Strange commute yesterday morning.

I took the Townie3 and the canoe instead of the utility trailer, just for S&G. That went fine, just a much heavier trailer. On the curviest part of my commute I've taken the lane when I hear a car coming up behind me. I see an on-coming p/u in the other lane so I signal for the car to stay back and not pass. The truck goes by, we're around that curve on a short straight-away. I move to the right and signal the car to pass me. He's not passing. Signal again. <Come on, Dude. We're running out of straight-away.> Signal again for him to pass. <What is this Dip-S doing?> Car finally passes. It's my wife? She pulls over onto the shoulder. I pass her, pull over, drop the bike and walk back to the car. She's all freaked out, hysterically ranting about something. Me, "Hey." Rant, rant, rant. Me, "HEY." Rant, rant, rant. HEY!!! in my Drill Field voice. She stops. Me, "Count to ten, take five deep breathes, and tell me what is the matter. Slowly."

The stupid windshield of the stupid car had a spider-web crack at the bottom. :rolleyes:
For this, she traces my route, almost all the way to work. :rolleyes:

"Go home and call what's-'er-name at the insurance place."
"Who?"
"The woman.....oh what's-'er'name.....you know. You went with me last time we made a payment. Her card is in the glove box and there's a couple more laying around the house."
"What will that do?"
Me trying to not get exasperated, "This is Florida, state law, we get three free windshields a year. Go call her, tell her a hickory nut from one of the trees in the yard broke it (that's what happened). Then do what she says about calling somebody to fix it."
"Where will I have to take it."
"Home. Somebody will come out to the house and fix it."
"Today?"
"I don't know. It depends on where they're located and how busy they are."
"What if it blows out and showers the kids with glass?"
<What the hell is this? She tracks me down on my commute to play 20 questions?>
Me trying my best to not get exasperated, "You could do over 100 miles-an-hour with that windshield, it's not gonna' blow out." <Now go TF home so I can get on with my ride.>

She finally leaves and I get on with my ride.

Now, I've ridden and driven this route probably hundreds of time. Today I see a borrow pit off in the woods to my right. I've heard it was there, but have never seen it from the road, didn't know you could. Must be enough leaves fallen to see it, because I sure couldn't earlier this year and I looked. I stopped to look at it. I had the canoe with me, if I had some fishing tackle I would have skipped work, in spite of the fact that the weather in the last two weeks has put me way behind on this project.

Pulling the canoe home yesterday afternoon, had a p/u pull along side and slow in passing, the driver yelling at me.
"Nice set-up!" :D
Later had a car pass and slow, passenger yelling out the window.
"Dude, you rock!!" :D
I heard him clearly.

Just before I got home, had a car coming up behind give me a "get-out-of-the-way" honk. Unusual around here. Oncoming traffic, he couldn't pass. I looked back at him and moved left, driving the point home I was not pulling off the road to let him by and he was staying behind me until the oncoming lane cleared.

The real workout was pulling the canoe down the road I live on. It's a sand road and all the recent rain turned it to soup. It hasn't completely dried out yet.

Another calm commute home last night. It's Saturday, a day I intend to drive in general, but I'm cycling today since a coworker wanted to see my CF bike. So another commute. :) It was cold during my pre-breakfast ride, but by the time I rode in to work, it was nice and warm.

Here's two days of commuting in one.

Boston was maniacal yesterday, Friday. Hurricane force winds of 75 mph, thunder and lightning, in white out blizzard conditions. There were rolls of thunder that lasted a good 1/2 minute- it sounded like someone was dragging a grand piano across the sky. The combination of bolts of lightning during a complete white out was surreal. Fortunately, I suspected some bad mojo was on the way and I car pooled it into Cambridge in the morning with a friend instead of biking. When skies cleared around 3 or 4pm the traffic was abysmal so I opted to walk 3 miles to downtown Crossing in Boston where I figured it would be a good time to Christmas shop. I was right- the stores were empty.

I then walked, bags and all, another 3 miles to where my wife was working and commuted home with her and 4 of her students crammed into the car who we dropped at various locations. Walking ain't that bad.

This morning I figured I'd attempt the bike since it was sunny and I figured most of the roads would be cleared. I also thought that since I was commuting into the people's republic of Cambridge, where there is a plethora of bike lanes and facilities, that every effort would be made to make the roads passable. Newton streets were clear, Watertown clear and Cambridge was solid 1" of hard packed ice on every roadway and the drivers were none too accomodating at times. I ended up doing about 10.5 miles (16.8k) and it took almost an hour to do it. The commute home at 6pm, a mile or two with a co-worker, and then onto the bike path, which was relatively well-plowed and cleared on the Cambridge side of the Charles River. I crossed over the Charles at Harvard Square and noticed the river is getting a light coating of ice- winter is upon us. The path on the Boston/Brighton side was also relatively well cleared, at times almost comically as the plow evidently lost track of the path and cut a swath into the mud and dirt making short cuts in the usual route. A section of the path in Brighton, behind the Public Theatre (at the wooden bridge) is unplowed but if a rider stays left towards the parking lot the plowing picks up again all the way into Watertown Square- but watch for the black ice!

Saturday afternoon's commute home was noteworthy only in that I had some free time, so I took a quick detour to Torrey Pines grade (a favored short climb in the San Diego area). I had read in the Road Cycling forum that there was a wind blowing from north to south (ie up the hill), so I just had to go ride. Even with street clothes on, thanks to the gentle tailwind, I managed to average over 10 MPH up the climb. :)

More snow this morning. Nice light powder. Low 20s. I heard a woodpecker attacking a tree. That's about it. :)

Good Commute this morning with temps around -8C and no wind. The only issue was the bike seemed to be making a lot of different noises. I'll have to figure those out.

Have a great day

Nice commute. The only issue was with my new panniers. The added weight assisted in my previously damaged rear rim going out of true again. Time for a new rim.
Resolved the brake rub by disengaging my rear cantilever brake. Today I will adjust the brake pads out some until I get a chance to visit my LBS.

Commute is was normal, early morning so very little vehicular traffic. It was cold down in the 30s and no end in sight. Came in on my new Trek 1200 and cut about 3 minutes off of my time.

Last night I was debating whether I wanted to ride in this morning. It was not-so-brief moment of laziness as I dozed off to Simpsons reruns on the couch.

By the morning though, I had made my decision and I'm so glad I did! The commute was on of the best ever! And the weather was great. Chilly but not too cold.

Heat wave, high 30s! Feels like summer again compared to the zero windchill week.

I don't like Mondays. I forget who sang that, but I can understand. Was running late today and knew I was gonna be late to the office so after I accepted my lateness, I cruised to work trying to figure out how far I can go from green light to the next red. High of 9 blocks and low of 7 for an average of 8 blocks duing light cycles on Lexington. Totally useless information I know, but nothing much was happening and there's no radio to fiddle with.

Oh ***** Moment of the Day: Knowing I was running late, I realized when I grabbed my keys that I was missing my car keys. Looked all over, checked my jacket pockets, pants, etc., but didn't find them. Rode to where I parked my car last night a few blocks away (I park on the streets) and did a quick search. Relief moment 1: Saw my car was still there. Relief moment 2: Found my car keys lying in a patch of snow right in front of the door. Whew! This being NYC, I was almost sure someone was driving around w/ a new used car today.

Fashion Statement of the Day: LL Bean flannel lined jeans keep me warm w/o having to wear long johns. And they're comfortable now that I've lost enough weight to fit comfortably in them.

Been off the bike for a week due to excessive ice and sub zero temps. Converted the bike to winter mode over the weekend. Installed the new studded nokoians [700c Hakkapeliitta W106 35mm ] from http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp and also hung on my panniers.

Wow, those tires are impressive even at the 60psi I rode them with today. There were numerous slick ice patches along the way where the snow had melted and the water had refrozen. I couldn't even spin the back tire while geared down. I don't think it would be wise to rip 25 mph corners, but I feel 100% comfortable on the ice now.

Hanging on the panniers instead of using a backpack made the bike feel much heavier and more sluggish. But then again, I was hauling a laptop and bag that I normally don't haul. The tradeoff was a much more comfortable ride without the pack on my back. That made it a lot easier to adjust clothing for riding conditions. I believe panniers are the way to go now...makes the ride much more enjoyable.

I forgot how cold it gets going fast down the hill. My ears were freezing off and I couldn't figure out why. I was wishing that I had a hat for those first couple of miles... then i remembered that I use the hood of my sweatshirt. DOH!

See what happens when you take a few days off... ya get out of the grove.

Temp this am....18F

Easy ride in today. I was going to ride the skinny tires, but was too lazy to switch my pedals over. It's supposed to snow tomorrow, so I guess my sloth is justified.

Both shoulders are sore from snowboarding on the weekend. Fernie had a lot of windslab action going on in the open bowls, but if you stayed in the trees and steeper aspects, it was all good. 4 crown floats on Saturday night kept my knees from being sore.

Shorts this morning, a warm 45F!

Al

You guys just got a whole different language up there, don't you?

My buddy and I have reinstituted our pre-work training rides. We used to do these 4 days a week: M/W intervals and T/Th tempo rides. Now we just do tempo twice a week (we've both got toddlers and we're trying to be good 21st C. dads).

Anyway, good ride today. Cool (47F) and moist (100%RH, patchy fog). We did a steady 19-20mph tempo out and back. Conversation was 20% local bike scene, 20% pro bike scene, 10% politics, and 50% about what the kids are getting for Xmas. Let's just say that Thomas the Tank Engine gets discussed more than Lance Armstrong.

First time on the bike in a week. Felt it in the thighs. I'm never taking a week off again. The chinook over the weekend melted all the snow and ice along the shoulders, but left copious amounts of sand. I'm going to try to get a studded tire with rim tonight so I'm prepared for our next dump.

Traffic was a nightmare. Had to zig-zag around cars, buses, people for 15 blocks. Saw a nice set of legs attached to a nice looking woman and managed not to crash. Wore the techwick beanie under my helmet and it kept my hair nice and neat. I'll be wearing it more often.

Nice commute. Got a very late start. Cloudy and cool all afternoon. Had some errands to do this morning that required using the car. Got home, hopped on the bike and began my commute around 11:00. Took the Allez Elite w/Burley Solo Trailer. Today was the last day of the three day general gun quota hunt on the Wakulla Unit of the refuge. I didn't hunt it, didn't apply. I'll wait for the upcoming, 2 week, non-quota small game hunt. I have other places to hunt, anyway. Riding through the refuge in the middle of the day, saw a nice doe feeding on the side of the highway. A little over a mile down the road, stopped and chatted with three hunters that just walked out of the woods. They hadn't bagged anything in the entire three day hunt. The way this quota hunt is set up, a hunter has to kill an antlerless deer to be given an antlered deer tag. In other words, gotta' kill a doe to get a buck tag. Good system for thinning the herd. One of the guys I talked to was the p/u driver that yelled at me while passing last Friday complimenting me on my rig, Townie3 towing a canoe trailer. They said they hadn't got anything which tells me the wild hogs that I've had my eye on for the small game hunt are safe, for now. They're in the same area where these guys were.

Nice, uneventful ride home. The only close call was a cardinal that flew between my nose and the stem, then landed in a yaupon bush on the side of the road.

Get home to find out #1 (13 yr old son) took his bike and went to a friend's house after school today. While they were inside another neighborhood kid took #1's bike. #1 came out and found his bike gone, hunted the other kid down and opened a can. Kicked the other kid's butt. :D

I've started rethinking this clipless pedal thing. The pedals on the hybrid have clips. Those with sneakers seem to fit my commuting better than road shoes and clipless.

last commute with the MTB today... I get my road bike (Jamis Coda Sport) tomorrow

pretty cold coming in... and I was a bit rusty from not riding for a few days so I was kinda slow coming in and had to stop to catch my breath a few times... other than that it was alright

the ride back was even colder, had to break out the balaclava for the first time, but other than that it was a great ride... I had a lot more energy than I did on the ride in

Seems like there are some new posters which always makes for interesting reading. Last post I was happy to make it home after a broken spoke. Perfect timing as I had business travel the remainder of the week and temps went to the teens in Memphis. Over the weekend trued up the trusty rear wheel. Jumped on this am about 38F. I was slow as molasses and my odometer failed to work. Low energy and after 7 days off I was a limp slug! Wheel twanged a bit with a full load w/ laptop et al. Post 10 miles, all was well.

Coming home I had a first. 4 way stop...3 bikes all heading into the intersection! WOW! In Memphis no less. Seems to be recreational riders with iPod and glam clothing. I powered through first as it looked like they were trying to figure out what to do. Nice to see so many two wheeled friends. Much more punch on way home less laptop!

Lesson learned, rotate those tires! When truing my rear over the weekend I noticed I nearly threaded my rear tire and contrary to Sheldon's advice I put it up front. Had I done that 500 miles ago I could have squeezed more life out of them. Guess I will buy some new rubber for 2006.

cool, sunny, low volume traffic, and lite wind going to and from work today. went like clock-work. it's somewhat exiting to be riding with traffic, they speed up to the next stop lite, you catch up. there are no timed lites like in Philly, where you could drive 30 mph and not stop for 20 blocks. anyone have problems not being "noticed" at left-hand-turn-only signal sensors?

boomtown rats. i was thinking about it last night cause i don't like them either. how was the commute today? disgusting, that's how, glad you asked. managed the mornng ride without too much trouble, but now the night one is over i feel equipped to look back and say man, that was all struggle right from the git, wasn't it? yeah. it was. better be careful this week.

nice morning going in, nice night coming out, with a semi-clear sky and a small bright moon riding very fast through the clouds. a container truck went by me on the flat on my way in and long after they'd passed it occurred to me they must have left me four inches clearance when they did it. pretty close, really.

eight commuting days till christmas.

songs: ye're welcome willie stewart, robert burns; let x=x, laurie anderson.

5 degrees (F) and lake effect snow this morning. Ski goggles today. Nice ride. Blue skies and super-fluffy snow. I heard the woodpecker again in the same section of woods as yesterday.

Last night I was riding home (just after sundown but before dark) on the trail and I spotted a headlight in my rear-view. 15 degrees, snowing, almost dark. Another crazy person! He was overtaking but not very quickly, so I slowed up and waited for him. He greeted me with, "Nice day for a ride!" Then we chatted for a bit and I let him take the lead. He was riding a full suspension MTB as opposed to my bone-jarring ancient beater MTB. (Riding on pedestrian-pockmarked packed snow...)

Time to write some letters to encourage the city to plow the #@($ path...

Cold and slow this morning. My studded snow tires are really killing my commuting time. They're great in the snow/ice but slow and clumsy the rest of the time, plus the bike handles like a tank. I'll probably leave them on into March then go back to my slicks. I also stopped to help another rider replace a tube. He had gotten 3 tacks in his front tire and was p!$$ed. DC riders who've been using the Mount Vernon Trail recently have suffered similar fates (I've picked up 2 myself), fortunately the Park Service has been responsive in helping clean the trail. Temps were in the 20's and I on no less than 4 layers in addition to my gloves and balaclava, I had to stop and put on my skull cap as well since the balaclava was surprisingly drafty, otherwise the ride was fine and I saw 3 or 4 other riders (an unusual event at 5:40 am).