Temp was 11C and a strong following wind. No clouds. I have only ridden to work 4 times this month. First time 1 hr 40min, then 1hr 25 min, 1hr 20 min and today 1hr 10min. I might be getting fitter, but I think most of the improvement was due to the wind and due to the fact that I could ride without overpants.

I'm back from my vacation in South Carolina, I logged 534 miles while i was there. The ride in this morning was just about perfect, 50 degrees, no wind and smooth rolling conti top touring 2000 tires. My 18.5 miles took me 58 minutes, what a difference from pushing the winter studs.

Windy this morning, really windy. Otherwise this week has been warm, which is new for the year. Yesterday morning was probably the best day so far in Aught 3 - mostly sunny and warm with cheerful big clouds blowing about. But almost no wind at ground level. Stunning day, took the slightly longer rider in. Of course I paid for it that night with very strong headwind.

I have been on vacation for the past ten days, so today was my first bike ride since the 17th. All my travel had been by car and airplane during that time, and it was a delight to feel the breeze in my hair again.

When I was in San Francisco, I was really amazed at all the cyclists. The DC area has a lot, but nothing like that. They are also a politically significant constituancy.

It is amazing how green things have become here after a weeks and a half. It seems like early summer already.

Paul

Back after about a week traveling on business. It's been rainy and blah for a while now, and a bit chilly still for these parts. I narrowly missed a rain cell but the roads were soaked so there wasn't much difference. Felt good to do the 20 miles home.

Didn't have my blinking lights today (I had my bike serviced and lights were home). I felt a little unsafe as a result. I went a little slower and was more cautious than normal.

Nice day, 38 degrees F, no wind, light traffic. I took the scenic route down by the river and saw no wildlife. I guess I got up before them.

It was warm enough for shorts yesterday. I pedalled into a moderate headwind under overcast skies. The wind didn't die or change, for once, so I had a nice push home. An unkown dog charged me (in the spirit of "What the heck is THAT THING?!") but a few stern words stopped him at a respectful distance.

There was an unusual amount of traffic. Most annoyingly, they seemed to congregate at the intersections just as I arrived. At one stop sign, a car and I arrived at the same time. I kept braking slower and slower, waiting for the car to GO, dammit. They seemed to be waiting to see what I'd do. Not being much of a trackstander, I felt the bike tipping over to the left. Now, I'm right-footed, contrary to the claims of those who may have accused me of having two lefties. Trying to get a foot--ANY foot--out of the clips, I sorta jumped straight up in the air (taking the bike with me, I think!) and managed to get the right foot out, and managed to pull the bike to that side, avoiding an embarrassing fallover.

"I kept braking slower and slower, waiting for the car to GO, dammit."

Inkwolf
You wave to the car to GO. Their response is usually to wave you through, which you then do without stopping - smiling and saying "Thanks".

It was a 4-way stop, though, and they had the right of way. :D (Besides, I didn't think of waving. If they could have seen it in the dark....)

Anyway, didn't want to do my usual rolling stop right in front of a witness. ;)

Nice weather this a.m. No rain for once. Went from daughter's high school to work for 13 miles. I also ran early this a.m., partly for my poor dog who has been couped up in our house while I've been gone. I haven't mixed a run and a ride in a single day in a very long time. We'll see how I hold up today !!

Hi Folks

Nice ride in this morning. I'm on the older bike which doesn't have a computer. This is sometimes a real benefit as that little speed display can be a torment, not to mention a distraction.

Luckily it has just started raining for the ride home, so I won't be in danger of getting too dry ;)

Cheers,

Ed

Nah. . . everyone here is selfish and they just go. . . which is fine - that's what I want them to do.

On another note, I had a minor scare on the way home last night. I was travelling downhill at a pretty good rate of speed, albeit cautiously due to traffic, when a woman swerves into the bike lane to pass traffic on the right. Of course I'm immediately behind her and clamping the brakes hard - hoping to stop in time. She then notices me and, of all things, hits the brakes! Nice move. . .

Anyway, I was able to barely squeeze my front tire between her car and the curb, stop, and catch myself by wrestling my foot quickly from the clipless and prop it on the curb. I would certainly have collided with the car, if not for the fortunate gift of space between the rear bumper and curb. Granted, I was almost stopped at this point, and would probably have just fallen onto the sidewalk, but I would have been REALLY upset.

I was still angry, though. I waved to her. She pulled back into traffic and I gently rode past her open passenger window. . . glaring. . . not a word was spoken. . . and she made no acknowledgement of her error. Oh well, overall, I had a pretty good ride home.

Personally, I would find that extremely difficult to do. I'm sure I would find something inappropriate to say!

This morning's commute was a heavily laden one - laptop in one pannier, knapsack with work clothes in the other, and gym bag with ball hockey stuff carried messenger bag style. It all seemed to work ok, went downhill faster and uphill slower, got to work in about the same time. NIce sunrise, temp about +6C, (43 F)

Yesterday's ride in to work was a long one - timewise not distance wise. Approaching the lift bridge, it started going up at 6:20 am - the ship started passing under the bridge at 6:46 am! Ever since one of the dufus bridge operators dropped one on a ship near Welland in 2001, they start lifting the bridge when they see a ship on the horizon.

I just figure that if I say anything, people will get indignant, which will prompt them to think I'm the idiot. If I say nothing, they are left with nothing but the fact that THEY are the idiot :)

Now I'm curious about the stick. . . carried joust style perhaps? Just imagine the possibilities - I could have speared through that woman's rear window yesterday.

Actually I already had the stick at work. But every road hockey player knows the stick gets lashed to the crossbar. Blade can be either fore or aft, depending on preferences.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse around here, been a bit wet and the wind has re-appeared. I had one of those horrible parts to a ride where you have to work hard just to go downhill.

Never mind its all character building:D

Overcast and slightly chilly today here in the "greater" Seattle area. The usual head wind, which this week has had the additional novelty of being more of a cross wind that manages blow against me in both directions that I travel in my commute. Doh, indeed.

2 beautiful days running, what a treat! Mornings are 45F/8C, evenings 65F/18C. The only thing that ruined my ride was the car that pulled out of their lane into mine just as I passed their tail. Cars parked on the side of the street didn't leave much escape route to the side. I was very lucky today.

Hey, Kodama, I had that same crosswind...the legendary bi-directional headwind.

Today I was back in sweat pants. The weather was cold, gray, and had a tendency to dribble. It was just sprinkling on the way in.

I would actually have accepted a ride home if it had been offered tonight, but I've trained my co-workers too well. :p So, into the dark I went. The rain was falling a little more substantially, and it was cold. My streak of nobody using their brights ended tonight (maybe it was just that it wasn't so dark on the other nights?) and my glasses and mirror were spotted with water.

Two miles from home, the rain started falling seriously, and when I got home I was fairly wet and my fingers were numb. I'm dried out now. :)

BTW, this is the anniversary of my very first post on this thread! (And second commute!) This thread was started last year, April 20th, and still going strong! Go, us!

Damp and Grey. Awoke to the sounds of a fairly strong wind and thought about taking the car. Wife even asked why I wasn't taking the car. Comprimised by cutting out some of my loops on the ride.

Very wet, in the way that only a Scottish downpour can get.

My riding partner and I met on the bridge and got soaked within minutes (at least from the waist down).

having said that, I was only wearing a thin wicking fleece under my Altura Dalby jacket, and the jacket kept me perfectly dry, in the heaviest possible rain, even resisting a splashing from a puddle driven through by a white panel van.

Hi Folks,

So far I have been lucky in avoiding the downpours. Yesterday we had an amazing hailstorm, but I was jammy enough to have just the 1/2 hour dry spell that I needed to get home. Wonder if telling you all this has just cursed me....?

Cheers,

Ed

Well, it's May. We went through the coldest April since 1975, and one of the rainiest, if not the rainiest.

Today's ride in was actually rather warm and dry. I forgot my jacket (a rare thing) but was still warm enough. I've been cutting through Willow Glen and Santa Clara Univ to take in some more sights along the way. Usually I'd go faster, more direct routes. But it's that time of year when people are out and about. Quite a few more bikers, too.

Tomorrow the forecast calls for a monsoon.

Clocked up around 241 miles in 19 days commuting to and from work in April, thankfully no crashes or punctures. Reached the 1000 mile mark yesterday since start 2003.

I tried out my new 28c(back) and 25c (front) tire setup this morning (bought it for a ride I am doing this weekend in the woods and includes 14 miles of dirt roads). I tested them on a canal road that follows my commute. They worked great. I also noticed that the pavement seemed a lot smoother with bigger tires on. I am sorely tempted to leave them on for commuting permanently. I didn't go much slower than usual and not having to worry' about every little piece of debris in the road was very nice. I was able to actually ride IN the bike lane instead of next to the white line where the cars sweep the debris into the rest of the lane. Had a great ride, and got to ride a little dirt (3 miles) to boot! Nothing better than that I figure, oh yeah, temps were in the 70's.

Amazing to watch the explosion of spring. You may remember I posted some pictures from my winter commute back on 2/17/03. This is the same view now.

Amazing, Jean. To see spring springing up North a few weeks behind us in the South. :)

Today, I jogged/walked w/pack to the bus stop (1 mile, much uphill,) talked with friends at the bus stop, caught the bus, talked with another good friend on the bus and the train, then jogged another mile to work.

After work, I walked to the train, slept on the train and on the bus ;) then jogged about 2.5 miles (very hilly) home.

5.5 miles total. (I like variety.)

(one thing I noted: my "cycling heart" can really handle jogging. much of the time I could breathe comfortably through my nose, until the uphill jaunts caught up with me. then I had to use my mouth.)

:beer:

Today was sunny and dry again, but with the same pesky crosswind. I crawled with no momentum both ways. Wearing shorts was a mistake, as it turned quite cold in the evebning! Still, no dogs, no bugs, and most people dimmed their brights for me again. :)

Just beautiful weather up here in the PNW. Rode home in short sleeves and shorts and I was actually WARM. :fun: Wow.

The exercise I get commuting is really starting to show now, I'm getting a couple of gears higher up nearly all the hills on my route. I love the positive feedback :D

Off to the San Juan Islands tomorrow afternoon for a bit of biking and lots of relaxing :beer:

It was Bike to Work day today, in DC at least - there was a rally downtown with probably 500-1000 bikers - definitely the most I've seen in one place at one time - it was a nice event w/ free t-shirts, bagels and a raffle of 2 free bikes

commute was great - its a beautiful spring day with temps in the mid 60s