My morning ride was close to perfect. I have a 4KM ride through a residential district then 10KM along the Rideau Canal to downtown Ottawa then three blocks on Laurier Ave. Here are some pictures. Does anyone want to move to Ottawa?

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...00000:SFOPRD09

Son's first commute.
 

Today was my day off from commuting. After arriving home from work on the bus I grabbed the touring bike and rode the 9 miles to my mother in-law's house to pick up my son and take him on his first ride home using the trail-a-bike. Upon arriving there filled with trepidation and noticing a large lightning storm we waited for it to clear up. Once it stopped with the lightning and rain we took off but then the heavens dumped on us again. :eek:
Anyhow, 9 miles later we arrive at home completely soaked and muddy. The kid had a blast but was a little cold at the end and I spent my time being insanely cautious. Fortunately the route is along slow residential streets and bike paths. We do cross a few busy streets.

Oh and I got in trouble. When my son rides his own bike I make him dismount and walk across busy streets at the light to be more aware of what he is doing. Otherwise he tends to aimlessly ride through the intersection. :eek:
I did not dismount at one light. The following conversation ensues between me and my 4 year old son.
Him> Daddy can you pull over?
Me>> Um. Ok?
We pull over on the bike path
Him> Daddy you are supposed to walk across those streets.
Me>> [nothing said. I was a tad amused and confused]
Him> Will you walk the bike next time?
Me>> Yes I will thank you.

:p

I posted before and after pictures of it in this thread.

It's a strange mix, for sure. The bike had almost new 20c Bontrager tires on it, but after my first ride I realized they'd have to go. My driveway and the road to the highway is dirt and gravel, so the narrow tires really knifed in, making for a sketchy start to the morning. Even before the highway was recently chipsealed, I was fearing a flat the whole way in on the 20's. The 25c Armadillos gave me much more float than I expected on the gravel and rode with confidence and speed on the chipseal. Supporting 215 lbs + baggage, they'd better be tough, though time will tell how the lightweight wheels hold up.

The second ride was a lot better, both for time and my own confidence. The semi trucks whipping by gave me plenty of room and I was much less nervous. Better hand position and judiciously placed Cinelli gel pads under the bar tape, as well as the PD-A520 pedals (so I can use the same shoes for mountain and road) gave me a lot more comfort. I had several comfortable hand positions to choose from and could pull up on the pedals to give my legs and feet some relief.

Finally, I'd love to say my mechanical mastery led me to the perfect gearing ratios...but I just got lucky. I went with the double already on the bike, added an Ultegra 12-27 10-speed cassette, and had a great range for the climb on the small ring, and the same for the descent home with the big ring. No need for new chainrings or a triple crank, thankfully. I can foresee gearing up just a tad as I get stronger. That descent home is just too much fun to not have a huge chainring to spin out.

Overall, I couldn't be happier. It looks great, good comfort and fast as the dickens at 20 lbs; Plenty light for this clyde. ;)

Real nice this morning. 46F and sunny. Very comfortable for riding. I had a long-sleeve jersey and shorts. No raccoon today, but there was a cute little puppy out for a walk with its human.

Back to 80s later this week. Yay.

excellent ride in this morning...tried a slightly different route using a new road that's not open yet. Was very nice having all that pavement and no cars for about a mile or so. The road did not come out where I thought it would, but I was able to figure out which way to go and still made it to work with time to spare.
Bottle dynamo light proved to be sufficient light, but I'll be glad when the new headlight gets here...hopefully today.

Nice morning actually. 'cept I'm sitting here smelling like a rubber tube. Ahhhhhh.

Flatted on a huge piece of glass (stashed the tube behind bushes to pick up later to patch). First time changing a tire on this new bike. Wasn't too bad, however - NOTE to self ... bigger tires .... means more CO2. Got enough air in to ride back home (no LBS open/garages with air pumps avialable) and fill with floor pump.

And of course I took the bike out and rode some steep inclines --- and hit horse trails. Fresh horsey trails - lots of horses out yesterday --- and of course I picked up some "souvenirs" - and didn't clean off the tires when I got home --- so of course as luck would have it - today was the day to get a flat with horse poo still on tire.

:)

And of course as I'm changing it I have three workman smoking their brains out across the street - making kissing noises at me.

:)

MORNING!!!

I don't remember my ride in this morning. I remember waving bye to my wife and then riding down in the elevator at work.

I do remember my bike was covered in wood dust from making new china lead free blocks for the kids this weekend.

Great commute in today. Humid, but not too bad. First day of changing out my clipless pedals to eggbeaters. They rock! I searched and searched the forums for feedback and opinions on them. The posts were helpful and I am glad I took the step to buy them. Great set of pedals.

The ride home should be great too....only 91 degrees today - cold front!

txbiker

Windy and much cooler. A sign of things to come I guess :( Now have a gnats pube over 1900 miles on the roadie, yay (took a longer route to get that this morning :))

Blah. In a car. Twice in 2 wks! On the bright side, got to see something on the freeway I never would have seen from a bike, a convoy of double-flatbed tractor trailers toting container-sized blocks of chickens in individual cages. Boy did they look unhappy. Windswept at best.

I got run off the road by an cell phone-wielding SUV mommie. Did a nice rear slide out into the grass. Hopped back on with only some minor cosmetic damage.

Exchanged a few words with tank mommy, and went on my way.

School's back in session!

Crappy. Rode into rain about three miles into my 13 mile commute. So the last ten miles was in the rain. I'm not a big fan of riding in the rain. Had a rain shell with me but I didn't bother putting it on becuase it wasn't a particularly cold rain. Hopefully the ride home will be better.

We've had 3 straight days of rain here for the first time all summer. I rode in today and it wasn't too bad. It's still warm enough that getting wet isn't a big deal.

No ride today. My wife had an early meeting so we all carpooled in the minivan. Just as well; my legs need a day after some hill torture yesterday.

Warm, but not too warm. A fellow commuter snuck up behind me and dashed off down the big hill, so of course I gave chase. I sat 8' off his back wheel the whole way down, especially after he looked around to see where I was. :D Childish and immature? Of course, but plenty of fun.

We are praying for rain in NC. We're having one of the hottest summers on record, and it's been extremely dry as well. August is normally one of our wetter months, but we've had only 0.26 inch of rain the entire month so far. On top of that, the temperatures have been in the 90s on the cooler days, and over 100 several days a week for the past 3 weeks.

My commute was more of the same. Very pleasant riding in to work, although humid, but I am dreading the ride home. The forecasters yesterday were saying the high today would be in the mid-90s, so I considered that doable. They changed the forecast overnight, and it has already topped 100 by early afternoon. I wouldn't have biked to work today if I had realized it was gonna get so hot. Guess I'll just have to tough it out.

Childish and immature = male :p ;)

It is not a bad thing for someone to be tailing another person. Gives extra motivation to both of them. :)
Last Thursday after merging on to a MUP, I was passed by another roadie while I was spinning up to speed.
It turns out he was going a tad slow and I passed him a few minutes later. The rest of the distance on the trail he was following me fairly close. No biggie. I just rode faster and had a blast. Too bad he didn't pull at all but it was a better workout for me.

Got lightly drowned this morning. Luckily i was expecting it and rode in in waterproofs, and took dry socks... This evening i got chased by a couple of chavs who thought it was ok to shout something incoherent but were affronted by being flipped off. Yeah, like they had a hope of catching me... :rolleyes::D Probably should have been more sensible as i was on a bike path going over a bridge. I haven't seen them before though, but i'll have to think of something pointy that could be a legitimate part of my bike tool kit to hand for a couple of days just in case...

I turn into my dog in these situations. He's a whippet and occasionally bigger dogs try and intimidate him and he just bullets off until they give up, then goes back and buzzes them..!:rolleyes:

On my ride this morning this 60 plus year old lady riding a 3 wheeler running her dog meet up with me at an intersection. This trike was the top of the line trike. I saw it at the bike store last month and really wanted it, but the 900 dollar price tag stopped me. But at any rate, the lady knew what she was doing. There was one time she took off in front of me and I know we was doing 10mph. That dog was at a full run. I have 4 dogs and they need a good run everyday, but I have to get that trike. Quite amazing ride for me today.

If I happen across this again, I plan to ask if I can take a picture or video of it. See ya

There IS a lunar eclipse on the 28th, if you're on the West coast it should be a good one too. I remember seeing a really good full eclipse several years ago, the moon looked like something you could just reach out and grab. Very weird.

Last two days I set my route on fire! Today I hit 30.1 mph with a nice tail wind. Rocked the path at 23 for miles and miles - passing the cars on the roadway next to the path - thanks to a 20 mph speed limit strictly enforced. No such limits on the path.

Then, I got home from the usual 17 mile commute (each way), changed my clothes, and noticed my rear tire was flat. If you must flat, best place to fix it is at home! Lucky day!

Almost forgot. I blew through countless red lights downtown, one of which was right across an NOPD patrol car's path. There was tons of room for me and great sight lines, but it still freaked him out a bit. I was going 25 mph and flashed across his field of view. He just kept going on his way. I cranked it up to 27 and split traffic for three more lights just to be on the "safe" side.

I would not have done that except his car was in the absolute perfect blind spot. Soon as I committed to the crossing he came into view. Probably five car lengths between me and his patrol car bumper. He may have continued on his way because he was going too fast to make the turn behind me.

I'm gonna use a different route for a few days.

48F and sunny this morning. Another nice one. I saw one older lady on a bicycle. No other riders.

Yesterday I saw two people on a tandem three-wheeler. I also watched some teen-aged kid on a BMX bike riding like the devil himself was on the kid's back wheel. :D He was spinning out like crazy, out of he saddle, bobbing back and forth, blowing stop signs, weaving around peds, and once in a while he'd turn to see what was behind him. I wondered when he'd blow up, and eventually he stopped at a MUP-side lemonade stand and watched me as I went by.

Morning all! Nondescipt ride to work - no flats, little traffic (till I hit Main St by the expressway entrance and then it's ZooLand) and cool. In fact today's the first day in a long time I rode with a long sleeved jersey. Sign o things to come :)

Very foggy which was not good on the glasses, I was continually wiping them clean. Wet streets which was not good for my legs, as I don't have fenders on yet. Pretty cold which was fine because I got one of these on Sunday.

Didn't bike commute last week because I was fighting the flu. I'm still going through some after-effects, but I was back in the saddle both yesterday and today. It's starting to cool off in the morning. No thunderstorms the last few days.

GreenAnvil