Ride today was nice both ways. I only worked 4 hours, I had to do some job skill testing. I've only been doing this job 10 years. Drafted off a city bus for a half mile on the way home. I also stopped by the LBS and found I didn't need anything. Strange. Ride On!

"at least I missed the *baseball* sized hail that was falling earlier in the day!"

Yes, that could've damaged your frame!

good ride yesterday, nothing unusual. kinda hot.

Same think here Tok...thought it was just my perception...hang in there better days are com'n.

I've been commuting on and off by bike for years, but I've never had to deal with divided highways with buses. Until monday anyway - I recently moved to the over side of the city and will start riding again.

Nothing much to report. Stocked up on emergency lunch supplies today and ran out of room in the seat bag, so I tried to carry them on the handlebars. It worked ok but not for much more than my commute. One lady tried to pull a stunt to get around me but didn't see the moving truck at the corner and had to get back in line behind me.

Nice ride this morning. 60F. Light headwind. I'm breaking down and taking my bike to the LBS for a new chain and inner ring. I was lubing the (20 year-old) chain and noticed it's missing 4 rollers!

I think I fixed my loose seat post problem from last week. I cleaned and dried the post and cleaned out the hole in the frame. Put the seat back in and tightened it down as hard as I dared. It didn't slip down this morning.

Nice ride in this morning. I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning the drivetrain and replacing tires on my road bike. Rode that bike in this morning....with a clean chain and a new set of tires on. Only one incident this morning. Couple nut cases with close cropped hair saw me coming up on the back of their car in traffic. Do you think they moved over to the left to let me pass? No.....these guys had to move to the right to try to cut me off. I jumped up on the curb, shifted up 2 or 3 gears, stood up and passed them doing about 25 to their 5 mph . I heard the passenger yell something...but I have no idea what he said. Later on when they caught up to me again...the passenger had something to say...but I don't know what. I was too busy giving the one finger salute to them.

If you ever have the desire to haul a dumbell in a pannier, don't.
That 20lbs threw off my balance quite a bit and my commute took a bit of extra time. If I ever do this again I am strapping it to the top of the rack.
At least this morning I had the following thought after being left in the dust by a roadie "HA! You think you are so freaking fast! I'm carrying a pannier that weighs more than your bike and only going a few miles per hr slower."
Then I passed him later after he flatted out. Go figure

Nice ride in. Still very humid.

The idiot shuttle bus drivers on the university campus I ride through still haven't learned that you're not supposed to cross a double yellow line to pass a cyclist. Saw two buses pass a guy that was 50 feet behind me. The road is narrow so I took the lane. They tried passing but nearly had a collision with an oncoming shuttle bus. @$$holes!!! I wish the university wouldn't be so cheap with their wages so some Americans would apply for the bus driver positions.

A section of road on my commute is being re-graded [top layer of pavement torn off and the remainder is deeply grooved], but only on one side of the road. I tried to deke around it, but then a minivan decided to slide in front of me. I went around him, only to be confronted with oncomong traffic. Oh, and my helmet broke. Sigh...

How did that happen?

Stupid question. Why were you hauling a 20# dumbell?

A coworker of mine lifts his dumbell while coding. Being that I have twigs for arms, I thought it would be amusing to give it a try. Seems to have helped him and I could use a bit of definition.
So far, all I have managed to do is kick it with my foot. Time to move it.

The fog was insane this morning along the Sammamish River Trail. Since the weather has cooled off, there's more people out riding to work. I saw 6 other riders this morning between 5:30 and 6:00am. Thankfully, everyone was running decent lights. There could have been a couple ugly rack-ups going around the tight corners of the construction detour on the trail had we not seen each other coming and decided to swing our turns a little wider.

Incidents from the last week or so:

A sheriff buzzed me. That was sweet.

On Thursday there was a major accident along my route home. A sheriff (I wondered if it was the same guy...) was diverting all traffic onto the local highway, on which I can't legally ride. He laughed when I asked if I could ride on and then let me go. I had the entire road to myself for about .25 miles, then came to a LOOOONG line of backed-up traffic. Normally I don't pass cars stopped at a light, but this was too tempting. I passed them all, then cut through between two stopped cars to get in the left-turn lane, and rode on. I was thinking, "See ya, suckas!" I wonder how many of them were thinking, "Maybe I should ride my bike....."

This morning a lady honked at me when were both stopped at a red light waiting to turn right. I turned around to give her The Look, and she waved me off to the right (which I ignored--it's a dang red light! Not that I'd have moved for her regardless).

People really don't get it. If I'm riding in the middle of a lane, there's a damn good reason for it, and no amount of yelling, honking, screaming, engine-gunning or other intimidation is going to make me move. If you want to pass me, use the other lane!

Today was "Neighborhood Cleanup Day". What they should call it is "Everybody Put Your Crap In The Street And Create A Huge Traffic Hazard Day." The crap in the street is bad enough. What's worse is all the scavengers driving at 5 mph and randomly stopping dead in the middle of the street so they can run to the curb and salvage that desk chair with the ripped seat and missing casters. Feh.

Otherwise, it wasn't too bad. My legs were surprisingly fresh even after riding up to Mt. Rose yesterday morning (not from Sacramento, just from Tahoe City!). I had to remember to bring my light and blinkie, as it may be a late night at the office today. Yay Monday!

No more commute for me! Job's over.

Gotta look for someplace to work so I can ride there and back...

Took my cruiser for her maiden voyage to work today...

No helmet for the first time on the commute..


What can I say about that...

1. felt just as hot without it as with it. ( I wear a full face bmx helmet )
2. felt a little less safe, but more like a rebel than anything else..

=)

I actually saw another bike commuter today, first one this year.
School started today, so I'm officially in the leave-before-dark crowd again. in the summer I slack off and don't leave until 7:30 or so.
The fog was so heavy last Thursday I finally gave up and took off my glasses; wiping them every 10 seconds wasn't keeping them clean and I could see better without them. I was glad for my HID up front and xenon strobe in the back.

Nice ride in today. I broke out my 2nd pannier this morning for (I think) the first time since I bought them (over 3 years ago) so I could transport a box to take to the shipping store at lunch.

Had a close one on the ride home Friday night. There is a high speed section with no shoulder. I mean the paint is the edge of the road. I tend to roll up to 30-35 in here to keep up with the traffic. There was a tow truck that had loaded a dead one on his back on the dirt to the right. He decided to pull out ahead of the car in front of me. This car slams on the brakes after just passing me ...so we were fairly close. I had no time to stop since the road was a bit wet. Had to swing into lane#2 with only 1/2 second to glance at the mirror. Missed the back of his car by inches. Now since the tow truck is rolling in the road, I have to pass him before I can go back right. He almost came into lane #2 on top of me without looking till I yelled at him. Then he slowed and let me back to the right lane. Yeah, he got the bird. I was trying to think what I could have done differently, but came up with nothing. Thank god the left lane was clear.

This morning was cooler.. a mere 49F when I left the house. First day for tights and shell in a long time. Need to rummage around and find some of that winter gear. ie full finger gloves.

It was cooler here as well. I broke out the light cycling jacket, tights, gloves, and skull cap.
Was still to warm. bleh
I hate temps in between my layers...or something like that.
My tights are no longer tight. Must have something to do with the additional weight I lost this summer.

ever have one of those days where you are just toolin' along, not spinning, just mostly coasting and enjoying it? this was one of those days for me. I got home later than usual, but with less sweat.

This morning it was a good 10-12 degrees warmer than last week in the morning, and it was VERY humid. Ugh! On the ride home it rained lightly, which I didn't mind since I was already soaked with sweat from work anyway. Not a very inspiring commute, and yet it was still more fun than driving there.