:roflmao: I know about cow slobber. Interesting analogy

Best week of commuting this year. Was trying out TooManyBike's LEDS, so of course it didn't rain.

If I could trackstand for 2 more seconds I would have had the no foot commute today. Darn highway crossing. Tomorrow's another day. I love riding the fixed gear to work, and it is helping me ride faster and smoother on club rides.

Due to the severe weather (and ice and snow make sidewalks and bike paths impassible) I've started "partial" bike commutes where I ride the bus for the first four miles (to get through downtown and dangerous four-lane roads where the ice/snow is too far out into the street) and ride the other three. I've even been riding in the single digit temperatures since I only have to ride three miles. Well, it's either that or not ride at all!.

Two days ago on the riding leg of my commute I encountered a five vehicle fender-bender where traffic was backed up for around a quarter-mile. So I was like "screw this", picked up my bike and walked to the opposite side of the road that happened to have a clear sidewalk and continued on my commute.

So long, suckers!

great commuting day. a total of 31 miles because I did the ride in with the bike on the back of a car then rode home then rode back in and back tonight. took the street on the way in tonight and the frozen tundra bike path on the way home both times. It was really wild tonight because most of the water had re-frozen but occasionally I would break through and have to ice break like a cutter for 50' or more. There aren't many intersections but I got to one and had no brakes! rims and brakes were frozen solid! managed to squeeze them really hard and put my foot down just in time and get this:

Tonight I'm leaving where I've locked my bike downtown and I have to go past this nightclub. There are a ton of people outside waiting to get in and a giggling gaggle of sequin gowned girls are gathered to smoke in a corner (it's 25F). I'm wearing my bright orange reflectorized construction workers tee-shirt over my dirty old yellow windbreaker, with my bright yellow helmet over my balaclava, a blinking headlamp, my old jeans tucked into my socks with neoprene booties over my shoes on my beater commuter with a big old red milkcrate on the back rack.

Suddenly I hear them giggling even more and I look and one is struggling with a little digital camera desperately trying to snap my picture before I ride away. I stop and say, "I'll wait." Well, that was all they needed because several of them came running over in their low cut purple and black sleeveless gowns and threw their arms around me to get in the picture with me. They couldn't wait to have their pictures taken with what they obviously thought was the 40 year old virgin. (which is anything but the truth for several reasons) :rolleyes:

No foot commute. Nice ride both ways, and I dodged the rain today. Tomorrow is my favorite commute day, Sunday. I hope I dodge the rain tomorrow.

Great ride in this morning thanks to my new extended commute, as discussed here. It's a massive improvement over what I had been riding previously. Looking forward to the ride home.

No riding today. I'm driving because I'm submitting my resignation letter. I'll be cleaning out my desk. I haven't figured out how to fit a desk lamp, space heater, several books/manuals, and personal stuff into my panniers. :o

I'll be starting a new part-time job on Thursday at Intown Bicycles. I'll be riding the exact same route. I'll just ride about 1/2 mile farther.

^Hope everything goes well for you at your new job RonH! (that website didn't work for me, it timed out)

Had a nice ride in this morning. Overcast and foggy after yesterdays rain. Roads were mostly dry and people were driving pretty good for a Monday morning. I am hoping the sun comes out this afternoon for the ride home, should be in the 60s.

1cm of snow. I love JAMs who step on the gas to over take me then almost end up rear ending the vehicle in front of me. It happened 2 times this morn. It's like they only plan the next 30 feet at a time. Any driver's course will tell you to be aware of traffic flow up ahead and behind you.

1-3 more cm today forecast.

Fun ride in today. Alas, no first tracks -- someone with mountain bike tires got there before me.

Paul

Not too shabby today. I am still tied for 1st in the local online commuting challenge [yay me], but that will all go away after my vacation next week. Oh well, a week off of work is more than compensation for being out of the top ten.

Gross. Lots of near-melting snow, all of which was uncleared by plows when I had to set out. It'll be gone by the time I have to ride home, I think...

Today rocked. I took the full weekend off after a painful week last week. (Monday I went hiking and did 3600' in 4 miles. Rest of the week riding in was a big ol' OUCH!)
Put some Nashbar foam-tape on my bar ends, and installed my PB Protege 9.0 this weekend. The new tape made the ride in this morning so much nicer. Who knew that $4.00 could make that big a comfort difference? The Protege 9.0 is a nice addition. Turns out that I've been pretty accurate in gauging the distance on my commute. One of the online route mappers checked in at 7.48 miles each way. This morning's total distance: 7.48 miles! Average speed 12.9, which makes me happy because that includes a 3/4 mile climb over 8% grade.

Today was wet and cool, not raining but the streets were saturated and I was so glad to have full fenders.

The usual: enjoyable, brisk, uneventful.

Fast. I was in an all out sprint because I was late to work today. :(

Nice and sunny. Cold-ish though. Supposed to be snowy the next few days. Blech.

I had a good ride this AM. On the way in, a guy buzzed me and then got way ahead even after a turn... lucky for me it was the same turn I had to make and I caught up to him 5 blocks up ... I was making a left toward work and guess who is at the front of the line ? Mr. Buzzer !!!

I rode past his window ( it was down !!) and gave him a nice toot with my 130 db highway blaster horn to which he replied with a nice yell !!! .

It felt good. Very good.

=)

my normal 40 minute commute took an hour and 15 minutes this morning. I probably should have just taken to the streets it would have been no worse than riding in a light rain. I chose the bike path, which had a light 1 1/2"'s of snow over the slushy frozen mess that has been on it for the past week or so. At times it was actually plowed a bit but other sections were like riding a stationary bike with the tension all the way up. My heart was pounding as if I were doing it at top speed and I was just managing about 9 mph for most of it.

The ride home was much better since more of the path was plowed but it was still a big challenge. Rode part of it with another rider. He was also riding studded tires (the Nashbar ones) they looked to be either 1.5" or 32c's and he was sliding a bit but was handling it well. I have the 1.9 Nokians and was able to handle most of it but occasionally got some good slides in there, too. Disc brakes would have been a little better choice today my v-brakes were getting pretty clogged up- though they were working pretty well.
No real complaint it was like a challenging mountain bike ride- if I'd done the ride for recreational purposes only I'd have loved this ride. It was nice to ride part of it with another rider.

Hi there,

This morning I got blown off the road by a bus!
Luckily I am OK!

I managed to catch myself on the grass,
so I didn't fall off the bike, but I was totally forced off the road by the turbulence, as the
bus passed very close to me.

It is quite a windy day anyway, so it wasn't my best commute to work! I ride everyday usually,
and it is 7 miles each way from a village called Eynsham to Oxford, UK.

The roads here are awful. We have enormous holes that your bike would disappear in! At night
it is treacherous as you can't see the holes!

This daily commute may not be your usual cycling fun and excitement, but it sure
does keep me fit and strong! Last year I wasn't commuting, as I lived in Oxford. My
fitness levels this year are really amazing compared to last year!

I commute 7 miles each way and it takes me about 30 minutes.

We have a cycle track here along the very busy A40 to Oxford, but the traffic noise is horrendous!
At least it's safe though.

Man, it's so nice to have the sun up earlier. It seems to motivate me to ride faster. But alas, my legs were hurting from the race I did on Saturday. That was the only real problem I had today.

This little sausage of a dog ran after me from his carport - like every morning. I taunt him and call him names for fun: "C'mon you sausage with legs." "Pick it up fatty!" Stuff like that. I always have fun with him. Hopefully, his owner ain't standing there listening to me. Oh well.

Then like some mornings, I waited for this bus in Shelby that stops for an young, autistic girl. It brings a tear to my eye sometimes watching her mother struggle to get her on the bus. God bless that mother and child.

Had a fast ride home last night with a tailwind and added an extra mile to my ride since it was so nice out, upper 50s riding into the sunset. Cool this morning for the ride in, got a wave from a girl waiting for the bus, which must have been late since I usually don't see the kids by the time I go by. Can't wait for the mid 60s this afternoon.

The ride home yesterday resulted in a few curse words uttered under my breath. And some, not so under my breath! It had nothing to do with the cars though, and everything to do with equipment failure.

The road I ride has been getting worse all winter. Potholes the size of cantaloupes, I kid you not. They seem to grow every week! And the worst part is, the city can't fix them until the snow is gone. My rack bag is attached with four strips of velcro, which due to "velcro fatigue" and all those potholes causes the velcro strips to loosen over the length of my ride. Often I arrive finding that at least two straps have come off. Well yesterday, I finally found out what happens when all four come off: bad things.

While navigating a particularily bone-rattling section, three of the straps (I assume) came apart, swinging the bag to ose side of my rear wheel. The bag was then sucked into the space between my rear wheel and the rack supports, tearing free the last velcro strap and permanently lodging the bag against the spokes.

Now, this is one time when I'm really glad I ride a trike. If I'd been on two wheels, I would have been flat on my butt in the middle of the road with a bus bearing down on me like a tiger on a rabbit. On three wheels, it just felt like I'd thrown an anchor out the back, though I'm sure there's one spot on my rear tire that's a little more bald than the rest! After realizing I was stuck in the street and not going anywhere, I quickly hoised the trike onto the sidewalk and proceeded to dislodge the rather crumpled-looking rack bag. It took some effort, too. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be bent or damaged.

Needless to say, I am now in search of a new bag, or at least a way to repair the one I have.



Oh, and the city still hasn't cleared the side streets of snow, lazy asses..... grrr.....

Around 3cm of fresh snow. Took it pretty easy, there were some sketchy spots. Had a hockey stock strapped to the bike and skates on my back, which added a bit to the adventure.