A bit misty on the ride in and the ride back. Most annoying bit was where I make this left turn from one major street to another. Have a left turn lane and get a green arrow. All the cars, who are in front of me make the turn and since I'm slower, it takes me a bit longer. A young girl (with another friend in the front seat) in a big ass black SUV going the other direction wants to make a right turn onto the same street (she has a red light). I'm sure she didn't see me even though I'm wearing one of those day glo yellow jackets. She starts to move forward right in front of/into me and finally sees me. I have to slam on my brakes. She slams her breaks and then honks at me! I give her a WTF look and she acts like nothing happened. Wasn't hurt, but just annoyed and wanted to vent a bit.

I had a fun ride, got in a race with a guy in lycras on a road bike, he should have been owning me as I was pedalling my MTB with 1.9" knobblies but he couldn't shake me off, he kept looking round and sneeking a glance at me and I was still there everytime. He jumped a red light to get ahead and then stopped at the next one he couldnt jump because there was traffic going across and then I appeared and said "look whos here" and he just turned away and then zoomed from the light and then eventually started jumping some really dodgy lights that I didn't want to mess with so he did lose me, but only by cheating so I claim the moral victory

On the way to work, closer to work than home they were redoing the bike road, so they made a detour (sp?) with THIN yellow string/rope, it was fine.

But on the way back i was thinking about somthing (dono what youll see why...) and thay yellow string FLEW at me (i was rinding right in to it lol, also this is were i lost what ever i was thinking about) so i slamed my brakes (lots of squeling) look around and i was 1 foot away from the string and the front wheel nearly under it (the string was at turso hight)... AND THEN i was going down this brige and 3 persons (lol, persons) come out all USELESS there like 17-20 or what ever, and they just hog the WHOLE road... WTF! and im going down 40+kmph, so what do you do? you zip between 2 of them lol and the guy of the group just swears out REAL SLOW like hes drunk (but i think he wasnt) FFFAAAAAKKK (but in finnish lol), and then almost home like under 2 min, theres a crossing, and this fat guy is looking to his left, doing maybe 10kmph, and im coming from the right... and he WONT look right!!! so i gues hes going to stop (like he should, theres the triangle and crossing sign and everything) BUT NO he slows down and then starts of again so i slam my brakes (squels again) and my front wheels is covering his right head light, so i back up and he speeds off, then i get home and vist BF...

Hot sweaty and uneventful ride home last night. Even sweatier ride in today. I'm guessing the dew point must be getting close to 75F. The low temp this AM was only 77 at any rate. Can't wait for cooler September weather to arrive.

Nothing to report. It's getting hotter but my new saddle bag is on the way. Hopefully this will be my last week with a messenger bag until autumn. Looks like a long, long, long day at work so I'll be checking BF frequently and hopefully leaving in after it has cooled off a bit.

I beat the rain to work again today, but I had an uphill climb into a 20 mph wind, so that was fun.

I was about to make my left onto a side street, as to avoid a rotary, when I checked over my shoulder to see a police cruiser approaching. No big deal, but I guess I was eager to demonstrate proper hand signaling, and as I turned to check his position, I hit a pothole, and lost my water bottle. So now I'm signaling a stop so I can go get it, and he revs his engine, and blows by me in the oncoming lane!

Yesterday afternoon I rode home in a soaking rain. This morning there was no rain and I had a bit of a tailwind. Nothing much to see today. Just a couple of women walking a really overweight Welsh Corgi.

I ate 2 bugs this morning...
they were small but still somewhat tasty.

Another day in the sauna. :o
This would be great right now. http://e4u.deltait.com.au/sport/niko3.gif


I see more new commuters each day. Saw three this morning.
Something I've been seeing a lot of lately is people walking with backpacks or messenger bags. I hardly ever saw anyone walking before. Some are walking to the bus stop and some are walking to work. I guess gas prices are really hitting people's wallets.

It's way too hot and sticky around here in the mornings. I almost got hit by an idiot while leaving my apartment complex this morning. I don't even think he saw me even though he turned less than 10 feet in front of me. I yelled to him and saw him look back but that was it. Heat index will probably be over 100 this afternoon. After my ride home I will be riding to my soccer game. I will be dead by the time I ride home from that.

I forgot to mention that today was my first commute with my new fenders! I specifically rode through puddles to test them out, and they really work as advertised. Also, I wore my new Atomic Orange - Hot Gear from Under Armor, and not only does it wick really well, but the wind goes right through it. Really keeps you cool. I can't wait to try the Cool Gear in the fall.

Howdy,
Today might be the first real 100 degree day this year, the big problem will be the air quality, we are getting bad air from all of the forest fires in the west plus all of the auto's help to make our air quality rating red for this afternoon. :rolleyes: I guess I'll have to hold my breath for an hour and 5 minutes on the way home.

M.R.

the traffic was awful today, i went in to work at about 1PM and then returned about 6-7 and at 1 , it was solid and ANGRY as hell and at 6-7 it was just solid, i had to weave between the cars so much, it was a pain.

anyone else here from London, UK

I rode the Bomber in again today. It's a early 90s Specialized Hardrock that I bought it this spring at a garage sale for $40. I got it mostly for pulling my kids' trailer but I've been commuting on it about half the time and I'm really enjoying it. I added a rack, bar ends, and put on a comfy old-style Avocet saddle. These all came out of the spare parts bin. So I'm still at a net $40 for the whole thing.

And the thing is a kick to ride. Plus, it is so incredibly ugly (gray with aqua decals and plenty of surface rust), that I have no fear of locking it up on the street.

It's the best $40 I've spent in a long time.

no commute for me today... a wee tiny lil hangover...
up late pillaging and plundering downtown west palm beach... check it out
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...20July%202006/ :D

You can't have a pirate without ARRRRRRRR!

The ride in was okay, despite the fact that I was lugging a laptop and three textbooks. Bleagh. I felt totally dead on the way home. It was like I was riding into a headwind coming out of the parking garage and it never went away. Even down hills I felt sluggish. I'm sleepy.

http://members.pcinternet.com/22b3/hot.gif is the best word to describe the ride home.
Met up with two other commuters about 2+ miles from work. We rode together for about 2 miles, then parted company. Nice having someone to talk with.


No riding tomorrow. :( My boss asked me to drive. :crash: We're doing a mass mailing and I have to deliver ~500 pre-sorted letters to the post office.
Oh well. There is one redeeming quality to the plan. I get to leave work early so I can get to the post office before it closes. :D

lol, we were makin' so much noise! firework flarin' cannon bikes even :D

Our group of about 140 got split by a red light and jonny law at the intersection so we figured we'd better stop for it... We waited, and the cop announced from his car "Go ahead people" We ARRRRRed and honked our horns and rung our bells and hollared! It was awesome...
Wish you all coulda joined us :)

Morning commute started with front flat - in my garage! It was a slow puncture leak that must have happened on the ride home yesterday.
Very humid ride home. The car traffic I encountered was very heavy (2/3 of commute is on MUP). Rolled in home early (left 10 min early) and beat a huge downpour by 5 minutes. OH, only one bunny (the furry kind) today.

last commute as a college student...

already hot and muggy by the time I left in the morning. packed the rain gear since there was talk of thunderstorms and it was looking stormy outside. took the shoulder-of-the-45mph-main-road route in. pretty fast and nothing out of the ordinary.

left at 7... way later than I usually do. still hot and muggy. the thunderstorms never materialized, in fact the sun was out by the time I left. took the same route back that I took in. nothing out of the ordinary, it was a fast and fun ride. I was in a pretty bad mood when I left but the ride back definitely improved my mood immensely and was in a good mood by the time I got back. great ride today!

Ride home yesterday was way hot. The dew point was 74, heat index 103F. I took it really easy as I prefer not to pass out on the side of the Rd. No biking in today. I considered it, but thunderstorms are forecast for the pm. Besides, driving in is a good opportunity to swap out dirty clothes for clean so I have a fresh start on Tuesday (Monday is a vacation day....Woo Hoo)

Not too bad, heat & humidity-wise. This weekend is supposed to be abhorrent, by Vermont standards. 90Fs...

I rode behind a 20-something guy with a messenger bag on a red hybrid. Then a guy on an MTB came out onto the MUP and we had the world's slowest peloton. :) Nah, it wasn't that bad. 15 or 16MPH into a headwind. Relaxed.

Saw quite a few other riders out today. Nice to see.

Rode in again today, though I woke up a bit late because I stayed up too late last night reading. A good book will have that effect on you. This morning, my wife told me to take the car in because she wouldn't need it today, but I declined. Five days this week!

just when I thought it couldn't get more humid... ugh. :mad:

Sunny, cool, not so humid, and fast. but not fast enough, looking in to thiner tires and a larger chain ring...