Today was my first time back on the bike in two weeks. Family vacations and business trips kept me from being able to enjoy my ride. It was great to get back on the tank. I sure missed the sites and sounds of my morning commute. I left a little early so I could enjoy being back on the bike. And, with 42 degrees, a slight fog over the bayou...it was remarkable!!!

Chris

Yep, I could tell that I had been off the bike for 10 days... Was just sort of a slow lumbering ride in to work today. A balmy 42 when I left the house. Had to peel off the shell to keep from melting down.
Bike seemed reeeally heavy this morning. Had the laptop, food, thermos of coffee, and misc junk. That's the disadvantage to using the panniers I guess... I tend to haul tons of stuff.
Oh well, I'm in it for the exercise anyways

Happy New year all: I want to post here often. I use to post in the past but work became a nuisance. Anyway the commute was a drizzly and rainy affair, temps low 40F/5C. I almost got hit twice! I hate those "round-a-bouts" Drivers never see me in them. I was lit up like a christmas tree. I guess the divers are still in a New Years fog.

School vacation is over, so I no longer have to drop off my daughter at vacation camp. This means the Trail-A-Bike is no longer connected, and the bike rolls much more easily. I dropped one of the cars off at the shop in and rode in from Falls Church to Arlington on the trail. It was a warm 42 F / 6 C with light drizzle. Happy New Year!

Paul

33 F. Not much snow and ice. Felt like I was beach cruising with all the sand on the road. Tried a new route today that I discovered while riding yesterday.

Right knee was a little sore this morning. I rode for 3.5 hours yesterday. Some of that was on snow packed bike trails. That was pretty hard going.

Edit: Oh yeah, I almost killed the neighbor's dog this morning. They live at the bottom of a big hill. The dogs always run along the ditch and bark at me when I go by. They have invisible fence collars. Today, one was so excited that it barged through the invisible fence and ran out in the road right in front of me. I didn't brake. I just swerved around it. It chased me a ways down the road, but I was putting distance between us the whole time. I had a fair amount of speed built up from the hill.

First commute in "The Year of the Dog"... and it was a wet one. I rode my ghetto singlespeed (a late 60s Triumph), and used a new lock I got for XMas... hooray.

Oy! First day on the bike since last Thursday. My sartorius [a leg muscle] on both sides is still sore from snowboarding on the weekend. That's what I get from hiting 2' of powder. Other than that, the temps were a few degrees below zero when leaving the house, and I'm not hung over. Yay!

It was foggy, cold and damp on the first ride in for 2006. Seems like we are all off to a goog start to the new year. Hopefully it bodes well for the remainder of the year.

First commute of the year, it was pretty cold, 45F or so, but clear and not raining. I have a computer on the bike now. It was a 2.1 mile ride completed in a bit over 8 minutes.

another first commute of the year over here. it was wet though not cold -- then again, i've been in quebec for the last few days, so no kinda southern weather is going to feel cold for a while.

good to be back on the bike again. it was my first ride since dec 20th, and my legs were starting to feel soft.

Well, I'm back to work and commuting again. I've been off and haven't ridden since Dec 22 (other then my New Years day ride). It felt good, it was pretty balmy this morning. It was about 33F, now we are somewhere between 33-35F. The roads over all are in pretty good shape, I can cruise right along. The year is starting well.

what a bear! i rode mb w/26 x 2.125" 45psi deep knobby trail tires, attempting to catch lost time (not be late) = in a hurry. i side tracked trying to load rear panniers and handlebar bag w/ gear from usual commuter-tourer (that has 25 x 700C 100psi tires, but drive-train still needs work). the ride was with a lite wind and rain each way. what a way to start the year, legs still feeling it!

I need to get out my spring jacket. This "heat wave" is ridiculous.

A Special Report: My Ride Home

I left work late, the sun was getting ready to set. Temps were cold, in the low 60's. But I rode, and rode like the the wind, and made it home in around 8 minutes.

The ride to work was very muddy. I hope the rest of the week clears up because we've been getting a lot of rain. Overall, the ride today was very good. Have a good night.

i got the best of the day by riding to work this morning. the sun was already up at 8:30 (whoo-hoo, summer's coming) and it hadn't clouded up yet. still seeing actual sunlight (almost) and something in the sky that might even have been non-cloud as i went in to shower, and when i came out 30 minutes later everything was as grey as a battleship and the wind was blowing trees horizontal. this winter ain't been BORING, at least.

a really cool, really great ride in and i was so pleased with myself for being all desked up by 9:30 am. then i blew the margin by working late anyway and absolutely having to detour to the grocery store on the way home. what do teenagers do with all that food? it's been some windy around here for the past few days apparently, so the post-store stretch was a bit squirrelly. i had a gallon of milk and two pounds of steak slung over one handlebar, and all the other stuff on the other one, crosswinds of about 20kph. i think 'destabilized' is the word i'm groping for. supposedly only about 5C, but i guess wind+rain+humidity in the 90's explains why i was so very glad of my balaclava.

the 5-day forecast has the same kind of thing, including winds between 40 and 60 kph for the next couple of days. good thing i'm much more used to that bridge now. tonight it's supposedly going to be a 'mere' 20kph most of the time, rising to 60 again by the morning. the whole office seems to have spent christmas collecting cold germs. it sounds like a seal enclosure at the local zoo, everyone coughing in syncopated stereo. i am not sick yet, but i promise nothing. 10 days to go.

songs: crooked piece of time, john prine; chain up the swings, michael marra.

flawless morning ride.

I wish it can stay this way all year !!

WOOT.

My God. That sounds like the cyclist is south Florida who had to start riding on the trainer because the morning temperature was in the low 60s.

Today's high is supposed to be in the mid-60s (very warm for early January). I'm sure the roads will be congested with cyclists today.

The ride in was very nice and peaceful. Not much traffic and no loud noises, I love it that way.

46F this morning! Yet, I faced a head wind the whole way. No rain but the air was damp. I'm sweating pretty good right now (I'm cooling off before I wash up).

Feels great!

Mornin' everybody: good ride this AM...why? no rain!! Temps were in the upper 30'sF/3C. Rain returns tonight but tomorrow we will hit the 50"s. Do I hear shorts??? We'll see

Ride home last night was very zippy.... The bike rides much faster when I leave the laptop locked in my dock at work. I took the 6 lane street home because it was 4:45 when I left and I knew the traffic would be crawling. It makes for a fun ride when I get to zip past hundreds of cars along the way home.

The ride in this morning was a pleasant 25F and pitch dark. A couple of unlit walkers spooked me when the came around the corner in the street. Guess I wasn't expecting to see people around that early. The van that creeped past me in the left turn lane made a U turn directly if front of an oncoming truck. {Idiot}Screeching tires, smoke, and an exchange of fingers were the result. Makes me feel very exposed in the middle of the intersection when stuff like that happens...what if the truck turned suddenly to avoid a collision.
Oh well, guess my number wasn't up today

Nothing to report. A very comfortable ride once the sun came up. Still burning off some lazy legs from the holidays, but the ride was still fast on the road bike. The commuter is getting rebuilt as a single speed this week so I'm looking forward to getting a "new" bike next week.

Next to the path on the way in is a large pile of mulched christmas trees. The evergreen scent is almost overpowering--brought a smile to my face. My new Lone Peak panniers (gift from the wife) are great; I mounted the new rear wheel my lbs built for me (sweet), and my home-built front rack is almost ready. Life is good!

Today was trip No. 1 of the new year. I look forward to about 150 more.