Today was overcast, with a nasty diagonal head/crosswind which seemed to suck all the life out of my bike. I was surprised to discover that my climbing muscles were quite sore (did Cemetery Hill in a headwind yesterday.) I still rode in the long way, but I didn't climb the big hill. I did roll down it, though. (Good trick, huh?)

The cows are feeling frisky in this warm weather--I've seen a few run along with me lately. I'm glad the fence is there, I have no experience in reading cows' intentions.

Idiots, on the other hand, are easier to read. On the way home, some young men in a gold sports car tried to scare me by driving up behind me quietly, then holding down the horn, gunning the engine, and screaming loudly out the window as they passed. :p I was glad I was on the part of the highway with the paved shoulder (took the short route home) so I knew they weren't road ragers trying to get me off the road. I got a mild adrenaline rush, wasn't hurt or threatened or thrown-at in any way, so I guess I don't particularly mind someone exercising a juvenile sense of humor at my expense. I wish they wouldn't do it in traffic, though.

BTW, the route has offered several interesting opportunities to watch and compare various rates of decomposition in roadkill lately...a raccoon, a rat, a big pigeon, several smaller birds....

More rain this morning. Loved it. I loved it so much I got up at 4am to do a totally gratuitous and unnecessary 42km pre-work/pre-commute. It felt like I had the entire Gold Coast to myself! The only downside was arriving at work just as it started really p!ssing down.

Finally a ride in without a strong wind. Hopefully no headwind this evening.

It's still raining out there! This is incredible! Tonight I was greeted by the sight of the mist rolling in from the South Pacific while the rain came down. Awesome!!! :D

I had a nice ride home last night, no ride in this morning, Thursdays are my day off, I work at the shop and get home really late, When it's busy, I just don't feel like riding the 18.5 miles home.

Unusual ride in for me today. A mixed up training schedule led me to leave my messenger bag at work last night. I only realized it this a.m. So my ever-patient wife agreed to drop off my work clothes after she dropped off the kids. With no bag, I was free to ride the roadie, which I did.

So, in honor of Bike to Work Day, I engaged in a Zoom to Work Day. Realizing I had a 9am appointment I still squeezed in a monster hill ride, took a different route that was longer overall (25 miles), and was presented with a nasty headwind about halfway into the ride. Because of the 9am meeting, I basically sprinted the whole way. I am beat now, but charged up.

Didn't see that many other commuters on the way in but it could be that I was running a little late.

Since today is Bike to Work Day, I brought in a change of clothing on Wednesday and rode to work this morning. This weather was nice and cool, perfect morning conditions.

The first part of my ride I managed to get alot of green lights. Once I got into Sunnyvale the lights were more frequent and I managed to catch more of them. I've only commuted a few times but I counted 46 traffic lights over my 15 mile commute. And I need to find a better way to cross Hwy 101.

Anyone know if there are any good East-West routes around Moffet Field?

SteveE

Ah, the joys of commuting in traffic! Some dumb woman nearly collided with me on the way home yesterday. I'm travelling at a great rate of speed in the bike lane and am approaching a street that angles diagonally from the main highway I'm travelling. I had no intention of taking this road, but this woman chose to force the decision otherwise. She pulls alongside me, then proceeds to veer toward the intersecting road. I barely had time to swerve to avoid the side of her car now in my path, jam the brakes as I drew parallel, release the brakes as I hit a depressed storm grate, hit the brakes again and somehow remain upright through it all. I threw up my hands in exasperation and yelled, "Hey," but I'm not even sure she ever noticed me. . . she just continued on.

How could she not notice a fast paced cyclist with legs spinning mad, bright yellow jersey, and blinking lights? She barely overtook me to make the turn, so I was in her field of view, then right beside her? Ditz! My words uttered about her at the scene were much more colorful and derogatory, but I'm sure you all can guess what they might have been, so I'll leave you to imagine.

Anyway, I was cruising against a mild headwind and made great time discounting my slight detour. I think I am feeling the effects of both consistent, daily commuting through winter and now experiencing good weather; I'm feeling strong.

It's Bike to Work day? Well, I sure chose a fine day to relax and take the car.....

I thought it was tomorrow (Friday). Some LBSs are giving away some freebie trinkets. I don't know what exactly, but maybe I'll find out tomorrow.

I think it varies by city. Today was BTWD in Sactown. Free bagels and coffee by some local cafes for the ride in and a rally at lunchtime at the CalEPA building. Got a free bottle and patch kit from the LBS but didn't win the raffle for a $500 gift certificate. "C'mon! Baby needs a full Dura Ace upgrade!" :)

The bike path was packed this morning. Perfect temperature but a little breezy. Tonight I'll take a detour to the office softball game. Life is good.

cold

It's bike to work day, as is every other day. I got off to a slow start today, didn't really feel like riding, I started my trip under heavy cloud cover and quite cool temperatures, as I got going I felt better and the clouds started to move on. By the time I was half way to work the clouds were gone and I was graced with one of the nicest sunrises I've seen in a long time. It made my morning, I'm glad I decided to ride the bike today.

Well, today was my second day of bike-commuting. I was up early today, so left even earlier than yesterday. It was very grey and cloudy, with mistly/light rain coming down. The temperature was about 11 degrees Celcius, which is a bit warmer than yesterday, but it sure felt colder without the sun. However, I was wearing only shorts, synthetic T-shirt and lightweight long underwear over the T. I warmed up in about 3 mins and didn't feel the cold at all after that. The rain actually felt pretty good, as it woke me up very well! Got to work, had a shower (cold again) and here I am, at my desk, 1/2 hr before I need to be here. It's odd...most of the office is still dark, and there's only a few ppl out and about.

Well, guess that's it for now,

Darren
(Commuting since May 15, 2003) :D

Bloody hell! It's 'winter' here right now, and it's still warmer than that! I think it was about 15 degrees C this morning, and warmer still on the evening ride. Still, there's nothing quite like watching the full moon rise out of the South Pacific. :)

Kinda soggy, but cool enought that I was very comfortable in my rain gear. I kept the lights on. The cool weather is good for riding, but I'm hoping summer will arrive in time for the Memorial Day long weekend, when we will be at Ocracoke, NC.

Paul

Last night's ride home wasn't too much fun, actually. I was beat from all the training I've done recently (both for a 100K hilly ride Sunday and for a hilly, trail half-marathon in early June). The morning's blast ride really took it out of me.

Besides that, my roadie had a flat which I detected and fixed while at the office. How 'bout that: one ride and one flat. Coincidence?

This morning was cold, overcast, and a bit foggy, but I had a lovely tailwind, and it was a great ride in.

On the way home, the weather had turned beautiful, but I had to fight the headwind all the way.

All along the ditches, dandelions and violets and strawberry blossoms and wild mustard were blossoming! :)

First triple digit commute of the year! 103 degrees. I must admit I found myself just a little shorter on water than I would have liked when I got to work. I took down a lot of water and half a pizza and found I had a lot of energy on the way home to battle the heat (I guess soaking my jersey in cold water helped too of coarse!). I ran into another cyclist and drafted/chatted with him for 6 miles or so. Very good ride. I commuted 200 miles this week! This is the first time I have notched the mileage over 200 on commuter miles in a week.

An incident on my commute home yesterday disturbed me somewhat...

Leaving my work town of Hexham and cycling over the Tyne bridge on the outskirts I make a right turn off the trunk road onto a B road, My usual commute.

As I signalled to turn right and made my manouvre to the centre of the road a red Mazda pickup blasted up behind me and was determend not to give way forcing me to take evasive action then missing me by inches at high speed .(also blowing out high amounts of exhaust smoke)
I gesticulated at the driver, pointing to my eyes etc, the usual stuff.

Continuing on my way home, a couple of miles from home again I was given a scare when this same pickup overtook me and was to close for comfort.....

But what really alarmed me, was, just as I was approaching the outskirts of my home village the pickup was standing at the side of the road as though waiting of me, I immediatly thought oh! this is going to be one of those face out slagging matches, but when I started to get near the vehicle took off with wheels spinning and a cloud of exhaust.

I only hope the driver was`nt making sure of my identity to "mark my card" as it were.... And he drove off just before I got close enough to memorise his licence No... Scarry!!!!!!

If he does it again call the cops and complain about "harassment". It's unlikely they'll throw the **** in jail (which is what he desperately deserves), but he might get a phone call from the cops, which will probably be enough to pull him into line. He probably thought it was funny, I'd think it was funny if he caught SARS.

Nice ride in this morning, clear skys, no wind, light traffic. The air was a little cool at 38 degrees F, I did muscle through it with only shorts and a wind breaker, I rode harder to generate some extra heat. My ride in took me 1 hour exactly on the commuter with the bags loaded about half full of all those things that I carry that I'll never use. Have a great day everyone, it looks like it's going to be a nice one.

I am usually so bad at riding into a head wind but I had one all the way home today and I did a very good time. Kept wizzing straight past other cyclists. Don't know what got into me.

The roads were damp this morning so it would have been nice to have a set of fenders. One nice thing I discovered about damp/wet roads is it makes it very easy to find the pot holes. Just look for a puddle and that's a low spot or bump in the road :)

Previously I mentioned about some idiots in a yellow truck yelling "BANG" out the window at me not too long ago. Well I saw the truck today. Unfortuantely I was still climbing a hill and didn't make it to the top in time to catch up with them. I'm planning to be at the intersection by 5:50 am for the next few days and see if I can watch them come by. If I can get their license plate I'll report them.

Zack

Got a PR this morning. Left house at ten to five and arrived at work at ten to Six! I think the lack of traffic helped a lot. Beautiful morning. Looks like another hot ride home though.

Not only was it not raining, but the sky was a strange blue color and there was some sort of powerful light hanging in it. A quick ride on a brisk spring morning with a big smile is a great way to start the day.

Paul

Yesterday and today were perfect. I commute around 9:30 am and it was a sunny 20 Celcius. First commute in T-shirt yesterday. I Just wish I didn't have to work, it would've been perfect for a long morning ride.

This is my first post in this thread. I started commuting 3 or 4 weeks ago. So far I have just been doing a couple of times a week. At first I couldn't have handled the 32 mile round trip more than a couple of times per week. Now I am absoulutley hooked on commuting.

I worked from home most of last week. The only day I went in to work I did so just to ride my bike in. I didn't have any meetings or anything I was just having withdrawls. I rode pretty much everyday but I missed that morning ride.

Well Today was the best commute so far. Absoultely perfect day to ride. High 50's in the morning and mid 70's and tons of sun on the way home. It is the kind of ride that will keep me commuting even in the bad weather. This week I am going to ride in 4 days and then try for 5 next week. Can't wait!

Steve

Hazy and warm - 30 degrees C and about 6 billion percent humidity - and all this less than two weeks from the official start of "winter".

What a great day, clear skys, no wind temps in the low 40's and they cleaned the roads, I took the touring bike in today, what a difference from the commuter. That Bridgestone slips along effortlessly, what a pleasure to ride. I think I'll start taking it more often. I hate to get it all crapped up though, oh well, I'll just have to clean it more often.