yeah, it was. up all night competing in the Itch Olympics, so i was tired today. had to stop on the way home and buy some chocolate milk, then find something to lean on while i drank it. nothing worse than being stranded somewhere with nothing to do and nothing to read while you're doing it. i found a fragment of left-behind local paper at a bus stop and read obituaries for 15 minutes or so until i felt fit to go home.

nice weather. too warm for the alert jacket, but just right without it. noticeable thinning of the population in the bike cage these past few fridays; i guess people are taking their kids camping and stuff while the taking is good. it's so hard to believe that we're looking down the barrel of winter again, but impossible to pretend that it's still high summer. it's amazing how fast the year seems to turn once august is halfway over.

discussion with the business analyst, who bikes to work too. she goes about 5k each way, and lives in this flat part of the world. asked where i come from so i reminded her. 'oh god,' she said. 'you've got that HILL going home every day.' i feel vindicated :D

Today was probably the worst commute in a while. I started out 20 minutes late, which isn't a big deal since I leave early enough to allow for an unforeseen situation. I was all pumped to ride since I had just watched an alleycat video. Half way to work, I felt like I was riding on sand. Yup, rear flat.

Let me rewind here. Before I left, I checked my CO2 cartridge and it was empty and I didn't have anymore. So I threw my mini-pump in my bag on the way out. I looked for my extra tube, but remembered I used it last month when I got a flat. Back to the commute.

So I pull over and look for some shade which at 11 AM is basically non-existant. I get the flat fixed with a speed-patch. This is about the time I start cursing my POS mini-pump because it won't get the PSI up to where it needs to be.

Thankfully the LBS (lone bike shop) was on the way and a block north of my regular route. The lady in the shop (bless her heart) was so damn slow in finding the tube I needed. She pulled out six tubes, unrolled them all and checked to see how long the valves were even though the size was on the box and I was telling her I needed two 700X20-25 medium length presta valves. 15 minutes and $10 later I had short length presta valves. By the time I got the tube in, I had 10 minutes to get 5 miles. By some miracle I made it to work on time with a half inflated tube.

Cliffnotes: Left late, got a flat, fixed flat well enough to get to LBS, bought tube, installed tube made it to work by the skin of my teeth.

Commute is the best part of the day
 

Been away from the forum for a while. Two trips - professional conference and 9 day bike trip in Pacific Northwest. Back to commuting regularly for the past 3 weeks, 26 miles per day. Teaching 120 students in a new classroom with no air handlers working - miserable conditions. Facilities group finally decided to do something about chronically wet carpet in my office. Have not been able to use my office for 4 of days this past week. Commuting rides were the only thing that kept me from going mad this week.

Had a nice ride both ways today. I checked the weather when I left. Supposedly it was 79, but I think it was closer to the mid eighties cuz I was sweating like a catholic priest at a little leage game by the time I got to work.

I don't get why people in cars yell when they drive by. Kinda reminds me of the stand up routine about guys that drive by girls and whistle at them done by Jerry Seinfeld.

Run off the road on the way in by a pickup. Guess my taillight, white helmet, reflectives, hi viz jacket etc, where not conspicuous enough. I was just right of center in ther right hand lane of two each way. Obviously he had to move over to graze me, wish he would have moved over to the open left lane. Caught up at the stoplight and bounced my bottle off the truck and started yelling to get the driver's attention. Probably was a good thing that he had his door locked (I checked)because I was gonna pull him out of there and I had no intention of playing nice. This guy almost creamed me. I usually love the Sunday commute. I have a huge purple bruise on my thigh from my frame hitting my leg when I threw myself over so that the truck's mirror would miss me. Seems a lot of the worst drivers around here take off their license plates when the have a temporary registration sticker. Now I know why. It makes them harder to identify. Ride home was nice.:D

First thing I noticed when I woke up yesterday was the wind blowing from east to west (normally it blows from west to east) so I knew something was up. Checked the weather and at 8:30 AM it was already 90*. :eek: The ride in was extremely fast thanks to the wind (thanks Hurricane John). At lunch I must've ate some bad Chinese food and felt like crap the rest of the day. Woke up this morning feeling like I got hit by a train, so I slept for another three hours and decided to just drive in.

oooooh--- holiday= no traffic. nice ride in today, plus it was under 100 degrees. yay!

Nice ride in today. After about 4 kms of my 15+ km commute I spotted a colleague heading for the bus. About half an hour later we happened to meet again as we arrived at the office door. I told him where I had passed him and he immediately pointed out it took us the same time to commute that distance.

He was only dropping his car there, his full commute would be 45 kms, but he told me he would really like to try and commute by bike. He had already made plans to maybe ride one way 4 times a week, and take the bus for the rest of the trips. All he needed was a reliable bike and some encouraging words, so we chatted about bikes and practicalities involved in commuting by bike for a while there. I hope he goes for it.

--J

Heck of a lot more traffic today....mostly cause it's the first day of school in Michigan. I'm going to have to trian a whole new group of people now :) Had one truck pull out on the road with some engine problems, he was spewing so much smoke from his pipes that I had to pull over and wait for it to clear. I couldn't see any cars in that cloud and I'm sure they couldn't see me.

Otherwise, nice ride:)

really nice ride in this morning. Kind of humid and low 70's for weather. People on the road were playing nice this morning and I was in a good mood. Took my time riding in this time. Made it in in about 38 minutes and not dripping sweat for a change:)

Finally got a rack for the back of my bike and installed it this weekend. Bungie corded my backback to it this morning. The balance shift on the bike was a little different but nothing to complain about. It was nice being free on my ride without the pack on my back.

Somehow shaved 5 to 10 minutes off the commute this morning - I think my legs are finally starting to get used to being back on the bike!

I'm exhausted. The commute this morning was fine except that I had to push myself the whole 28 miles.
I think it may have something to do with the 60 mile recreational ride I took yesterday in the foothills.
I nominate the following thoughts as my most idiotic meandering bike ride internal dialog (this occured yesterday while cycling in the foothills):
"Gee. There sure are a lot of hills in the..... foothills"
"Holy crap! Another one!"
"Argh! I've ran out of gears. My legs are dying"
"OoooOooO! I'm at the top of this freaking steep hill" *looks around* "Holy cow! I have to go down that now? Ugh"

A good ride, warmer this morning than it was all weekend. Still, it was the first time in 4 months that I've worn long pants on a ride! It's starting to get dark in the mornings too, I'm glad my lights were finished on time. I hit nearly every stop light on the way, but no matter. I'm looking forward to getting that fairing, it will help with the cold and I'll be able to avoid wearing long pants or jackets longer than I ever could before.

Made it 4 miles into my 8 mile commute before a flat tire caught me unprepared. :mad:

First commute in the 60's since last April. Ahhhhhhhh.

It was a cool 47f this morning, crisp and clear. There seems to be a ton more traffic not what school is back in session. Seemed a bit slow this morning with the monday load. Not riding much for 3 days may have made a difference too.

Riding directly into the rising sun now. That's a bit scary. Makes me wonder if people can see me through their dirty winshields. Been keeping a close eye in the mirror for that one.

Going to try and get out of here tonight in time to bust out an evening ride with the little woman on the tandem. That's usually a 10-15 mile cruise with a stop at Starbucks and tour through Manitou Springs, a local touristy area.

I was cranky leaving the house today. The road 3 blocks from my home is still torn up, requiring some acrobatic manouevering to get over. When I got to 14th St., I dismounted and walked my bike across as usual. Two bikers were riding on the sidewalk going the direction I wanted to go, and they both gave me the "look" as they rode by. The "look" + scofflaw = chasing [by me]. By the time I got back on my bike, a third guy popped up, but he only had 3 m on me and was easy to catch. I must have been in a seriously pissy mood, since I caught up with the first two riders and passed them in <2 blocks. I stopped at the 4-way stop sign [as usual] and scofflaw #1 catches me, then when we get to the next stop sign and he blows through it into traffic, doing an aggressive merge. Scofflaw #2 is a little smarter and pauses at the stop sign but basically does the same thing. I waited for a gap to show up, then took off down the hill after them. I caught #2 as she was weaving around another cyclist, then made the light at the bottom of the hill, getting back to within 20m of #1. However, it was at this point that I had to give up the chase and make my turn to continue on with my trip to work.

Brisk (40s) and foggy. Could have benefitted from headlight. Next 2 days won't be heading in until after 9, so they light's summer vacation may yet make it through the weekend.

After 3 day Weekend Of Sloth, did not feel so bolt upright on the Felt flatbar bike (75.5* seat tube angle, 20" top tube length) vs the mtn bike (73* seat tube angle, 25" top tube length). I was >< this close to taking the mtn bike, too, at least a little 'cause big load in panniers today.

Did everyone commuting into Redmond this morning forget to charge up their headlights over the holiday?
6 people passed the opposite direction this morning, and 4 of them didn't have their lights on. One guy at least had a reflector vest and apologised about his light burning out. The rest just zoomed on by in the dark and fog as though it were a clear summer afternoon.

It's darker farther north at this time of year.

Ah! Fall is in the air. Temps in the hi 40's in the a.m and 70's in the p.m. Rounded up the tights, jacket, gloves and head cover (no hair to keep me warm :)). The sun is definitely lower in the morning and evening now. Great ride in this morning!

Nice and cool. Did it flip to autumn over the weekend? We usually have at least one more week of 100F temps in September, but it feels like we just fast forwarded through the end of summer. I wore armwarmers and kneewarmers and could have done with gloves but forgot them at home.

I rode the Caldaro this morning and took a weird route. I actually rode directly to the office, dropped off my backpack, then out past Sac State, hopped on the American River bike trail, and looped back into midtown before stopping for coffee and a muffin. Very civilized.

Cloudy start to the day. Light traffic.
The gas station I ride past every morning and afternoon had new "low" gas prices. Regular was $2.49. First time gas has been this low in a while. Does this mean that the new crop of "high gas prices" commuters will head back to their cages? I hope not. :o

Way too mcuh traffic this morning (maybe because it is first day of school). 21 celsius and not much wind, was very pleasant.

took a week off due to a hamstring injury, still doesn't feel any better. Wow, the paths were busier today than I've ever seen them. Good on my fellow commuters for getting out there on the bikes.