I was thinking that it might be a bit of overkill for a trip to the liquor store, but hey, whatever works to get the old man on a safe and functional bike.

Re: This morning's trackstand, the more I think about it, the mother and daughter were mouthing "What a dork!" It was either that or "Looks like someone stopped shaving his legs for the season."

Probably the same guy. Definitely skinny with some facial hair and no helmet. I didn't get that good of a look at him. We were on a 90-degree collision course. I was checking traffic to plot a course around him. Turns out he was stopping so I could have just stared. ;) I did manage a nod but not sure if I said anything.

Today's ride in was kind of painful/unpleasant. I don't like being rushed when it's nasty out.

Yes, I'm sure that he purchased some Argentinian malbec. He's been on a big South American kick after visiting this summer. Though he's also been serving alot of Rex Goliath merlot recently and some sweeter white that I can't remember.

Are helmets required for Segways?

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp

Bikepaths in Boulder are fairly well-maintained but getting to/from them is the trick.

No commute today as I worked remotely.

GreenAnvil

No commute. It's vacation...use it or loose it :) Home playing with toys

Ride home was all zig-zaggy due to cagers doing stupid things. Like running red lights to make U-turns while cross traffic (including me) crosses the intersection. I'm working remotely tomorrow so my commute's done for the week.

Heavy 'misting' this morning, so I took things a little slow. Damp, but no rain coming home. Had to slow down near to a stop for a group of 8 office-types taking up both the ped and bicycle lanes of the trail. A few gave me an incredulous look when I wanted through.

Did my first bicycle commute in 5 weeks today and loved it. I have had a shoulder injury and have not been able to ride at all. It is going to rain this afternoon when I go home but I don't care, I'm just glad to be back in the saddle.

Gorgeous afternoon so I left a little early, went 3 miles the wrong way to add 6 miles to the trip. Imagine my surprise when I turned around and found that the reason the 1st 3 miles went so quickly was the AMAZING tailwind that had been pushing me. Took a l-o-n-g time to go 9 miles home into the headwind version of it.

Haven't posted in ages even though I've been riding. But not my usual bike nor my usual route due to working in two locations at present.

I've been doing the folding bike because I leave so late from my last locale and there are five different people who live right near my home who drive so I fold it up and catch a ride home most nights instead of riding the 14 miles home at midnight through some pretty dicey areas.

I'm loving this da Hon helios but at 6'3" it's stretched to it's limit and it made me much appreciate my usual commuter the other day when I rode that in and back. Sure beats driving in during the rush hour though-one guy who travels from where I do by car takes twice as long to make the same distance and then can never find a place to park.

Uneventful commute back and forth from work. I did have a near left hook after I slowed to allow a left-turning cab to pass. Then a woman zipped through the left turn lane and would have taken me out if I had not slowed down again. From her head position it was quite clear she wasn't even looking in my direction.

Raining since last night, 48F, however, when I left this morning there was about a two hour window when it didn't rain so I thank God for that. :) After I racked the bike and took a shower it started pouring and people have been asking me "Did you ride in today?". I tell them all that it was a piece of cake, which it was. :D

Q for all... Can I install studded tires and ride them say from now until March or April? Or do I have to put'em on and off or even have to buy a second set of rims and have the tires on that, then switch the night before according to the forecast for the next day? It gets cold around here and STAYS COLD all the way through April and sometimes even May (byt that I mean that the overnight temp will usually drop close to or below freezing) and I'm concerned about slippery/icy roads...

GreenAnvil

Well now there's a coincidence!! I did my first commute in 6 weeks yesterday. I've been off the bike since Sept 9 due to a 3rd degree shoulder separation which was the result of a paceline crash. We were moving along at ~20 mph when the cyclist in front of me crashed. I hit him and went over the handlebars directly onto the pavement (no sliding, no road rash, just a thud and tearing ligaments). I felt very lucky to "only" have suffered a shoulder injury....6 weeks later though, I'm not so sure I was all that lucky. My shoulder is permanently disfigured, surgery may be required, but the Doc says we need to wait ~ 4 more months until its fully healed to make that decision. Sadly, the injury was to my left shoulder and I am left handed.

The commute itself was very pleasant and uneventful...except for the pain I felt when I bunny hopped a speed bump. Going to have to wait a while longer before I try that again. Very glad to be back on the bike!!!

mxwalker and Big Ron - Shoulder injuries suck. Hang in there.

buzzman - those little folders are pretty handy at times aren't they? And I love the way I can blast off the line with those little wheels. :D

I was running a little late today so I took a different route in. Slightly shorter with one area of high traffic but otherwise lots of empty space for hammering. Not very scenic though. I might make it a regular routine for non-peak travel. I don't want to be on one of those roads during peak traffic hours though.

Sing it with me....Against the wind...still riding...Against the wind.
10-15 mph headwinds with gusts north of 20 mph.
Turned a nice easy ride into a workout.

AWESOME! I REACHED MY PERSONAL GOAL OF 2006 MILES IN 2006 YEAR!

That's 3230km.
Roughly 100,000 calories burned.

It's also the distance from where I live now, Calgary, and my home town of Sudbury.
Thx to the commuting community for keeping me motivated, you didn't even know you were doing it.

I brought 3 dozen timmies donuts in as a celebratory gesture. Of course, the first question I was asked was, "What took you so long?". It was all in good fun.

Beautiful! I left earlier than I have been of late, and it was dark the whole way in to the office. No traffic at that time of morning. Coldest ride of the year for me so far - 42F. Managed to dress okay for the most part, 'cept I couldn't feel my toes until after I got in the shower. Need to rework my footwear strategy, and may have to break down and by some toe covers or something.

Congrats! That's a great accomplishment! Enjoy the donuts!

A little chilly today 35f, but no wind and clear skies. Sure beats the rain from earlier this week. Saw another commuter, riding a MTB w/ panniers on the sidewalk. First one I've seen in months.

Gonna have to work on my DIY battery pack. Every time I ride through Mundelein the top pops off. Today the battery popped up about 6" but luckily fell back into the box. The little bungees just aren't up to Mundelein streets.

For the last two winters I put on my Nashbars in Dec, and rode through mid Mar. Rolling resistance is lots higher, but I didn't see any problem, and haven't noticed any wear. Granted I didn't ride as often, maybe about 400 total, but they work really well on the iced over patches on my route.

Wulfheir - :beer:

First day bike commuting in a month and first commute on the winter bike, a 1990ish era Mongoose ATB; now sporting 21 speeds and Nashbar inverted tread 26x1.5" tires. Weather was 32F, little-to-no precipitation. My usual "shortcut" route (22 miles) was closed, so took the next best thing, no cyclecomputer on this bike yet, felt like 30miles but the GPS map program at work said 25. Took 2 hours :( Best/mode/worst times on the standard route with the road bike with 27x1.25" tires are 66/75/90 minutes, I hope I'm just out of practice and it isn't the fatter tires slowing me down that much or else what am I in for when the studded tires go on?! :eek:

I'm ready for the cold to come on. I don't know, it just feels a little weird having it be almost 70 degrees at 7 in the morning at the end of October. Ultimately a nice ride in though. It rained all night, and I kept waking up thinking "damn" but by the time I got up, it shut off and blue sky was coming through.

I absolutely hear ya on the shoulders. I dislocated my left shoulder at the start of June, which wouldn't have been so bad, but then I did it AGAIN just over a month later on July 4th. And now here it is, almost 4 months later, and I'm still in almost constant pain (fortunately it didn't impede my biking for more than a week or so). The worst is trying to pull off a sweaty biking jersey -- not only is it really painful, but I'm doing it in a locker-room filled with muscleheads who must be amused watching me struggle and twist while groaning and ARGH-ing.

I do hereby declare 39 degrees to be the perfect fall inbound commuting weather. It got me comfortably into some of my winter weight gear, but wasn't too cool so that I couldn't stick with leg warmers below and vent out a little core heat that built up after a climb or big effort up top. Plus, I got to wear my fleece helmet liner which I just like anyway. :p

I almost got taken out today. Here's the letter I wrote:

"Good Morning! I was travelling northbound on 7 St. S.W. this morning at around 8:05 a.m., and the driver of one of your shuttles [silver minivan with the Big 4 logo on the side] displayed a rather cavalier attitude towards the rules of the road.

As I said, I was travelling north on 7 St. S.W., approaching 14 Ave. S.W. with one sedan ahead of me. I noted the silver minivan was waiting at the stop sign to turn left onto 7 St. from 14 Ave. [it was facing west]. As the sedan ahead of me reached the intersection, the minivan lurched forward into the intersection, forcing the car to brake, then swerve into the oncoming lane. I braked as well, but then continued forward. Much to my surprise, the minivan lurched forward again, this time at me. I had to swerve to avoid an impact, and the minivan stopped about 1/3 of the way through the intersection. As I went by the front of the minivan, I got a good look at the driver - around 50, grey hair and full moustache/beard, round glasses. He had a kind of blank look on his face, but the passenger sitting beside him appeared quite startled, especially after I mouthed some obscenities and gave him the finger.

I would appreciate it if you could inform the driver of the minivan that he did not have the right-of-way at the intersection of 7 St. and 14 Ave. S.W. It is not a 4-way stop, and by law, he must yield to traffic travelling along 7 St. Perhaps he needs to stop drinking decaf or get an extra couple of hours sleep. Whatever the cause, endangering the safety of the public and Big 4's customers is not good for your company's public image. With the rash of vehicle-related injuries and fatalities occuring over the past week, I hope that your drivers would exhibit a bit more caution.

Thanks for your time."

genel... thanks for your reply. I'm thinking Nokian 700c Hakkapeliita W106 35mm studded tires for my GF Kaitai 29".

pinkrobe... I'm not advocating it but I wonder if cagers would have more respect for bikers if we carried weapons visibly like the police...

GreenAnvil

cold. started out with a temp of 34. road and trail were pretty dry, impressive considering how much rain we've had lately. had a real problem keeping up my speed, too.