I'm 50% through my first week of commuting every day of the week. Today was my first commute deliberately in the rain. I got wet, but not as bad as I was afraid of. Thunderstorms cleared about 4:00AM, I finished makeshift rainproofing and hit the road at 5:30, it sprinkled till about 6:30 and I got in to work (22 miles later) about 7:10. Why yes, I may be crazy, but I did it! Woot! :-D

Nothing to report this morning. Kind of misty on the way in felt good. There's been a Trek mountain bike parked to the same light post the whole two weeks of my new route. Maybe I'll put in a call to my friend in the police department... Oh, and I forgot my belt. Luckily I'm in the office all day.

Weather has been great here for the last 10 days or so.. High 50s this morning, perfect for riding. Got passed on the road by a commuter on a mountain bike w/knobbies, who later pulled in behind me at work. Not sure how I got here before him. My go-go-Gadget legs? :p

The sun was breaking over the horizon on the way in this morning. Makes it really hard to see when you are staring into the sun. I bet it's even harder for the cars to see me so I stayed as far right as I could and kept a close eye on them. Nobody killed me today.

I was telling my GF last night how awesome the legs on IronMan guy were. She said I should catch up to him next time and ask him for a date. Funny girl she is...

Monday night on my way home I caught up to another cyclist and we chatted at a couple of lights. He was headed to a LBS for a group ride. One of these days I will try and get to one of those rides. Roads were wet this morning but I only felt a few drops from the sky. Should be dry and hot for the ride home.

I rode in with my wife this morning, so we were able to chat a bit. Traffic is at an all-time low - I love it!

First successful completion of the new route. It was much nicer -- no elementary school, quieter streets, no chain-killer hill. One street turns into a packed dirt/gravel road and dead ends into a small fence that blocks the street, but on a bike you can go around the fence on the sidewalk and get on the next street without even slowing down. It's great because it means no cars are coming through.

I had to do a little schooling of a guy in a 4x4 Toyota pickup this morning. I'm waiting forever for this light to change and finally it comes on. (I'm actually on the wrong side of the street and crossing in the crosswalk. It's legal to ride on sidewalks in Roseville.) He's turning right and just keeps coming into the crosswalk... and so do I. I look him in the eye, point to my chest and say, "I have the right of way". He gave me a little wave and stopped. I think people are just too used to bikes and peds yielding to them all the time, even when the bikes/peds have the right of way.

Other than that, great ride.

commuting on the mtn bike, I took a dirt trail for a little bit last night going home; I think there's another one closer to home, might look for that tonight.

However, boy was it a mistake to try and find that same dirt trail this morning, going the other way. I've noticed each time I took it that I couldn't quite place the exact spot it kicked me out to the paved bike trail, and I sure didn't find it this morning.

I wound up wading through a mix of deer trails and blueberry bushes for about 15 min before fighting my way back to the paved trail (farther 'upstream' from where I left it). I was pretty fortunate to run into only a few raspberries and no stinging nettles while toting the bike (w/ panniers) through all that undergrowth. I found a few beer bottles mixed into the woods at the occasional clearing, but at least I didn't step on any sleeping people.

Drier than yesterday. I got wet after work but decided to go ahead and do the extra riding I had planned. It only rained for 20 minutes or so, then it was humid as heck. Still, it felt great.

On the way in I stopped at the donut shop and got a box for the office. (Yay for REI grocery bag panniers!)

I beat the hills for the first time yesterday - couldn't believe it. Part was weight loss (down about 15+ lbs), part conditioning, and part learning to stroke the pedals instead of pushing too hard.

These hills are steep - gravel and nasty with big rocks in places, I am not sure I am commuting or single tracking at times.

Anyway, it was great yesterday - I ground up to the top and I wasn't even spent. This was after 2 months of slowly improving, and then all of a sudden - I was there.

I just finished riding mi 6-7 mi route a few days in a row as fast as I possibly could, hammering all straightaways and resting only at lights, out of the saddle for most of the 30 min ride.


My butt hurts...and I'm tired!

Can't wait to try it again, though...

On the way in to work I happened upon a water main break. There was gravel, piled up for the repair, in the south lane and North bound lane was curb high in water.. I walked around on the grass which
was saturated. On the way home tonight water was still pouring out of the hole.

I did my second ever commute today, and it was great! :) Much cooler this morning and I saw 3 deer and a wild turkey all in the same spot. It almost looked like they were all friends just hanging out. :D One was a buck and probably no more than 25 feet from me. He just stared at me as I went by and didn't budge an inch, which started tomake me wonder if I should be afraid of him. :o Leaving the parking lot this evening I hit the edge too hard and my taillight fell off in the street, I turned to look but with traffic coming so fast there was no way I could get it in time. So on the way home I swung by the LBS and got a new one plus a better headlight. No big deal really, it was just one of several cheap blinkies I bought as extras for when friends ride with me at night occasionally.

Fourth day of commuting out of the last six work days.. Tonight was a treat. No headwind, perfect weather, hit all the intersections right and kept the momentum up. Witness a very, very near accident where a dump truck with a backhoe on the trailer ran a red light.. Freaky.

Took advantage of no headwind and did the 11.5 miles in 0:45.00 exactly, which include one very steep climb. Best so far. :)

great to get back on the bike after a few days off. everything normal, took it easy. very nice... hot on the way back, about 102. forgot my water bottle but it was not too bad.

On the way home caught up with another rider. We were in the same business. he sells corks and I make the contents they seal in.

Not so great, I got rear ended, Bike is a mess, I'm sore, and mad at the world of cars.

Chased an ambulance down the MUP this morning. Just past the drop through the first gully were 3 roadies, one down. Maybe they kissed wheels. I hope he's ok.
Otherwise cool and sunny - rode the old steel frame I was planning to sell - damn she shifts and rides like silk. If I didn't have another vintage bike that was lighter I'd keep her.

Really appreciated the ride home as stress relief today, as I was involved in the termination of an employee this afternoon. :( Thanks to the bike, I was able to return home fairly calm, all things considering.

I added a few kms to my commute this morning just for the sheer pleasure of riding. It's an amazing section of road: flat, smooth, VERY wide and nearly empty. No traffic lights. No traffic. Surreal almost. Just you and your bike. Pedal. Pedal. Pedal. Feel the wind in your face. Country riding 2 mins away from downtown Toronto. :)

Rid ehome yesterday was good-hot and a 5-10mph headwind, but otherwise uneventful. The ride in this AM was stellar!! Nice and cool 65F with relatively low humidity. The sky was full of pink stratus clouds which looked awesome!

Today was a fun ride, that's for sure. Weather man said the rain was out of the area, I left my jacket on the table. Wow, that's the last time I think I'll listen to that weather man.
Five minutes into my ride, a light sprinkle, then heavy rain. For a change of pace, they threw in a torrential downpour here and there. By the time I got to work, I was completly soaked.

The best part is my coworkers giving me "You biked through THAT" expression.
I love that :)

Weird commute today. Somehow, my seatpost slipped down, yet is still tight, so I'm riding like a granny on a comfort bike. My knees don't extend enough, and they bend too much coming up and around. It felt all wrong. Lucky me, I lent my set of hex wrenches to a friend so I can't adjust the #(@* seat yet. I just emailed our company field service guys to see if they have a set lying around. :rolleyes:

On the plus-side, I rode behind a very attractive woman (from behind, at least) all the way in. :p Slow going at 12MPH but I didn't want to try riding fast with my saddle the way it was. Not sure if she knew I was back there. I didn't get too close. Probably makes women nervous... A big ol' clydesdale shadowing them like that... :D

Getting out of bed this morning was next to impossible-so tired. 50% Chance of rain but a 100% dry commute this morning. Forgot to pack the Cliff Shot gel packets, so I had to take extra time to munch a Cliff bar. Now 70% through the first week of commuting Monday-Friday, thats 154 miles down, 66 to go. Just 3 more rides and I've proven to myself I don't need the car to get to work. If I feel up to it Saturday I might try biking to my parents house (40 mile drive, bike route length TBD but estimated at about 50 miles). If I can do that, then maybe I don't need the car at all! Enquiring minds want to know :)