I finally rode in this morning after 54 days of zero riding, not even a few seconds on the saddle. For medical reasons. It was a difficult time, I slept more, ate worse, felt tired and sluggish. I gained 12lbs and at least an inch of waistline. (I used to wear a belt to stop my pants from falling, now I had to suck it in to button them)

It was 91F/47%RH, farily pleasant with the sun low.

I started to breath hard ~1mi from home, even though I was taking it easy and I had geared my fixed down to 17x48 (used to be 15x48)

About halfway thru my 8.5mi commute I was feeling pretty crappy, but glad to be riding again. I kept it around 20mph most of the way (18-22mph). I was glad to hit red lights to catch my breath. My lungs were burning, my legs fine.

Ended up with 19.0mph average, ~2mph off my usual.

Now I feel great and wonder how the ride home will be.

Al

The highs and the lows of bike commuting.

The high: I did a U-turn to head back into town and the driver behind me gave me a friendly honk and wave as I swung back around. I guess maybe she'd never seen a trackstand before.

The low: Not more than 90 seconds after that, I found myself on the ground covered in oily water and bleeding slightly. You know how in some parking lots they have those cement drainage channels? Don't cut across them at an angle. They're slipperier than a luge track. As it turns out the bike was fine (the tape and bar was a little dinged up but I'm planning to change them out anyway) and my shorts and jersey weren't ripped, just disgustingly dirty. Oh, and I've got a little road rash on my knee and hip. Feh.

54 days off the bike and your first ride is a 19.0mph average? Very impressive.

Fun gravel railroad bed ride on mtn bike. Last day till Sep, fly to other coast to show kids to their grandparents tomorrow.

Nice speed there, noisebeam - good to be back in the saddle I bet.
Bummer caloso, that bites.

My ride was typical, way too short and uneventful - bit warmer than it has been this week, which is OK. Rain is supposed to hit us today or tomorrow, that should liven things up a bit, or at least crud up my bike yet again.

Almost at the 2000 mile mark on the roadie - nowhere near all of it are commuting miles, as I've ridden down to the border/Niagara Falls a couple times as well as LD charity rides, etc. on it. Makes me wonder if I should start a spreadsheet explicitly for commuting trips, as I used to use Routeslip but gave up when it was down for a week or more.

Anyone else use Excel to track trips/mileage?

This morning was 60 deg and overcast. This afternoon was 75 deg, overcast and humid. Light traffic. Life is good.

I was lucky just as I was about to leave work I stop to check the situation outside seeing that the sky was rather ominous. Saw the increasing rain & ducked back in the building to put on my rain jacket & a few seconds later I hear loud rattling & banging from the nearby dock door. Looked outside the reinforced side door & the rain was horizontal. It looked like a hurricane outside & big part of a tree in frount of the building snapped off. I can't imagine what've would've happen if I had left a few minutes earlier to get caught up in the now reported 58mph - 80mph winds.

I hope no cyclists were hurt out there in Chicago today. I've never seen anything like that before here well except for that microburst during the Taste of Chicago one time.

Actually today's ride was rather exhausting, nice stiff headwind with what feels like 100% humidity - just sucked the strength outta me this morning. Going up into the 90's today - with, hopefully, periodic - perhaps thunderstorms. Moving ... slow ...

Very sweaty, but otherwise pleasant ride in. Haven't been riding much lately due to the heat and a pinched nerve in my neck. Probably neither of which alone would have stopped me from riding, but both together got me to drastically cut back on mileage. Thankfully the neck feels better and the temps are supposed to be cooler next week. Hopefully no more 100 plus degree days for the rest of the year.

To the lady in the RAV4 who buzzed my about a foot from my elbow with an entire two-lane road at your disposal, while also honking your horn and sticking your middle-fingered hand out the window- I want to commend you on your parenting skills. You're setting a great example for the two or more kids in your backseat. I hope you drive off a cliff before you have the chance to bring any more kids into this world to be raised by an idiot.

I will only get a few miles on the bike in today since I had to take my car to the shop for an alignment. I did manage to average 20mph though from the shop to work though and I am riding my newer road bike which I haven't ridden in about a month.

On the ride home last night I met up with a group ride leaving the LBS. I asked how far they were going and they said about 35 miles. I rode with them until the entrance to my apartment complex and it was nice to be drafting for the last few miles. One of these days I have to get out on a group ride.

Woke up this morning to 4C - thats 39F Needed the full gloves and jacket, even considered long pants. Rode through a thick fog most of the way to work, by the time I got downtown I was soaked and starting to shiver.

The weather around here has been cold for about 2 weeks now, I hope that means we will get a mild winter.

Pulled a bonehead move.

First commute in about 3 weeks. Vacation, weather, meetings etc. kept me off the commute.

Bike is leaning against the van in my driveway. Clicked the garge door to close and start running to get under it in my road shoes with Look cleats. The garage has a rubber floor mat. I hit a bit of water and Whoomph. I'm flat on my back. Tailbone and wrist are a little sore, but not too sore. I got up and went in the house so I could exit the front door.

Good ride and feeling fine.

Last night I tried waiting for the lull between storms to head home in Chicago, and waited a bit too long. Started dry, but then the skies opened up again. It was fun. I totally love riding in the rain (going home).

Left Bristow, VA at 5:00 with temp around 68 degrees; arrived in Chantilly at 6:15. Only 18 miles but I was drenched with sweat due to humidity.

The good news is we have a shower at the office; the bad news is no hot water right now!

I'll still take it over a car any day.

I sure hope you were wearing your helmet.

Al

Managed to keep the rubber side down today so everything else was gravy.

This morning I rode in my latest project, my '86 Gazelle Champion Mondial. Eventually, I'd like to do a period-correct restoration, either first generation Chorus or Suntour Superbe Pro. In the meantime, I wanted to get it out on the road to get a feel for the ride so last night I threw on the fixed wheelset, post and saddle, handlebars and brake. Praise Eddy, is the ride nice! Now I know why people love that Reynolds 531c so much....

Fine commute today. Had a dentist appt. at 7:30, stopped there on my way in. Then rode the last 1/2 mile of the commute with my coworker down the hall.

Yesterday's afternoon commute had one incident. I was in the only bike lane on my route, approaching an intersection where I turn right. I signalled my right turn and felt a van approach me from behind, slowing. "Uh oh", I thought. Sure enough, the shmuck passes me just before the intersection and turns right. Now, he did swing a little wide, but it was still completely unnecessary.

I yelled, "WTF are you doing?". He moved further left and then waved at me (I don't know what that was meant to tell me. Sorry? Move over?).

Here's the amusing part. The car behind the van passed me a second or two later. On the back of the car was a huge bumper sticker that read, "SEE BICYCLES!" I was tempted to ask the car's driver to catch the van and educate him.

Today I felt much better. No more burning lungs, although I was breathing hard. Had a 19.3mph average today and didn't need to sit down to recover when I got to work. I also felt my comfort zone coming back, feeling right on the bike vs. being perched on a tippy stool like it felt like the first mile yesterday.

Still its strange to be riding ~5mph slower, but feeling worse than I did when going faster, even for much further distances. It is a reminder that when I get back to that space, that to get beyond it I need to feel as bad I as I do riding now.

Al

Al, your previous average commute speed was 24 mph? Impressive!

Commuted with my brand spankin' new panniers today. What a feeling of freedom it is to have my back free of weight.

No, it was ~21mph. But to gain a 2mph average I need to ride ~5mph faster between lights.

Al

Today was the first commute with the brooks saddle. So far i like how it forces you on your sit bones, but since my commut eis only about 1.8 miles it wasn't a thorough testing period. after work today i will probably go for a longer ride to test it out.

All this week I have asked the city to clear a side walk that I and other commuters take for their rides. Yesterday the dirt and sand was removed but it rained last night and filled up the sidewalk again, so I had another morning ride in the mud. I am different than most of you commuters as I don't use the streets to commute, unless it is a side street. So the sidewalks and bikeways are my commute everyday. Look at my videos and see what I mean.

I only ride 2.6 miles to work and most of it is on a hike and bike trail at an average of 10 mph. Nice rides most everyday, and today it was good. A few puddles and some mud to get the bike dirty again but it was all good.

"May the traffic be with you all"

It was dark this morning when I left. My boyfriend came with me for the first part of my commute. I had a headlight, taillight, reflective vest, and helmet on. He had headlight, taillight, and helmet. We always ride single-file with me in front. We get to a stop sign and there's a bus coming from the cross direction, so I came to a stop and then went after the bus. About halfway through the intersection I saw something I couldn't believe. A woman was coming from the right on a black road bike, dressed all in black, without a helmet, and without any lights (or even any reflectors that I could see)! My boyfriend nearly collided with her because HE COULDN'T SEE HER (duh). And she had the audacity to come to a screeching halt and glare at him like he was the idiot who almost caused the near-accident.
All I can figure is that she must want to be hit. I can't imagine many stupider things...