Another hot ride into work this morning, and then hotter and wet on the ride home. This weather is getting very old. My odometer reads 4.88 miles one way for my commute, which is farther than I expected it to be. Makes me wonder if I set my computer correctly.

Uneventful ride this morning. Virtually no traffic on the first half, plenty on the second, as usual. Still waiting to try out my new megahorn in earnest.

Roseville (where I work) is working up a new Bicycle Master Plan and starting with a kick-off ride in a couple weeks. I checked out the route online and part of it is on my regular commute route. Except they're going the hard way over the freeway. It's a short hill and broken into 2 sections, but it's probably 10%+ grade. I'd like to see the city bike committee members ride up that puppy. Actually, I might just be surprised.

Ernesto provided me a constant headwind component on the way in this morning. He graciously gave me a push all the home plus a free 11 mile shower.

special! 3.2 miles in, 24.5 'return' extended route. a gift!

I've been avoiding riding in wet weather, but rode yesterday and today in rain. It was all good - the panniers with covers, fenders, and jacket did the job. I didn't melt. Going to have to do it more I think. The biggest hassle is cleaning and drying the bike. Kept reminding myself to take it easy in the turns. Reacquainted myself with the fact that painted pavement, like the big white blocks next to stop signs and the crosswalk stripes, are especially slippery when wet. Flatted yesterday two miles from work, but I think the piece of glass acted like a plug of sorts as I was able to finish before the tire went completely flat.

I hope you got into her way after that comment and stayed there!

Strong headwind in the morning, otherwise smooth and uneventful.

Seemed a bit warmer this morning. I got to work about 30 minutes early so I had lunch in the shade at the park across the street.
After riding on dark, nasty roads I decided on a new route home through what I thought would be a quiet residential area. Wrong. The roads were nicer, but crowded and narrow. I didn't think the neighborhood was that bad, but judging by the number of houses with chain link fences around the front yards, broken glass and condition of the homes, I'm going to say the area is bad. I saw a lady walking alone when she saw me she hollered for me to stop. As I stopped she walked up and says "are you white or Mexican?" I did a quick look around and decided it would be best to lie and say I was (I'm as white as it gets, but I tan dark). She gave me a sob story and asked for money. That was a first. Rest of the ride was great.

I sort of tried commuting today - it was on a Cannondale roadbike, so not the best platform, but oh well...

Took off in the morning to a TRAX (light rail) station about 15 minutes away, rode downtown to work. Went very well. On the attempted way home, got screwed by a convention going on, so after missing 5 trains that were absolutely packed and waiting about an hour, I stopped by a friend's restaurant to get something to eat, then biked over to my girlfriend's place and she just drove me home (she was coming over anyway).

The commute is something under 20 miles each way - 16 on my odometer for my car. At some point, I'll do the whole thing, but this was about the hottest part of the day, and it was my first attempt at commuting, and I haven't found a good path yet. So...crud. Try it again tomorrow.

Good ride in this morning - I brought my a-game this morning and it's a good thing - I saw the suv coming around the school bus and knew she couldn't see me - the look on her face was priceless when she finally did see me. Doesn't she realize there are kids running around school buses?? And then there was the guy in the minivan who sped up to pass and right hook me but I foiled his evil plan with judicious braking and swinging around behind him. - BOO-HAW HAW ahaah!!! (That's supposed to be an evil laugh in case you're wondering.)

Enjoyed the commute this morning. Discovered that the best thing about my new route is that it takes me right past Blommers Chocolate Factory - so I had a nice whiff of chocolatey goodness this morning!

On a bummer note - I think my bike computer is messed up. I took the exact same route yesterday morning as today - and yesterday it reported the distance as 6.96 miles, and today it claimed it was 8.56. Weird.

Easy ride in this morning...it was chilly (60s) so I had to wear a long sleeve again. Stiff wind against me though, I hate that. Had a couple of cars that didn't want to pull over til the last minute. Hate that more.

First day riding with my new bicycle light though :D I can't wait til it gets dark so I can try it out for real.

First commute on the new mount. I went with a Trek Liquid 25. :) It's like riding a Cadillac. Bumps and cracks that I'd avoid on old Peugeot, I don't even notice them on the Trek. I found myself still trying to avoid the bad spots, anyway. I did some "off roading" too. :o The granny gears are hilarious. I was spinning up a pretty steep bank (around 45 degrees, it's steep) with a big $(@* eating grin on my face.

It's slower than the Peugeot, but I'd expect that until my legs get used to the new style. Only 2 or 3 minutes more time getting here though. Not bad.

Somehow I mucked up my computer installation last night though. I must have miscalculated the wheel circumference or something. I don't think I was riding at 30MPH all the way in. :D 26" tires mean 2074mm, right? Guess I'll have to do the chalk-on-the-ground measurement after work.

The Peugeot will, eventually, become a fixie.

y'know, it's kinda sad, but I don't think I can adequately how exquisitely perfect conditione were for this morning's ride in without resorting to profanity for emphasis.

Perfect.

I decided I was bored out of my skull with my route this morning. So, instead of exiting off a MUP I continued on it. Somehow, I managed to loose the MUP. This is very strange since I have ridden it numerous times. I then found a bike route and managed to loose it. So, I ended up using the sun and mountains as a guide. Eventually locating a street that led me to the one I wanted to be on in the first place. Egads! Yosemite is the busiest street I have ever seen a denver bike route on. No biggie
End result: mileage increase from 28 to 30
Time decreased by 10 minutes. Go figure *shrugs*
I think it is due to having less rolling hills. It's more of a gradual increase in elevation this way.
I think this one is a keeper. Now if I can stop loosing my route

Another walking day. I guess I shouldn't even be posting here if I didn't ride my bike, but I thought about it the whole time. Still need to do a bike check up after my spill on Monday, hopefully be back riding tomorrow.

Good ride this morning. :beer:

Last night I was riding thru the college campus and "trying" to ride in the bike lane but some @$$hole decided she should drive her small SUV in it for 1.5 blocks. I pulled my trusty digital camera out of my jersey pocket to take a picture for the campus police and ...... the battery symbol was empty. The camera would turn on but wouldn't take a picture. http://users.telenet.be/eforum/emoticons4u/mad/1230.gif Why do these things happen at the wrong times?

B - glad you're ok after the incident in the roundabout. How is the hand? Which roundabout was it? What street? I need to know so I can avoid it. ;)
Seems that Americans DO NOT know how to drive in a roundabout or who has the right of way. Another thing that should be in the driver's manual.

Thanks Ron. My hand's doing ok, still bruised but less swollen than yesterday. I've still got a compression bandage on it but it feels a lot better. I'm going fly fishing this weekend, so I need both my hands working properly.

The roundabout on N. Decatur and Lullwater. Seems like it wasn't designed for people to get easily onto Lullwater, just for people to continue along N. Decatur. The turn is really tight and people hardly slow down to yield when entering. I should have taken the southerly route to the Highlands that time of day, around 5:30.

This is I think the 5th weekday morning in a row w/ a different car parked in the same spot on the bike trail in front of a woody patch. Otherwise a fine ride in. Another perfect fall day, when really what I want is more summer.

There was a thread here a bit of time ago about hearing damage; I stopped to chat on the trail last night where it's right above the freeway, w/ no plant border, w/ a couple w/ a trailer that looked like they were having some sort of issue, and they may have been talking at some normal volume for them but I could barely hear a word they said. They seemed to be fine so I just did the smile and nod and took off.

I do attribute all my hearing issues to mis-spent youth of rock and roll music, but I do get aware of some places where I just can't hear as well as others.

My commute
 

8/29/06
First, I should mention that this is my second week back from a long break. I didn't get to ride at all in June or July. So, I'm just getting back into form.

I left work at 2:51. Now, normally I make my destination (college campus) within 18:30 and 19:00minutes. Before my break, I was closing in on the 17 minute mark. Anyway, I made good time today and everytime I looked down to check my speed-o I was right around 20mph. For some reason, however, I made the school parking lot right at 20:00 minutes. This is a short commute of 4.7 miles. I'm not sure why this happened. I can only guess that it was becuase I got stuck at one red light a little longer than normal. Either way, I felt strong until the end. The temperature today was around 95 and it was kind of humid; it had rained earlier.

I'll see if I can't get back on course tomorrow.

'Scuse me while I eat this fly... (sung to the tune of Purple Haze). I gagged on an insect this AM. It hit the back of my throat before I could do anything about it, so let's just say I had a protein supplement a la fear factor. I flatted a little while later (about 15 miles in on the descent into Rosslyn). But the light drizzle was nice...It definitely helps to have a sense of humor some mornings.

Boss made me stay over for 2.5 hours last night for some silly mandatory online training. He didnt tell me until I was logging out to go home. Because of that I missed my rec ride and was worried about dark hitting before I got home. I made it home ok, but boy was I pissed. Good thing he's in Phoenix :)

So... in the interest of balancing my work/life time, I came in 2 hours later this morning. I added an extra 25miles onto the commute on the way in to make up for the missed rec ride. It was a good time.

My cow-orkers were all worried about me when I finally showed up. They had heard of a car vs bike incident that happend this morning. Sometimes it's nice working with a bunch of girls :)

I avoid that roundabout like the plague. Seems like no one driving thru it knows the rules.
Avoiding it and North Decatur Road is a priority. That's why I ride thru the Emory campus. :)

+1 (holds lighter up high)

My hearing worsens when my allergies flare up and its ragweed season here so I've been noticing it more lately. Add some white noise to the equation and I'm lucky to get every other word...

Woke up early and did 9km more than my usual commute.

My brother showed up at work on his bike for the first time. No helmet, bell or lights, but it's a start. That's my 3rd convert! I'm going to bicycle heaven.

Another day, another honk-and-buzz passing.

And--just like yesterday--approaching a red light. Again I let the guy know he's in the wrong.

Best line: He says, 'We're not all cyclists, you know!" But, dammit, he drove off before I could say, "Yet you think you're qualified to tell us how to ride????"

As my wife said to me, "So much for cycling reducing your road rage." Sigh.

A little warmer this morning. After yesterday's cooler weather (in these parts, 60F is starting to get chilly), I thought I might need my arm warmers or a long sleeve shirt, but didn't end up needed them. Stuck 'em in my bag, though.

There's a bus stop about a bus-length from the intersection of two smaller roads where I turn left on my route. Where does the bus stop? Right in the intersection about 20 feet back from the bus stop. I guess it was to drop off the passenger into the cross street instead of at the bus stop. Wasn't that nice? As I passed the driver I asked "Why are you stopping there?" but I doubt she heard me. I had to swing around the back of the bus and luckily the cars behind me could see what was going on because I couldn't get off the first road as quickly as I expected.

Got stuck at the building late last night. But it had cooled off nicely by 10pm so I enjoyed a nice ride home.

This morning was another Neighborhood Clean-up Day. I saw one bike frame, looked like a cheap hybrid or faux mtb that had been painted with crackle paint. Maybe a Burning Man Special. I passed. How come nobody ever throws out a Masi Soviet Team or a handmade Bob Jackson?

It's been a long time since I've posted here - I've been absent from the board, but not the bike. Commuting this summer has been HOT here in N. Texas - lost track of how many 100+ days in a row with the hot wind in my face. All that changed, at least temporarily, yesterday. Greatest ride home in a long time - brand new chain made an amazing difference in shift speed and noise level of the bike, and temps <90 put serious jump in my legs. The result? Same ride time as in the heat, but I felt 100% better when I got there. Ride this morning was <70 - was actually cold for a while on the way in. That was awesome!