Delivery Van?

A generic non-medallion car for hire. It's a term generally used for car service vehicles. Yellow cabs have metal medallions attached to their hoods in NYC. Having a medallion allows the owner to operate a metered taxi. Medallion=cab, taxi, hack. Non-medallion=livery, car service.

Nice ride both ways. My sciatic(sp?) nerve has been causing me pain lately, b ut riding seems to ease it some.

Nice morning ride today. Sunny. ~60F. Mild headwind. I caught a guy on a touring bike with panniers about a mile into my ride and just let him keep pace.

On Friday I took a different way home, riding on more city streets than usual. I wasn't exactly sure of my route so I was taking it easy, riding along between 15 and 20MPH, and a Fred on a beat up road bike was trying like mad to pass me. :D :rolleyes: I could hear his chain skipping. I just stayed right and didn't speed up. He passed me, barely, then started blowing up. I was fixing to drop him but then he left the road and stopped. It was all rather amusing.

Different route home was okay, I guess. Probably not something I'd repeat. Nice 40MPH downhill part. Knobby tires are LOUD at 40MPH. Some woods/single track riding. Okay for recreational riding but not so much for a commute.

Construction workers installed a "bike lane" right outside my apartment building. By "bike lane" I mean they basically dug a ditch down the length of the road where I ride and then filled it with really rough pavement. and it's about 4-5" below the level of the road. I rolled off the sidewalk without even seeing it and fell over within the first minute of my commute.

OUCH!

Hey all, good commute this morning. Mid 70's nice aft 1/4 breeze....

5.43 mi @21min 16 sec = avg spd 15.32 mph!

I'm such a geek, I wrote a program for my TI-84 calc to work that out for me :D

Billy

So as of this morning, I feel like I am officially a bike commuter again.

The last time I rode to work was back on June 11, and even then, I only rode TO work (since I got a flat when I got there, and had my wife pick me up after work). But now, armed with my newly fixed rear tube and tuned brakes, I was a force to be reckoned with.

In fact, this morning at avg speed of 12.29 mph was my fastest ride to work so far. Looking at my bike journal, I can see that I had rides last year that had a faster average speed, however, that was when I had my old bike computer that I think was not as accurate in terms of distance (those rides claim my ride to work was 6.9 miles, but now my bike computer, which is actually precise, says it is 7.12 miles). Although now that I look again, I can see that I have a ride in Sept of last year that was with my new computer, on the same route I took today, with an avg speed of 12.80 mph. Damn. But I still kicked the crap out of my average times for the couple of rides this year :)

Today was also my first time checking out the new "green" bike lanes in Chicago. Nifty.

Back on the bike (thank God) today. I went on my first "little hike" with some friends last thursday and it killed my legs too much to ride Friday (and all weekend). But finally eased up enough to get back on the bike and commute in today.

Left the house about 8 or so this morning since it's "Lazy Monday". The temp was already well above 70.

Got buzzed by a loser in a new Corvette for no aparent reason. He must have a very tiny wee wee to need to buzz cyclists to prove his uber-macho. What a loser.

As I was thinking how hot it was while climbing the hill on the way in, I thought to myself, "six months ago I was wearing lobster claw gloves, balaclava, heavy jacket, and wind proof tights." It didn't seem so miserable after that. :-)

I have been instructed to "Ride like the wind" on the way home. I think I have to BBQ some animal for dinner.

Nice ride in today, but man is it going to be a hot ride home.... I found a faster route to connect my two pathway segments, so that was nice. This route has roundabouts (traffic circles) instead of stop signs, and less traffic than the other route I'd been using. I did see a roadie and a taxi driver arguing about the use of the roundabouts, though, so I'll be sure to keep my eye out.

Went rafting ont he Elbow River yesterday, which was very relaxing, but I added some interesting new tan lines to my collection :p (I now have a Teva tan on my feet and some weird swimsuit-strap lines to add to the standard issue biker tan, heh).

We got out the door on time, but didn't even make it to the sidewalk before my wife noticed she had a flat. Not a soft tire, but a full on flat. Better yet, it was her rear wheel, so I couldn't just give her a spare off of another bike. Of course, this is also the day that my boss gets back from holidays, so I don't want to be late. :rolleyes:

I get the tube changed [next time she can do it herself], and jump on my bike to sprint to work. At the end of my street, some yutz in an SUV has decided to pull a u-turn, and wants me to go through. Just as he motions me to go ahead, some guy in a car wants to make a turn into my street. The SUV is stuck halfway through his u-turn because he waved me through [which I actually don't appreciate], the car can't turn because the SUV is blocking his path, and I can't turn because the car has the right-of-way in front of me. I finally go ahead of the car and the SUV roars off, its driver cursing me out. I should have just careened out into traffic.

I sprinted the rest of the way to work, using the 185 HR to get my mind blanked out.

Light traffic out for my ride in this morning. Temp was higher than I expected and the humidity didn't help. Scattered storms forecast for this afternoon so I am taking my chances. Got caught in them twice last week so I figure I am due to miss them this week.

Nice ride; 1st commute since Thurs, so a lot of energy. Managed to use a lot of the energy, maintain good avg speed, and not stress out achilles, so that's pluses all around. Plus nice and sunny. Thing 2 not thrilled to be dropped at daycare, so that was a negative, but she'll tough it out.

DEFINITELY the latter! :D

Back before the baby (and the wife for that matter), that was my solution, playing 5-6 days a week. Alas, now I'm lucky if I get out once a week, thus the muscle soreness.

Commute stuff: I was nearly taken out by a van making a U-turn across 2 lanes of traffic this morning. As I saw him make the move I screamed, "What the ****?!" and he stopped, now blocking the traffic lanes. I passed him and he finished his turn, then caught up to me and passed me slowly to "apologize"--the passenger just waved at me. Idiot van-driver then proceeded to make a right-turn with his right-turn signal blinking. You, sir, shouldn't be permitted to drive.

Rode a tad over 200 miles this weekend and got back late last night (1am) so I opted for public transport this morning (left knee was hella sore and I was just *tired*). Back on the steed tomorrow.

Today is my bus day. But I attempted to commute on Saturday. I got about 2 miles out and got a flat. I had left the house in a hurry and forgot my trunk bag. I always have my bag. Figures, eh? I walked the bike back home in 100+ temps and up the hills. A roadie passed on the adjacent road and asked if I needed help, but I declined. I wasn't exactly the most sociable at that moment.

Ride was great. Haven't been on my bike for 7 days. Completely mental since my bike was in the shop for 2 weeks I seem to have gotten out of the swing of things. Hopefully, today begins another journey. I don't mind riding with a backpack, but I have to tell ya, I almost feel like I am a big box truck moving slowly down the road.

No commute today but still decided to go out for an early ride. 12.38 miles including Fillmore hill (2nd time up and I seemed to do Ok). The weather was nice; 50F-something and very comfortable. Not a lot of traffic.

Because I have to do some errands today including a medical check I am taking my wife's car to work. (I know, I know... )

GreenAnvil

Ugh, warm and very very sticky. Temps around 80 and humidity sky high means a very sweaty ride. I was dripping when I arrived at work and it took me longer than usual to cool down. More humidity today most likely means there actually will be storms/rain this afternoon. If it doesn't rain I have to stop at radioshack and the dollar store on the way home for some stuff.

Nice ride in, legs are still a bit tired (some unusual knee pain, but I've been stretching it off).
I eventually need to take the roadie in to check a knock/sound I get in the crank (or possibly BB) that I can't identify/figure out. My seatpost rack is all but toast, but still works for what I need. I'll take pics of that damage at a later point. I think my B17 is slowly starting to break now (~250 miles).

Finally got out of lazy mode this morning and left the house at 6:30. Made for a nice cool ride in. It sure does warm up a lot between 6 and 8 am. Supposed to hit the mid 90s here today. Pretty rare for us actually.

Passed another commuter in the unincorporated section this morning. It's nice to say hello to a fellow cyclist in the am.

Bleh. Woke up with that feeling of completely empty fuel reserves, decided to take the bus. I guess all that sprinting yesterday was a bad idea, plus it was too hot to really eat much in the evening.

Another Raleigh commuter. It's been very hot here this summer, but the high humidity didn't seem to kick in until recently. Fortunately we have a shower at work, but I have to work at my computer a few minutes in the mornings just to cool down. I don't mind the heat so much in the afternoon but thunderstorms can be a problem. Haven't been caught in one yet, but had to delay my trip home a few times waiting for a storm to pass.

Good commute today in Atlanta. I got squeezed 2x by the same 18 wheeler. I gave a one finger salute and tried to say something to him as I passsed but his window was rolled up. I think he was just oblivious not malicious. other than that it was good.

Haven't had to commute in a while (working remotely), but today I rode in and ended up playing leap frog w/ a guy on a brand new Bianchi Roger. Basically, it's a SS CX w/ discs, kinda like my bike except no discs and it's fixed gear. Got to work and there was an old Gazelle upright commuter looking thing locked to my usual lock up spot. I guess more and more people are trying out commuting cuz I keep seeing different bikes.

It was very warm and humid this morning, so the ride in was sweaty. About 1/3 of the way in, a bug hit me in the neck and fell down into my t-shirt. I thought it was a fly initially, but then the stabbing pain in my sternum informed me of the little *******'s identity: wasp. I slapped my chest hard to kill it, but I had already been stung. I'm [apparently] not allergic, but it hurts quite a bit. Sort of like a shard of glass being ground into my skin.

When I got to work and changed, I could see the point of entry and the spreading red blotch. As I was putting on my work clothes, I noticed a wasp flying around the ceiling of the room. I can only guess that it's the same one that stung me, and got knocked out for the rest of the ride inside my t-shirt. If not, I don't know how it got onto the floor without a passcard...

Commute today was great. I was indoctrinated into riding in the wetness of Seattle. It drizzled for about the first 10 mintues of the commute and the last 20 or so were dry, at least for water coming down on me, water coming up off the road was a different story. I'm really starting to dig this commuting thing as I've just done it the equivalent of a full week and yesterday and today was the first day I've done it back to back. It's feeling good.

Was very gun shy today. Yesterday someone (after near missing me by inches and my subsequent pass/words) then intentionally tried to run me off the road, brushing his service van against me (fast enough to leave marks on my jacket) while we were moving at ~20mph. I can deal with/ignore the ppl that honk or give me the finger. This is the type of guy that really scares me. What is about some ppl that makes them think something like this is ok?

I feel kind of sick about the whole thing. In six years rain or shine commuting this was the worst experience I've ever had.

Nice and rainy. 60s, cool. Cascadia fenders kicked major butt. 6" deep puddle (lake?) conquered them though, for dry foot purposes anyway.