summertime.... and the riding is... sweaty. bike lanes are full of broken beer bottles. (what is the deal? do people get out of their cars drunk and drop their beers in the bike lane?) I swear I've got more broken glass on my commute than I've ever seen. pulled a staple out of my tire on the way home. I don't think it got to the tube but I'm not sure. it was 97 degrees on the way home. lots of people riding, actually, very few helmets. in this heat I'm really thinking of ditching mine too. it was good, though, both ways. I took it easy. gotta pace myself and learn what a good pace is in heat like this. I'm going to be doing this all summer and in worse temps than we've got now. :eek:

I'm finally dry and have a chance to sit at the computer.
This morning I rode in a light sprinkle for the first 3 miles. Then it quit. Got to work and some fool had the A/C turned on. :rolleyes: The outside temp was ~62.

Started raining about an hour before I left work. Got soaked going home but enjoyed it, except a time or two when it was hard to stop. :eek: Wet brake pads and rims. Got a reminder about cleaning my helmet periodically. "SALT water" running down my face. Yuk!! What an awful taste. :crash:

Still drying off the bike for tomorrow. I hope my panniers finish drying. Good thing I have more than one pair of shoes for commuting. The fenders kept the spray off the shoes but the rain and splashing from cars soaked my shoes and socks. Squish-squish. :)

Excellent commute. Meanwhile gas prices jumped ANOTHER 5 Cents????

My first century is next week, but this rain has been killing my miles. Today's commute is drizzle, so 25miles of drizzle it is. I'll have to be extra careful out there today because some cagers don't understand the concept of slowing down. Forest Gump sideways type rain is in the forecast for Saturday :(.

Buch of drivers really trying to squeeze me today, but the ride home last night was nice. I took the long way and felt great afterwards. Bad news is that I have a flat, hopefuly I can fix it sometime today. I really want to take the long way again.

I'm full of unsolicted advice today. Told a kid on a BMX bike to ride on the right, like a car, and by the way, go home and get your helmet. You're gonna need your brains for the SAT.

And then I yelled at some Mormon missionaries not to ride on the sidewalk. (Before anybody objects to my religious profiling, I assumed they were Mormon missionaries: two young men, probably about 18-19, very fair complexions, blond hair, short sleeve white button down shirts with name tags on the pocket, blue dress pants, backpacks. I guess you can draw your own conclusions.)

Oh, and I hit an alltime fixed gear max speed: 31.5 mph. I must have been close to 180rpm.

:beer: Wow, that kicks butt!

Completely non-descript ride in today. I have no comments other than that.

Low 50Fs and sunny (again!) I was toddling along over the bike bridge and checking out the scenery when I spied a guy on a 'bent coming up behind me. By this point I was stopped and just admiring the mountains. Bent guy went past me and continued on. Eventually I started rolling again and reeled him in and we rode together for about 5 miles. Never seen a 'bent on my morning commute. Hardly ever see them around here at all, actually.

No commute today since we are supposed to get some severe weather this afternoon (thunderstorms, high winds, hail, etc). It is already 2:30 and finally getting cloudy. I am hoping that it at least rains before I go home so I won't feel too bad about not riding in today. Back on the bike tomorrow though unless my brother calls and needs a ride.

+1 Although I did see a female figure that had every male head on the street turning as one.

oops, computer problems here.

What a ride home last night. Pouring rain, lost my rear blinky again, really heavy traffic, and a long commute with a stop by the grocery store. By the time I got home I was wet with an ear to ear smile.

No ride today, the noise coming from my bottom bracket has finally pushed me to far. I took it to a professional today, so hopefully he can fix it. I'm off tomorrow and plan to "ride lots"

No ride today, the noise coming from my bottom bracket has finally pushed me to far. I took it to a professional today, so hopefully he can fix it. I'm off tomorrow and plan to "ride lots"

The rain was supposed to over last night. What do those weather guys know??? :rolleyes:
Started sprinkling about 2 miles into my commute this morning. Gradually changed to light rain by mile 4. So I stop at my wife's workplace for a few minutes to say hello until it passed. :)
Nice ride the rest of the way.

Now, the sun is out so the ride home (in about 25 more minutes) should be awesome. http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoti.../happy/059.gif

i expected rain to and from work today, but it held. im going to get it tomorrow.

by the way, i only go 2.6 miles each way, am i really a true commuter? im new here and wanted some opnions

This morning I took the car shopping, but rode to the office in the afternoon. Head wind was 20 knots gusting to 30 knots, but I didn't mind, even though I was on my fixie. I think I've finally got that thing set up right.

Furthermore, I was sporting my just-arrived Chrome Metropolis messenger bag. :D I have to crouch in a head wind. That puts my backpack on top of me, but the messenger bag lies low and flat. Not exactly streamlined, but I think it made a difference. I got the right-shoulder strap version so it wouldn't block my rear view mirror, which clips on the left side of my glasses. I'm still shuffling stuff around trying to optimize the lumps and weight distribution, but I've decided already it's my favorite bag.

Afternoon traffic was heavy. I definitely prefer commuting in the early morning. At one point I went onto the sidewalk to let a line of cars pass. I almost slipped on some sand making the zig zag. I'll be more sparing with my generosity in the future.

Home is downwind. Whee!

I went to work early this morning, it was nice. It took about ten minutes to get to the office.

I've been away from my comp for the last couple of commutes. Yesterday I got a late start, 30 minutes late, and really hammered my way in. I made it in time but I inhaled a few bugs; one I felt latch onto a tonsil before going down.

The ride today was uneventful. One of the warmest days this year so far. Had a nice tail wind most of the way which turned into a massive head wind about 2 miles from home. On the plus side, it helped cool me down.

Rain!

did my usual commute today. Windy, damp and overcast with a bit of a chill in the air.

Best moments of the commute:

I left my office late and thinking I would see no one on the elevator I donned my helmet and reflective vest just before the doors opened and as I stepped on there was an awkward silence between me and the other passenger who finally said to me, "So, where do you park your bike?"

I couldn't help it and said, "Me? I don't ride a bike. I'd just never ride this elevator without a helmet and reflective vest."

Then we got to talking ( I was amazed he was still willing to talk with me) and he told me his co-worker rode his bike in every day and he was thinking about doing it but was unsure about where to lock his bike.

The second great moment was as I was riding along the river on the bike path in Brighton and a pair of proud goose parents trotted along with their 6 newly hatched goslings. I stopped to ogle and got hissed at so I apologized and moved along.

today was nice. overcast, crispy-cool both ways. yesterday was interesting: ball game at 6, meeting scheduled late in the day. i've never got home in less time - an unbelievable only-7-minutes-more-than-the-morning-ride . . . and i only missed the first inning or two of a fast-moving game. changed so fast i forgot to take some other non-bike coat with me but the game was over before i got really cold.

i think i'm almost just about done with riding only in the middle cog. maybe give it another week, if i'm not organised enough to get it in to the fixer-people this weekend. alternatively i could wait until i'm strong enough to really want bigger gears . . . i think i might be spinning better as a result of only having 8 gears, so i'm not in all that much of a hurry to get it seen to.

the bike-cage guy at this place is one of those hermless-misfit i.t. guys who never completely grew out of being sixteen, socially, and never quite got over robert heinlein either. hermless but irritating at closer quarters. had much more interaction with him than my 'patient' gene can handle this week, what with investigating the missing lock, then replacing it and then replacing all keys. my sunblock regime is holding up fairly well.

60F and overcast. Headwind gusting to about 15MPH. Just 3 cyclists seen heading in the opposite direction. Once in a while I see the same high school-aged kid on his MTB riding toward said high school. I think it's cool that he rides instead of taking a bus.

Looks like rain for my ride home later today.

Beautiful morning. Started out at 6AM sharp, no headlights needed. Temp 47F, no winds to speak of. Gave myself a good chuckle when passing a local business who had a "Go Canes" sign up (in reference to the Hurricanes in the hockey playoffs). It occurred to me that a simple letter swap could change the sign to "No Cages"-too bad the sign was 20 feet high or I might have stopped to make the switch. Was very pleased with my 17.2 average today. Feeling like my bronchitis from a few weeks back is finally totally gone.