Awesome, my new Carradice saddlebag arrived last night. Got it installed and packed this morning and had a very comfortable ride. I'm not quite used to the weight placement under the seat (higher up than with panniers), but once I got adjusted it was fine. But more importantly...no messenger back. Much cooler ride in this morning. Getting my stuff off my back is such a relief.

Put bullhorns on my fixie Tuesday, but today was the first commute w/ them. First impressions are that I'm faster or at least it seems like it and that I need to re-wrap one side to move the brake closer to where I normally place my hand. Still need to make a few adjustments, but overall, they seem pretty good for the commute. I'll take the extra long way home tonight to give them a better workout.

[e] Saw Paul Reubens aka Peewee Herman this morning leaving my office bldg.

Tasty...for the past week or so, I have been commuting door-to-door now that a couple of new routes have opened up coming out of my neighborhood in the country, connecting me with the feeder and bike routes into town. No complaints at all, even with the heat. I've acclimated and my legs are feeling great. I love this point in my season.

Ride home last night was fast fast fast. Hit every light green so I didn't stop once from the office to the house. Even the lights that ~always~ catch me red were green. Was able to carry 35mph onto the hill going home. Boy were my legs tired when I hit the homestead. Was like a 15 minutes sprint.

Had to drive the beast in this morning... loaded down with camping gear for a quick exit from work to the mountains. A weekend of feasting, tequila drinking, playing cards, and doing nuthin' is the full agenda. I may haul the bike and ride it home Sunday while the GF drives the rig... I think it's like 60miles or so.

Great ride on the single speed this morning. Will be hard to remember the coolness on the way home later. Saw a golfer in a big land yacht (Lincoln Continental) swerve wide around a cyclist and run a stop sign turning into a golf course. Makes one wonder what the hurry is to get to the golf course at 6:15 a.m.

Hot-t-t-t-t-t! Thermo outside my window said 104 when I got home, last night. Headwind was 12-15 mph. Swimming pools are good things. Started out with an ice-filled water bottle and had warm water before I turned off the trail toward home.


This morning was a beaut, though. 80F, with a lovely sunrise. Got out early and added a few miles and a nice climb to the routine.

I'm probably gonna start moving back to the 29er for the commute, soon. Tiime to start training up for a longish offroad tour next year. Hot as it is, I don't wanna go back to the back pack and I don't have good rack mounts - any suggestions for a stable seatpost rack?

At 104 degrees, isn't a 15MPH headwind sort of like having a hair drier pointed at your face? :)

Bikes neutering men? I think not.
 

That's why I picked a husband who rides a bike! OK, he does own a truck, two actually, but he's a gardener and has a hauling business, as well. But our first date was a mountain bike ride. I saw those those manly quads and calves, (sighs dreamily) - way sexy. It always cracks me up when I'm riding, and some guy in a car burns rubber next to me at a light: I always say to myself, "Wow, how strong your foot must be to step on the throttle like that, what he-man!"

A word of advice (if you'll do me the honor): calories are over-rated. I know that docs say the only way to lose weight is by counting calories, and it is true to some extent. But if you're riding a lot, then the weight should take care of itself. If you deprive yourself of too many calories, your body can go into a "famine mode". Your body will conserve calories however it can, mainly by slowing down your metabolism. It is best to eat until you feel full, and it is best to eat sensibly. In a depression, I once gained 30 pounds (I'm only 5'3", that's really bad). I did not diet to lose the weight. I rode my bike. I found that the more I rode, the less I craved sugar and snack foods. I also put on more muscle, which helps with weight loss. One pound of fat requires 3 calories a day to maintain itself. One pound of muscle requires 75 calories a day to maintain itself. That's 72 more calories a day (times however many pounds of muscle you put on riding) that you can eat, without gaining weight, when you exchange a pound of fat for a pound of muscle.

P.S. I lost the weight when I moved to Chico, and had no car. I began commuting on my bike. I've weighed between 115 and 120 pounds, depending on the season, ever since (7 years).

It's going to be frying-pan hot on the way home today, but very comfortable on the way in. That's the beauty of the Big Valley. Today I rode in my Grant Peterson-approved kit: lightweight s/s cotton shirt, chinos, and sandals (casual Friday here). And it was extremely comfortable.

I'm thinking I need to go to REI and get one of those grocery bag panniers for the Bomber. Seems like it would be perfect for carrying my soft briefcase instead of bungie-cording it to the rack. Anybody else use something like that?

Great ride in on the fixed gear this morning. Legs had some power, overnight/early morning shower cooled things off, only had to track stand twice as I was 19/21 on green lights, saved a turtle...

This is how I've lost most all of my weight, but in trying to get rid of the last 5-10 pounds, I've run into problems with under-eating, over-eating, burning out, etc. I follow my apetite for a while, drop 5 pounds in the span of a couple of days and then am severely fatigued for the next week. I end up eating too much to try and recover and make myself feel better. I'm trying to get close to my "optimal climbing weight" for the MS150 here so I'm currently reading Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes by Monique Ryan and tracking progress via http://fitday.com. I'm doing OK so far. I've lost 4 pounds over the course of a month with little fluctuation and only the one mentioned burnout.

Re nutrition: I think you guys are on the right track. Cyclists' bodies need lots of high-quality calories. I'm not too big on counting calories and grams but I try to look at what I eat and ask myself if those calories represent good nutrition in terms of protein, good fats, low-glycemic carbohydrates, fiber, etc. And I know that I have a sweet-tooth, but rather than beat myself up about it, try to balance out the cookies with fruit.

What was it that Chris Carmichael said? "Americans aren't fat because they eat too many carbs. They're fat because they don't exercise enough."

Yes. Industrial-grade, to be sure, but it's just like that. Hot enough that the Trinity Trail was nearly empty, instead of the wonted walkers/bladers/runners/comfort bikes every 100 yards.

By the way, there was no commute for me today. I have Fridays off in the summer (no booing or hissing, please), so I went for a bike ride instead :D

Fridays I don't have my 2 mile trailer-pulling detour, so shorter trip in today. One bunny seen, no deer (live or dead), no bugs eaten.

Family out of town, may just take a recreational ride tomorrow, I don't think I've ever done that.

Still commuting, just not posting! I can't remember the last time I drove my car to work. I really need to at least start it up...or sell it.

Today was my first (and last until I get a new saddle or fix this one) commute. 5 miles each way. Getting to work the roads were wet and rough (they're resurfacing next to my apt complex for about 3/4 of a mile or so and the roads are grated but not yet paved. I wished for fenders on the way there and a new saddle on the way back. (cheap saddle. I will never buy cycling products from X-Factor (aka kent bicycles, aka junk for department stores) again) the way home (saddle ad grated roads aside) was as nice as I could ask for cycling weather in kentucky (overcast)

only odd human behavior: some idiot nearly hit me on the bike lane because he was riding against traffic. I stared him down and HE moved over to the grass on the side of the road.

Can't wait to get back out monday

Golfing is a waste of a good walk - Mark Twain.

Driving is a waste of a good bike? Has anyone thought of making bumper-sticker equivalents for those of us commuters that ride to work in some kind of regular riding gear? I'd love to have a phrase like that or something else on the back of my jersey.

Took the extra long way home and while the cagers behaved themselves, the cyclists and peds didn't. Almost hit a ped as he crossed the bike path, THEN crossed back, all the time w/ his head down and talking on his cell phone. I aimed to go behind him, so when he suddenly reversed, I hit the brakes and ended up a foot away from him. He didn't show any surprise or even concern despite all my yelling prior to having hit the brakes.

Next was a cyclist getting on the Hudson MUP from the street. She has to enter perpendicular then turn onto the MUP. I see her and start slowing down, and of course she doesn't slow down, just makes a wide right turn north, the same direction I was going. I had enough time to avoid her, but since she didn't even look, I figured I'd just teach her a lesson so I buzzed her as I flew past her. Yeah, not very friendly, but she didn't act very responsibly.

I did stop for a cyclist w/ a flat. The fact that she was dressed in shorts and tight sport top and was cute had nothing to do w/ my offer to help. She declined my help to fix her flat so I kept going. There were other odd cyclist behaviors, but nothing too hairy.

I had a mid-day ride to the gym to swim and then swung by to pick up a sandwich before heading back to the Capitol. Only find that the shaded bike rack was full! What's up with that? Is our little secret getting out?

Going through an underpass, found a guy on has back in the dead center of the trail. It is kind of a transient person campsite anyway but usually campers stay to the side. While I was planning ahead to park the bike and get my cell phone out if he turned out to be dead or something, he apparently heard me and got up. I think he was planning some spectacular ceiling graffiti. I'll find out Monday, maybe, on my way back in.

Despite the fact that it was raining when I looked out the window this morning, I rode in to work without a hitch. Only bad thing was when the huge trucks threw nasty water all over me when they passed too close. On the way home, I almost rear ended a Honda Accord when starting from a stop making a left hand turn. I was head down and hammering trying to gain as much momentum to make it through the turn and up the impending hill. She stopped to let some oncoming traffic through and I just reacted in time to hit the brakes and skid to a stop. Stupid move on my part, could have been worse. Guess I need to pay closer attention...Did make it home before the rain hit again. :)

A few years ago Bikecentennial (now Adventure Cyclist) had "The future belongs to the energy efficient" and "Just passing gas, it's only natural" t-shirts. I don't think they sell them anymore.

rides a bike AND gardens?! :eek: Daaannng... You GO! Gurlfriend! :D
Love the new avatar btw

:roflmao: +1!

In Vermont?! Holy Crap!

what, and miss out on that protein and fiber??? ;)
I love my tooling rides with no agenda :)

Congrats! I love my panniers, though I think I load it more than I should...
All that freedom’s gone to my head... lol

Excellent!! Have an awesome weekend!


Summer is full on here in S.FL... muggy, sticky, midday rain storm followed by blazing sun and sauna action...
Gotta love the fenders :D

105 degrees
65% humidity

I wussed out today and hitched a ride from a friend