I may change up my cog too, riding a 48x19 right now which gets me around pretty well and I can climb hills pretty easily but I may go with a 17 instead.
I ride a steamroller and I know they make a dingle cog which is a 17+19 in one, what a cool idea. You can just switch the chain when you want a different ratio.

Close call this morning. I was rolling pretty fast downhill towards an intersection, when someone pulled ahead of me into the bike lane to get ahead of the queue for an upcoming right turn. Then STOPPED dead in the middle of the bike lane when others who were following the lane striping and merging over where it was LEGAL (ahem) got in front of her. Had to brake damn hard - and shouted at a couple of other drivers so focused on trying to get around her that they were in danger of hitting me instead.

We all managed to sort ourselves out without damage. I caught up with the cutoff lady at the stoplight and told her (very nicely) that she really needed to be more aware of bikes on this stretch.

Didn't realize I was shaking until a quarter mile further on. But I smoked the next long uphill. Nothing like a good shot of adrenaline to get you going in the morning.

Kinda/sorta commute today. Didn't go to work, went to the doctor (nothing major, just something annoying me). About 7 miles round trip. The bad part was the return ride, which took me past a strip mall and then on a very busy road in the research park here, both at lunchtime. Lots of drivers on the road and not paying attention or passive/aggressively buzzing me. However, the temps are perfect for me--upper 70s.

Today's commutes were delightful, just missing the rain both in the morning and evening. Thunderstorms rolled through the area this afternoon and again this evening.

What made it best was the scent of trees in blossom everywhere along the route!

I made a couple of videos on my commute home the other day. They're actually pretty boring, but I'll post them anyway. :D

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=DSCN0232.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=DSCN0236.flv

Lamplight: What camera do you use? Does it have a special mount? or something you rigged?

It's just the video feature on a Nikon Coolpix digital camera. No mount; I just held it with one hand while steering with the other. That's why it's kind of all over the place a few times. :o

LL - That is a damn cool ride... what did you do with all the cars?

:)

My first commute on a fixed gear today. Actually, my first time riding a fixed gear for longer than around the block, due to an impulse buy. Awesome; I can see why people like these things.

Otherwise, it was 48 degrees, per the Watchtower sign, and yet despite the relatively cool weather, I still arrived a sweaty mess due to the humidity (wearing a short sleeve jersey with a light short sleeve baselayer). Surprised at how much energy braking takes this on bike. First time in quite a while that I arrived at work feeling like a had a workout. I like.

It looks as if my commute will be changing a little as I got a job offer today that I really cannot refuse.

There will be 6 less kilometres to travel and although the smell of grease will be present, it will be the pleasant smell of bike grease.

I figure I will be more than making up that 6 km by test driving newly built bikes.

:D

Last day of my 47km round trip today and the weather is definitely closing in and got allot worse here down under

Tuesday see's a new 70km daily round trip commute, im really looking forward to it but the weather is certainly gonna be a pain.

Winter clothing will have to be purchased and hope for the best

Bring it on

First day back after a week of being sick.... I battled rediculous winds the whole way in, gusts so bad that I preferred the headwinds to the crosswinds, but it was a lot more pleasant than I had anticipated. I felt like I accomplished something when I got to work.

Stopping for coffee halfway in definitely helped.

My ride home yesterday was quite fast. Some guy in "serious cycling clothing" on a thin-tired hybrid of some sort came out onto the MUP just ahead of me, and got out of the saddle. It was on! :p I stayed with him until we parted ways about 5 miles later. We were cruising at up around 20MPH most of the time, with me fighting against my knobby tires which were singing loudly.

It's a good thing we rode like that, because it started raining after I got home. :rolleyes:

Congratulations Sixty Fiver! :) BTW, the cars cannot get to those places, which of course is why I choose to take that route. :D

The ride in was COLD. It was peaceful and mellow, and I think I like my new schedule (ride to work, downhill but on the icky boring streets, before sunrise; then ride home, uphill, on the nice MUP with all the nature, when the sun is out). I love that time of morning just before sunrise, especially when I'm going downhill.

The ride home was nice! I raised my seat even more, which helped. I stayed in a comfortable gear, took my time and really enjoyed the little buds coming out on the trees. I also took a rest break when my brother and I crossed paths. We pulled over and drank water and talked for a while, and that little rest made the ride seem so much easier.

Chilly and rainy here. One of our local message boards does a meet up for breakfast downtown every Saturday to help support local business. Despite no rain gear (yet), I decided to break another mental barrier and ride through the rain. I showed up looking like a drowned rat and to a few comments about being "hardcore". The first half of my ride is on the MUP and as I came out of the park and onto the road encountered 2 traffic lights that were out. Needless to say, that was interesting.

Hoy! The skies really opened up on my way home today! Legs and torso were fine thanks to raingear, but I had to literally pour water out of my shoes after getting home. It was a truly fun ride, with a wicked tailwind too. My favourite was when I was almost home, water coming down in one huge wall, and some woman shrieked: "Oh my God, there is a biker on the road!" :D

Yeah, I realized riding today I have finally become that crazy cyclist. I can't wait for the winter to ride to work and see the looks on faces.

Riding past 4 gas stations today helped motivate me. It would have been nice in the car, but on a day off with nothing to do, no schedule or errands, driving 5 miles to sit in a restaurant for a few hours seemed pointless.

Around 15C temp outside when I left my house at 430am for work that starts at 6am. This gives me enough time to stop by a 7-11 and get to work at around 545am. Distance is 25km one way. I have been able to ride my track bike to work about 6 days/month for the last 2 months but want to do it more...
Time to buy a commuter bike :)

I took it way easier than usual on the way home, I was able to go to sleep basically as soon as I walked in the door. Good to know an extra 10 minutes or so riding actually results in an extra half hour/hour of sleep. (Also good to know that I can cut through the roadblocks at Civic Center Park during festivals on my bike without getting hassled.)

Unfortunately I slept through the group ride I was supposed to go to and I'm still sleepy.

Good ride in today. I feel so much more alive when I ride to work since I am usually sleep-deprived. I'm on night shift this month-6PM to 6AM. The big thing is having to haul a lot of clothes along. Warm on the way in, around freezing on the way home. Also, I discovered my bike rolls a lot easier with enough air in the tires.

Lovely day. about 10C (so a bit chilly!), blue sky, sunshine.

I cleaned, lubed and adjusted my bike and chain at the weekend, plus topped the types up with air (they were a bit low, and I'd been too lazy to do them for a couple of weeks). Bike felt great - so much so that in my exuberance I hammered it for the first half of the ride - then kinda slowed right down for the second half because I was tired!

The ride in was the Late To Work Time Trial Stage!! I woke up at 0515, which is when I usually leave the house. I left at 0530-ish. I got to work at 0545, and was on air at 0600 sharp! YAY!! I wore my yellow sweatshirt (in lieu of a yellow jersey) to mark myself as the winner.

The ride home was great. The weather was perfect for riding; warm enough but not hot, with thick cloud cover. About a block away from my house, though, I saw something very disturbing: an upside-down, mangled bicycle surrounded by police cars. Luckily, as I came down the block, I saw an ambulance on scene and a paramedic filling out paperwork. The only paperwork we do on scene is the patient refusal form--the patient is okay enough to refuse medical treatment.

I had to finally invest in panniers when I moved to overnights. The worst is forgetting something important for the ride home like gloves because it's sunny and beautiful in the afternoon.

The commute in was fine for me.

Two miles from my office, I ride through a 55mph/45mph intersection. I was looking down, but I heard a large boom, looked up, and a Prius was rolling down the shoulder a lanes width away from me. Front offset crash with a large full size pickup. The pickup driver seemed to be more concerned about his vehicle damage than this guys health.

I was ASTOUNDED that no one stopped as I was waiting to cross the road. I talked to the gentleman, found that his abdomen was hurting, and asked him for his phone since I don't have one. Just as I'm trying to fumble around with his blackberry of whatever it was, an unmarked police car pulled up and called it in. I talked to the crash victim more, found out what he did for a living, and then execused myself since there was an officer of the law (of some sort) there; I did not want to be an extra body in the way.

Thats it.

-Kevin

yet another beautiful week predicted here in NC upper 50s at night, mid-upper 70's daytime- great ride in this morning - very little traffic.

Absolutely perfect commute today. 55 degrees, clear blue sky, and a slight 5 mph headwind just to let me know that my awesome riding was all me. :D

Mid 60s, can definitely tell the days are getting longer as it is much lighter at 6:45 when I leave, and FINALLY no head wind on the way in...slight cross wind, but no big deal. I made great time and felt great (for a Monday!) :)

I get off work @ 7:30am, It looks beautiful out. Can't wait for my ride home!

Great ride this morning the sun was shining and it was about 52F when I left the house. Should be a great ride home too. I love spring riding!:)

Didn't ride at all this weekend so the legs felt rested.