Cold, 0 or 1 degree C, but at least I wore my full finger gloves today.

With each passing day this week, drivers' attitudes on my commute have worsened. Yesterday in the rain I had more close passes and cut-in-fronts than I can ever remember before. Today it was 3 or 4 honks. However, I've changed my reaction to a honking driver. I used to do the shoulder shrug of, "What?" Now I just wave (the whole hand, not just one finger! ;) ) One guy today honked at me just before he passed me and I waved. He stopped at the next light with his window open, so I said, "Hi!" He said, "Have a good ride!" Surprised me.

Unfortunately, the other honking wasn't as friendly. :( My theory is people become more resentful that I'm cycling as gas prices rise. Hey, let me keep my illusions, OK?

And finally, this one. About a half-mile before reaching my building I watched a car with a bike rack on the back driving in the bike lane. Maybe he was confused about which vehicle he was currently using? :rolleyes:

My COmmute
 

I rode in on Wednesday (4/26), Princeton to Piscataway, NJ. It's over 20 miles each way, but not certain of the exact amount.
3/4 of this commute is on the towpath alongside the canal. I saw only 2 people on the way in and dozens on the ride home. THe ride was what I expected it to be. I had to wait a minute or so to cross two roads, but it wasn't bad.
The only thing I would change is that I would wear long finger gloves if the temps are in the 40s again.

It was a nice ride this morning, I made it to the office in about ten minutes under pleasant skys.

For the week I was 5 for 5 in bicycle commutes. For the year I am at -5, in that I failed to commute by bicycle on 5 occasions.

Have a nice weekend

I had a nice commute this morning. It's going to pretty much rain all day... in fact "they" (the weather people) say it's going to rain all weekend. Hmmm... my wife and I have our big bike ride on Sunday.

On the commute home, while stopped at a light I sneezed and threw my left shoulder out. It was extremely bad and will probably hurt for a few weeks. People seemed to be more amicable to me changing lanes when I hit Alabama today. It was kind of refreshing.

Got a little taste of what it was like for road cyclists when I used to come up on them during my commute. While waiting at a stop light this morning, on my road bike, a commuter came puffing up next to me. "I thought I would never catch up to you", the guy said. Geez, did my ego get bigger than it already is. Then reality hit -- I was on my road bike, no load, and this guy was on his fat tired commuter and loaded down. He did manage to catch me. Ego deflated.....

first commute in two weeks today! 67 degrees in the morning and I made decent time coming in. I had a bad headwind most of the way so I took the trail route in.

got out at noon, rode over to my LBS to have my rear wheel trued. turns out I'll be needing a new rim soon. rode back to campus from my LBS then rode the tailwind home. good ride back.

Today's commute was different. I left home an hour earlier than usual to get to the office to help set up for the big Bike Month kickoff at Atlantic Station. Map tester was there and LOTS of cyclists. Were any other BF members there?

Anyway, saw more traffic than usual on parts of the ride to work, less on others. But the cagers are all the same. Too many of them and all in too much of a hurry to get to their destinations.
Had to get out the full finger gloves and light jacket for the first time in a while. :(
Suday's high is only supposed to be 62F(17C). :o What happened to the warm weather? It's been in the 80s for that past few weekends.

44 degrees this AM. Had to break out the balaclava and fleece gloves. The lower temp does make the commute easier, however. Cleaned, adjusted and oiled the bike last night, so it ran real smooth both ways. Pretty uneventful rides...which is a GOOD thing. Tomorrow the Music City Marathon is being run and the route goes right past my place both directions. Gotta work some OT so I'll be leaving around the time the police will be blocking the side streets and towing parked cars. Should be an interesting ride.

first commute home in the rain - i just started 3 wk. ago. talk about surreal. punched out from work at 7:45 pm here in Minneapolis with low light/overcast skies - the rain hadn't stopped all day. i didn't want the ride to end. every lighted object on Victory Parkway and the Camden bridge had this magical aura about it in the low light. i felt like i was in a dream.

PACE

great commuting day! rode in this morning with a brisk headwind but it was sunny and beautiful. saw two of my students riding the opposite way partially inspired, I think, by seeing me ride in for my classes every day. Taught my last class today!~

The ride home:

So here I am, my last day of teaching this year and I've got more energy than ever with the thought of a summer off (the only thing I like better than teaching- is not teaching) so I'm flying home. Up ahead is this tall athletic looking cyclist in yellow wind jacket and black tights on an absolutely gorgeous road bike. He seems to be warming up and limberly stretches one leg out to the side and as I fly by him I jokingly say, "hey, cool, yogic biking!" I hear a little chuckle and I look and lo and behold it's John Kerry!- yeah, the Senator, the guy who ran for President. I confess to being a fan of the man. So I asked him if it was okay if we rode together a bit- he was amenable and I expressed my appreciation for his service as a Senator and thought well, 'nuff said let the man have his bike ride and off I go. But I look back and he's right there with me and I couldn't have been happier to have this man who willingly enlisted (no draft dodger, Kerry) hanging off my wheel. We buzzed along and then had a little more time to chat. You can say what you wish about his politics but he's a good bike rider and one of the friendlier cyclists I've met on the path. He was extremely complimentary to me when he found out how far I commuted and that I did it right through the winter. His bike is an absolutely drop dead perfect Ben Serotta custom and he brightened far more when I expressed admiration for his bike than he did when I expressed admiration for his politics.

Feeling, at the very least, well represented in the Senate, I had a beautiful rest of the ride home. You don't get commutes like that when you drive in a car. What fun!

I stopped to make a left turn today and some dip in an econoline-type van actually drove up over the curb onto the "sidewalk" to pass me on the right :eek: Some people's children...

Hard day at work. Good ride to and from work. The weather was very nice today, had to be in the mid-60s. I rode my Single Speed Mountain Bike today. You can really tell the difference from the Single Speed Road Bike, my 925. The road bike is so much faster. I hope to get a long ride in tomorrow, I'm on call the whole weekend and I hope they don't call me while I'm riding. Have a good night.

Fast both ways. New computer with cadence helps me keep track of my cadence, speed follows. I may not be the only bike commuter at work soon. One of my coworkers is riding in to work Sunday. He is also signed up for Bike to Work week. Another one of my coworkers is teetering. Tomorrow's Saturday, should be able to set a new fast time with the roadbike with almost no traffic. Ride on.

oooo, nice rides today. both ways. cool and sunny in the morning and cool and grey in the evening. i like them both, but i really liked the grey. i deliberately took it easy both ways, and like most of the times when i actually follow through on intentions and do that, both rides were faster. still, i didn't go as easy as i'd intended to and i think it may be a good thing it's a weekend. i'm flirting with overstrain on a couple of muscles. now all i have to do this weekend is remember to eat.

:D heading out, another 18-wheel truck stopped explicitly to wave me across the bridge on-ramp lane to get to the mup. coming home a little toyota-something did the same thing for the ramp coming off. instead of heading down and around the cloverleaf on that return trip, i've started staying with the main road until i reach the first light. it cuts a block or two off the toughest climb.

driving home yesterday to pick up my kid, i noticed one of those heart-sinking road-kill bundles in the far right lane, about the size of somebody's cat. skipping the clover leaf meant i went right past it tonight, and - well, it was a lot flatter today than it was yesterday. but i've decided from the passing look at the tail that it was just a raccoon, so i feel much better now.

a terriffic ride both ways ... damn near perfect weather. cloudy and 70s, not much wind. we did blow through some stop signs but nobody was around.:eek: saw 7-8 other cyclists, most around ASU.

I had a double commute. I found out when I got to work that I had forgotten my keys and swipe badge. I wore my bike shorts under my dockers, took an early break and rode home to get them. Made me glad that I only have a 15 minute ride home!

no commute on Friday, had to drive so I could sell some more car parts. I now have enough to pay for a new pair of shorts, arm AND leg warmers and might have enough left over for a plastic rain jacket, or helmet cover.

Group ride today (saturday) was good, though i felt sluggish, and not-smooth. I had a hard time keeping in range of a good draft almost the whole time. Finally after I was really tired I think I stopped "thinking" and just rode, the last 20 miles weren't to bad.

OOOOHHHH....I just realized what it was....I ate before I rode this time. Last week I had an apple, this morning I had two eggs and toast...(I'm not normally a breakfast person) I bet that's what it was...

commuted in with my wife again today. then shot over to buy a new computer and rode home with it in the milkcrate. got home and it was too nice a day to be inside so I went for a road ride. total mileage between commute and road was 70 miles. couldn't have been nicer.

I had a good ride both ways. I have been accepted for a Commuter Bicycle Incentive Program. They will pay me $100 of my latest bicycle purchase for filling out a survey every quarter for a year. I just have to keep track of how many days each quarter I ride to work, how many miles I commute to work and back , and how many miles I ride recreationally. How cool is that! Also signed up for Bike to Work week, of course. Tomorrow is my favorite day to ride to work, I get the roads all to myself on the way in.:) Ride on.

Yeah, scott, Sundays are a great day to ride on the city streets. I work in a hospital, so I have to work every second weekend. But having days off in the middle of the week is great too.

Last night I felt sluggish riding home. Then I realized that the wind was strong and from the east. An east wind is uncommon around here, so it threw me off. Today I left for work an hour early and got a nice ride in. I abandoned the Rivertrail because the streets were less crowded than the trail today.

Yesterday I went for a ride around town with the fiance, and then decided that it was just too beautiful outside to get back in the car to go to work. I left my car at her parent's house and rode the couple of miles to work, conveniently forgetting that I had a 16 hour shift ahead and wouldn't goet off of work until 730 this morning. The ride to work was amazing. It was a perfect day and the ride was mostly downhill. By the time morning came around I was tired and decided that I didn't want to directly confront the steep uphill back to may car. I didn't really think about the fact that I would have to cover the same elevation change whether I did it in half a mile or three miles. I went for the three miles and had one of the most hellacious rides of my life. The morning was actually quite beautiful, but was much colder than I had anticipated. So I was cold, tired, and had three miles of climbing to do. By the time I got home I was ready for bed, but was oddly looking forward for the potential chance to ride in again next weekend.

did my first commutes this week. each day had a different obstacle, but it keeps the ride interesting at least.
day 1. planned to ride to the light rail station, take the light rail to the stop closest to work and ride the rest of the way to work. arrived at the station and realized i forgot my transit pass. went to buy a ticket, but both machines were down. decided to suck it up and ride the whole way. made it to work an hour early and only added 15 minutes to my commute. on the way home, i got hit in the face by a bee which found it's way into my mouth and stung me on the inside of my lip. good thing i'm not allergic.

day 2: pretty much uneventful. found a different way around the flooded areas of the bike trail.

day 3: on the way in, got stopped by the local bike folk and signed up for million mile may to hopefully convince local politicians that the area needs more resources for bike commuters. they gave out t-shirts, zone bars, reflecter leg straps and red bulls. on the way home, got a flat. ironic thing is that i had forgotten to grab my hand pump the first 2 days. today i threw it in and i got a flat.

gorgeous day for a bike ride but problems with pedestrians, cars etc. for some reason everyone in Boston felt that the beautiful weather was for them and them alone to enjoy and weren't too keen on sharing the road or the bike path. Rode in with my wife to Cambridge. then downtown. Drivers were insane. The streets were mobbed with Sunday drivers- and all this despite the highest gas prices America has ever seen. But people were cutting each other off like mad, blowing horns. I watched as one guy from Florida, in a minivan, on his cell phone almost took me down then got cut off himself then cut me off again trying to shoot down on the right- I thought he was headed up onto the sidewalk- and he gently side swiped two parked cars removing one mirror. I caught him at the light and was about to give him a ration of grief and suddenly saw how pathetic it all was and just looked at him through his open window and said, "Whew!". He looked relieved I wasn't about to ream him a new one and he said, "Wow! They're getting pretty aggressive out there!"

Do people actually enjoy taking an hour to cruise from one end of Newbury Street to the other and never find a place to park?