My ride in this morning was my worst one so far this year :( Felt like I was staked to the ground or dragging an anchor. Don't know why just no energy this morning. I guess you just have those days. The weather was great and it was a beautiful morning, so not all bad. ;)

It was good to be back on the bike again this morning, after a few days involving off-site meetings, and driving.

It was a few degrees below freezing here this morning, but calm and sunny. Looks like it will be overcast, but still calm for the lunchtime trip.

After having to deal with some stuff earlier this week, my ride in today is my first ride (commute or otherwise) since Friday morning. It's nice to be back on the bike. :D

My car's out of service at the moment, so I'll be commuting full-time for a while. Oh, what hardship. :)

Beautiful day here :D Minimum road rage. Anxious to ride home.
Still working on perfecting a system of packing clothes, lunch, dealing with helmet hair... :rolleyes:
I've really been enjoying commuting. :)

Had a funny incident today. I was riding up a hill and a car pulls up. The passenger leans out and shouts something (obviously derogatory) and pumps his fist. I have no idea what he said, but I'm sure it would have won him an oratory award had he not wasted it on me! They were in this little pissant Honda with one of those $5 coffee can exhaust tips and I just had to laugh. Then I use my hand signal to take a turn and the passenger mimics me! I started laughing so hard because deep down I know he thinks that he's cool ;)

I now have four flashing signs telling me the time and temperature on the way to work.

One of my co-workers was asking about bikes - wants to start riding in when he doesn't have to pick up his daughter. Only -4C today, but I really need to get off the beater and fix it up. New wheels, drive train, rear brakes. No hills and the wind is almost always with me going to work so it is great.

it was fun, but my feet got very wet. My goretex-like rain pants shed water fabulously, in the form of a little river that drains right into my shoe.

Oy vey! Ride to work was fine, but somehow during the day, my RD got messed up, causing wild skips and clunks as I was pedaling home. You know that sound, the one of the chain ripping teeth off the cogs when you shift 4 gears at once while climbing a big hill. It didn't inspire confidence. But before I could get to it, I had to park my car. Got to my car and a car full of HS boys learning how to drive were parked next to me. No big deal cuz I noticed my passenger side mirror was hanging by the wire. OK boys, hope you're watching cuz I'm gonna show you how to duct tape a mirror back in place. Once that was done, I pulled out with them still parked next to me and another double parked car parked next to the car in front of me and more cars parked across the street in a show of maneuverability and just plain awesome driving. Now I can turn my attention to the derailleur. Oy vey!

EDIT: I give up. I have no bike stand and messing w/ the limit screws and cable adjuster did nothing. The jockey wheels look like they're aligned, but it won't shift to the smallest or largest cog. Searching the forums, I came upon a post by Sydney suggesting a new chain so I'll give that a shot. Hopefully that'll solve the problem. I also need to make a trip to Home Depot to get some stuff to make a headset press. It's times like these I wish I had a garage.

Quite possibly the best commute yet. It was very foggy this morning in Austin, but the thick air made it quieter, the cars were going slower, I was going slower, it was just a great ride in. It was a little soggy and the bike got pretty dirty, but it was just a cool morning ride in the fog.

This evening I tried a new route home to avoid a bad intersection, and a very busy road. It added maybe another 1.5 mi to the ride, but it was worth 20. I'll never take the old route again.

It was at Boylston and Tremont, where it is two way traffic, very narrow, very busy, lined with parked cars on one side and too narrow for parking on the other, trucks making deliveries, a construction site that extends out into the parking lane- basically the stupidest place in the world to pull a u-ey but this SUV did- and fast, too, and shot right at the cyclist behind him who veered left to go around him when he first stopped before he made this idiotic maneuver. But I see this kind of thing every day in Boston. No one ever believes me when I say Boston drivers are maniacs (but you know what I'm talking about 'cuz you ride there- you know they're redoing Comm ave right?)

Nonetheless, a really mellow ride in this morning with my new Diadora Shoes (they're the kind that bike patrol cops wear or at least that's how they're advertised) and they were terrific. Walked around in them all day and they were quite tolerable.

Replaced my worn out pedals, too, and had a very speedy ride home (was it the new shoes? the pedals? my new helmet? the fact that I spent so much money on bike stuff?)- no wind to speak of and I ate a big chocolate brownie just before I got on the bike path and it fueled me all the way home. Saw a big rat on the bike path- they give me the creeps- maybe that's why I went so fast.

Fast&warm.

Uneventful ride home. Just the way it should be at 11 PM.

Nice and cool (just below freezing again) with no wind and some nice bright sun. Lots more black ice than there has been recently, as the snow is starting to melt in the daytime sun and the melt water is freezing overnight. I'm being _very_ cautious around the corners...

Ahhhh... back on the bike this morning. Comfortable (after the first mile) 34F when I left the house. Bit of a slow ride this morning. I was feeling pretty good and couldn't figure out what was holding me back. Then I felt it - a very slight headwind. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it...) Forecast says it should be a bit stronger by the end of the day. Not going to blow me home, but I'm always okay with a bit of an assist...

First time riding in this week. Had to drive Monday and Tuesday to get equipment and to travel offsite for work. Yesterday I drove since I had two indoor soccer games the night before and didn't get home till after 1130 and had to get up early and it was raining. So this morning the weatherman says there are some lingering rain sprinkles in the area. I think that's no big deal the roads will just be wet. Well apparently the weatherman and I have very different ideas about what a rain sprinkle is because to me it was flat out raining the whole way in, not sprinkling. Needless to say I was soaked when I arrived at work and very mad at the local weatherman. It had better be 60 and sunny for the ride home or else... :p

Aside from my Overheated, Globally Warmed ride, things were just fine.


Yes, Boston drivers are nuts! People blow by me everyday on Comm.Ave because I suppose I'm "in their way", but I end up passing them again at the next redlight. To be passed by a cyclist, and then re-passed by the same cyclist again and again seems to fuel their anger. I didn't know Comm.Ave was being redone BTW so I'll have to look into that. They just repaved the damn thing last Summer.


Congrats on the new gear :beer:. Nothing like new gear to inspire a ride!

First time riding in in 2 weeks. I was on travel last week, and had conflicts this week.

It felt great getting back on the bike but I had my slowest time of the year. Very damp, chilly air. Almost foggy. Still, there was ice on the pond and some snowflakes had fallen earlier.

I still enjoyed it.

Two flat tires on the way to work this morning. Haven't had a flat in about a month and a half, so I guess it was time.

Lots of additional traffic this morning (probably the cause of the flat) due to an accident that re-routed the drivers along my route.

The second flat was only a couple blocks from work, so I just walked the bike the rest of the way. During lunch I'll fix it.

Clear blue sky, comfy temp made for a lovely ride in....
Sunset 6:18pm will mean daylight for the entire ride home...
is it time to go yet? :D

Bit cooler this morning than yesterday, and I was a bit tired from all the extra riding I did yesterday. But even still it was a nice ride, traffic wasn't too bad at all.

I caught a very robust draft off the back of a wide delivery truck this morning. We were averaging close to 30mph and I barely had to work. That is until the slight uphill section came, and I was out the back. :)

I think I'm going truck hunting after work today.

It was a pretty grim ride in this morning. The roads have been salted and sanded, and the consistency of the snow is total goop. Yesterday I saw a half-dozen tracks on my way in, today I saw one fresh track and no bikers at all. I had to scamper down an alley and ride a sidewalk for a block because the "snow" piled on the side of the road was too deep to ride through. It sucks.

LOL, I use to do the same thing years ago ('92...?). Ironically it's with the same commuter/beater I use today to commute to cambridge once more. I use to catch a draft from buses going over Mass.Ave bridge from Boston to Cambridge. The ride was a good 400meters and I'd come off the bridge with full head of steam. I tried the same thing this past Summer, but the new buses are quite a bit faster and turbocharged so it was harder to hold on so I pulled up, plus I was leaving my older brother waaaay behind :eek:.

I was hoping to ride my new fixie, as I spent last night putting together the wheel and chain. I got the chainline right from the start but had trouble getting nice and tight. Also, after taking a test ride around the block, I decided I really do need to put a brake on it.

So, I had a nice fast ride in on my regular commuter. Ho hum.

I love trucks. Car carriers are the best, they're so un-aerodynamic that they will suck you along with them for 1/2 mile. But any truck does pretty well. A series of heavy pickups or SUVs won't suck you along but they will at least break the headwind if you're fighting one.