First commute in a long long time in heavy rain. The Showers Pass gear was perfect again, even in flash flood conditions. Wish I had brought along the shoe covers though. I'm not sure that it would have helped but it would have been a heck of a test for them.

The only challenge along my commute was the hike & bike trail through a local park. There was a ton of water draining and channeling down along the trail towards a park lake. Hundreds of duck were congregated all along the flow. I guess a ton of breakfast must have been in the process of being washed down towards the lake. They were furiously working the flow and weren't even wanting to get out of the way. It was pretty funny, creaping along and getting cussed out in duck.

Nice slow commute in this morning. Was supposed to meet a friend halfway through my ride to finish our commutes together, but he called me on my way there and said his daughter had been up sick all night, and he wasn't going to make it. I had left early cuz he's on a mountain bike and slower than me so I just cruised all the way in. Very pleasent when you don't have to try hard ;-). Going slowly gave me time to enjoy the scenery and the crisp morning weather (47 F) and think a lot about an argument my wife and I had last night...I felt better about things.

Commuting yesterday was a little different then most commutes i've seen/read about. My commute changes with the water levels of the Mississippi!??? Yup, to cut my commute in 1/2, i've built up the courage to take off my shoes and walk across a slim covered spillway while carrying my bike. It should be noted that this only happens when the water levels are high and normally this is just concrete that anyone can walk across/fish on :)

http://i3.tinypic.com/w1ftwj.jpg

:eek: That's a little more daring than my commute. :eek:
What happens if you slip?
Anybody see a bike float by?

No commute today. At least by bike.
This is my new exchange clothing and food container day. AKA break

Yesterday's commute home was somewhat interesting. I was tired and decided to try out a gel I had purchased a while ago.
Mid commute I came upon a very attractive female roadie and followed her for a while enjoying the view.
Later I passed her and she returned the favor 10 minutes later. I paced her for a while on a MUP waiting to pass. We both came upon two men riding mountain bikes. So, both of us pull to the left preparing to pass. Then the first man noticed us and went into the middle of the MUP trying to haul ass on a huffy. This was annoying in its own right but the real annoyance was this: loosing fitting jeans + 250 lb man trying to haul = massive ass crack.
The lady in front of me could not figure out how to pass him. After a minute or two of this with my energy level rising due to the gel, I pulled a no no and passed the lady who was also trying to pass ass crack man. Thus, dusting both of them.
Massive energy plus butt nastiness overwhelmed any patience I had. ah well

Lets just say i take it slow...real slow! If the rain lets up here in the next hr, i plan biking again today. The slime(algae?) reminds me of walking on ice, but barefoot.

another view (this is an old image, its been remodeled since this one...use to really suck!)
http://i3.tinypic.com/w1qouf.jpg

a bit of blustery wind on occasion. A sad sight on Storrow Drive to see one of the many Canadian geese run over. Tough at this time of year since they are in nesting pairs right now awaiting the imminent hatching of their goslings. So, some goose is missing their mate and some goslings one of their parents. bummed me out a bit.

The ride back was swift with a touch of tail wind at times. Might try to squeeze a late afternoon road ride in if I can.

Fast!

New personal record of 29:43 for the 10.4 mile ride.

Rode with my son today, planning the route of his new commute to school. :) He enjoys riding as much as I do. I rode my new road bike and it's like a cardio workout instead of the weightlifting of riding my MTB. I won 2 pounds of See's candy in a raffle, but I wanted to win the bike. I only have 4. :o Ride on.

Changed my route slightly and a couple of interesting things happened:

1) I was passed by the local roadie hammerheads heading down to the Thursday night South River Road ride. I forgot that that's started back up now that it's DST. I need to remember to ride the geared bike and bring shorts and a jersey on Thursdays.

2) I was nearly taken out by some moron who couldn't be bothered to use his turn signal. I'm sorry that my telepathic powers are on the blink.

3) Waiting at a light, I saw a woman in a car I kind of know from the office. She said she recognized my bag and thought it was me. And as the light turned and she started to pull away, she said--in a very serious, I'm going to pray for you sort of way--"Be careful!" I said, "I always am. You be careful yourself."

cloudy and humid today. lots of cyclists out, including one that looked like a hell's angel-- long hair, grey beard, and tattoos all over.
made some adjustments-- I raised my seat a couple inches and it made a huge difference! all this time I've been too low! I need to raise the bars a little bit and I'm set.

hammerheads, heh... :rolleyes:

my crystal ball is in the shop ;)

Hope ya'll have a good weekend... Be safe, have fun :)

... Second commute of season and second flat tire... Whats up with that!!
will try for the Hat Trick tommorrow....

You know what's great?? For the first time since graduating from uni I can call myself a commuter again! No, I didn't get a job yet, but I volunteer at the Humane Society now and, since, I don't have a job I go there pretty often (3-4 times a week on average). It's only a 17 km (10 mi) round trip, but still - it's commute! I get to ride my bike regularly! :)

Today was one of those ridiculous days when the wind was blowing exactly from where I was going. Strong wind. Actually, wait: a few times it was blowing from the side and at one point I even wondered if I am going to lose control and swerve into traffic because of it.

I also had a very small breakfast and just a few cookies for lunch, so I was not feeling very energetic on the way back. And the way back is mostly an upgrade with one more or less serious hill just at the end of the route. I should eat more. :)

The weather is really warming up. I love it!

Rain !!

11 miles each way. The perfect commute except for all these cars hogging the road. It was Sunshine all week-35 to 40 in the morning and 65-80 for the ride home. Can't wait for 50+ degree mornings so i don't have to think about extra layers. How many miles will you put on this commuting season?...More than last year. My Subie is missing me terribly.

Pasta tastes better than Petrol-IMO

Today was one of those (many) days that makes living in the desert worthwhile. I rode home after dark, but the weather was perfect, light breeze mostly at my back, 75ish, very nice. New tires I absolutely love, feel more connected to the road but with less rolling resistance than the old ones. Almost no traffic, maybe 10 cars the whole time. Riding home is a great way to top off a crazy day. Sometimes I feel so bad for people who drive.
Peace,
Adam

Howdy,
We are getting to the time of year here in Utah that is perfect for my commute. The temps are 40's to 50's in the morning and 60's to 70's in the afternoon. In the morning we get light southerly winds and by afternoon the wind has changed to northerly, since I go south in the A.M and north in the P.M. it works well for me.
My employer just put a half day Friday schedule into effect so I get Friday afternoons to ride ride ride...;)

M.R.

yesterday was kind of weird. i don't remember much remarkable about the morning, but the afternoon was kind of a cast of thousands.

i planned to leave right at 5:30 so as to be home, feed the cat, pick up the car and warm clothes and get to the park for the opening pitch at 6. pushed it just a little too far, and then when i was locking the bike cage up again noticed that my access cards were missing from around my neck. sigh. bolt bike to railing, back into the building, locate some kind soul who'd lend me their cards so i could retrace my steps, call the security guys, send emails, re-retrace the steps with babbling convivial security guy . . . back at the bike cage and back on the bike at 6:07. and no change so as to throw self and bike onto a bus and make it faster. i arrived sometime in the 4th inning out of 7. and i meant to ride home in a leisurely style that would make my knees love me, sigh sigh.

one nice thing about this new set-up is that the bike cage is in the parking lot and the showers and lockers are in the building, just one floor higher. having such a simple post-ride procedure is cutting something like half an hour off the old routine of park bike, walk up hill, walk round tennis bubble, enter health club, navigate to front desk, wait behind signing-in tennis players to pick up towels, unpack shower gear, shower, rinse, repeat in reverse order. i'm still using the old tried-and-true route over the industrial bridge for time reasons too. nice rides, nice days these days.

songs: the sloop john b, the beach boys; devil baby, mark knopfler

Left the house so late I took the shorter route (non-bike path), which eventually leads me down Brighton Ave and Commonwealth Avenue. It's a almost 2 miles shorter (8.75m) and much faster because I tend to get right out with the traffic so I move at a much faster speed. But the ride is all about cars. Watching for them, moving around them weaving between and around them, watching for the car doors- it's very different than the winding bike path.

Was way underdressed for the temperature today so I stopped at City Sports, which was having a sale and bought two great long sleeve wicking undershirts for real cheap and wore them home.

Rode the rest of the way home on the bike path, which was a delight.

Am off to Cambridge on the bike now to see a show- parking in Cambridge is notoriously tough- but not if you're on a bike.

I had a spooky commute home Friday night.

I got off work an hour early, at 10:30 PM. It was the first warm Friday night, so the street corner crack dealers were out in force on the first part of my commute. A group of them laughed as I rode by within three feet of them. I don't know if they were laughing at me.

I ride by the state capitol, but tonight it was surrounded by a jagged chain link fence, security for a Nazi rally on Saturday. I had to ride through several checkpoints. I wasn't stopped, but there were cops sitting in cars watching me.

Then came the nightclub district. Double parkers and tipsy cagers were hogging the street there. Three young girls in a car yelled something at me, then pulled into an alley and turned back around, like they were waiting for me to ride by. I pulled over where some bar patrons were talking on cell phones and waited for the girls to drive away.

I had planned on a long night-ride, but I was so freaked out by everything that I was relieved to just go home. I think my imagination is too strong. I just kept thinking about the menace and corruption in our society...crime...drugs...alcohol...cars...race...sex....

Riding in the city ain't as risky as carrying your bike across the Mississippi River, but it does have its moments.

At 5pm rode in in the windy cold tonight. A little reminder of how it's still not summer here in N.E.. When I left at 10pm it had turned to a hard cold rain. I took a combination of side streets and well lit main roads home. I was well covered in rain gear and everything, other than my face and head, was quite dry, including my feet- shoe covers, little mini-gators and rain pants and jackets. And my waterproof reflectorized work gloves from Home Depot.

All things considered a delightful ride but the kind that makes it awfully nice to get home.

OK, I did my very first commute of the year today, any before you say anything: we've had the mother of all winters this year, and then I had a flat back tire...

Anyway, it was a perfect morning: no wind, no cars, kinda sunny, and overall greatness. The legs held out but it was hard breathing at times. It took me an hour, but give me a couple of weeks and I'll shave that with 10-15 minutes.

Later!

Wet roads an 40% chance of rain means I took my DF trek with full fenders, instead of the trike. The ride was a little chilly, at about 6 or 7 degrees. It should be nice this afternoon though.

Driving again ... sigh