Frickin weather has played havok this week, I think this is only the second time I've been able to commute in :( A mixture of rain and snow and freezing weather made the roads a bit to dangerous to share with the cars....but today was a bit nicer. Roads are clear, it's still around 30-32, but light winds. Even though I woke up late, it was a good way to jump start the morning:)

Chicago Lakefront Bike Path was chilly (temp at O'Hare is 32 degrees Fahrenheit, colder by the lake) but otherwise clear of all traffic. Strangely, the Loop at 7:30 was pretty quiet. No buses tried to cream me, so I thank the gods of gears and spokes for that. All in all, a nice 8 mile ride, I'm already looking forward to the commute home.

Happy Friday the 13th! :eek:

worked on the bike last night. winter knobs are off, slicks are on. lots of fairweather commuters out this morn, saw 3 in suburbia whereas i usually see 1 at best. forecast high of 15C

Today's ride in to work was great. I left the house a little later than normal, rode easy so I wouldn't work up much of a sweat, and still averaged 16 mph. All the people in cars behaving properly, the birds singing, and the smell of fresh mown grass put me in a really good mood on the way in to the office.

So I get to the office, head to the showers, unpack everything....uh oh. That's right. It's commando friday. 3 years of commuting, and I finally left the house without packing right. At least its Friday and I'm wearing jeans.

78-80 degrees this morning...!
And I got the computer back up an running to keep me preoccupied (to go along with all the people trying to kill me).

Slushy! Wasn't planning on riding today since it snowed overnight but seeing that the roads were fairly clear, the sun was shining and it was just above freezing, decided to go for it. My shoes got a bit wet and a snowy section or road hid some sort of crack in the road that made me go wobbly for a second, but no real issues. Should be well into the 40s for the ride home.

Calm and hovering right around 0C this morning. My legs were a little sore after riding last night, but I regained my form by the time I got to work.

It was cold this morning around low 40's F. I felt slow and sluggish, maybe the 5 days a week commute is taking its toll. This weekend will be recovery days. Unless of course its tops raining. ;)

Good commute. One funny story:

I'm taking the right lane this morning (as usual) on a 2-each-way-plus-a-center road. A JAM in the left lane behind me lays on the horn for about a second and then passes me. As he passes, I do my usual big wave and silly-a$$ grin to let him know I'm not intimidated. I see him screaming something inside his cage, spittle flying.

2 seconds later I'm passing him at a light--I'm making a right from the RTOL lane, he's going straight and he's stuck at the red. As I pass him, I again do the big wave. This time I see him going apoplectic (he was so red I thought he was gonna stroke out) and frantically pawing at the door controls, trying to roll down the window.

Man, how tightly-strung are you if just seeing a cyclist on the road is enough to send you into this kind of frenzy? I didn't even delay him!

Crappy commute. I woke up late and had to drive in. At least traffic was good and it was quick.

Nice. And too short.

I rode the race bike to work. The first tri of the season is Sunday and I put on my homebrew aerobars last night so I wanted to get out on the open road and try out the fit. Headed down to Freeport because there are a couple of long straights that let me get down on the bars without worrying about stoplights and other riders.

Felt like I was just getting warmed up as came back into town and then had to turn towards the office.

Rapid! Forgot to set the alarm, overslept by an hour, had to dash to get to work in time to meet my boss for 2 hr drive north to meeting. Full-on standing out of saddle sprint the whole way. Made it in time to change before he got in (ready to leave immediately).

I'm BAAAAAAACK!

Early December of '06 I posted that I would not be bike commuting again since I had lost my job. Wonder of wonders, I started my commutes again this week, only this time in.... Colorado Springs! That's right. I found a position here as a Web Developer and came a week ago. The commute is short, only two miles one way, but it's fun to be back on the sadle.

Any folks from The Springs that can show me the ropes around town? Which bike shop? Good or better roads? Roads to avoid? I need to give my bike a tune up; I hadn't touched it since early January (my last ride on the Erie Canal).

Good roads and tailwinds to you all.

GreenAnvil

Friday, April 13, 2007
http://x.myspace.com/images/spacer.gif So I laughed back
When I reach the rack my bike is chained to I take a moment to tilt my head up and feel the rain run down my face. After I shake the water out of my lock and my hair I look at the slick racing tires I have on my bike, I look at the rain falling from the sky, and then I look back at my bike. I say out loud , "this should be an interesting trip." The lightning arcs across the sky in the distance, and the following thunder sounds like a deep friendly challenging laugh. I throw a leg over my bicycle look at the sky and ask, "so you think this is funny do you?"

And then I laugh back, and enjoy my ride home.

Friday the 13th.

My wife had to bring a dvd player and several boxes into work today for an important presentation and meeting and desperately needed the car to do so. Naturally, the battery was dead- it had been slowly dying (maybe we don't drive it enough) I realize I've got enough time to ride to the auto parts store and get a new one. I ride there, load the 40 lb. battery into the milkcrate on the back of my bike, bungee it down and ride home. I replace the battery but as I'm doing it she's in such a panic she ends up cabbing it to work. Literally 5 seconds after the cab pulls away I start the car.

I throw the bike on the back of the car, drop off the old battery for my credit, drop the car off at my wife's work and ride to work. Rode home, then rode to the grocery store and carried three bags of groceries home on the back of the bike. Love that milkcrate.

All's right with the world. :)

i had my first commute to school yesterday, i've been wanting to ride to school for a while but last quarter i had all night classes and we usually don't get out til 9 or 10pm and the roads home arent very bike friendly at night so i'm hesitant. but i have a friday morning class so I'm able to ride to that. its a good ride, about 12.5 miles from my apartment. SOME nice roads, others are fairly bumpy and have no remorse about shaking the crap out of my '70's panasonic sport 500. when i got home from class i had to tighten things up aound my headset and a couple other places cuz they had been shakin loose. only had one loud mouth share his opinion about cyclists which i just ignored. all in all it was a good ride in. i'm lookin forward to next week.

Commute today was OK. Started out a little wet but dried up about 5 miles into the 16 mile ride. Since it's Saturday and I don't care if I smell at work, I rode all the way in. Problem was I tried a trail in Portland called the Springwater Corridor. Where there wasn't a ton of pedestrians, the trail was way too bumpy for a road bike. But it's flat, and avoids a ton of stoplights, so I know if I have to get home in a hurry, I can that way.

About 14 miles to the bike shop (Criterium in Colorado Springs), grocery store and back home. I had them change the tires (700cx38 Armadillo Crossroads), pedals (clips on one side; platform on the other). I also bought me a Yak BOB for my grocery shopping errands. Then it was straight to the grocery store to pick up some things and back home. Nice, breezy, very sunny afternoon. Saw about 3-5 gliders soaring above the Air Force Academy. A nice ride.

Green Anvil

So last Friday...

One of my supervisors tells me she needs wine brought over to an event... the day of the event... after I had already driven there the day before.

Stupid cow.

I highly recommend Bailey Works bags-- they can hold 30 pounds of bottles o' wine for up to 8 miles in 90 degree weather!

Had my first commute to work the other day, around 8 miles round trip, went pretty good. I havent been on a bike in over 10 years, but I got my new trek Portland and it cuts my commute time in half from public trans sometimes even 2/3. Pretty scary riding downtown with traffic, but I found a new bike path that cuts down on that, I am part of the club now, ya!
I even got a rack and some Ortlieb panniers so I guess I am kind of nerdy also, Anyone know of a good low profile rack or quick release one that wont draw so much attention when I am not carrying the Panniers?

Sloppy! Roughly two inches of soupy snow on the MUP, and the roads are wet with some sloppy snow mixed in. I mounted my knobby (not studded) tires yesterday, anticipating having to ride in some snow today. A wise move on my part.

Wiiinnnddddyyy. At least we're not getting the bad weather they have out east though, so I'm considering myself lucky, if tired.

Again, great way to start the morning, chilly due to the wind, but still great :)

Good ride this morning. Tried out my new (to me) '05 Giant Cypress DX. It rode really well, apart from some gear slipping (it needs an adjustment).

I chatted briefly with a guy who works near me but starts about 10-15 miles further away on his commute. What a way to make me feel like a newb!

39F and getting a little windy. fun ride in though.

almost a guarantee that it will snow this week as I finally put on the slicks. Nice morning.