the finger, the light changed, and she sped off.

Sigh. On the one hand, I thought I might be able to inform a driver of a law (and more importantly, a safe driving practice) that she probably didn't know. On the other hand, I probably just reinforced her disdain/hatred of cyclists.

Still, I think it needed to be said. Thoughts?

Call the cops. I couldn't care less if she hates cyclists or anyone else, it's whether she's endangering someone's life that's important.

I never considered calling the cops because I imagined they'd ask, "Was anyone hurt? Was anyone endangered?"
She didn't endanger anyone, although she potentially could have.

I'm not defending the little witch, but giving her the benefit of the doubt, I don't think she was pulling into the bike lane to run anybody down. But like many motorists, she's just self-centered, self-involved, and clueless. And rude.

But now she can't claim she doesn't know. So, now that I think about it, I'm glad I said something. And I'm glad that I didn't give in to my instinct to be rude to her.

I am kind of glad I was forced to drive my car today. Gusts are hitting almost 50 mph and the rain is coming down at a really good clip. Back in the saddle again tomorrow....I am sure there will be lots of black ice to contend with. This weekend we are supposed to have temps back up in the 50's F so should be able to get some pleasure riding in.

It was freaking windy today!!!! Glad to have eyewear today!!! I carried eggs from the store home in my backpack today. I was a little scared I would hit a bump and smash them. But nothing bad happened.

It sure would be nice to just get on my bike and head south for the winter. Is it cold this year or is it just me? Some one tell me where theres a warm place with plenty of work and I think I will start heading that direction.

I take your point that she probably didn't do it in a deliberate attempt to run anybody down, however the "she potentially could have" is the key aspect for me. As far as I'm concerned, this is why we have laws in the first place - to prevent people from being endangered before it happens.

However, the thing that makes me say "call the cops" is her reaction. I get the impression that she didn't care one way or another whether she was breaking the law, nor did she appear to care whether someone was endangered or not. Had she apologised I would have felt differently.

Morning: A bit wet but quite tolerable. Very nice ride, made good time save for playing hop-scotch with a bus for a goodly portion of the route along S.E. 17th.

Evening: Due to the time change I had my first dark-commute experience! No rain, but I found that it may behoove me to upgrade my 3-LED Black Cat as it appeared to make not a dent in the gloom on the couple of lightless areas I traversed. Fortunately the couple of large black spots that loomed out of the darkness, those that I at first took to be yawning bike-flipping pits, proved to be merely new tar.

All in all, quite lovely!

-Rob

Well turns out the whole dentist thing sucked.. they never had me down for an Appt, so I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

A few observations in doing my commute late. No one is on the road which is very pleasant. Additionally, the older crowd was out on their group rides, and quite friendly.

We were having focus groups at work this evening, watching users test our website, so I stuck around for that. I didn't get on the road until 9pm. Again, noone is on the roads at all. There was quite a peaceful feeling being out in pitch black riding by yourself. I loved it.

Tomorrow should be interesting. Leaving late again, but the wind and rain are supposed to kick up. I haven't done the weather commute yet, so I am hoping I'm up for it.

I'm in awe everytime I go to the dentist - He's a former World Veterans Championship Cyclist

Anyway back on topic. My morning commute should have been lovely, Blue Skies and dry if a little cold. But somehow this message didn't get to my body. It just didn't want to know this morning, so it was a plod/slog to get in

Morning folks.

Hants Commuter, I know just what you mean. It was a beatiful morning, but I was feeling slow too. It was also hard to hold a pace because there was a lot of traffic congestion, so the ride becomes a series of short sprints. I suppose this might count as some sort of interval training...

Cheers,

Ed

Ed, Hants, I was there too! Beautiful day, and just no oomph.

There was a slightly stiffer head/cross wind than I like, and I was riding my old, heavier bike (it's got mudguards), and carrying more than normal, so I just put it down to that.

Glorious blue skies though.

Ellie

Woo hoo! Got to commute this morning for the first time this week (have been wimping out due to rain, ice, wind, etc.). And what a commute! Damp roads, nice and cool (36F), no wind, and light traffic. Perfect! They're calling for 67F temps this weekend; hope to get a lot of cycling in!

Tim

The rain/snow mixture ended last night. Not a cloud in the sky and temps in the lower 30's F. I was hoping to hit the road at 6:30pm, but Ellie, my Vizsla puppy, decided she would rather play flash tag then get in the trailer for the ride into work. After ignoring her for 15 minutes she decided to jump in. Off we went only to get a flat about 1/2 mile down the road. I was not in the mood to change the flat at this point, so I walked the bike/trailer home and switched to my backup bike. I calmed down quickly once I got back on the road. There was virtually no wind and the road was covered with wet leaves. A tad slippery, but nice and quiet.

Ellie and I are looking forward to strong tail winds tonight. Yahoo!

Supposed to be warm here on the weekend, but not today! Cold and clear this morning, my sources said -2 C (28 F), was actually -5 C (23 F) and -10 C (14 F) with the windchill (headwind of course)
Hands were chilled in the neoprene gloves, but ok otherwise. As I approached the lift bridge, it was on it's way up, so I rode down the driveway to the canal, looked both ways, nothing coming!! The bridge was up for 10 minutes before the ship was even in the canal!! I still made it to work early, but not as early as I would have liked.

Nice day, my start was a bit slow this morning, rode 10 miles and flatted the rear tire, fixed it, rode 3 miles and picked up another tack, Flat again. That's why I carry 5 tubes, 2 flats and still got to work on time. Other then my repair classes the ride was quite nice, cool, no wind and light traffic.

Cold.

-13 C with wind chill, twas cold, but I made it (albet with an extra 5 minutes).

I got you beat on the tube inventory. I have 6 tubes for various width 26" wheels and 1 tube for the 20" burley trailer wheels. The reason for so many 26" tubes is the two bikes I tow the trailer with have differing width tires. I have a nice tube pouch in the trailer which the pooch can not reach...which is a good thing as she loves to chew on old tubes.

Windy and wet. Gotta get some fenders.

Warp engines are back on line Captain

Much better on the way back home, it was dark, it was chilly but it was dry. Body did what it was told to do this time, much better than this morning.

20 MPH tail wind on the ride home. I can get home faster under these conditions with my dog and gear in tow than I can sans trailer. I did not have my computer, but I know we were flying as we were in the top gear and my legs were spinning pretty fast.

Cold but dry this morning which meant for the first time this week I didn't have to spend hours in work drying my clothes in readiness for the homeward journey.
It was also lovely and dry for the howeward journey but there was a strong headwind.

Decide to go straight up to my childrens school to meet them as they came out and had a strange comment from a fellow parent who said "do you cycle just to show off", looking bemused I didn't answer because I was lost for words.

Just what was she thinking to come out with a comment like that I'll never know.

First ride in the rain was quite fun. Learned a couple things about keeping dry. First off I need a front fender. My legs were covered in muck. I am curious if it can be done tho, I am riding on an old torelli racing frame, and there isn't much space between the tire and the downtube. Secondly, when coasting downhill, don't let one foot be down and the other up. The down foot catches lots of spray, and gets very wet very quickly.

Otherwise I was much warmer that I thought I would be, and it was definately more fun than a typical day.

I even had one casual biker that was just doing a quick run to the store call me "The real deal". I didn't think I was worthy of the title since it was my first rain ride, but its good to hear.

You should have said "Yes!"