oh my, what a very bad fellow biker. What he did was a very big no no. Some people just need to chill sometimes and enjoy the smell of the roses!

Yeah like serious! Take that camera phone out and take a picture! I took a picture of a guy getting his dogs to hump in a school yard. Was really funny hehe.

This morning, about 5 miles into my 16 mile commute, some woman in a black Toureg (sp?) going in my direction decides that instead of just passing me like everyone else, she would blast her horn at me for whatever reason. Well, that is the point in my commute where (car) traffic gets pretty thick, so I kept seeing her for the next several miles. Then at about mile 8 I get off the road and onto an MUT that has a bridge over a busy highway.

Then, back on the road and almost to the office, I turn a corner and who do I see coming the other way? Toureg woman! So I wave and pantomime honking a horn as she passes. I thought it was very instructional for her to see that her $50,000 SUV hadn't gotten her any further in the last ten miles than my bike.

Due to wildfires the whole city is covered in smoke. You can even smell it inside the building. This should be a very interesting commute home. I guess I will try to take it easy and to not breathe too much smoke, but I don't think there is anything I can really do about it.

Oh, man, smoke sucks. The North Dakota fires last year knocked me off my bike with asthma (followed by a lovely sinus infection) for the last 6 weeks of cycling weather - and that was from several hundred km's away. Good luck, and go slow...

Itsjustb,

Thanks for the kind welcome. You may have made a wrong assumption about my gender, (re. the topless girl viewing... not my thing actually.) Can I assume that admiration from members of the opposite sex comes regardless of which sex is opposite?


Commuted today for the 2nd day! That's 2 for 2. I was quicker today with less problems with traffic and choosing the wrong snaky path through a subdivision. Nice 50 degree ride in - expecting high 70's on the way home and dry.

Yes. Yes you can. :)

Awesome. Keep it up!

Yes it does...and even members of the same gender if that's appropriate. We're a pretty open-minded group. :)

And the topless girl was just an example (it's never happened to me, that's for sure!). If you're lucky and have a good route for your commute, you'll see more typical wildlife. ;) Like the post I just read...someone in Road Cycling was attacked by a goose while on a ride. :eek: It actually flew up and hit him in the chest, started pecking at him.

I'm in the middle of my first full day of commuting. Yesterday, I did a half day by riding the bus with my bike strapped to the front (a little nervous about that, BTW) in the morning and then riding it home in the afternoon. Considering that I've just gotten into this (picked up my bike (Trek 7.2 FX) last Friday), I'm pretty happy that I'm just getting out there and doing it. My commute is only about 4 miles one way, but it is still pretty good for this out-of-shape guy. Now I've got to get some more gear! Rack, bag, lights, fenders, etc...I need it all... :) Unfortunately, I've got a meeting tomorrow with a client, so I won't be able to commute due to some clothing issues, but I'll get that resolved in time, too.

Great morning ride in. Since I am on the Ohio-Erie Canal Towpath for a pretty good stretch I get to see geese, ducks, deer and blue heron on each and every ride. Today I saw fish splashing in the water of the canal for the first time. So much nicer than riding in the car on the freeway.

My lord! In addition to being tired my wife needed me to pick up our son from his grandma's house and then fill a prescription. After the last request I threatened to hurt her if she asked for anything else (jokingly). 70 miles at the end of the day. I expect to be working from home due to a sick kid. He won't sleep, drink, or eat and is insanely cranky. My wife took him to the dr today. The end result was......................... canker sores. He has two canker sores. All this over canker sores. Odd.

Dude, Those HURT!

Strong Headwind on the return ride. The 'racer' ahead of me in the see-thru tights kept me go'n. I really wanted to tell him...!

Second commute on the new debt bike. Its a weird feeling riding a nice new bike rather than the hand-me-downs I'm use to riding on. I'm just a bit more paranoid about being hit since I actually care about this bike somewhat. In the morning some odd woman in a Audi yelled "get off the road!" for no reason what so ever at me, I decided to have some fun and try and catch up with her, she must have seen me gaining because she took off like a rabbit down a hill. Wimpy cagers are sooooo cool!

I think she was under 18, I wouldn't want to snap a picture and face jail time!!:eek:

different commute than usual today. Had a meeting in Lexington. Made for a nice road ride on the commuter. I'm so used to my commuter bike in heavy city traffic it was fun to ride on nicer open roads.

I have been riding my road bike the past few days. It's fast.

Almos taken out today. A woman deove right through the stop sign making a right turn right into me. I had to swerve across the double yellow. She jumped when I yelled at the top of my lungs in her open window from less than 1 foot away. Then the car coming the other way was a police car.:D As I explained what happened she tried to sneak past me. I said"Hey Lady, I think this officer might want to talk to you." She claimed she did nothing wrong when I said she ran the stop sign. I asked how that was possible when she forced me across the double yellow line to avoid her. Then she blurted out she never saw me. Officer then looks at me and nods,tells her to pull over to the side. I asked him to just explain why you should come to a complete stop, and actively look, before pulling out. I didn't have time to give my information to have him write her a ticket,I had to go see my wife at the hospital. I hope she thinks next time at a stop sign. Tomorrow I am being photographed on my commute for an article in the local paper, it wouldn't be too encouraging to new commuters if the article said I had been seriously injured or killed by an inattentive driver. Then on the drive to the hospital I passed a bunch of parked CHP cars... then a bomb disposal truck... then a bomb disposal robot... then a bomb disposal member in full gear slowly examining a pickup. CRAP! No idea why they didn't close the highway.

Foggy!! I left home at ~ 5:45 AM and it was just a bit misty. By ~ 6:15 though it was socked in pretty good. No problems with any vehicles though. I had a Semi come up behind me at an intersection-single lane with a median. I could tell he wanted to pass, but he slowed and waited until we both had cleared the intersection before safely passing me. I gave him a wave to let him know I appreciated the consideration. An interesting commute for me today- I'm going hiking with some friends after work, so will catch a ride there with one of them, and get a ride home from my girlfriend, leaving my bike at work overnight and picking it up tomorrow when I drive in...Requires a bit of logistics, but makes for one less car on the road and 30 fewer miles being driven.

I had a couple situations this morning where it was obvious that the auto drivers thought that I was slower than I actually was. On two occasions, a car tried to pass me and then had to slow down and get behind me to turn in to a parking lot. I was only going around 18mph, so I don't think it was my speed.

Other than that, it was a great morning. Very little wind, so I just cruised to the office. I've found that I'm riding in the street much more than I every thought I would and I feel much more safe than I every thought I would.

It's so foggy outside that I'm not sure I've made it to work yet...yikes. Visibility was about 1/4th of a mile. I decieded I would bike in anyway, so I strapped a couple of blinkies to my backpack, grabbed my helmet light and rode in. In all I had three lights (two back, one front).

I saw cars out there that had less lights on then me. That frightened me.

Awsome ride in this moring. The rain overnight cooled things down and left a nice mist in the air. The rain had stopped maybe an hour before I left my apartment so it was a very comfortable ride. I am not quite sure why but I love to ride after a rain. The new bike handled very well and purred like a kitten on the ride.
Not many commuters, passed a couple regulars I see every morning at the same time. Kind of nice.

Was suprised by a friendly driver! This does not happen often in Toronto. This city has a great deal of hatred against commuters http://www.ibiketo.ca/node/123 there is a link to an article about an off duty police officer that assulted a cyclist for stopping at a yellow light.

My suprise came when I hit a four way and I was clearly the last one there this nice lady waved me through. It put a nice start to my day :)

Great commute this morning. Sunny, brisk, low-hanging fog on the river, and little traffic.

~60F, sunny. Might get caught in a t-storm later today but I'm not bothered by them. I ride so fast, the lightning can't get me. :D

The powers that be are widening the last quarter-mile or so of MUP, and have signs saying the trail is closed. Now, since this is the only way I can get to work unless I go over a mile (gasp!) out of my way on some busy roads (not really horrible but I'd rather not), I called the city in the hopes that they'd accomodate a detour of some sort, and not completely block all access. It's supposed to be closed for the next 2 weeks. :mad: We'll see...

No headwind on the way home last night...First time in ages. This morning the was the best ride of the year. Shorts and Tshirt for the first time.

It was like 49 when I left the house, and I shed the windbreaker after the first mile. It was so awesome I had to ride an extra 5 miles before talking myself into actually going to work.

I expect that I may be leaving early today as well :) I am waaaay behind on my training miles for Ride the Rockies due to snow and rain every freakin weekend.

On the ride home yesterday, I was feeling pretty good, but still tired. I'm going along at my usual pace, then did a shoulder check before making a left. There's a guy right on my ass! He must have snuck up on me. I do it to others all the time, so I wasn't mad, just a little surprised. Anyway, I recognized him as a gearie/racer that I've seen on my route before. I never see him on the way in, just on the way home. He goes right when I go left at this one spot. He makes an illegal turn, crosses the street and blows through two stop signs, while I dismount and walk my bike across the street. :)

I wasn't going to just let him get away -- but that's exactly what happened. I made an effort to crest the next hill before he got there, but he came in about 10' ahead of me. He gave me "a" look, not "the" look. At this point I could have sprinted by him, but he would have just caught me on the next hill - or so I thought. I'm right behind him on the uphill, getting ready for the sprint up to the stop sign when he starts to slow down. I went right and soft-pedalled. Rolling right through the stop sign, he had to grab a handful of brake or hit a car that had the right of way. :rolleyes: I stayed with him until my turnoff. Eventually I'll be faster...

The ride in today was chilly. The only incident was a sedan trying to occupy the same space as me in traffic. I yelled at his window and scared the crap out of him. :D