Rain keeps the bike room sane as the fair weather commuters bailed on today's ride . Couple of weeks ago some new commuter snagged the spot I'd been using all last summer and winter. Granted I don't own the spot but I wrapped a shop towel around the rack to keep from knocking paint of my top tube. He failed to lock his bike to the rack, so I moved it to reclaim the spot...it was easier than moving the towel .

I was lucky and only got rained for about fifteen to twenty minutes. My messenger bag didn't let water in this time thankfully. Traffic was the typical, scary, rainy day mix of the timid drivers who drive like they're lost (unnecessary brake, brake, dart, unnecessary brake, dart) and those impatient with them (can't stop, can't slow down, must pass at all costs, can't stop). Made me want to hand out amber tinted glasses and new wiper blades.

I was a smart boy and rode my fendered bike.

wasn't raining when I left in the car this :am... but it is now.
lotsa riding over the weekend and holiday so resting the knees...
I miss my bikey

The air was actually thick today. I mean, it is so much more humid than usual that I can almost see the moisture condensing out of the air. Now I'm all sweaty and stuff.

Uneventful, just the way I like it. After the broken pump and multiple flats and broken spoke the other week, this ride was nice. No traffic. Tried a different route today and I'll think I'll keep it. It adds an extra 20 minutes, but keeps me away from traffic plus I get to ogle multi-million dollar homes in Indian Hill. There's one tough hill that I have to walk up, but the 40+ mph descent is nice

My ride in was going very smoothly. Not too hot, not too cool. However half way in I hear a "ping!----clunk--clunk--clunk". I pulled over to check it out and a spoke on my front wheel had broke. It was the spoke that held my reflector on the wheel. The weird thing is it broke right in the middle of it's length. I thought it was normal for them to break at one end or the other. Anyway, I removed the remains of it and continued on in without further incident. I guess I get to replace yet another spoke this evening. I think this is my 6th spoke failure in as many months.

This is a first. I brought two bikes downtown. I have a workout with the TNT triathlon team tonight but I don't know where or what it is (hotline wasn't updated). I would normally ride my race bike to work, except that I had to bring two bags and needed a rack so I rode my bomber and threw the race bike in the back of the minivan. Later today, I'll walk over to my wife's office and get the keys to grab the racer, leaving the bomber in the bike cage. I guess tomorrow I'll have to take the bus or walk to work. (Which I hate, which is why I started riding to work in the first place. Hah.)

More rain yesterday and this morning.

New ritual:

Dry bike.
Dry shoes.
Dry clothes.
Dry backpack.
Dry self.
Rinse, ride, repeat...

Good job!

I have found that EVERY time (including when tropical storm Alberto came through last month) I have not ridden in the morning because of weather, the skies clear by afternoon and I'm bummed I didn't ride.

Of course, the opposite can also be true. I rode this morning despite the rain...and it doesn't look like it's going to clear up at all by this afternoon. Sigh.

Thanks for the encouragement! Though, I did learn that I either need to learn to ride with a wet seat, or to invest in a set of fenders.

Fenders. They do more than keep you dry. Good ones also help keep things like your bottom bracket dry, and that's important.

Oh, and before I sound like a know-it-all, let me give credit where credit is due. I learned about fenders and such by reading these forums.

Didn't ride Mon/Tue/Wed this week. Took a 5-day weekend. This morning I just cruised along. Weather was sunny and cool. I saw some other cyclists and a gaggle of women out for a run. Come to think of it there were several attractive young ladies out running with their dogs, too. Must be a new trend.

And there's the squirrel who was lying in the middle of the road with its hind legs sprawled out, oblivious to my approach. I thought it was dead until I got about 25 feet away and it jumped up and scampered off into the grass.

Drizzle today, a nice change from from the uncontrolled nuclear heat we've been having here, this summer. That said, I agree with what Itsjustb says about fenders. I have a mud flap on mine, wore tennis shoes on wet roads all day, and my toes are dry, and my khakis are not splattered.

--A

got cut off by a car today - driver turned off the one-way street without looking. A bystander yelled out, thinking I'd get hit, but I grabbed the brakes hard enough to prevent it. No apology from the driver, who sped off. They caught up with me again later on, and I thereafter saw this person change lanes twice without using a turn signal, and then go through a red light - all in residential city traffic, by the way. I'm kicking myself for not flagging down the police car I saw within seconds of witnessing the red light violation. Problem was, the policewoman in the car was on her cell phone!

temps in the 90s and nearly 50% humidity? sweat City! it was pouring off me! my nose is healing up nicely from my "accident"... my right pedal is breaking I think... I ordered new ones. good, easy ride though. I am still amazed at this part of my route that winds through an office park that is just beautiful-- trees, grass, birds, shade. it's like a bike rider's paradise! I'll take the camera along one day and document it! have a good one,

Go for the fenders e_a!!!
it makes it all that much more pleasant a commute

Today was my first commute day to work. Well, first and a half, I guess, as I pre-rode the route last night with my 13yo son to make sure there weren't any surprises I missed when I scoped it out in the truck.

A whopping 3.64 miles in and 3.65 miles home. But, I felt great about riding the bike. I see it as free exercise, as the 18 minute ride is only about three minutes longer than the car ride in. Now I don't have to get up at 05:30 and pound out ten miles before having a cup of coffee.

I think I screwed up, though, by going out and doing 7.5 (moderately hard) miles on the local mtb trail with my riding buddy (usually we do road work on Thursday nights). That kicked my a$$ but good (pun unintentional). Still, I'm going to ride it in tomorrow, too. This bicycling shiznit is addicting. Maybe it's the endorphins. Thanks (and props) to everyone here who posted their own stories and gave me the motivation/confidence to give even such a short ride a try.

Gorgeous morning here in NC!!! After last week's heat, humidity and pouring sweat it felt like Nirvana this morning. Temp was 63F and humidity 90% as I left home. Still pretty humid, but compared to 75F and 90% humidity this feels great. Felt so good that I hammered it in today, averaged 18.1 over 13 miles, despite the head wind and all the stop lights I hit. Hoping I get a tailwind on the way home to boost that average even more. You all have a fine day and nice weekend too.

Had a first today, saw another commuter on his way to work. I was heading into work this morning, about 1.5 miles into my 10 mile ride when I was overtaken by a guy on a Kestrel (?) carbon fiber bike. I kicked it up a notch to keep pace with him and we had a nice conversation for about a mile or so, then he had to turn off on his route.

It may not be a big deal for some folks to see other bicycle commuters, but here in rural NW Indiana bicycle commuters are about as rare as hen's teeth.

Nice to see other riders out and about, it kinda made my morning. It even made up for the white Hummer that tried to take my head off with it's side mirror.

today was hot and humid in the morning (7am), and hotter on the way home, but this thing happened on the way home, i crossed the street (zebra crossing thing), the light was on WALK (green) so i could go, but the stupid thing here in finland (i dono any other places that do this) even when its on WALK certan car lanes may drive over, even though its on walk! so anyway i crossed but relized that i wasnt even suposed to go that way (lol its was to my old house), so i did this wack u turn, and a guy in this ugly a$$ van is coming strait at me so i avoid him with a sharp turn, and i see him in the worst driving position ever (steering wheel under chin both hands at 12o-clock) swearing at me in finnish, hes saying WTF WTF!!! i just stared at him lol! so he drove off... and im still falling off the bike at start cuase of the pedal brake (when i pedal backwards its the rear brake, nexus 4 speed)

Same thing here in rural Georgia. Other than myself I only see a few commuters; an elderly man, always solo on a tandem, 5 or 6 guys on day passes from the local jail (they are recognizable by the old BMX bikes supplied by the sheriff's office), and 1 chick on a hard-tail who works at Wallyworld.

Had a rare very early morning commute today. Left the house at 5:30 a.m. and what a ride. It was nice and cool and I was just about the only one using the roads at all.

--A

63F, blue skies. Lots of cyclists out today. Only a few going my way. I noticed a cyclist come out onto the MUP from a street a hundred or so yards behind me but he wasn't catching me. I slowed up for some cyclist/runner/stop sign congestion and the guy behind me caught up and overtook. Beat up MTB, blows clear through the stop sign and starts spinning.

I caught him easily as he was riding in the middle of my usual cruising range. Just hung out behind him for about 2.5 miles, then dropped him. Hey it's Friday. I needed to have some fun.

Beautiful weather for my commute this morning (my fourth), but my legs were trying to convince me not to ride. After a cup of tea, I convinced myself it would be worth it. There must have been an earthquake or some geographic upheaval overnight, because it was extra-uphill on my way in this morning. I was a little lightheaded upon dismount, but I rehydrated an twenty minutes later was feeling much better.

'Twas actually on the chilly side this a.m. - especially at 4:30 when I was en route to my DJ shift. Brrr!

I finally got around to chopping the flat bars on my fixie last night, and plugged the ends with a wine cork.
Looks pretty ridiculous, but no more gouging of pedestrians on the narrow campus paths!