Another cloudless morning ride with temperatures in the 50Fs. No wind. Very nice. Reeled in a young'n on an MTB. Decided I had to pass him, but a guy on a hybrid came onto the MUP behind us so I thought I'd let the hybrid pass both of us and gauge his speed. He was riding at a nice pace so I passed the MTB guy and rode with hybrid guy. :) We passed another MTB, and eventually stopped at a red light and exchanged weather comments. Then he went through the red light. :rolleyes: No cars coming, but I wait for the green.

I'm really starting to feel stronger on my commute. I'm riding a lot faster than I used to. It was a beautiful morning. I hope that the rain holds off until I get home this evening.

I got a good chuckle today while riding down the Mall. There was a motorcycle cop at the intersection of 14th and Jefferson (near the Washington Monument). A fellow bike commuter pulled up ahead of the line where one is supposed to stop and got berated by the cop because she had gone past the line! She dutifully backed up and smiled at the officer.

This type of thing only happens with US Park Police and the Capitol Hill Police. The DC Metropolitan Police aren't so strict--they have other things to worry about!

I wish I had cops like that on my commute. Came across 3 different cars that had stopped so far ahead of the stop line at the intersection that their entire vehicle was ahead of the line. Basically, they were stopped in the intersection.

That's a traffic violation. So why did the cop on my left, who could clearly see the violation as well as I, not do anything? the moron blocking the intersection was actually holding up traffic in the rightmost lane that was crossing him.

Then there was a soccer mom trying to make a right hand turn that was also in the same situation. Obviously the people in the traffic on the right lane crossing her weren't going to let her in, and that's fine, but the soccer mom should not engage into the intersection if she can't make her turn.

No commute today -- it's telecommute week! As much as I like being home, I miss the ride.

wow, my ride home yesterday was homeless/crackhead slalom course. There's a scourge of scum on the east side of downtown. That's one bad thing about the weather getting nicer, they seem to come out of the woodwork.

Very nice. I made a few minor changes to the commute bike and it is silent like a ninja now. I'm into the time of the year at work where the hours are killing me and the commute may be the only exercise I get for awhile. Saturday I had to work from 10 to 2 (no, not 4 hours, 16 thank you) but I was able to get in 12 miles during my dinner break. My coworkers saved me a couple of slices of pizza while I did an out-and-back time trial to Sac State.

Rest day today, legs were a bit weary and I thought I'd rest up sooner than later. I know already I'm starting to get that "should've ridden in anyway" feeling... Might head to MEC and get another Superflash, couldn't find my receipt so will ask them what to do about my seemingly defective one at home (it continued to randomnly turn on on it's own, so I removed the batteries eventually).

Ugh... my commute sucked. I shouldn't have biked in - I was tired after the epic headwind yesterday, and I was exposed to some smoke last night. Normally it doesn't bother me, but combined with being tired and stressed (I slept in and was late starting out, plus I remembered 5 minutes out that I was supposed to be in EARLY today to cover someone else's absence) - anyway, I had my first asthma flare in a while. And I forgot my inhaler. And my cell phone was dead so I couldn't call anyone to say where I was, or that I'd be late. So I kept pushing. Yes, I'm an idiot. Anyway, I've been answering phones all morning in this very sexy husky voice....

Commute today was great - tried a new route today, and despite getting a little lost in suburbia, it's a keeper! Today was also the first day that I rode in on my new tires; I traded in my 700x35 bontrager inverts for some 32 slicks, and I upped my average speed by 2mph! The decreased rolling resistance really made a difference. Aside from some ahole who decided to cut me off at an intersection, everyone today seemed to drive calmly and the weather was perfect. I even added a few extra miles to my route to stop at the LBS and pick up some goodies. Good day to be a bike commuter!

Took today off after arduous not-holiday weekend. Biked Thing 2 to daycare, then at pickup time, biked Thing 1 down to greet her. After long day (took 44 mile ride to clear brain, glorious!!!), they were both pretty heavy coming uphill. Small price to pay.

I took the road bike again today. Smooth ride in, but coming home I droped the hammer.;) The ride home I hit green lights all the way. I felt fast and wasn't spent when I got home. Next time I'll try to go faster. Fast, fast, fast.

I went in to work early this morning for a project, so I hit a lot more blinking yellow lights or greens. I love the road bike commutes!

Yet Another Nice Day. 55F. No wind. Blue sky. Many cyclists out. I caught one guy on a hybrid who was coming from my town, and rode with him all the way in. We didn't communicate. I just stayed many yards behind him and kept pace at 18-20mph. He kept getting out of his saddle and trying to sprint, then looking in his mirror. I don't know if he was trying to get away from me or not, but he was slowing down when he did that. :o

Soaking......poured from the moment I left to the moment I arrived and it's still pouring so it'll be pouring when I leave and pouring when I arrive home :)

Good old Scottish rain :D

Today was a nice ride in, saw a deer on the greenway, yesterday saw rabbits and squirrels, makes me realize why I'm biking. Also I lost 2 more pounds last week! Looks like the muscles are finally adjusting as the cramps have stopped

Hit every red light this morning. While I was waiting at one, a cab drove past in the other direction. The driver looked at me and yelled "YAAAAAAAARRR" in a pirate-like fashion.

Two things have improved my commute:
1. A computer.
2. Changing gears! I would stay in the same gear for almost the entire ride. Not sure why. But seeing how much my speed decreases at various points in the ride has caused me to down shift in order to maintain some velocity. It took 2 minutes off my ride!

Oh yes, yesterday waiting at an intersection, saw a friend going perpendicular, which I thought I might, time was about right, but also saw an urban deer trotting down the sidewalk then crossing perpendicular, opposite direction to her, at the light, in the crosswalk. Good deer!

Beautiful morning for a ride. It was about 60, light wind at my back, light traffic....I left the house early to get the ride going. My legs have been a bit tired lately, but I'm finding even when I'm tired, I'm still able to continue pushing at a good pace. I guess i'm finally getting conditioned :)

Had a problem on the way in. My Axiom bike rack (for disc brake bikes) kinda seperated on the way in. The bars that connect to the frame are all wrong and they just don't work right. I managed to put it back together but only partially.

So I had to slow down and be very careful on the bumps.

I felt uninspired this morning despite riding the tarmac. The randonee is on the repair stand getting work done (if I ever have time). Averaged all of 14 mph for 28 miles. I just do not want to be here today. Lets see if my coworker the massage therapist remembers to bring her table like she said yesterday. A massage would do the trick.

Beautiful ride in this morning, from Bethesda to WashDC. Temps around 69. The pollen seems to be subsiding and it is not too hot yet, so this is perfect biking weather. Not too many other bike commuters today - perhaps because I was out a bit earlier than usual. Lovely ride in along the Potomac, watching the rowers and kayakers. Wish I didn't have to go to work...

Not a bad ride in, was a little sluggish in my morning routine so I rode the direct road route in favour of time, a whopping 2.74 miles according to my routeslip route. 12 minutes almost seems like cheating, but I get to ride for a bit longer tonight, so that's OK. Loving the roadie, need to raise my seat a touch I think though.

An icy North wind blew hard in my face,
It burned my ears and slowed my pace,
" But that's OK", I laughed inside,
as I rode right past those suckah's that drive.

Took the bus in today, I get to ride my "new" Raleigh home tonight :D (I bought 2 old Raleigh touring bikes from a co-worker, so he brought them in to the office and I'm ferrying them home). Good timing on that purchase as my Norco developed a problem halfway home yesterday - the spring on my rear brake (V-Brake) broke off, leaving the brake shoe to drag. I called for rescue - cars can be handy sometimes :)

I figure that was extremely good timing on purchasing the backup commuting bike...

Very nice and cold ride in this morning. The sky is overcast but made for a nice commute. The streets seem to be back to what it was before during late winter and early spring. Much less bike commuters except for the regulars I see everyday. Oh well, maybe when it gets warmer in the morning again.

My chain jumped off the large front sprocket on the way to work yesterday.... Guess its time to adjust the deraileures..... Took two seconds to pop it back on....no biggie... Just needed to wash the gunk off my hands when I got to work.... Over 100 miles now this month.... Not loosing weight though....???

puff puff... 6th day of regular commuting in 3 wks! (one conference, one surprise trip out of town interrupting things, both featuring LOTS of eating, scant if any exercise, scale finds 15 more # on me today than 2 wks ago yesterday!) Still keeping weekly mileage close to 100, but not even close to uniformly distributed across rides or days... more like poisson dist, maybe lognormal...

Last night I rode a long detour towards Clarksburg, into the wind, just so that I could enjoy a heavy tailwind for 10 miles. This is what you do when you don't have hills to climb.

This morning I was running late so I took the most direct route in. It was fine until a Honda Accord pulled right into my lane. She was stopped at a light (right on red is legal in California), and I looked right at her, thought I made eye contact, and even raised up my hand. Still she pulled out right in front of me. And then I think she realized how fast I was going because she immediately pulled into the gutter. I had plenty of room in the other lane, so I gave her a wide pass and held up my hands in the WTF? gesture.