Just got told The day shift where I work was going to 7 AM from 8AM . Means I have to start lugging batteries and lights . Means I can be less of a VC in certain areas, sorry HH . I would rather come home in the dark. It means I can pick up more rocks for my garden when I pass through an old cobblestone quarry.

Wet.

First commute to my new job. The ride itself was rather uneventful, but I enjoyed every second of it. Lately my recreational rides have been getting old and tiresome, so it was nice having somewhere to actually go, not just a big circle. I work noon to 8pm so when I left it was not cool... it was rapidly approaching 90 at 10:30am. Tonight was the first time I rode at night. Ever. I was definatlely glad I went to the LBS yesterday for lights (Cateye EL320 in front and a Cateye LD170 in the back) and a new saddle (Specialized Avatar).
I was plesantly surprised with traffic. Cars gave me plenty of room tonight. One even stopped to let me pass before they made a right turn. Too bad I wasn't expecting it and almost tipped over. I felt really comfortable riding at night. Everytime I looked at my computer, I was riding between 18 and 22 mph.
All in all, it was a great commute. Commuting by bike beats commuting in a cage any day.

nice ride today. Rode the Speed TR folder today - it's my foul weather bike. Expecting rain this afternoon.

And for the second straight time - A Green Light to cross Old Milton Parkway at SPEED!! Now to get one at Mansell Road ...

I rode my wife's MTB since my Peugeot is out of commission. I had to raise the seat, but it's a guy's bike so it fits me okay. The seat is angled for a chick_oops_woman so it wasn't entirely comfortable after a while.

Oddly enough I was cruising at about the same speed. What does that mean? I guess the Peugeot had oodles of drag from the worn out drivetrain or something. Gonna go check out new bikes later. I feel like I'm buying a new car or something.

Came in on a different route this morning - someone from the chicago_bike community on Livejournal had suggested it to me a few months ago, and this morning I thought I'd give it a shot. It's the same distance as my "street" commute (the lake path route adds a few miles), but it was much less harrowing. I still get to take diagonal streets, but the bike lanes are wider, and there's much less traffic.

I like it!

The sky was very dark when I left work last night. I tried to outrun the coming rains, but the clouds opened up on me about 1.3 miles from home.


This morning was warm and very humid. One of the main roads that leads to the university I ride through was blocked with downed power lines, so every cager going to the university decided to take the neighborhood streets I take. The backup was ~6 blocks. Of course you know I didn't wait my turn in that mess. If I had I'd still be on my way in to work.

Once again it rained. It wasn't a hard rain, just a steady one...and this time, I remembered my jacket. Nice ride in, I'll be glad when I get my brighter headlight in (gotta order a brighter back one).
I also discovered that I need to get an air freshener for my office...drying my clothes in here isn't bad, but I think my officemates aren't going to enjoy the smell for long

8.75 miles this morning. First trip using my touring bike. It's so much faster then my hybrid. My average speed increased 3mph. Gotta love it.

Rough ride last night. I was heading to a social event and had to pass through a roundabout. I had a car enter as I was trying to get through, swerved around them, clipped my pedal on the inside of the turn, and went down rolling. Got up pretty quick, no major damage to the bike, and a slight sprain in my wrist. Then got soaked in a thunderstorm as I was putting my stuff back together. I sat through the social event with some ice on my hand and rode home feeling pretty good. My neighbor is a nurse at the big trauma hospital in the city so he lent me an Ace bandage and some more ice. Everything seems to be better this morning, but I did walk in to the office and it was pretty darn humid.

Fall* is beginning to sneak up on me. During the two weeks I coudn't ride, it started staying dark in the morning. I had to break out the headlight yesterday.

* In metro Denver, it's Fall, instead of Autumn, because things pretty much just go gray. People leave the city in droves to see Autumn, up in the mountains. Luckily, it isn't that far, and the contrast is spectacular.

Rain at last! Cool at last!
After months of no rainfall and 20-odd 100 degree days in a row, things finally broke here. Rode in about 70 degrees his morning, loving that.

And had a close near collision with - are you ready - another bike commuter. I was downtown, I had the green light - one of the few today, since they seem to have gotten out of sync over the weekend - and this bozo, an older-than-me guy (50's?) on a hybrid, with a backpack, blows across on the sidewalk, popping out from behind a building right in front of me.

No finger was necessary, but I did bellow "Look out, Clown!", as I crossed in front of him. It was close enough that I expected to feel his front wheel hit my back one.

Nice quick ride today. Temps were resonable...upper 80's, so I didn't even soak through my clothes

Twas a cool 49F again this morning. Nobody tried to kill me on the way in. It was a good ride.

Resucued an x-mart bike from the dumpster last night. It was missing the rear deraileur and chain, but other than that was brand new. I mean it still has the seam on the tires... never been ridden. I think I'll build some sort of franken-bike out of it. I'm thinking I'll flip it upside down and make a tall bike out of it.

In full-Fred mode this morning: t-shirt and dresspants. I'd left my anklebands at work so I used Ace tape on my pant cuffs. And I was on my go-fast bike so I had to bring my shoes, dress shirt, and tie in my backpack.

Got buzzed by some woman in a craptastic Saturn this morning. I couldn't tell if it was intentional or negligent, but it was close. And of course, it was all so she could blaze up to the line of cars at the light not more than a block away. I coasted up, knocked on her window, and gave her a big ol' thumbs-up and sh*t-eating grin. "Hey, Dale Jr! Nice driving!" She gave me that stupid look you usually see on livestock.

Other than the cow in the Saturn, not a bad ride.

My helmet strap broke yesterday, so I had to duct tape the thing back together. Went outside to jump on the bike - rear flat! Went inside, changed it, and was on my way. No more drama on the way in to work, but I had to scrub my hands twice before a client meeting to get the grime off from the tube change. I should get a neutral support wheel truck to follow me around...

Gorgeous fall day today, a little disconcerting, I'm not really ready to say bye bye to summer.

Honked at twice this morning. Second one by a woman in an SUV (of course) passing me closely to get to a red light (of course). I rolled up next to her and said, "Are you really in that big a hurry to get to a red light?"

"There's plenty of room over there--you should get to the right!"

"Lady, that's what we call the 'debris lane', and I've already blown a tire riding in it. I'm not doing it again."

Rolling window up and yelling, "I'm sorry, but you need to get out of our way!"

Yesterday I got to ride in my first rain storm of the summer. I've been avoiding the rainy days this summer by driving to work. This time I sucked it up and rode in during a mild drizzle. It was cool and turned out to be a very enjoyable 17 miles to work.

Once I got to work is started raining in ernest and drizzled/rained the rest of the day. By the time I got ready to ride home everything was completly soaked outside. I don't have fenders on my bike yet so I got pretty wet on the way home even with a rain resistant wind breaker on.

I'm sure all the people I passed on the way home thought I was nuts because I was grinning all the way home (I had mud on my teeth to prove it). It was a blast riding through all the puddles and seeing just how much of a rooster tail I could make on my back. I did a pretty good job and all my biking clothes are still at home drying out today.

I averaged around 15-16mph on the way home including traffic stops and I have about a 5-15mph head wind most of the way home.

I bet she used you a the excuse she was late for work. People are so impatient.

Once at a drive through ATM, I was getting fast cash. I pushed key for the amount I wanted and a car pulls up behind. My money comes out, he says into his cell phone. "Yea, sorry I'm late" - my card comes out.

He continues, "I stopped to get cash and the guy in front of me was trying to take out a mortgage."

My receipt comes out and I'm starting to see red mist. I was halfway out of the car to confront the jerk when I realized that it didn't matter. Just didn't matter...

Drove my wife into town since she hurt her shoulder. Stopped at the gas station about 2 blocks from the office and took my bike out of the back of the Montero. Decided to ride the pavement (which I almost never get to do) across the river and toward Upala. Great road - pretty flat, no holes and about half the vehicles are bikes. This was at 7:00 in the morning. I would see a vehicle every few minutes. A little warm, but not bad at all.

Just road down to a good turn around and road back. People on Motocycles could barely pass me - and would give me the thumbs up as they did.

Looking forward to the ride home.

Awesome ride in. I barely noticed the light rain

Well, the ride home was a little unpleasant today. Rainy and windy along the lake path here in Chicago. My first time riding in the rain, and I've learned that I definitely need fenders, and some gloves (my hands kept slipping off my grips towards the end). Now I'm off to that "rain gear" thread!

Another hot ride into work this morning, and then hotter and wet on the ride home. This weather is getting very old. My odometer reads 4.88 miles one way for my commute, which is farther than I expected it to be. Makes me wonder if I set my computer correctly.