jeff-o

The ride was just a bit faster this morning, for one reason: I finally got around to lubing my chain. Much quieter, much smoother, much faster!

Oh, and the air was cooler too, and therefore less dense. How much of a difference does that make, though?

luckysnafu

Had a nice weekend at the beach with my family and took Monday off to recover. Didn't ride yesterday but driving in felt so strange since I haven't driven to work in almost 2 weeks. Back on the bike this morning but had a harsh head wind the whole way in which really slowed me down. Hopefully I will have a tailwind on the way home.

Mr_H

This morning it was nice, quiet...and annoying. My cyclocomputer stopped recording MPH/Distance for some reason, I dropped my water bottle and came within an inch of running it over, and I was running late.
Mutter grumble.

GTcommuter

Alright, I'm done with August. Bring on Labor Day. I hate turning into a sweaty mess everytime I step outside for more than one minute. But the ride was ok. I stopped and picked up some bagels and muffins for the office since we have a big public meeting today; then it ends up most people are working from home for the morning and coming in at lunch. That just gives me some quiet, i.e. bikeforums, time to myself.

And my rear wheel is making a very infrequent but disturbing hollow sounding thud. I suspect my bearings are gone, but I'll have to disassemble it to see. Good thing the office is empty for a few hours....

jyossarian

Weather was actually nice this morning so the ride in wasn't the usual sweatfest. Not sure if riding w/o a helmet had anything to do w/ it. I left my helmet in the car last night and didn't realize it until this morning and was too lazy to go get it. Traffic was the usual crap w/ an extra aggressive bus driver changing lanes wildly and a couple of right-hookers. Grabbed the brakes hard a few times, got tired of cager stupidity and decided to just ride more aggressively. I'd been riding more sedately cuz of the missing helmet. Moved into the middle of the avenue and had a much better time of it.

RonH

Nice ride. Humid but bearable. Saw several commuters today.
Passed one in the bike lane. He caught up with me at the next light. We chatted while the line of cars slowly moved forward, then he turned off. Nice change from the usual riding all alone and talking to myself and the #$&* cagers.

Flimflam

Did a 68k ride on Saturday, so took Tuesday off to ease the thighs as they were still sore (Monday was a holiday here in Canada).

Ride in today was fine, heading into the wind which sucked, but I made it to the gym to shower in 29 mins (7.4miles) which is on par so far.

Edit: weather was more friendly today, had a fair breeze to help cool me off (with a backpack on, I sweat like crazy in anything above 75F after a while of riding) barring the into-wind deal.

I was coming up to a cab on Dundas St. (just west of Broadview, he was turning onto the highway) that I didn't see the turn signal of until he was turning in front of me, with just about 6" clearance from my front wheel - I locked the back, which felt as though it was wandering out a bit but no contact - I put the blame either fully or half on myself for that one - I should've just been more aware and clued in to the particular situation.

Saw a few cyclists this morning, didn't speak to any though today - I was late and concentrating on trying to get downtown - used one guy (looked like a courier, on a road bike) for pacing myself, but he soon lost me after a light changed between us.

Can't wait for the ride back, legs are still a bit sore but no pain, no gain

pinkrobe

'Twas a storm brewing as I rode in this morning. It started to rain as I was about 3 blocks from my office, so I didn't get very wet. Perhaps a little damp, but that's all. It's supposed to rain for the next few days, but I've got fenders for protection.

MyPC8MyBrain

Quick trip home last night... hit every light green. Man that tires me out as the way home is usually a sprint fest the whole way. A stop or 2 along the way is usually a welcomed event. A car that left the office lot at the same time as me, finally caught up to me on the hill 4 blocks from the house.

This morning was another beatiful CO sunrise. Some scattered sprinkles along the way, but nothing more than the lawn sprinklers usually dish out. I believe the temp was 65f when I left the house with 47% humidity.

After ChipCom labeled me as an @sshole C.O.B. {cager on bike} in another thread, I took a closer look at my ride. Instead of rolling 1 stop sign, I discovered that I actually roll 3. The first is in a rural neighborhood that in a year of riding I have never seen a car on the road. Today I properly signaled and stopped. I'm sure the bunnies in the field had a good laugh at that one.

The second is on an uphill in front of the Police Station. It's a 4 way, and there are never cars there at 6am. Today I signaled and stopped.

The third is on the next block, and is usually a rolling right turn. Today I signaled my stop, stopped, then signaled my right turn, then continued. The luster on Chip's VC halo has now been fully restored. I briefly felt bad for tarnishing the image of cyclists around the world with my renegade riding style, but I'm over that now.

chipcom 

Did you just say I have a VC Halo? OMFG now I gotta go slit my belly!
You can have the VC, halo and wings, I just want pie.

I actually had to break out the jacket and put on some socks this morning. It was like 56 degrees! Which brings up a definite OCP no-no - socks with your sandals!

FYI, there ain't nothing wrong with rolling a stop sign, as long as you slow enough to be able to both see the traffic situation and stop if needed. It's the lights that are a bit more tricky...I never roll through a light without coming to a complete stop first, even if there is no traffic. I've found that Murphy's law dictates that a car will appear out of nowhere and mow you down like a dawg when you think there is no traffic at all and blow a light.

knucklesandwich

Finally got my bike back from its "break-in" tuneup (after 6 weeks and 350 miles) last night, so the ride in today was much needed and all kinds of efficient with tightened cables, accurate shifting, etc. Nice and cool at the start of ride as well.

jimmuter

What commute? I was running a little late and went out all ready to ride, only to find a flat rear tire. Had it just been the front, I might've attempted fixing it this morning. I was already late, so I drove in. I'm going home at lunch to fix it. What a bummer that was.

HardyWeinberg

Rain! In the summer??? You'd think this was San Francisco instead of Greater Seattle, what the heck.

Got to re-experiment on my braking distance w/ wet rims and pulling the trailer full of kids, glad there are a couple blocks of sidestreet before hitting the main traffic flow.

Once I dropped the trailer, not sure if I was still going slow from the rain, or what, but I hit all kinds of red lights I usually don't.

Either way, it's only just enough rain to be the next step up from heavy dew, and was nice and cooling after a muggy warm (for here) night.

walterk46

I went to do maintenance on my boat after work so I took the lakefront path home right about sunset. Wow, quite a difference from Clark St. Tried not to be too distracted by the swimmers, the tourists, the beach volleyball, the sailboats catching the last glimpses of the sun for the day, the yellow moon rising over the water, and just concentrate on not plowing into a rollerblader. Quite a treat. Maybe I should do the path more often, it only adds a few miles.

caloso

Distraction compounded by stupidity. I put my lunch, including a very ripe peach and banana, in my pannier. And as I was rolling out of the garage I grabbed a couple of cans of soda and put those in, right on top. Duh.

Fine ride until I reached the edge of Capitol Park. I took to the path but to avoid some walkers going three-abreast, I tried tightrope-riding the edge of the pavement. Just as you might expect, I caught the edge and went down. Gasp! "Are you okay?!?" said one of the Three Abreasters. I gritted my teeth, "Yes, I'm fine. Thanks."

When I get to my office I discover I've made compote in my pannier. Sigh.

HardyWeinberg

banana/peach is a good flavor, at least, if you can sort out the peel.

Itsjustb

Commute this morning was fine, except for having a minivan driver pass me on the left as I signalled my left turn. Then he added to it by making a right turn in front of me. Not close enough to be a real right hook, but still dumb.

I waved at him giving my best "WOW! That was really SMART!" look, and he gave me the finger. Which I gladly returned.

rando

H is for the horrid heat around me

U is for my underwear that's wet

M is for the mugginess all over

I is for the itchy helmet 0n my head

D is for the Dozen Bugs I've eaten

I is for "It's not the heat, it's the Humidity"

T is for the traffic lights at which I wait

Y is for the yipping dog I dodged

put them all together they spell "Humidity"----- blah, blah. blah.

actually the commute was nice after about a week off. but sweaty. AND I picked up a nice shiny metal screw in my front tire. looks like I'll get some tube changing practice today. sigh.

was still fun though.

jyossarian

I'm back to commuting on the mtb beater instead of the fixie, not cuz I'm tired of the fixie, but cuz the new work location doesn't have any bike racks, is extremely busy (it's Grand Central Terminal) and so my bike gets knocked around and isn't as secure as before. That beater's heavy as hell, and not as much fun, but until I get the bike situation figured out, the beater gets the nod.

I took the extended ride home to get a workout and break in the Brooks and watched two roadies yell at other bikers and joggers and rollerbladers and each other as they tried to pass each other. One would yell "On your left!" right before he tried to pass while the one in front would then stand up and start sprinting. I stayed w/ them at a safe distance just to watch. They were kind of reckless in the crowds and were still going at it when I turned off the MUP.

JohnBrooking

Nice, rando.

Two fun things have happened to me recently. Yesterday, I was taking my "short cut" (not really shorter, but nicer) through a private road belonging to a golf club, and saw all these golf carts crossing the road to get from one hole to the next. There was even a guy directing them, and this was 8 in the morning! When I rode past, I said "Looks like a golf cart parade!". He chuckled and said that actually, it was a big tournament.

Twice in the last month, the little road behind the shopping center at the end of my ride has been completely blocked by a trailer across the road, backed up to unload at the back door of one of the stores. Since it was not even running, I simply dismounted and ducked underneath, feeling a bit superior at having gotten away with some small cheat!

Big Ron

Nice ride in this AM. The full moon looked great, though the clouds obscured it eventually. Saw two other commuters on bikes this AM, which is a rarity for me. Especially given the time of the sightings, ~6:00 and ~6:30. The first one followed me for miles. I thought at first he might be on a Moped because of the very bright headlight, but a moped would have caught me sooner or later as I was only averaging ~17 mph. Rain forecast for the afternoon, though these days it seems that if they forecast rain, it won't. If they don't forecast it, it's almost guaranteed.

dalmore

In Tempe?? Come on over to Georgia for some real humidity!! Actually Georgia seems to have been pretty humidless this summer - Not complaining mind you just saying...

And I love the poetry!!

* jack *

I think I'm gonna get rained on today... and I'm looking forward to it.

jyossarian

Warmer ride in than yesterday or so it seemed. Was sweating up a storm. Probably because I was wearing my helmet today as opposed to yesterday. That combined with heavy traffic slowed me down and when traffic's that bad, I end up exerting more energy as opposed to when traffic's moving and I find a good rhythm.

RonH

No riding today. I went to bed tired and woke up tired so I drove.

Not sure if I was tired because of --
1. the hot, humid temps and smog we've been having.
2. working long days and then doing lots of household chores when I get home.
3. the years catching up with me.

I hope it's not #3. I'm just a kid of 61.