Ugg...I'm really dragging this morning. I rode the train because I'm leaving town straight from work. Without the bike to get my blood pumping, it's taken me an hour to get settled in and productive.

My ride in this morning was absolutely wonderful. The temp was 48 with a little misting rain and I cranked out the ride in 35 minutes that felt like 5. Just everything came together to make this a most pleasing and pleasurable ride. Car miles this month: 69.98. Bike miles 34.0, so I am still in a deficit position. Had to use the car last night to go to church.

Interesting bike commute this morning, it was kind of like what you'd expect from a sleigh ride (minus the bells): Snow coating over everything, light snow falling, quiet. Very nice, but now the temps are going to drop (it's 25F now) and it's back to a real Minnesota winter, the Artic air is coming.

A rainy Friday
Last night's reunion with friends
means working at home

I hear ya man... I've had a small gang of 'minority' kids, teens, chase me, screaming at me... kinda scary as I am a very small in stature female... I try my best to shake it off, not let it get in the way of my biking, running, whatever I'm doing....

I kinda liked thdave's spin on this sort of thing...
I'll try it next time I'm feeling the Road Rage by some "sad" clueless driver or pedi taunting me....
certainly easier said than done... but a good approach I thought...

Woohoo! The city finally installed bike lockers in the Capitol parking structure. I've only been nagging them by phone and email for 3 years now. No more sneaking the bike past the security guards when I have to work late. No more wet saddle when the bike's been sitting in the rain all day!

I'm psyched!

Woke up from a cool dream [I had a flying car, like everyone else, but mine was kinda cheap - the equivalent of a '82 Civic with a Hondamatic transmission. Anyway, I was at a company party, and they didn't have room for me in the flying limo, so I had to take my own car and pick up two dudes at their house. We stopped by Werewolf Hut and had some tasty werewolf ("Mmmm, that's good werewolf"), then flew around for a while longer complaining about things. Then we went back to Werewolf Hut. It was kind of like a live-action Futurama. Totally cool!!!], about 45 minutes later than I was supposed to. I got out of bed, showered, grabbed 2 Cokes plus some rice pudding, then hammered to work. I was at my desk 40 minutes after I woke up. That's a pretty fast start to my day. I'm going to want a beer by 5:00...

Nice commute today, except a bit of light fog. Not enough to be bothersome, though. I sometimes wish my commute was a few miles longer. But then I'd have to carry water and pace myself to not be too sweaty. I guess a three mile cycling-induced high twice a day is good enough. And once the days start getting longer and I'm better about dragging myself out of bed for a pre-breakfast ride, I won't wish it as much since I'll be getting plenty of mileage anyway.

Hi recursive (and Todd et alia)
Yes, that was me. When I saw you ahead of me I wound the Stokemonkey to the top (450watts) and my ~200 watts (tempo pace for me) to catch you. It looked like you had good form, and I like catching interesting looking riders. As I approached I saw the fixie, and the creative head gear, so backed the stokemonkey off a notch and kept the tempo pace. I could see your shadow in the headlights of cars, and figured you were a serious rider, so took my own pace to superthreshold but throttled the stokemonkey down a bit. I didn't want to drop you, as that would be really unfair, but thought I could give you a nice semi-motor pace through the bumps on our route. It was a kick riding through that area at the same pace as the cars. I hope some of them enjoyed the show. It certainly looked interesting from the shadows we were casting.

The 200 watts referred to what I guesstimated it was putting out at the time--we were cruising along the path at a leisurely 15mph or so, and I was enjoying our conversation (and also doing a bit of a sales pitch for the Stokemonkey and the Xtracycle). The Stokemonkey can put out a consistent 450 watts for over an hour with the big battery, propelling a 100lb bike/gear combo to a 20mph average through city traffic.

Bikebuddha--Sell the scooter. An X/SM is much more fun, and more practical.

Side note: I was also almost run off the road last night. I have 2 headlights, 2 taillights and a reflective vest with flashing tube--I look like a freakin' christmas tree on wheels--but some DWS (driving while stupid) person on the phone decides to make a right turn immediately in front of me, I mean ~1-2 feet in front of me. I was able to bring 270lbs of organic and inorganic matter to a dead stop w/o hitting the car, or being hit by the car. I love disc brakes. I read the driver the riot act, and demanded they get off the phone.

Went out and bought a blackburn rear fender and rain pants last night - planning for big rain this morning. I also wore the cold weather ski helmet - its vents are closable and it has good ear covers.
Surprise, no rain, but wet streets, warm - 40's and sunshine. Legs did get wet inside the rain pants - instant sweat.

Someone send some rain and snow down here to the southwest! It's getting too easy commuting in one of our dryest winters on record. Scary too. About 25 this morning and sunny. Going up to 58 this weekend. I love all the riding I can do but I'd rather be skiing.

" Legs did get wet inside the rain pants - instant sweat.[/QUOTE]"

did you get gore-tex breathable suit/pants? makes a world of difference (at least when it's cooler out).
gore-sweat in the summer time!

... ah, my commute today... ... ... I don't wanna talk about it ... I'm alive arent'I?!

^^^Oh dear. Hope you're okay. (emotionally, too, not just physically)

18 miles round trip. First time since last summer I could make it home with just bike shorts and a jersey. Saw two ladies om MTBs, a kid on a BMX, a guy with an upright tadpole trike selling shaved ice, chorizos, and other snacks, and two serious roadies in Hi-zoot commute gear. And how do I know they were serious roadies? Well maybe not but when someone refuses to return a greeting from someone with fenders, worn panniers on a rear rack, a lime-yellow reflective vest, and no advertising on his jersey I tend to think bad thoughts. I have met nice roadies, usually when involved in ultra events.

Hmm, I happened to glance at the clock before and after my evening commute. It takes less time than I thought. (Of course, it is a net downhill on the way home, though.) A nice, uneventful ride. It was pleasantly not too cold given how cold it was earlier in the evening.

I rode M-F this week (16 mile RT). The killer was additional the 24 mile round-trip late Wednesday to play tennis. I'm sore!

Finished my first week on the new commuter. 4 out of 5 days, 105 miles, nice weather, and a new bike to boot. Who could ask for more.

Ask for five of five. I just finished January with 21 days of 22 mile round trips. February will have 20 days of commutes. More days to work would be my request. Maybe longer commutes or .......

Still the best part of my day, as always.

Much colder than last week. 35F a little rain, a little sleet, nothing really compared to what our northern brethren are used to.

The commute was nice, if a bit cold---the temperature was 30f, but shot down into the teens with the 10-15mph winds. Overall the ride went well, but a bit slower than usual, in part to the extra layer of clothes, and the chilly headwind. At least the commute home will be better!

Nice and cool outside today, upper 40's ...

I did not want to wait at the slowest intersection of my trip, so i cut across on the sidewalk ... sure enough, a car pulls out and doesnt even look in my direction ( since I w as going against the direction of traffic) and i had to dodge him .. he mumbled something but I could not hear him since I was spinning to keep warm.

=)

OK, while putting on a new rear fender Saturday, I measured the chain and WOW it was horribly worn. I guess the sand and crap was a lot worse than I thought; in 6 weeks it went from not hitting the "0.75" (3/4 worn) side of the gauge to having probably 2-3 mm of gap to the "1.0" side of the gauge. I don't think it would have been possible to keep a chain clean lately; I'd clean and ride to work and it'd look like it'd been dipped in a mud bath.

So I put a new chain on. Now I'm skipping gears like mad. Dammit. Ordering a new freewheel now. At least this will give me a chance to get rid of that damn useless megarange gear. I'll switch from 14-34 to a 14-28. I would have liked a 13-28 but I don't see them listed.

Ah well, apart from that it was a great ride. No shoulders on the busy road today due to heavy/wet snowfall yesterday freezing into a rutted mess on the sides, but the cars can just wait and go around.

Surprisingly good ride this morning. I left a bit late, expecting the worst from our winter weather advisory. But an extra layer made me overheat a bit and most of the ride was during a break in the rain so I stayed fairly dry. I hope the weather lets off for my jaunt uptown after lunch today.