Ride home was fine except for some moron in a Benz SUV that I was riding next to decided he needed to make a right so he sped up, cut in front of me and slammed on the brakes. I hit my brakes, swerved to the left around him and yelled "Nice move dickhead!" through his rolled up window while he was talking to his friend. Even w/ the HID, I guess he just figured he's in a Benz and has more rights to the road than me. Some people are just malicious.

My trip home today was multi-faceted. I walked for over a mile to the LBS, waited for most of an hour for my bike to get finished, test-rode it, came back in for a couple of minor adjustments, and made a quick trip home with a nice and well-adjusted drive-train. =-)

Still aching from a hard weekend ride and sore throat but got on the bike and after a mile all was forgotten. Took the long route, with a singletrack diversion to Training Loop in the Don and then more singletrack along the river... by this evening it was raining but still quite warm and enjoyed the ride home against the wind. Am now officially addicted. 20 miles today and felt like it was too short.

woke up in the morning to a flat tire on my commuter bike. Grabbed the folder and was out the door in no time. got to the polls, voted and rolled on to downtown. nice ride back to join my wife. we threw the folder in the car and went to visit a friend. Got home and found out every candidate I voted for won! wow! that hasn't happened in a while. Great day. hooray for democracy.

Todays trip was uneventful as I carpooled in with my wife. Reason being is that yesterday I had a rather eventful trip in on my fixed gear Motobecane. The first 15.6 miles weren't to terribly exciting, but the last mile as I was merging left to make a lefthand turn in somewhat brisk and dense traffic I managed to strike a pedal on a curb. I was cutting over at a rather severe angle so that I could get in the lane and I realized that I was coming in too close to the median so I tried to correct but before I could I struck my left pedal on the curb, catapulting me over the handle bars head over heels onto the (thankfully grassy) center median. My Motobecane followed me and ended up several feet behind. I got up as quick as I could, checked my wheels (they were out of true but rideable) and hopped back on, trying to preserve some dignity in the process but my handlebars were way off so I had to hop off again and bust out the multitool to fix 'em. I completed the rest of the ride uneventfully and wasn't too much the worse for wear (so I thought) besides a scrape on my forehead, a couple scrapes on my arm, and a slightly sore shoulder (where I landed). I got grass stains all over my pants but what the heck, it gives them character. While at work I trued up my wheels and the ride home was very pleasant.

Later that evening my side started aching a little bit, but I didn't think much of it until I touched the hurt spot and noticed that I had a dent in my ribcage. As of this morning I was hurting a bit more and now I'm thinking I may have broken a rib. I've broken them before and there's not much I can do for it (besides painkillers) but I want to be able to ride and don't want to be loopy. I took today off but tomorrow I'm going to climb back on and ride again. I'll probably take a bus part of the way if my side starts really bothering me, but my wife and I rode to vote and then to dinner and I've been pretty active since and the pain isn't anything I can't deal with. Hope to have a better report tomorrow. ;)

Bummer on the rib injury livewirerc. Here's hoping it's just bruised so it only hurts for a week or so instead of a month or so.

Had it not been for the November Commuting Challenge, I wouldn't have rode in today. I had time constraints on both ends of my commute, but I made it just in time both ways. I rode to the polls on the way home. The ride was plesant both ways except I seemed to hit every blasted red light on the way in.

crashed (mildly) on my way in this morning. the giant-puddle-on-the-far-side-of-the-mup had drained out, but what it left behind was a long, deep tract of silt. i guess slicks don't cut through that stuff very well. i braked too hard when i realised how slippery it was, bike slithered and went into the low crash barrier on the right side and i guess i went over it onto the grass. thank god for grass, and i was VERY glad to be wearing all my rain gear, considering the state of the slime. when i got up i discovered i'd crashed right next to the drainage grating, and it was still about an inch deep in leaves. i kicked about half of it clear before i went on (and my dears, the smell), so hopefully the next puddle won't be as serious. i wasn't hurt but jolted a couple of tendons and i'm a bit sore, and the bike probably needs yet another trip to the lbs. bleah. just when you start feeling all competent . . .

that's about it for today.

Glad you are okay. Sounds like it could have been nastier.

Why is it that some people can't wait FIVE SECONDS for us to clear an intersection before they make their turn?

Anyways... nice ride in this morning. The rain stopped about midnight last night, and we're left with mild & damp. I'll take 47° and damp anytime in November!

Seems my entries are always more about the weather than the traffic. I am blessed :)

Good ride in this morning. Only scary moment was passing a chow that was being walked by this little girl that looked like she weighed maybe 70 lbs. Luckily the dog was well behaved, but the look in his eyes was like..oh yeah, breakfast and its still moving to boot :eek:

Foggy...moist...I'm glad I have fenders:) Other then that, rather normal ride:)

Rain this morning but warm. Nice ride with the new fenders. No other bikes and the car traffic seemed less, so I made good time.

My luck kind of ran out this morning. But I'd rather light a candle than curse the darkness, so I'll say instead that Lady Luck prevented me from serious injury. Pouring rain this morning and I'm going down Massachusetts Avenue, on the BIKE LANE!!!, and an SUV flew past me and then made a sudden right turn with no blinker. I did a last-minute swerve to avoid plowing right into him, and went smack into a patch of leaves. I remember thinking, 'not good' before my wheels went horizontal and I was down in a heap. Even worse, my backpack opened up and my work clothes got soaked. The SUV? As far as I can tell, it never even slowed down.

It's almost fortunate it was raining because I was layered up in rain gear and all I have to show for my accident is a bagel-sized raspberry on my right thigh, torn rain pants and wet clothes at work. Other than that, great ride to work!

He had to wait longer than 5 seconds whether he cut me off or slowed down and cut in behind me. I was right next to him when he pulled this stunt and the reason he had to slam on the brakes was due to the line of cars in front of him waiting to make a right turn. I passed him on the left before he even got to the intersection. Some people just want to hurry up and wait.

Ride in today was less drama filled and more rain filled. Wore the full rain pants and jacket w/ the helmet cover and realized the helmet cover doesn't work too well w/ my new helmet. The visor part was obstructing too much of my vision so I had to flip it up to see. And of course when it's flipped up like that, it doesn't work as well at keeping the rain out of my eyes. Not too bad since I had a tailwind pushing the rain away from my face, but the ride home will be a different story.

After the almost 2" of rain we got yesterday if finally let up last night and I was able to ride in this morning. Roads were still pretty wet but it wasn't raining. I did have to deal with some heavy fog for the first part of the ride but the sun burned that off pretty fast. Had a woman in a minivan who just had to pass me going through downtown. Speed limit is 25mph and I was going at least 27 or so but she still had to do it. I caught up to her about a half mile down the road and passed her while she was waiting for the next light. She only had to wait about 10-15 seconds before I would have moved to the right when the road widened but she just had to get past me :rolleyes: Spotty showers or a thunderstorm could be in store for the ride home this afternoon but at least it is warm (60s).

Heavy rain last night resulted in some icy spots on the road this morning. My wife did a nice two wheel drift up to a stop sign but managed to recover quite well. Traffic was pretty bad on 4th St., but I made it in okay. I managed to catch the S4 from Mt. Royal again. He's easy pickings.

Yesterday afternoon turned my morning headwind into a raucous tailwind. Funny how that works. ;) I was moving fast for a while. (20MPH = fast on heavy knobby-tire MTB)

No ride this morning. My friend left her car at my house (drinking and watching elections past midnight) and her boyfriend drove her home in his car. I drove friend's car to her house and she drove me to work from there. My wife is getting me after work. (How complicated!)

Just as well though. It's raining.

Gorgeous 70 degree day today. Glad winter's over. Switched to spd's/sandals on the fixie because of my bad foot. It feels easier with this setup but without a computer I can't tell.

Some a_hole in jeep on his cell phone almost rolled through a stop sign before he saw me. Then gets upset that I get to take my left turn, after I waited my turn so he gives me the one-finger salute and I heartily give it back.

Other than that it was a wonderful ride in.

Last night was pretty chilled, although I really need to clean my chain, and true my wheels. I swear, if you threw something at my chain, it would stick. So that's my project for tommorrow (or one of them I guess).
Almost wrecked coming into my apartment complex though, which was rather funny. Step hill leads down into my complex, and it's pretty new, very slick, blacktop. So I fly down it like I normally do, except it's extremely wet. Notice my back tire locked up pretty easy, and slid sidewase for abit... ok, no big deal, let off pressure, apply both brakes, back brake a little less firm, front a little more firm... ok, locked up the front brake... hmm, not slowing down very much, and I can't make the turn at this speed, not even close... Same thing again, locked both wheels up, skittered to the left of the road a bit, and then started looking for a place to crash... ok, cool, theres a bush dead ahead, aim for that in case you can't get it slowed... I was all ready to unclip and wipe out into a bush (which would have been hilarious), but I finally got it slowed enough to just make the apex of the right turn.

Ride to work was shorter than normal. Got up to late, had to drive to the bus station (yes, with a car), but I'd missed that bus, so I had to drive to the next park and ride place (about 7 miles down the road), and pick it up there. Well, it sucked that when the bus got there, BOTH bike racks were in use... so I had to decide... drive to work (which I hate to do), wait for the next bus and be late, or haul ass to work from here, and try to make it in on time. I picked option C, and it worked out ok. I made just over 10 miles in a little over 30 minutes, which was about as fast as I could have ridden this morning. Man, my chain REALLY needs cleaning. It's like riding in molassas. Made it in only a few minutes late.

Okay, it's settled. I absolutely positively have to get a new light. I've been trying to get away with a cute little Cateye LED light. It's sufficient for riding in town with street lights but I discovered that it's totally insufficient for actually lighting up your path on a dark road.

I've been following the Total Geekiness thread and would love to be able to homebrew a portable sun setup, but I just don't have the time or skills. So I'm going to spend a little bit of dough and get something BRIGHT.

As for this morning, the streets were wet and the sky threatened to open up again, but no rain. Once again, I was perfectly comfortable on the bike but started sweating once I walked in the building. I need to leave a few minutes earlier and spend a few minutes standing in the cool stairwell before going up to my office.

Had a good ride in today, felt great having rested yesterday. Was misty and rainy, but not too much actually coming from the sky. Got honked at for being in front of a car (I guess the person didn't appreciate me taking his precious 8 feet of roadway up, despite the fact that traffic was indeed stationary and I wasn't slowing it down in anyway).

I was checking out a rather nice looking female while I had taken the lane, got honked at by a cabbie who didn't like my slight off-straight swerve as he was trying to push himself over into my lane - fair enough, I'll accept that one ;)

Traffic today slowed the ride in, 34 mins with an average of 13mph - seems about on par.

Was a lot warmer today, 8C when I left - I donned my GoreTEX army waterproof, and layered as normal - big mistake, I was WAY too hot really, but it wasn't such a big drama.

I also put the lights on first thing today for some extra "HERE I AM, PLEASE SEE ME" - definitely need to get some lights for my own needs though. Where's that Xmas bonus that cries "Buy an SON, Buy an SON!" :D

My commutes continue to be pleasurable.

It was a pleasant 85F/15%RH going home yesterday - enough to get a good sweat going, but not so much warmth to hurt.

Al

Wet ride home and the wind was blowing the drizzle into my face. Tons of traffic to slow things down, but I got home fine and had a good time in the process.

Found an alternate route than adds about 1.5 miles this afternoon. It has a decent hill climb in it as well, and it's all residential. Took about 5 minutes extra to get home, due to the length and the hill, but it was worth it. I got nice & sweaty... :)