Fastest. Commute. Ever. :o I think. Should have kept track. ~17MPH average. It started when I noticed a rider maybe 1000' feet ahead of me and sprinting when I was coming off a bridge. I pushed a little bit and, though it did take a couple miles, I caught her. Road bike, and she was on the drops and aero. Clipless too. I don't think she was set up right, but I don't use clipless so I can't say for sure. She looked a little bow-legged. She was wearing headphones. Probably never knew I was back there stalking her.

So we rode 17-20MPH all the way into town. We passed this guy on a hybrid with real fit-looking sinewy legs. He tried to keep up with the woman but wound up getting in my way when he gave up. I had to give him an "on your left" to get him to move over.

The same guy wound up riding the wrong way on the sidewalk and trying to drop me on the short hill before my work building. I let him get about even, then droped the hamer :D and pulled away hard. I turned left into my building, looking downhill to see where he was, and he had stopped to look at his bike or something.

Really fun ride, over-all. 50F. Sunny.

I actually had to bust out the gloves the last couple days, it's gotten a little chilly. But other than that it's been a couple of beautiful mornings to cruise in. I've been taking my new (old) Rampar single speed cruiser (which I have named "Bernard" with the help of my girlfriend), and it's a nice, slow, easy ride in. I passed a guy on a corner checking Bernard out and he said "Sell your bike?". And I had to laugh and say, "I just bought it, and I like it too much, sorry!" and kept rolling. Here's of picture of me on Bernard:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1082/...531aa7.jpg?v=0

I've been doing things a little differently lately. I usually commute on my fixed gear IRO Rob Roy commuter bike, but lately I've been doing the ride on my more track-inspired IRO Angus. I've also geared up so that I'm now running 46x15 (up from 46x17) which is noticeably faster on the flats, but I've also feels like I'm making it up the hills a little quicker as well. I'm definitely feeling the burn more, but I think it'll be good for me. I'm great at spinning (yay fixed), I just need to build some more strength. I'm also running brakeless so getting used to stopping quickly in a higher gear took a little bit, but I'm good now. More hop, less skid. ;) I'm stopping for coffee about 5 miles into my 16 mile ride, then it's off to the races again!

I love this time of year to commute - the humidity is gone (well on most days anyway) and it's cooler - so nice to ride in. Enjoyed my ride so much, even the big moving van that turned the made a right and came to a halt so fast that I had little time to squiggle around it (idiot - but hey, I'm still smiling!) or the fact that I found a new bigger and deeper pothole while sitting in the seat (oooooph!! - but hey, I'm still smiling!) didn't even deter me! :D

Even in TX I don't think it cracked 70 my entire ride in.

Wonderful weather! It was about 49-50F this morning. I didn't even sweat! It should warm up to about 83F today, and the ride home I think will be a little hotter, especially since I wore pants today.

I didn't check this thread out yet, because I am a mech geek and focused mostly on bikes and builds and racks and such. BUT THIS IS GREAT!

I am a lucky fool and live only 4 miles from my shop. But I do live in a tiny mountain town, so the roads and weather can be challenging. Like we get six months of snow. As a new bike commuter I am looking forward to tackling the challenges that will present.

Also I am a woefully sporadic bicycle commuter. We have 2 daughters and we drive them to school (bad!). School bus only makes to within a mile of our house and at 6:30 AM! We would have to get the girls up at 5:45 to make that. Not happening.

Back on track: I only ride to or from the shop 3-5 times a week. But every ride helps! Last night I rode home on one of the bikes from our shop floor. An Electra Townie 700c 21 speed. It has been sitting for five months, so I wanted to ride it, get a feel for it and see if installing some accessories on it might make it look more appealing.

Ride report: The frame geometry is designed for leisurely riding, sitting back and spinning easy. Not meant to hammer. I like to hammer. I like to stand up and give 'er hell. The 48x14 top end and 700c wheels reward getting after it, though. It is a great compromise between leisure and speed.

Today Ive learned something:if you are aprouching to a roundabout and a car is behind you,try to take the center of the lane because if you dont you will become invisible as soon as he passed you by.you will just disappear

I was thanked by a teenager waiting for their bus this morning for riding to work! That made me feel GREAT! It was cold this morning, 41 on the bank by my home, I had on the winter gloves, wind pants & wind breaker so I was warm enough. I have not gotten my replacement battery from Blackburn and it is almost too dark in the morning. I called and it is in the pick step and should be shipped today. I may not ride in to work again until I get the new battery. My ride home last night was good.

It was 0C when I left the house, but I didn't bother changing to mitts. Not my wisest move, but oh well. The ride in was fine - no real problems with traffic or peds. I am going to break out the lights soon for the ride in. Two more weeks and the sun won't be up.

Another very pleasant ride to work this morning, but it's amazing how much shorter the days are getting. I just started using my front light again a couple of weeks ago, mainly for visibility, and now I can actually see the lightbeam on the street when I start out. It was cloudy this morning, so darker than usual, and it was good to have the headlight.

Back to reality again today on my speed. Yesterday I had a stong tailwind all the way to work and averaged nearly 17 mph. Today I was back to my usual 15 mph avg. The traffic lights also make a big difference on average speed, and today I caught some very long lights.

Some kids at a school bus stop were yelling at me this morning. I couldn't tell if they were cheering me on or making fun of me as I was going pretty fast at the time and the wind noise made hearing difficult. I gave them a thumbs up.

Right on tar! You've got a great attitude. It can be tough not being angry, car after car whizzing past you. But you know that you are fit and strong and saving money and doing your part to save the planet.

I am about to ride the Townie 21 700c back to the shop. Shifting was all whacked on the ride home last night, so I clamped in my stand in the garage and got it dialed in perfect. From home to the shop is almost all downhill or flat, so I am looking forward to seeing how fast this Townie can fly. It is a gorgeous sunny late Summer day, 56 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade and I off I go!

I wore my light jacket today for the first time this fall. Weather's getting cooler now.

This morning, nice.
Last night, wrecked in a turn at 20+mph. *mental note...don't try and corner a 700c tire like a 26x1.25 slick tire.
Tore off a vintage/original campy brake hood, scuffed my brakes something fierce, ruined a shirt, pair of slacks, and got nasty road rash in several spots. Could have been worse though. A nice runner helped me get it together after.

Yikes!! Careful out there.

First ride this week. Nice and mellow ride in. The only downside was finding my bike locker blocked by a scissors lift. I found the construction supervisor and he was very apologetic and they moved it pretty quickly. Still..... We get no respect, no respect at all!

http://www.comedycentral.com/images/...erfield_m4.jpg

perfect weather today- I flew in today on a crisp, clear, bright gorgeous day.

I am convinced the biggest jackass bikers in the DC area only ride when the temp is b/w 70F and 80F with low humidity, because 3 of my 4 rides home this week have been annoying as all hell.

1. Stopped at the Gallows Rd crossing at WOD trail, heading east. Kid on a nice road bike there as well. He takes off and I pass him on the uphill to Virginia Ave. He proceeds to then blow past me on the next road crossing once he sees when I can get through it. I pass him again, again he squeaks by me on next crossing, with multiple bike/foot traffic coming the other way. 3 or 4 times of this before I finally peel off and take the roads home.

2. Similar situation, a kid on a road bike blows past me at the Virginia Ave/Shreve crossing tonight, no helmet nothing, he's cranking in his big ring, throwing the bike left and right like an endgame sprint in the TDF. Nect road crossing I'm about 15 feet off his wheel and slowing, and he just blows thru the road (into traffic both ways, at least one of whom had zero intention of stopping.) I stop and let the few cars go through, shrugging my shoulders at the cagers. Next couple crossings- same sh1t! At one point he blows right in front of a car that was definitely not stopping. If my buddy from the other night had been "timing" this kid's crossings, we woulda been roadkill.

3. Numerous, numerous Ipod joggers, clueless bikers, and rollerbladers who cannot understand (or even hear, sometimes) the concept I am broadcasting when I yell passing left.

Ah, well, I guess this is the tradeoff for beautiful crisp morning rides to the office.

Upper 50s, with a 30MPH gusting headwind blowing off Lake Champlain, and some jerk made me work hard to reel him in! :mad: The nerve of some people to ride fast! :D Wound up being a fast ride despite the wind. I finally "caught" him at a red light and we complained about the wind. I rode up the hill with him and peeled off into my building.

Before all that, I went by one of the "trail regulars", an older woman I see out walking every day, and she said, "Was that you riding on College Street yesterday around 4:15?" My first reaction was to scan my memory for anything untoward I might have done to attract attention. :p Apparently I rode by her apartment.

Perfect ride in this morning. Weather just right. I received my alert shirts so I was a bit more visible, and thus more confident on the busier sections of the ride.

Life is Good.

Drove my Ranger to work today as it was time to stock up supplies and bring home the dirty laundry. I've also been riding a lot lately (300+ miles since Sept. 1), and wanted a recovery day before the long weekend rides. My office feels empty and lonely without my bike. I keep looking for it, but it's not there. Driving to work also feels strange after cycling so much. It actually feels more dangerous to me because I'm moving so much faster in heavier traffic with cars shifting lanes right and left. My bike commute route is mainly on backroads and neighborhood streets with very little traffic, quite the opposite of when I drive.

littlewaywelt - I'll bet the first thing you did was check out your bike. I can just imagine it:
jogger: Are you alright?
littlewaywelt: My bike!
jogger: sir, you're bleeding.
littlewaywelt: My brake lever's bent. Do you have any pliers?
jogger: Huh?

Tar, did any coworkers ask, "Where's your bike?"

Knuck -
Expect everyone to be subhuman idiots, but don't let them get you down. Just ignore them while you skillfully ride with intelligence and compassion. Stupid people can be exasperating, but they can also be amusing.

My ride ... :D I got air!!! Air out of a speedbump that is.

I cut thru an artsy/restaurant old building's parking lot every morning. Normally I have some Carpet company's vans attempt a 6 mph U-turn in front of me as I'm screaming through there (took the roadbike on a few commutes and noticed I can hit 24 mph before I come to ye old speedbump).

But today - another man was cutting thru the parking lot - he must have had blinders on cause he cut me off twice - idiot. So when he once more blocked my way and slowed to a near halt as he went over the speed bump - I had had it and sprinted by him, hit the speedbump (mtb) and got air - wheee.

hehe, I normally get that on jumps, etc - never a speedbump. :)

I love a good speedbump! :D

The ride in today was warmer than yesterday, and with less traffic! So, no problems at all, except bright sun - again.

Tude - you go girl

vtjim - you zoom

me - I'm riding the bruiser to the shop to swap out that front rack for a big milk crate.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1315/...5f7b97d2_b.jpg