Back on the fixie. I replaced the chain and lubed and wiped and apparently forgot to tighten both axel nuts. So my first pedal stroke jammed the tire into the chainstay. Whaa?? Quick trip back into the garage to tighten and double check. When I came back out, my wife was talking to our neighbor and my daughter was climbing in and out of the minivan. "Bye-bye, Ladybug!" She says "Beep-beep, bye-bye!"

The ride was clean and smooth. I stopped halfway to take off my jacket. Two blocks from my office I waved around a white Jetta. I knew they wouldn't make the light so I gave the driver a big wave and a smile when I pulled up next to her at the red light. Kind of like "Hey! Nice to see you again!"

Went to jump on the skinny-tire bike today - no pedals. I forgot to switch them over last night. The front tire was pretty flat, and I was running late, so I had to take the mtn bike. Spiked tires aren't so good on dry pavement. If it doesn't snow tonight, I'm switching to skinnies on Friday for sure.

I want some of that! What is it?!?!

It's been really awesome 'round here :) low humidity, moderate temps...
but Rainy season is right around the corner. :rolleyes:


Omg that is soooo cute

It rained last night, so the gravel shoulder was soft this morning. Pretty tough going up hill in quicksand. I couldn't cheat and ride on the road because the traffic was too heavy. (It's a 50 mph road).

It was a good morning and has been a good week. 2 1/2 days commuting so far (got a ride in on Tues). Looks like I'll pedal tomorrow too. I'm actually enjoying my truck being sick.

the commute in? well, I've had better. first off, I was really late. and I was fighting a pretty stiff headwind on the main road I take into campus, and got buzzed by no less than three cars in a row on one half-mile downhill stretch of that road (I was riding in a pretty much center-ish lane position for anyone who's curious). due to the headwind I decided to take the trail route in (a slower detour down the Paint Branch Trail instead of the hammerfest down Paint Branch Drive). then later on another campus road I got cut off by a scooter (of all things) making a sudden u-turn. blah.

the ride back was great though... temps in the high 60's so I left my jacket in my locker and did a ride around town, stopping at REI to get some new cycling shorts, then back around to the CP shopping center and through campus, went up and down the PB Trail, then I rode the tailwind home. went up and down the big hill twice. really fun ride back, no problems there.

oh yeah and I saw two other commuters, one on the ride there and one on the ride back.

SPIKED TIRES?!?! I thought I was hard core...but I won't ride in the snow...(not that we have any...) but where does one find spiked bicycle tires? and how well do they work in snow?

Ben

Had a nice ride into work yesterday but on the way home I was verbally abused by a roadie who took exception to me overtaking him ! Wasn't my fault he was pedalling so slow but he insisted that I must have been drafting off him for a while (I actually caught him and then passed him immediately). He really went crazy for a while and I thought it was going to end up in a brawl. In the end I told him to take a chill pill and rode away from him.

The interesting thing is that yesterday instead of wearing my usual cycling gear (bike knicks and top), I just wore shorts and a tshirt. I think he would have reacted to me very differently if I look like a "real" bike ride as he did.

welp, so much for the commute home.....

I was .29 miles from the office, in the bike lane, green light, EL 400 cateye on in front (even though it was still day light) 2 blinkies on my bright yellow messenger bag... and a big shiny black SUV with very clean tires, made a left in a "No left turn except buses" made the left as I was going through the intersection... :eek: she didn't even flinch, I didn't even have the time to brake she was moving so fast... She hit me, threw me from the bike... of course I'm not thinking about me, I'm thinking MY BIKE! :rolleyes:

She FINALLY stopped, as I laid in the middle of a main roadway in rush hour traffic.... "Are you ok?!" I said "You know that it's illegal to make that left right?" She turned to read the sign... "Oh".. "But are you ok" I said yeah, I hope my bike is ok... She said well, let me pullover and I'll give you my number... ok, I thought... She never did pull over... and I didn't think to look at her tag... :(

I'm most angry that she didn't stop like she said she would... so not only is she an idiot, but she's a liar

My boyfriends boss at the bike shop let him take his car (my BF doesn't have a car, he commutes 30 miles daily to work) to come get me.

I'm ok... just a scraped and swollen (swelling) knee... a few scrapes, front wheel just slightly out of true but otherwise my bike seems fine. :)

I don't know about Florida, but in California it is a crime to leave the scene of a traffic accident involving injury. Were there any witnesses?

Glad to hear you're OK LilSprocket. Were there any witnesses that got the plate #? Did you give a statement to the cops? How's your bike?

My ride home was the usual. Saw two bike cops going the wrong way down 3rd Ave. That's about it.

ride yesterday home inluded stop over to person i have been working with for almost 6 years. she has been living with paranoid schizophrenia for 20 plus years, a very special person. she died this AM from advanced breast cancer (refused to accept medical interventions). my rides amped to 33 miles today, thinking and searching for closure. i am so glad i have the health, bikes, and drive available to spin life, one day at a time! Peace be to Maria.

glad you're ok and too heall!
i had 3 close calls from 2 suv drivers and 1 car, but no impact today. it could be a space/time/mental handicap issue for these drivers who need cognitive retraining including testing their visual clarity .
spin safe!

yeah, it is here too... I feel dumb I didn't get the tag... I mean, she said she was gonna pull over

There were at least 6 ppl at the bus stop and I know 2 of them saw it all... A young guy who walks with a cane (I see him often) saw me get up off the asphalt and I saw him watching as I spoke with a cop... who turned the corner, ironically, after I had walked across the street and the lady (HA!) who hit me had pulled away, silly me, thinking she'd actually pull over... :o
The cop was real nice but said he couldn't do mcuh w/o the tag.

It just shocks me, though I know it shouldn't, that so often it seems people have such disregard for others... :(

Great commute today ,I hope the rest over the week is this nice . Have a good nite .

Wonderful ride in this morning with temps a balmy 62 degrees. The wind gods must have tired of tormenting me with headwinds and relented, providing a following wind for the first time in weeks. I absolutely flew in leaving late and still arriving early. I must have topped 30 mph on my favorite downhill hammerfest beside the airport-and that was nowhere near top gear. I guess we'll see 77 degrees today with the possibility of some rain-should be a great ride home.

I'm planning either some hills training on the road bike or maybe some mountain biking this weekend if it's as nice as predicted.

8C/46F with a light rain and a strong headwind. Helmet without touque, short-sleaved t-shirt, light jacket, gloves, and shorts; only chilly part was waiting too long at a traffic light in the wind and rain.

Picked up some new tires yesterday and installed them last night to replace the stock CX tires on the Jake. Nice smooth ride. A bit faster than on the old tires, but I didn't push things too much with all the water on the road. Lots of sand, gravel, and other junk on the roads too, as the snowbanks really start to melt.

LilSprocket, sorry to hear about your misfortune. :mad:

Morning commute today was overcast and the trail was damp. Mid 40s. I had a heinous headwind as well. But, it was a fine commute. The snow is almost completely off the trail but there are a few short sections of glare ice. I should be back on the Peugeot on Monday.

I had the funniest interaction with a squirrel. Part of my ride takes me over a long "boardwalk" that has fencing on either side. It ends at a bridge over a river. The squirrel was on the boardwalk and for some reason didn't realize it could just go through the fence to get away from me. I paced that poor rodent at 15 to 20MPH down the boardwalk and over the bridge to the other side before it saw a comfortable exit point. (I stayed a comfortable distance behind it, knowing their propensity to hurl themselves at bicycle wheels.) :rolleyes:

50 kick arse degrees this morning and a tailwind :D, of course I still need to ride home but whatever. Roads were damp this morning so my once immaculate beater is gloriously filthy once more. I had to do the arm waving, evil eye :mad:, foul language thing to some cager who was itching to take a right on red, thus nailing me in the crosswalk. I felt a bit like a pitcher, "looking" the runner back to first :D.

56F when I left this morning w/ rain forecasted later today. Wore my rain jacket and took it nice and easy to keep the sweat to a minimum. It took 20 extra seconds of my usual time so taking it easy wasn't a significant impact. Tomorrow it'll be sunny and in the 60's. I think a leisurely ride is in order. :)

Ha ha, it's funny that you mention the tailwind... I travel in the opposite direction as you, and the headwind this morning was unrelenting!

I ride with Schwalbe Ice Spikers. I got mine at MEC, but I'm sure you could find some online. Not cheap, but they'll last for years.

Relatively fast ride in today. I was passed by a Porsche Carrera 4S, but then I was on his ass all the way in to my parkade. Nice car, great exhaust tone.

Last night it sounded like a hurricane blowing though the neighborhood, but this morning was pretty calm with a nice layer of clouds. It took about 10 minutes to get into the office. I forgot to post yesterdays commute, it also took about ten minutes.

For the week I was 5 for 5 for bicycle commutes. For the year I am -1 for bicycle commutes.

First time I have ridden in everyday in a week :) 5 consecutive days for me...woohoo!!! Ok, I know it's not that exciting but I have been riding to work for almost a year and haven't had a full week riding. Anyway, it was warm this morning, already in the low 60s so I rode in shorts and a long sleeve shirt. Was sweating good by the time I got to work. Very windy today, should be interesting on the way home.

Ride last night was great. Had a tailwind and took a different route and flew home. I think it was one of my fastest times/average mph to date. Averaged over 19mph for the 8 mile trip. Good week of riding for me :)