I was running a bit late, but managed to make up the time somehow. It was cold enough that I could see my breath! It's a bit of a cold snap, but it's nice to not sweat like a pig on the way to work everyday.

Another hot one this morning. Hottest commuting week of my life for sure. I rode every day this week, here were the temps (F) - 97, 99, 102, 104 and today it's already 101. Yesterday on my way home I took the bike lane on the newly asphalted road outside my workplace. Wow, was that ever a mistake. The black roadway temperature must have been at least 130-140, I was literally roasting. By the time I got home, my bike was so hot I could hardly touch the metal on it. I am looking forward to the same temps this afternoon, but I am avoiding the black roadway for sure. With some luck, I may go through a stray shower or thunderstorm to help cool me down.

Ended up in the ER from a single lousy bee. He got under my jersey and got me under the nipple. Within 10 minutes I was covered in hives. Within an hour I was vomiting and raspy, so my wife took me to the ER. I left with a shot of anti-histimine, a prescription for an Epi-Pen and steroids, and the knowlede that at 40 I've developed an allergy to bee toxin, even though I've been stung dozens of times since I was a kid and have never had this reaction before.

So from now on, every time I'm on the bike, I'll be carrying an Epi-Pen, 100mg of benadryl, and a cellphone.

Scary but okay now.

Bad news about the bee allergy. Good to discover though. I considered working in a bee setting. Apparently the more you get stung, the more you get dependent on the venom, so that if you get stung a lot, you maintain a tolerance, but if you have that threshold, and then a gap, you are more likely to have an allergic reaction next time. You get hooked. I was told to try to get stung weekly if I hadn't been anyway. I went to a botanist for work instead...

Nice ride for me, somewhat disjointed in time and space. New MUP opened parallel to the old one. It is gorgeous, and has parking, so attracts dogwalkers and strollers galore, unlike the hideous beat up loud smelly close to the freeway original. It also ends at a gravel continuation, which I took yesterday on new mtn bike ride. Lots of fun. Will be bummed when they finally pave that one (it's on the schedule).

First ride this month. Hot and humid. One of the two roads closed this summer is now rideable so I can avoid the worst of the detour.

Quite a bit more traffic than I'd expect this time of year. Another big housing developement started, so traffic will soon be worse.

Frell! Fark!
Ok.. enough of the imaginary scifi curse words.

I hit an oil slick while it was raining and wrecked like no ones business.
Rode the remaining 10 miles home covered in mud and blood. Yummy.
Damage for this wreck:
2 scratched ultegra shifters levers and tops.
A fair amount of road rash. Mostly under the left side of my shorts. Fortunately it is fairly light. Slightly sprained left wrist for the third time this year. I wonder if repeated sprains will cause lasting issues?
My new twin six jersey has a small hole in the front on the opposite side of what I crashed on. This one irritated me the most.

Anyhow, tomorrow I will buff out the scratches on my shifters with my dremel. May look into repainting the top part of the shifter. I can purchase new ones but at $10-$15 a pop? Maybe a bit of chrome paint will work. I will test this on a set of tiagra shifters that have the same cosmetic issues.

What a sucky end to a good day. Someday my luck should turn around..... I hope.

I've actually been seeing more bikes on the way in, but usually only until I get into town.

Today was good, save one lady who just didn't see me and pulled right out in front of me. I scared the crap out of her, because I had to jack on my front brake, which squeaks really loudly when cranked. She actually put a hand out the window to, I guess, use the force to stop me from hitting her car? Bracing for impact inside a car... lol.

I also was apparently racing someone for who knows how long. I don't know how long he was following me, but I got to the top of a moderate climb (I was running late, so was pushing it a bit), stood up to let some blood flow around me jewels, and I happened to catch him out of the corner of my eye. He was standing in the saddle, and looked like he was about to fall over. The fact that someone was actually going my way on my route, and was probably trying to keep up/pass me got the better of me, so I hammered for about 2-3 minutes. I didn't see him anymore after that. Yes, a cyclist ego is a wonderful thing. Although I'd be just as happy to see the same guy pull my teeth out up a climb 3 months from now. Let's hope.

I didn't ride home today, as the heat index was about 108. I did it yesterday in the same temps and regretted it. 10 miles, sure. 20 miles, with some fairly nasty hills, plus all the car heat during rush hour? No thanks. Went to gym, worked legs a bit, road the bus home, and did 45 minutes on the spinner. I should be OK for tomorrow mornings ride.

Didn't end up riding home from work, rode over to a buddies place. Forgot Danforth was closed, but asked a police officer if it was cool to ride through, he said yep, so I flew down a fairly open Danforth to Jones (they were setting up, this was maybe around 1:30/2pm). Heat is a bit nuts still, but it was nicer later. Been pushing a bit more on my commute and rides out to friends and back in preparation for my epic journey next weekend (riding to St. Catherines to do a 200k event for the Heart & Stroke foundation and riding back to Toronto again. No, not all in one day. :p)

Not a commute story, but follows the ego part.. this morning on the way back from my buddies place, I was heading south down Shaw, and I caught up and rode with a car for about 10 metres, he suddenly said something, I said "what?" expecting some BS, he said "you're going 30km/h!". This made me smile. I repled "that all?! hmm" then shrugged and put the hammer down. He was dust in no time (speed bumps galore and he didn't seem in a hurry) and I stopped at College for him, but he tooted and turned off into a house before... bummer, I was hoping to chat to him again :)

Rode in on the Tarmac for the first time today as I have a nice long ride with some local BF'ers in the morning. It was wet with light rain leftover from pouring all day and while the ride in was noticeably quicker, I also realized that I'm glad I don't commute on the road bike every day. Found myself very annoyed by the messenger bag, having gotten used to panniers. I haven't used it since I got them and now see why. Also reaffirmed my appreciation for my trusty SKS fenders.

Corporate building security sucks. Yesterday they said it would be OK to bring it in. After an argument today, they let me keep it in for about half the night, until the shift change. Good thing I brought the U-Lock as my baby will soon be put out into the street, into the rather secure, yet spoke destroying bike locks we have out there. Guess they'll be proving themselves today. :mad:

worst commute ever... first off i spent an hour at work (in our bike room, the place with a shops worth of tools) fixing my brakes/gears/everything, well that part was fun, loud music and playing with a bike is cool


then around 2/3 of the way home before the **** hit the fan, i was almost hit by a car (some dumb**** squeezed me into a parked car while i was riding at like 30), then off my front brake cable slipped as i came at a busy intersection at ~40kmh (managed to stop with only a rear brake). so i started to ride slower (because i had only one brake)... then my gears started skipping, so i had to put it in 1 gear or it would jump (35-15 gearing...)... then my rear brake went (same as the front), then i had to slow down by turning hard, and could only ride at walking speed... then i got a punctured rear tire (only found out when i got home and found my wheel down to like 45psi... from 100psi when i left work)

but the weather was nice


lame

ouch!

What was up with the brakes?

i guess after tightening them (cable stretch) i didnt do up the bolt enough, so the cable slipped... but i'll loook at it tomorrow.

I haven't had a chance to ride my bicycle to work in over a week. I spent my last week in Baltimore at a conference. I'm in serious denial, I did the best I could there by walking everywhere (skipping the complimentary bus) despite the heat which was rumored to be in the 100s.

Balto bicycle commuters, you have nerves of farking steel to deal with that crazy traffic. Much respect. I saw a few pannier/backpack/tailbag riders out there, very few messengers in the inner harbor/convention area unless they were going ninja style.

My bicycle and I reunite in the morning and will make our first trip to work in over a week on Monday, I hope she still knows the way..

The last few days in New Orleans have been REALLY hot and humid. We enjoyed a fair amount of clouds and rain all summer to keep the heat down a bit until this week. Feels like I am biking in front of an open oven cooking asphalt pie. Even 20 mph has little to no cooling effect seemingly.....until I have to stop at a light or ped crossing.....where I heat up like the surface of Mercury. My brake levers were almost too hot to touch from 5 to 6 pm on the way home riding right into the setting sun.

In the AM it was 82 degrees F just BEFORE sunrise! 100 percent humidity. By mid day it was nearly 96 in the shade with a trifle less humidity. By quitting time at 5pm the pavement was blistering hot and convecting heat into the air like a hot plate and still in the 90s.

So I took the long way home on wretched pot-holed backstreets past seemingly a thousand stop signs BUT partially shaded by lots of trees and the taller houses. My commute is 17 miles, and I like to ride between 23 and 25 mph hanging with, or passing traffic. Not on days like this. Gimme shade! In the sun temps reach 130. Stopping is unbearable in direct sunlight. Gotta take it slow if you want to live.

Other than the heat - no prob.

This past weekend here in Germany was awesome...if anything, a bit on the sunny side. It was perfect for hitting the trails with the family, letting the boys check out their new bikes.

So of course, THIS morning (Monday here for me), it has to rain. That's ok though, it was done by the time I left out the door. This morning the locals were back to sleeping in...which was cool- light traffic, no headaches.

One thing I have taken to is running for 5 miles after biking in. I do this about 3 times a week. Thinking about adding a loop up the mountain on the no-run days. We'll see. Well, off to shower with my clothes on.

I have to drive today , no clothes at work. Shame, today it is barely suppose to break 90 degrees. Cold wave.

This morning's ride was great after the terrible heat spell we had in the Southeast last week. The temperature was a very comfortable 72, but more importantly the humidity was much lower than it has been. Today was the first time in a while that my eyeglasses haven't been covered with sweat by the time I got to work, and my jersey and shorts were relatively dry as well. Hopefully my bike commuting will get back on track this week, as I drove a couple of days last week the high temperatures were above 100. Compared to last week, the expected highs in the mid-90s this week will feel like autumn.

Fortunately the heat spell broke on Saturday, just in time for one of the more popular group rides in my area. Most everyone was expecting oppressive heat, but a cold front came through Friday night, and the temperatures were in the 70s for most of the ride. We rode the metric century, and it would have been a brutal ride in the heat we had earlier in the week.

Lots of rain yesterday cooled things down, much cooler ride in this morning, and a bit tired from lack of rest/nutrition and doing 55miles yesterday.

I didn't have chance yet to clean the bike, nor the drivechain - I'm really sorry, it sounds as though it's going to just give up, poor thing got filthy in the rain yesterday. Tonight my dear, tonight.

Crappy. Flatted.

I was just glad to be back on the bike this morning after a weekend of no cycling and lots of tennis. Every day last week was 100+ degrees. This week is supposed to be a little cooler - in the high 90s.

Oh, I almost forgot... Driving my car this weekend, I was stopped at a traffic light waiting to turn and another car just ran into me. No injuries, minor fender damage to both vehicles. It's a good thing that I don't need my car for commuting to work!

Nice today. Fast. High 60s. Light tailwind. I rode behind a guy on a touring bike with panniers who was maintaining around 17MPH, then he left the MUP and I caught and passed a male/female couple, one on a road bike and one on an MTB.

Spent the weekend down in Canton Mass at the Icons festival, so I've got all sorts of Celtic tunes running around in my head. Maybe it makes me faster. :p Or maybe it was all the beer we drank.

Didn't commute TO work today, I had to drive....but I'm riding home.....should be nice and hot :)

....and now I'm paranoid about hitting bunnies......

Car exhausty.

I was passed by a vehicle spewing so much smoke from its tailpipe that I thought I was in the old Spy Hunter arcade game I used to play where you could let loose a smoke screen to help get away from the baddies. It was terrible. My lungs were screaming "No carcinogens please!!!".

Today was my first commute to work. It is about 6 miles one way. On my way I almost got killed at a 4 way stop since the cars thought I didn't have the right away after I waited my turn. I got a long horn and the finger... It was great. *sigh*

I used to ride everywhere from about 10 years... This is my first time back in about 5 years. I almost forgot how much people are ignorant *****holes.

Nice ride. First 'normal' implementation of new mup segment, so could finally verify distance, 8.5 miles in w/ no side trips.