Happy Patriot Day.

Left earlier than usual because I'm changing my hours so I can get home earlier. Fall and early darkness are coming. Scary!!!
Cool morning but the humidity was higher than it was over the weekend.

Got out a bit late, but no problem. It looked like it was going to down pour, so I had my rain/wind breaker on and my reflective vest. Of course, it didnt rain.

Relaxing ride in, good way to start the week.

First commute with hybrid
 

Today was my first day riding into work with my panniers and 80 psi tires (on a Trek FX hybrid). The ride is 9 miles each way with about a 3/4 mile steep hill to end the ride in.

The past 6 rides or so time I've rode in with my Cannondale roadie and a backpack. Backpack was very uncomfortable because I simply had too many . The 120 PSI's were a bit harsh on some of the backroads. The hybrid rides much softer and I feel more comfortable with my body more upright. It didn't take me much longer either, despite the extra weight from my clothes and laptops. The weather was much cooler this morning; to the point where I had to wear a fleece for the first time in 6 months. The current plan is to ride in Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Too cold too early
 

I'm right now in Cambridge, MA and it was a little too cool for me this time of year. I can feel winter right around the corner...

Temps are creeping downward in the mornings. It was 45F and clear today. I wore the leg warmers, shorts, arm warmers, wind shell, and full finger windstopper gloves.

Sun is also later each day as well, so I mounted on the 10w halogen in addition to the LED flashing light. Seemed to work out well. I may be working late this week as well, so it's a good idea to have the light with me.

Saw a coyote this morning in the rural neighborhood I cut through. It cut across the road about 20ft in front of me. It's a bit unsettling to see them when you are on a bike and alone. The're like medium sized dogs, but wild. I keep the dog spray clipped to the outside of my pack just for them. If they decide to eat me at least I'll be spicy picante flavored. :)

Good ride in this morning with cool temperatures -- any cooler and I'll have to wear warmer clothes. The skies were threatening rain but I got into work dry.

I noticed a dramatic uptick in traffic today -- I wonder if people are intentionally avoiding transit because of the anniversary. Streets that are usually fairly empty were jammed for 6 blocks or more with little movement. Gotta love those bike lanes.

Looking forward to the ride home tonight.

Someone shoot me if I ever explore without a map. Argh! You think I would have learned from the last time. Nope!
I decided to take a path further than I usually do. So, it forked and I took the wrong fork. Needless to say the fog did not help. I encountered a street I know and picked what I thought was west. Was it west you ask, hell no! I went 10 miles east before I discovered my mistake. Oh well.

Not a bad ride in today. One of my co-workers was complaining that we needed more carpool lanes, and that 1 person per car was the bane of his existence. I chucled to myself, then thought better of it and chuckled out loud.

Nice fall morning, pretty uneventful. One more week commuting at commuting time, then I take over kid at school drop-off duty and won't be on the road until after 9.

Mountains = West
Kansas = East

That works here in the springs too....
Unless it's foggy, then who knows which way is which :)

Yup. It was foggy. It is next to impossible to loose your way in denver provided that you can see one of the two. Of course I couldn't see either. Eventually after I found my way, the sun started poking through. Thanks :p

my commute...
 

Wow, I love Hawaii!
Man, it felt good to be back on my bike!

Commute was beautiful, high 70's, light breeze.
I kept up with a roadie for a bit. I was on the bike path, and he was on Nimitz.

I've been watching the roadies more and more.
Starting to wonder if I'm in too poor of shape to try 50 of the 100 miles on the Honolulu Century ride coming up.

I did 36 miles of it last Monday. It hurt. My commute is only 4 miles each way, and it's getting pretty easy.

It's getting a little cool. I've already started wearing long pants, and I'm going to have to wear a light jacket and full-finger gloves soon. I would have liked the full-finger gloves this morning, actually. Just a few more days until my fairing arrives, then I'll be able to ride like it's summer for a few more weeks.....

Lots of traffic on my route today, including a big tractor-trailer that I thought I might be able to draft. Unfortunately, as soon as I caught up to it, it turned off the route. It made a big right turn and I stayed far to the left of it. It was then that I thought I would join the Big Peloton In The Sky: a POS Ford minivan came screaming up through the gap left by the truck as I was trying to move back over to the right. I was trying to give her The Look, hold my hand down and back, and still pedal like hell in case her brakes didn't work. She got uncomfortably close to my wheel.

Luckily, no one else came close to killing me this morning so I'll call it a successful commute.

Too windy and too cold, not a ver fun commute. I hate the wind, it ruins everything....

It was cool and foggy this morning again. Par for the course up here this time of year on a path next to a river. Nice ride, though. The MUP was surprisingly empty for Monday morning. Only 3 other bikes and 2 joggers in the whole 6.5 miles. Both joggers were wearing reflecto shirts and I could see them very well; they both said "good morning" back to me as I passed them. One of the cyclists was heading my way, and cut onto the path in front of me close enough I had to jam my brakes. He didn't even look for traffic as he was coming onto the path. I whipped around him and kept my words to him at nothing more than a greeting (which barely got a reply.)
Overall, it was a nice ride. Almost getting to be glove weather, though.

I'm still waiting for these fall temperatures everyone is talking about. It was cooler, but still about 80+. Today was my first commute in a week. I ended up getting some 48 hour flu thing or food poisioning last week that knocked me out all last week. When I left my house, 2 roadies passed on a cross street. About 2 miles later I saw them again and caught up and passed them. After I passed them I notice one of their shadows and realize they are drafting me. I dialed it up to 26mph for a few blocks before I had to turn. Other than that it was a nice peaceful ride. A couple of roads had been repaved so that was nice.

It's warming up down here. I was in shorts this morning- but still a long sleeve top under the tshirt. It will be shorts and t-shirt on the way home.

Good ride in today. I caught a green light on the fly at mansell road - a first. YIPPEE!!

No ride today, had to drive as I'm travelling between three different sites for work. While driving down the GW Parkway I saw a bad accident between a cyclist and a jogger on the MV Trail. It seems the cyclist was coming down a hill and, just as she approached one of the wooden bridges, a jogger made a U-Turn right in front of her, she hit him and they both went down hard. While she was on the ground, he sat up and held his head as if that's where she hit him (maybe helmet to head). It looked really ugly and, although I wanted to stop, I couldn't because of the traffic. There were a lot of people out there and I'm sure someone stopped to help.

Did anyone see this and knows if they were all right?

Ride in this morning wasn't too bad. It was chilly when I left, but I was sweating like a madman by the time I rolled in (my helmet REALLy doesn't vent too well, I think. I seem to get the sweatiest in the head area). About four blocks from work, it started to rain (just a little), but otherwise pretty good. Seemed to get buzzed more than usual this morning. Maybe everyone was in a bad mood since it was overcast and "blah" out.

Oh, and here's another annoyance of mine, that was exhibited again this morning - other commuters who are in such an all-fire hurry to get to work (why??) that they blow lights and are rude and inconsiderate to OTHER CYCLISTS.

For example - every morning, I am southbound on Elston, and make a left turn onto Milwaukee. There is a stoplight there. I wait my turn at the light, and then turn left at the green. Almost EVERY MORNING. I have to swerve out of the way and allow another cyclist, southeast-bound on Milwaukee, who is blowing through the red light. And it's generally someone on a pretty well outfitted commuter bike (bags, blinkies, etc), so it's not like it's someone who is just out for a tourist ride and doesn't know any better.

I guess it just goes to show you - cyclist, blader, or cager, you are just as likely to be a selfish jerk :)

Been a while since I posted in this thread. I took about a month break from commuting after I injured my knee although by the second week I was able to ride. Working from home was getting too comfortable so I forced myself back into the office today. It's cool today so not much sweating and the cagers left me alone. Saw a few other commuters on my way in and a few more commuting bikes outside which is always awesome unless I can't find a place to lock up.

Nothing amazing today. Took the old boring route.
However, the ball of my foot is killing me. Would someone like to give me a foot rub? You need to be female, blonde, 5'5", and built like a .....
Somehow I thing that is a tad excessive for a foot rub.
I think I will go kick a cement wall for a few minutes. :p

I little chilly to start with. We are now at that time when it is dusk when I leave so both ankle reflectors went on as well as front and back blinkies. I met a new rider on the way in and we shared pulls for a few miles. Nice guy. It is almost time to start covering these knees as they are beginning to cuss me a little for the exposure.

The teeming hordes have finally returned from vacation! There were peds everywhere today, and traffic volume appears to have doubled, but it's probably just back up to normal levels.