A substanial increase in bike commuters this year. I would say almost 3-1 increase- the only downside is that there are fewer places to lock the bike. fortunately, the college I teach at has just opened a fantastic new bike room. I requested such a thing a year ago and never thought they would have even entertained such an idea where real estate is so in demand (they basically converted an old store front into a bike garage) but they did.

Have had much better motorist interactions lately and some pretty negative ones with cyclists- the world is turning upside down.

I'm still waiting for this fall weather I keep hearing and reading about. It was 85 when I left and got up to 98 today. My legs felt like lead both ways, but I must be doing something right; I made the commute in 15 minutes less than usual both ways.

I had a tailwind this morning, and the wind has changed, so I'm going to have a tailwind going home as well. You have to be lucky sometimes.

thanks for making me glad to be me today.

i ate something about half an hour before leaving yesterday morning. consequence: 4 minutes faster in the morning, and time to detour for take-out dinner at night. sigh. guess this means there's breakfasts in my future.

this morning it was threatening violent rain right from the git. i took my alert jacket but couldn't be arsed to locate the gloves or rain pants, reasoning (rationalizing) that it wouldn't happen. i was way early (for me) and had to stop at a gas station anyway, so decided to reward myself with coffee as well. took it to this little park with jogging track and playgound that i've discovered a few blocks from work, and wouldn't you know it. i figured i might as well use the time constructively by waxing/wiping my chain, and then figured i might as well see if i could figure out why i can't get the smallest ring on the front cassette . . . and then since i thought i had an idea, figured i might as well bring out the allen keys . . . next thing i knew i'd released the cable on the front derailleur, and didn't have anything fancy to grip it with so as to put it back. i wasn't as early for work as i'd thought i'd be.

coming home it still hadn't rained, but it was still threatening and you could tell from the temperature of the air that somewhere had just been hailed on. i got a spectacular sunset coming over the bridge. then i had to detour for banking and other purposes, and just as i coasted up to the grocery store the heavens fell in on us. it was bouncing back from the road four inches high, and still raining pretty hard as i covered the final mile with half a cow in my messenger bag. cars behaved better than i'd have expected them to, considering it hasn't rained on us like that all summer. thank you alert shirt company and eggplant jeff!

songs: misunderstood, pete townshend; green grow the rashes oh, robert burns; joshua gone barbados, tom rush.

I think the forcast today is rain with a chance of STUPID!

My normally calm commute seemed to be populated this morning with folks doing their self-rectal exams today. Between being pinched off by a utility truck and having several people pull out in front of me, I guess I should be glad I made it to work unscathed. Twice the people pulling out in front of me seemed to be so busy with their cigarettes that they couldn't take the time to check for traffic. Must be that my lime green reflective jacket, reflectors, headlight and tailight just blend in with the surrounding darkness.

Other than that, the light mist I started out in changed to a steady drizzle by the time I completed my 10 mile commute, typical fall Indiana weather I guess.

I hearby proclaim today is commando day at the office. Not that I have any choice ...

Nice ride but my temporary googles suck - I hope the new ones arrive today...

Yeah if I survived the landing.

I saved a squirrel's life this morning. I saw a cat crouched down in someone's lawn. About 30 feet in front of the cat was a squirrel foraging around in the grass. I made a loud squeaking sound and the squirrel looked up, spotted the cat, and bolted up a nearby tree trunk. Sorry, cat!

Then, on the MUP, a poodle wandered out of the woods and started sniffing around the grass next to the pavement. No human followed. I decided to turn around to see if it was lost, but it crossed the MUP and went up a path toward the back of a house. Today must be unattended pets day.

No fog! I could see! There was much rejoicing!
Other then that, same ol ride. Had a car come a bit close to me...coulda reached out and touched her. I really need to carry a nail or something in my hand to scratch the paint

Probably around 5C, raining hard and 20km/h winds, of course, I was riding directly into it.

Wet, very wet.

20 miles long with the first 14 into the wind. Temps about 65F so it wasn't cold.

This was actually my first ride in the rain in almost 3 years of commuting!!! (I usually take the car when it rains). I gotta say, it's not a bad ride in the rain. Now I'm just hoping my stuff dries before I have to put it on to go home.

Great ride, got buzzed by an older model Acura Integra with a black paint job..

I put both hands up in the air in the " why did you do that for ? " position and he just flashed his hazards at me ... I suppose by that he meant that he is a hazard that I should be watching out for as it approaches from behind at triple my speed.... ?

No Rain today!!

First really fine day in weeks.

First post in a while, been commuting all summer though, 3-4 days a week.

Woke up to the sound of cars driving on wet roads and knew it was raining. Was about to work from home when I remembered I left the laptop power adapter at work. Then I thought about taking the subway, but remembered it's a long walk from the station to the office even though I don't have to go outside. Finally made the right choice and rode to work. It was only drizzling so I didn't bother w/ the rain gear and just rode in shorts and a bright orange HHCMF shirt. The ride itself was uneventful except for one guy honking at me. I ignored him since he was driving in the bus lane illegally and he wasn't in a bus.

Back on the bike after a rainy day Wednesday. Cool mountain morning (mid 50s) but I warmed up quick on my first climb.

It's getting darker and darker in the mornings...

Am having major mixed emotions. The ride in was so nice I could have kept on going for another 15 miles. I get to the office and the cleaning person has the showers locked out for 45 minutes Now I'm late and have to explain this to my boss. I don't think he really cared because he had seen my bike locked up since 8:00 am. He just didn't know what I was doing or where I was.

Then I have to come in and read that you saved a squirrels life? What were you thinking man? Those are nothing but rats with furry tails. I have an ongoing war at my house with those cridders. They are trying to tear up the awning and one of the stupld little things is trying to make his home in my gutters. I wake up some mornings to hear it moving around inside the gutters...very annoying. one day I came out of the garage and he was coming out of the gutter at the same time. He just froze and stared at me. By the time I thought enough to go get the pellet gun, he had gone back into the gutter....and I'm not about to shoot holes into my house!

But on the other hand...I don't care for cats either...so now my emotions are all mixed up!

Congratulations!

Paul Hamilton (ATP, CFI-I AMSEL)

Usually when someone puts on their hazards it's to say thank you or I'm sorry. I think the driver realized what they did and was saying sorry.

I know if I cut someone off by mistake I'll put on my hazards to let them know it was unintentional. Truckers will put on their hazards if you let them get into your lane in front of you.

smells on the commute: Donuts from dunkin' donuts and grilled burger and hot dog smell from Ted's Hot Dogs. a diesel truck came up alongside of me and I just about puked from the fumes. I had a nice ride anyway.

Ooooh, this morning was an awesome ride for good smells. Red Hook brewery was prepping a batch of something really great smelling. The nice hoppy malt aroma was drifting across the path, and since I'm a homebrewer, this is a really good smell to me.
Then a little further up the MUP, the Woodinville lumberyard was running the saws full-bore. The smell of fresh cut lumber was drifting across the path.

There are a couple of smells on my commute, the Rosedale Barbecue, which is always a block from my house and at the end of any long ride...at which point I start salivating. There is a candy company of some sort near work, so sometimes I get a whiff of candy - really nice. It reminds me of when I was commuting back and forth to school in San Diego, and there was a smell of Chocolate Chip cookies for about 2 seconds in the afternoon...

This has been a week of mechanical issues. I got my first flat tire in 3 1/2 months of riding to work and there was a chunk out of the tire where the hole was. Then last night I rode most of the way home (~20 miles- rather than bike-bus-bike) through some really rough shoulders. I pulled up at my wife's salon, and as I'm pushing my bike up, I realized that one of the rails on my seat had SNAPPED! A clean break, right behind the clamp. I'm not sure how long I had been riding with it broken, but I switched it out last night and rode this morning. I guess this is what happens when you ride a lot more, you wear things out...

Lovely morning today, cool, clear, cars staying out of my way...

Put in a 15 hour day yesterday and the GF wanted to come pick me up at 10:00pm... I told her no, that a bit of fresh air would be nice. Glad I rode, it was really nice. The rural area was a little spooky that late. I know that creatures lurk in the treeline. Mountain Lions are not uncommon here....and they're sneaky buggers.

Back on the bike at 6am this morning for another fun filled day in the salt mines.
Couple of dog walkers in the rural area had 2 dogs on leash and a large one wandering untethered. That makes you slow down and pay attention. At the last minute the stupid dog comes from across the street right in front of me. I braked hard and stopped in time. The owner said, "Sorry he only has 2 brain cells" I replied, "2 Brain Cells and No Leash" with a smile as I rode off. Silly humans...trying to blame it on the dog.

Cool-ish and breezy this morning. Wore my fleece earband to keep my ears warm and considered breaking out the arm warmers but didn't. Got to work less sweaty than usual.

Weather so great I wish I could bottle it.

My first rainy commute, just a drizzle really, but I was thankful for the showers at work, because at the end I had road grime caked on my shins. 3/4 MTB quick release (zefal) fenders acutally did a pretty nice job, just have to be careful to keep the feet in a 3/9 o'clock position so I don't get water off the rear fender.

Really a pleasant commute, the rain makes people drive slower around here, for some reason... or at least they were giving me more space... kind of nice!

Continuing my normal, daily commuting routine. Most have been uneventful so no real reason to post. Last night however traffic seemed unusally heavy - both cars & bikes. I wonder if the car traffic is increasing with falling gasoline prices (my wife says an informal survey of her coworkers indicates they did not change driving habits due to higher gasoline prices). I think the bike traffic was due to the warm weather - sure were a lot of crazies out.