DataJunkie

The ride in yesterday morning was uneventful except for negotiating the aftermath of the cherry creek trail flooding. Sand, debris, puddles of water, etc. A portion of the trail was still under several inches of water and I completely soaked my shoes. At least it was 40 degrees.

The ride home drenched me in the first few miles with an unforcasted rain fall. I did manage to dry off after a half hr. Later that ride I was passing a meth addict, she turned and smiled at me, and then spit at me! Fortunately, I was cruising at 20 mph and it missed me. Called her a nasty name that rhymes with witch without stopping and rode on to pick up my son at day care.

This morning I skipped my recovery day due to the fact that I need to pick up my son at daycare again. It is much faster to use a bike than the bus. Anyhow, I accomplished one of the most difficult things possible for me.... a recovery ride. Kept the heart rate low and rode at about 15mph or less to the light rail. I remember riding the same distance last year and it kicked my arse. Now I use it for a recovery. It should be something like 30 miles today.

Flimflam

Ride to visit my daughter went well last night, pretty good speeds held at most points, barely any wind so I had just a nice breeze.

I had to take my daughter in for an ear test and stuff this morning, so we used the bus and after I dropped her back off at home I rode in. Much cooler today, and it rained while we were indoors. Wind was pretty strong, but blowing west which helped me no end. I took Danforth/Bloor all the way over from Main to Spadina with an incredible tailwind at times - that portion of the trip I averaged 18+mph (actual speeds of 23-25mph between stop lights). South on Spadina was windy with one HELL of a gusty crosswind blowing me about here and there. Other than the usual silliness from drivers, was a fantastic ride in despite the weather (I donned my lifavest too, though had only shorts - which was fine). 29 mins for 7.6 miles, 15.6 average according to my computer. Felt awesome.

BrooklynRider

Took the Manhattan Bridge for the first time today. Road up to the entrance on Tillary Street and asked a few cops where the bike entrance was. "Just go straight ahead. You can't miss it." I go straight ahead and get pinched between the main entrance and a merging lane. No Bike entrance. I'm craning my neck looking for it but can't see one. I haul my bike and a heavy pannier over a concrete fence onto some grass. Look around and see what looks like a ped-walk. Haul the bike over another concrete collision wall and find a ped walk. Ride up the hill and voila, I'm met with a chain link fence blocking the way. I look the other way and see a hardcore biker commuter on the lower street and I turnaround and find the right side bike lane across the bridge. 50% of the bike going over are fixed gear guys. Ugly and rough path in the shade the whole way. The steel joints by the landinds are not road-wheel friendly to say the least. Glad I took the MTB. Chilly day. Lots and lots of cops today.

MyPC8MyBrain

Chilly but nice this monring. The clock/thermometer at the car dealership said 68f degrees. I believe that it was closer to 28f degrees.

I must have a good tolerance to the cold. T-shirt, light windbreaker, tights, full finger gloves and a fleece beaine was good enough.

My new[new to me] sexy bike should be at the house when I get home. But, I won't get to play with it until I get back from the Thursday night MTB ride at Ute Valley park.

So in other words, I have to ride home to go on a bike ride then come home and assemble a bike so I can ride it to work in the morning. It's a freakin sickness I tell ya!

Don

ModoVincere

No commute today. Dr's visit, get sinus infection dx'd, get prescription for Z-pack filled, take medication, and haul butt to the office to work on non existent issues.
Oh well, maybe I can bike in tomorrow.

10ch

Today was my first bike commute in a while. I rode in on a vintage-y Raleigh road bike that I bought yesterday. My typical commuter is a converted Gary Fisher. Today's ride was a lot different than I'm used to... riding the GF, I'm a very fast and aggressive rider. I work up a sweat and am always going at full tilt. But on the Raleigh, I was a different rider altogether. Maybe I'm just not used to the friction shifting, but the desire to push myself just wasn't there. And I *think* I enjoyed the commute more because of it.

vrkelley

Awesome ride...gas prices inching up...we'll see what tonight's price is.

devildogmech

Rode 5mi each way to school (PUC in Hammond IN) gas is $2.97..... I'm likeing this more and more...

Billy

cycler0707

I've committed to commuting 3 - 4 days a week from now through the end of the school year. It's just under 20 miles round trip with the AM ride slightly down hill and the ride home a bit up! No real wind issues on the commute but 10 - 12 hours on my feet, before any riding time and the trip home has been a challenge. I'm averaging 16.8 mph on the way to school and 11.1 on the way home. AM commute runs about 33 minutes but the ride home is close to 51-52. Traffic has been easy (I travel opposite the heavy flow) and weather has not been much of a factor.

bikedaddy

Had a couple of incidents of wrong way cyclists in bike lanes. Annoying but they got out of my way... one ran a stop sign like it wasn't there with traffic present. Also on a lunchtime ride saw some guy on a bike cross with out even looking a major 4lane road nearly killing himself. He seemed unphased. Part of me wonders if he was doped on something. Somedays I understand why cagers have such a negative view... then again... everyday I understand why cyclists have a negative view of cagers. Anyway I like to think these clowns make motorists appreciate the fact that I actually stop for signals and signs.

The fun part of the commute was getting caught in a good downpour on the way home. Made me feel about 10 years old. Good stuff...

vtjim

The MUP was like a ghost town. Nobody out this morning. I noticed a few drops of rain, but it was otherwise dry. Temps around 50F. Light headwind blowing off the lake. TGIF

ModoVincere

Uneventful ride in. Temps in upper 50's maybe low 60's. Humid after yesterdays rains, but my lawn was happy for the water. I feel so much better today after a good 24 hrs or so of antibiotic treatment. Still can't breath properly, but my strength is coming back and I don't have that splitting sinus headache today.

jrubzer

Heavy thunderstorm, legs and feet dry courtesy of MEC pants and booties. I need to pick up one of their jackets. My Sugoi doesn't hold up in the pouring rain. Not a bad ride though. Manhattan Bridge - Yeah that path will be closed for most of the year. The right side isn't that bad when compared to the tourist minefield that the bklyn bridge is.

acroy

Gorgeous 55f, no wind, light traffic, easy commute in.
Bike felt great, I felt great (recovering from cold), ride was awesome.
One of those mornings that reminds me Why I Ride
Cheers

livewirerc

Excellent ride. Low 60s, sunny and beautiful out. I recently converted my old '75 Motobecane Super Mirage to a single-speed commuter with a rack and panniers. Today was its inagural cruise and it worked splendidly. I'll be riding it tonight in Critical Mass while I'm filming, as I don't want to have to worry about any pesky gears or other such nonsense. Currently running 44x16 on 27" Serfas so it's high enough to get around quickly but low enough to not completely kill me on the hills.

Itsjustb

Most dangerous commute in a long time (despite nearly getting right-hooked yesterday).

The worst part of my morning route is an area where 3 lanes work down to one, all with a concrete median preventing people from giving any room. The lane I'm in becomes a RTOL; to my right is a lane that's already RTOL, and on my left is a straight-thru lane. Because I'm going straight, I take the lane here, and move to the left when there's a break in the traffic (this stretch is 55 mph, to add to the fun).

This morning 4 dump trucks came up behind me, horns blasting. Hey, I ignore horns, no big deal. Then these a$$holes proceeded to pass me on the right, in the RTOL. OK, we're cyclists, drivers do that kinda BS all the time. But then these muthaf**kers all changed lanes in an intersection (last I checked, that's illegal, right?), cut across 2 lanes (because the RTOL lane ended) and cut off the entire lane of cars in the straight-thru lane. And I mean CUT OFF--the cars already in the lane all had to slam on their brakes.

I haven't been that pissed off on my commute in a long time. I only got the company names for 2 of the 4 trucks, but I called them both immediately when I arrived at work. No idea if any action will be taken. I'm tempted to call the 2nd company again (the lady there sounded much more concerned) and ask where the job site is (it was obvious all 4 were going to the same place) so I can ride over and let these guys know just what I think of them. It's 3 hours later and my blood is still boiling.

Flimflam

Itsjustb: sounds like a severe case of a$$hat driving, that's some serious action in a car, let alone a (not just a, but FOUR) dumptrucks, heh. Glad you're OK and that it didn't cause a nasty mess on the road.

My ride in was great, little drizzly and cool, I just kept the cadence up and was warm within 5 or so minutes.
I saw two cyclists ahead of me at one point, so thought "excellent, something to keep me on pace" - then they offroaded it to the actual road due to some guys doing construction in the grass - they had air compressor or water pipes over the path and mud everywhere. I just road through the crap and came up behind the in-front cyclist - I was going a touch faster, so rode by, waved and said "Morning!" - I think he was surprised, but he returned a "Hey, how are ya doing?" so we had a quick back and forth and I went on and wished him a good ride. I love that.

Had trouble keeping pace in the headwind. Had a tracked excavator as a moving obstacle to pass in the middle of the exhibition grounds, everything else was smooth sailing.

I yelled at a cabbie to "STOP moving" because he was hugging the curb, but crawling (no lights/turn signals on or anything) at about 5mph - which is really irritating when traffic is trying to flow (this was just west of Bathurst on King) in a stretch about 300 yards before the intersection with a bunch of traffic snarled either by left-turners or the streetcar (which is also in the left/centre lane). Either stop, or go, don't try and do both - if he was signalling to pull off, I'd have probably waved him ahead - but no turn signal means no such treatment. I only got a little rattled when I heard him yell back "what?!?!?", all he did was sit close to the line to block my passing parked cars, petty but expected.

pinkrobe

Not too much to tell - a pickup [F-350] coming in from the left stopped 10 feet past the stop sign, then when I was within 10 feet of him decided to scoot forward another 4 feet. I had the right of way and he could easily see me coming, so I maintained my line. No incident, but I was worried about my wife who was half a block behind me. The truck went through the rest of the intersection before she got there, which was good.

On a different note, I tightened up the water-bottle boss bolts on my frame, and stole a bolt from my wife's bike to keep my brake hanger from rotating. The bike is now pretty much silent. No creaks, no groans - just quiet SS efficiency.

MyPC8MyBrain

Awesome commute this morning. What a difference a lightweight bike and minimal stuff makes.

Had to stop and readjust the seat. I guess I didnt get it tight enough when I assembled the bike and the nose worked up to about 2" higher than the back. Ugh that was uncomfortable. It's a carbon post, and I was afraid to overtighten.

Need to get a crankset or big ring for it as the big ring is missing a tooth. Had to run the middle ring instead. Ebay bikes are always jacked up more than they mention. Still i think i got a deal. The wheels and fork are worth what I paid for the whole bike so I have some upgrade room.

Need a mirror.... that was the scary part.

caloso

My ride in today was just awesome. I intentionally took a route that takes me on an unpaved levee road for a couple miles. The gravel is fairly loose so it forces me to keep the pedals turning and my hands light on the bars to let the bike find its own way through. I guess I'm just a bit silly for intentionally trying to make my ride more difficult; I think I was thinking of a recent thread in C&V and a picture of a guy with a handlebar mustache and a mustache handlebar on a wooden-rimmed, fixed gear bike. Crazy.

Anyway, the weather was beautiful, the bike just sang, and it's Friday.

DataJunkie

Lovely commute. Apparently, I missed out on the planned water release from cherry creek dam that was possibly going to flood the cherry creek trail. Oh darn.

For some strange reason, the closer I came to work the slower my speed became. Good lord I do not want to be here today. 60F and sunny outside. I think I may take a longer route to pick up my son from his grandma's house. First week since december that I have hit the mid 200s in mileage.

HardyWeinberg

Rode in w/ my wife, very nice. She's working half day so we won't go the other way together. She will be running errands on her way home though. Cool!

ADKPeaks

Hello,

Commuted to work Monday through Wednesday. The temps ranges from 40 - 87 F from sunny to a steady rain. I commute in Upstate NY using a mix of trails (loose sand) and roads. I have serveral options but the roundtrip millage always sticks around 9-10miles one way.

If anyone is familiar with the Albany area I commute from Guilderland, NY to Colonie, NY using East Lydius Street to Fuller Road/Central ave.

So far it has been extremely tiring. I thought I was in shape but this has been a challenge. I am riding a Salsa 29er 9 speed, the massive tires (ignitors) create a lot of drag but work great on the sandy trails.

I will ride to work Monday morning regardless!

- ADKPeaks -

idcruiserman

Very tired today. Went to bed late, got up late, and rode to work in the daylight. I'm getting pretty sick of the toe overlap with my Surly and front fender. I managed to jam one of the metal supports into the plastic, and the fender rolled up the wheel as I started off from a light. Sometimes it sucks having feet too large for my height.

Other that that it was fine .

dmarcoul

It was a great commuting week this week. Managed to get 7 out the 10 rides in so far, today I am going to drive cause of the rain and lack of fenders. Yesterday, I finally adjusted my seatpost length, moved it up about 2 inches, and holy crap does that make a difference. I was flying home last night, housed all the hills and rises with much more ease than usual. It was like riding a new bike. So nice. Today, I am off to buy some fenders for anymore wet weather that could come our way in NJ. May the weather stay nice!

And, ADKPeaks, it gets better with time, just keep making little adjustments to your bike if necessary and know you can do it!