Back from 2 weeks of vacation. (sigh) Woke up to thunder and heavy rain. Fortunately the rain had mostly stopped before I left for work, but I still got a little bit damp.

No cyclists seen this morning. Should be a tailwind for the ride home. Yay.

76 this morning, at 7am.....and humid. I really hope it storms today otherwise it's gonna be a hard ride home.

On the plus side, I watched a cat try to chase two rabbits. The rabbits had to have been playing with the cat, cause they were confusing the heck out of it

Just beautiful! Quiet and still after yesterdays storms.

Great ride this morning. I haven't been on my bike in 2 week, due to the bike being at the shop. Anyways, I saw 2 deer, 1 raccoon, 3 rabbits, a crap load of cats and dogs, 1 hawk, a bunch of crows. Its suppose to reach 95 here in Ohio this afternoon, so it might be a long 18 miles home.

Refreshingly less wet which was a nice change of pace after my ride home Friday and my Sunday ride. Of course it is raining now, so we'll see what the ride home brings.

I took a roundabout way in today to add more miles, and out in the country a guy turning left from a T almost t-boned me. He then launched into the far lane away from me, and apologized very sincerely. Otherwise I got a lot of hill work today lol.

Commute was smoother since I changed tires. Humidity was very unpleasant though. Even just standing there next to me bike I could feel the nastiness. It actually got better as I started moving and got some wind.

No wild animal sightings today. Phew!

Took a road that runs parallel to the Santa Fe trail (Mark Dabling) so that I wouldn't have to go into the trail so early in the morning. I was riding pretty loaded (large Novara panniers and trunk; Mondays are my days to carry stuff for my locker at work) but still managed to ride 13.34 miles in 1:01 with 782 feet in elevation. This time was mostly due to my first attempt at climbing the Fillmore hill going up to King Soopers. I was successful, but I felt like my head wanted to explode... had to slow down after reaching the top to catch my breath.

All in all, I'm satisfied with my progress. It hasn't been a year when I started commmuting (will be one year by the end of the summer) and I've already put in close to 1300 miles and I'm consistently weighing in at 175 lbs (from 200lbs a year ago).

I'm using my daily commutes as training for touring (which is the next thing I want to get into). I want to be a better climber; I just "discovered" that if I lock my front suspension I don't bounce as much, then I select the largest chainring and the second or third largest cog and get off the saddle and I can climb better and faster (although I seem to use more energy). This must be (or close to it) how the roadies do it....

I would also like to lower my weight to 170lbs or 165 (I'm 5'9"). I consistently average about 16-17mph mostly on flat routes but the hills here in CS conspire to slow me down... Would love to get me a (light!!!) road bike for quick 20 milers before work and start doing centuries on the weekends.

GreenAnvil

Nice ride in today. I love this time of year when it's 60 or so on the way in. Motorists seem to be more attentive to cyclists lately. Might be because there are a bunch more on the roads these days.

Finally found my missing pepper spray [Halt] and clipped it back on to the pack. Cue up the wild dogs and crazy JAMs.

I am loving this overcast from all the storms flowing across Centeral Texas, except for that head wind. Wonderful ride this morning, did an extra 2 miles after putting a few lbs on during vacationing in Galveston. Seems to me, on days when I ride in, there is less work to be done.

A little cool this morning, and the wind had picked up by the time I got downtown and it started to rain. About a block from work, the wind really picked up and a little dust storm rolled down the street, removing hats and lifting skirts wherever it could. Hopefully things clear up a bit for the ride home...

Ugh. Headwind. Cross wind. Headwind again. Actually got off the bike and walked one section because the wind was so bad!!

Now I'm sitting at my desk too tired to think. Ugh.

(This came up really suddenly - it was dead calm at 7:00, then by 8 it was blowing northwesterly at 43 kph, gusting to 60! Ack!)

Hot & Stickey! This afternoon is going to SUCK!

5.52 mi
23min 42 sec (23.7min) (0.395hr)

13.97 mph! Fat kid is starting to scoot!


Billy

First full commute on the new bike (a 2007 Fuji Touring) this morning. Much faster and easier than my normal commuter (2002 Specialized Hard Rock Comp). Other than that, not much to report except being passed on campus by a driver who was a complete idiot/jerk. I'll spare you the details as they were nothing you all don't see on a regular basis too.

Super quiet.

I'm finally in a groove with a nice easy 3 mile commute, with the most exertion coming at the beginning of the commute. The ride home is harder and I usually take a little longer route, which is also good. All in all, I'm pretty satisfied.

I met my first angry motorist today. He buzzed near me, told me to ride on the sidewalk and flipped me off. I saw him later in a traffic jam. I didn't say anything as I whizzed by.

I honestly cant remember anything about the morning commute....but as soon as I left work it started to come down hard w/ lightning. I stood under a tree for a few mintues thinking about if I should just get on the bus/cab...but said F it and rode out. Stopped about a quarter of the way home to pick up some food, and the rain stopped.

I feel so free now that I know its no big deal to ride in the rain. I used to not ride when it rained, and hated it...but now I know everyday is a bike day.

and my new San Jose great

Good move on your part. You'll always lose if you stir it up with some nutcase in a car. I haven't had but a couple cases of this in many years of commuting but each time I just ignore them.

Let me guess ... the driver kept an eye on you in the rear view mirror as you got closer? I always get a kick out of how people underestimate how quickly a bike can gain on them once they pass.

Andy

13 miles in 45 minutes on Sunday (yes, I commute on weekends; they are my busiest workdays). Woo-hoo! That's fast by my standards. Of course, there was no traffic and the lights were mostly green... but there were hills!

Today - beastly hot!!

Windy. slapped on a little blinky on the front to"be seen" as opposed to my big "see by" light. I needed something to improve my visibility from the front without taking the big light. Nice ride both ways.

Great ride in tonight. Left the house @ 8pm and made 17 miles by 9:05. I know it's not really fast, but faster than last week. Man, my legs feel good on Mondays!! Got to see the sun set over Dallas, and traffic was fairly light. Hoping the ride home in the morning is as nice.

Steve

Sweaty, dripping, humid mess of a ride in...but pleasant just the same. Scared up a deer, and no problems with any drivers. Drafted a delivery truck for ~ 100 yards which got me up to ~ 35mph. Normally I'd be riding ~ 20 there, so that was a nice speed boost. Going to be hot, and sticky on the way home.

Ride home yesterday was hot, luckily without much humidity although-that will come today. After being passed by a roadie (I was riding at a moderate/easy pace), I decided to catch a draft and maybe get home (and out of the 98 deg heat) a little sooner and easier too. Near the airport he dropped off his pace and slowed drastically, I was expecting a turn, stop for mechanical, or maybe he just didn't want someone behind him. I slowly pulled around and in front then thought I'd better see if he was ok. I gave him the thumbs up and he replied likewise so I kept going thinking that the heat must have gotten to him but that I was doing surprisingly well. Well, that only lasted for another few minutes, all of a sudden I lost all steam and my legs felt week. I wasn't in danger of dehydrating or passing out but maintaining a moderate (probably) 15-16 mph speed was tough, the few small hills that I encounter were tough too. I got home ok and promptly drank my Endurox and got in a cool shower. I was a little nervous about the heat and, I guess, with good reason, it really takes a lot out of you. Today should be even worse so I'm going to be extra careful.

Awesome ride. I was free (different thread). No helmet, no clip in pedals, no gloves. Just man and machine (and a well tuned silent one at that)


100% humidity made for a sweaty but very enjoyable ride in this morning. And we all know morning sweat doesn't stink. It better not, because I'm here for the next nine hours today and we don't have showers at work

I felt like I was about a mile from the beach this morning it was that humid. I think it was actually a little worse this morning than yesterday morning. Had a nice ride, but found out that my rear tire has a bulge in it so I'm gonna stop by the LBS on the way home to get a new tire.