Raced a train up Hwy 2 yesterday afternoon. I woulda beat it too if there wasn't an abandoned car sitting in the shoulder. I had to go through the ditch to pass it. Kind've a big deal because i just missed beating the train and i have to cross it's path.

This morning i saw another cyclist in the rural portion of my commute. I've never seen another cyclist during this portion of the commute, a ver rare sighting indeed.

I didn't wake up all the way this morning. I actually had my eyes closed for the first few blocks - good thing it's all straight! The weather is supposed to turn rough for the ride home, so I have a rain jacket...

Wow, this is a lame post. :(

Took the long way home and ran into a another cyclist, which is a somewhat rare site.

I noticed them as I turned out of a residential area onto a major road. They were WAY up ahead. I assumed i wouldn't catch them before my turn and didn't try. To my surprise I found myself closing quickly and began watching them as I approached. The person had a helmet mounted mirror and was watching for approaching cars. As they passed, the person would stop pedaling. They were moving less than 10mph, perhaps closer to 5 and as they coasted for cars, the decreased speed made them wobble just a bit.

I took the lane to pass them and kept going. I have mixed feelings about the incident. On one hand I'm glad to see a cyclist on the road instead of the sidewalk, as is typical around here. On the other, I watching them ride left me a little concerned for their safety. I'm not sure if I had a legitimate concern, or if it's just that I rarely get to witness other people riding on the road in town. Probably more of the later.

Nice ride this morning. Humid as all get out, but that's the way it goes around here sometimes. No cops, no ugly cagers, one (large) roadkill cat on the rural portion of the route - someone lost a cat last night. There was one lady in a SUV that I thought was going to be trouble. She pulled up to a stop sign at an intersection that I was about to pass through. Had her entire body turned to her right facing the passenger side of the car, one hand on the wheel, the other messing with something on the console or passenger seat (makeup, PDA, or breakfast? I'll never know...) I never saw her look left and was positive she was going to roll through the stopsign - covered the brakes and got ready to take evasive action, but she must have seen me out of her peripheral vision or something. Scary how much attention drivers DON'T put on the road (guilty of that myself at times....)

Oo! Oo! I took the Trek in to the LBS to be looked over for a parts order. The drivetrain is pretty much toasted. Needs a new chain, outer ring (at least), and cassette. But they had everything in stock so they're doing it today, plus truing the rear wheel which is a little off.

So my ride home will be on a brand new drivetrain, and, um, in the dark. :eek: I nope nothing fails en route. Cell phone: Charged.

Beautiful morning, nice ride.

Before taking off, decided to tackle a slow leak that developed in my rear tire. On the one hand, I managed my first lever-less tire removal, but on the other hand I snapped the little core thingy in my presta valve so my much-patched tube, the only one that has been in that tire, bought the farm after all.

My commute was great this morning, but a little on the painful side.

Yesterday, I did a 34 mile ride averaging 17.9 mph. I'd be fine today, but I didn't 1) drink enough water after the ride, 2) I didn't eat enough after the ride, 3) I didn't replenish my electrolytes after the ride, and 4) I didn't stretch before going to bed last night.

flyingcadet

Not much to report today except this. One of my pet peeves as a cyclist is drivers who use right-turn-only lanes to pass me on the right. This morning I watched two drivers do this to other drivers as I waited at a red light. But the kicker was watching a police officer do it too. I literally applauded as she drove past me, though I don't think she saw it.

Lady, if you really need to get there that fast and you're a cop, hit the lights and siren. The fact that you didn't tells me you're just an impatient jerk like the rest of the drivers. :(

I'm beginning to get really unhappy with using a key 4-way stop intersection on my way home from work, but the alternatives would add 50% to the distance and vertical climb. Yesterday yet another "courteous" driver tried to wait get me to go out-of-turn at the busy 4-way stop intersection (in the dark), confusing everyone and making the other cars mad at ME. It was clear which vehicle I was in the order, and my foot was on the ground. No I couldn't see the driver inside the dark car, or whether they were trying to make hand signals or something. When it was clear they weren't going I started forward, but had to stop as another who had arrived last at the intersection jumped the line and crossed ahead of me. Grrrrr! Riding in town is hard enough without these unpredictable people! :(

Get that car number and report her!!!! When the police don't know the rules we're all in trouble! :eek: At least write the police chief or whoever and explain the problem.

the 5 mile trip to work at 8pm was rather miserable at 100 with slight humidity, but the return trip at 7 am was a very nice 80F which prompted me to take the long ride home, a spirited 20 miles.

there is no way better to end a graveyard shift then with a good hard workout. allows me to fall asleep within 20 mins.

well, I wasn't able to ride in this morning, since I had a chiropractor appt. I have a bit of a history of back issues from sports and a car accident, and the increased biking aggravated it a bit.

Anyhow, feeling guilty, I went out and rode 10 miles, which is the same as my commute distance 1 way :)

It rained here before leaving, and the roads were very wet, it was humid, and I was a bit glad to get home, but glad I went.

Didn't leave the office until about 10 last night. Still hot and crappy though. As I was walking out, one of the janitors said "You're not going to ride your bike at night, are you?"

Uh, yeah.

"Oh, be really careful!"

Oh. Okay. You be careful too.

[sheesh]

At that time of night it's probably safer than at rush hour. Hope you have a mega bike light. I find it to be really useful but requires an 8 lb battery (not that bad, since hills are minimal on my commute).

Mine was good today with my newly tuned up bike (I did the 75 mile service, on the relatively new bike yesterday). Now the gear cable which had stretched, is retuned and clicks like a well oiled clock when shifting. Hot and humid now in Louisville: thanks Ohio Valley. Really all's well and the fun factor is high with this. Definitely get my 30 min of exercise per day and more.

Now planning to carry a small camera on my commute as I nearly always wish I had it with me on the rides. Saw a 3ft diameter oak felled on a house this morning after last night's wind storm. Tragic, but shows the resident's tolerance of nature, and that street IS unusually shady.

Yeah, I have a 12W Jetlite and two Planet Bike Superflash blinkies. I'm pretty visible.

Heh heh. People do have a bizarre idea of when riding a bike might be dangerous. Even people who see me ride in every day in all weather continually ask me if I want a lift because 'it's dark' or 'it's raining' etc and therefore dangerous.

Much nicer ride in today. Still very cold (it's been in single digit temperatures for 2 days now!!!) so my fingers were a bit numb when I arrived. I'm considering getting some full-finger gloves and leg warmers. It's chilly with only knicks, a short-sleeved jersey and fingerless gloves!

I tried a new hill on the way to work today...too bad that the hill still has to go the same distance up either way...oh well, back to the regular route I guess.

Yesterday on the Commute home I tried a different route, it was beautiful, but there was a long patch of a dirt road that wasn't well kept, Though I think I might have found a work around. So I am hopeful that my Daily commute might improve to be more scenic.

Today was nice, clear skies, cool. I bought a new helmet mirror so, was very handy. I also passed another commuter today! That's only the second time this summer I have passed another commuter. Then later, a SECOND commuter going the opposite direction! I made it to work the exact same time as yesterday, so these people must be early or late to their jobs. ;)

Quite an improvement over yesterday! Dry, crisp, but with a howling crosswind that was neither helping nor hurting. Just a few more degrees to my back and I could have thrown up the spinnaker and coasted to work. :p

New outer ring. New chain. New cassette. It's all shiney and clean. Shifts smoothly. Runs quietly. Doesn't skip under load in the littler cogs. I should have done this weeks ago. Oh well. I'm going to get a chain wear tool and maybe use Sheldon's cleaning and lubing system now that I have a powerlink.

Oh, new rear wheel too. :eek: Apparently my Race Disk was developing flat spots. I got a Rhyno Lite to replace it. Seems to get mixed reviews, but the people who don't like it talk as though they're abusing them, so whatever.

Sail-bikes! Now there is an Idea! I would imagine the continental winds being too variable to be effective in most places. Though the concept of combining two of my favorite hobbies, sailing and cycling peaks my interest!


Edit! http://www.vsv.cape.com/~harharb/windbike.html it exists! Though probably only works around large bodies of water.

Whoa, where did the humidity go!?

It was almost...dare I say...chilly this morning!

Ride went off without a hitch. I usually don't ride Thursdays. I have a late meeting today that forces me to miss my weekly group road ride, so I figured I might as well get a ride in anyhow :)

Really nice ride in this morning. Left a bit earlier than normal, and was rewarded with much less traffic-I sailed through the rotary without even having to brake! Also the humidity around here was much lower this morning. I also managed to pack everything into the trunk bag, avoiding the need for the panniers again. Although I love them, it is nice riding some days without them.
Passed a dude on a roadie while climbing my first hill of the morning-he wasn't going that much slower than me, but I was feeling good this morning and had already decided to push that hill harder this morning before I even left. Felt a bit bad as he did not hear me saying 'on your left' until I was right on him, even though I was yelling, but we exchanged nice pleasantries, and I was on my way!

no bike. grump, grump. And it is such a beautiful day.

On the ~3-4 mile section of greenway this morning, I spooked 2 dogs...they took off running ahead of me, not leaving the greenway. Every time they slowed I would holler "I'm still behind you!" or "I'm coming after you!" and they would speed up. They could of just left the path for the woods on either side but no, they ran themselves ragged for about a mile before they finally turned off. On this section of boardwalk:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g?t=1215691856
We passed a giant snapping turtle, probably 12 - 15" in length. One dog slowed to check him out but of course I kept him moving along.

Yesterday was a great commute, especially in the evening.

The morning was cool and I rode the first 9.5 mile leg easily. I left my home on the north-side of Chicago and rode to the Rosemont CTA Blue Line station where I catch a bus. After a little delay, I rode the Northwest limited bus to the Busse Woods forest preserve. Here I travel on a great bike path about 5 miles before hitting the low traffic suburban streets of Schaumburg for about 5.5 mile.

It took me about two hours and twenty minutes to complete my 31 mile commute. The morning was slow; I wasted about 20 minutes at the bus stop and had a head wind.

The afternoon ride was perfect. With the help of a tail wind, I rode the first 10 miles in thirty-five minutes, a 17 mph pace. I then rode an express bus to Rosemont, arriving at 6:00 PM. I rode the last 9.5 miles in about forty minutes. Less than two hours total :giver: .

I need to be as efficient in the morning as I was in the afternoon. The red lines are bike rides, the yellow lines are bus travel.

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...utepart3-1.jpg

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...mmutepart2.jpg

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...Bussewoods.jpg

Must suck being around people who care.

I ride to the dinner from work yesterday, takeing a extra long but nice route (I got off work earlier too), and then from that place to home a bit late. 02.30 AM.

Now, I am not to be at the office for two weeks (I shall still work though), so commuteing is, well no exact commuting, just going places todo fun stuff (;

I met the Yellow biker again, today! It wasn't nearly as hard to follow him today.

Beautiful when. Not humid. 17C/63F.

I attached my computer to my bike last night, so now I got numbers :)
Max 48.2kmph/29mph. I tend to cruise at 25kmph or 35kmph. 11km to work, not 10.

Took a huge detour this morning. Mrs Pig Chaser is taking a trip with a gf next week and i'll be at home with the kiddos. I thought i'd see if i can take them by bike to thier swimming lessons so i went about 20km to the kinsmen sports center. Man it was gorgeous, the trip was mainly ravine/river valley mup. I'm thinking 20km is just too far/long for the kids to be in the trailer though.

I then took calgary trail/hwy 2 directly out of the city. It was alittle sketchy near the construction at 23rd ave but not too bad. Hwy 2 itself was fine, i passed a loaded tourer. I wanted to maybe have a chat but when i rang my bell she kinda started weaving. She went sorta left so i went right almost to the end of the shoulder and passed fast. I just kept trucking after that.
I was abit freaked out about the nisku overpass... that thing is bumper to bumper in rush hour. But there's room on the right and obviously the cars are moving slowly. No problem.

I'm on the bench for a week or two letting my knee & quad heal. The drive in to work today sucked and I beat my bike time by only 10 minutes. I'll prolly hit up the park n ride tomorrow & read a book. I went ahead and ordered Park cleaning supplies for my bike this morning. I'm going to give her a good cleaning & tuneup next week, my baby's a little dirty girl right now...