I had to drive today because I needed my vehicle at work. However, once again, I was left feeling that it is more dangerous driving to work than riding my bike. Halfway to work on the busy 6-lane highway I travel, the traffic came screeching to a crawl. Five of the 6 lanes were blocked, so it took a long time to get around the wreckage. Several ambulances were on the scene putting people on stretchers.

I'll be glad when I can ride my bike again. My bike commute route is nearly all on lightly traveled neighborhood streets, with traffic moving much slower than the major highways. Seriously, I think it's safer biking on my route than driving on the main highways around here.

Overcast, mid 40Fs, no wind. Nice ride. Reeled in a commuter and saw a couple other riders heading the other way.

I leave around 7AM and this morning the street lights were still on. Getting darker! By the end of the month, I'll need my headlight for sure. Clocks turn back November 4th. By Friday the 2nd, civil twilight isn't until 7AM. :eek:

Pretty smooth sailing which was surprising.

A little warmer today, which was nice.

There is a group of kids waiting for a school bus who have taken to signaling me to ring my bell as I pass, so that's fun. I think I'll hang back one day until they get on their bus then pace the bus for a while. Either that or get an air horn to really surprise them one morning :)

Sigh, 7th week of unemployment 7th week of no commuting. I did just get back from a ride to publix and believe it or not it was spitting rain at me. So my Atlanta commuting friends may have a wet ride this afternoon.

The traffic on 1st Avenue in Manhattan was horrible today. Even motor cycles got trapped and going nowhere. Once again, bicycles win.

SLOWWWWWW...i rode the MTB instead of the roady.....granted it's only like 14 miles but it takes the ride from my normal 38ish minutes to like 55 minutes....

Need better lights as i leave the house at 520ish....

Nice ride, quick and not too cold. Nothing spectacular.

Last evening's ride home is a different story.

I was on my ride home yesterday when I saw a car in the bike lane ahead of me. I start to fuel up on that righteous indignation that only cyclists can feel, but quickly realize that it is there because two people are pushing it. As I pull around to pass I see that the two women pushing aren't doing so well. One is rather overweight and wheezing and the other has a bandage from giving blood.

I ask if they need help and hand the larger one my bike to guide while I push the car. The smaller one quickly realizes that I don't need her help to push the little car, so she jumps in to steer while I power it the rest of the way (~1/2 mile) to the gas station. After a bit the woman with my bike catches up and I ride off. That's right, I was able to push a car faster than she was able to walk.

Odd commute this morning. First off, it's mid-October and it's still freakishly hot and humid here. I very rarely see pedestrians or other cyclists during my commute. This morning within the first half-mile, I saw 2 pedestrians and 2 cyclists (one going the wrong way) within the 1st half mile. Then later as I was waiting in a turning lane, I got buzzed by a car with a "share the road" license tag - what's up with that???

Decent ride in today. Even though I was feeling drained (didn't sleep well last night) and was heading into a headwind I still made the 16.5 mile trip in 51 minutes without setting a foot down. I did have a driver merge left into my lane (I was heading through downtown and taking the left-hand lane since I was turning in two intersections) without signalling so as I rode the yellow line I caught up, knocked on his window and pointed at him which gave him a start and he backed off, allowing me to take the lane once again. The weather has been amazing lately. 60s in the morning and not cracking mid 80s in the afternoon.

the hardest part of my morning is deciding which bike I want to take to work for the day. I check the weather reports like a fiend to see if I need my hybrid rain bike with the fenders and good tread, or if I can take my road bike and just zip to work, or if it's nice enough to just cruise in slowly on my vintage spaceliner... I want to enjoy the variety while I can, before it's just the heavy mountain bike every day in the snow.
Today it's the hybrid rain bike with fenders and good tread. I don't like the look of them clouds.

By the time I started rolling, it was -2C! I had to wear mittens, but otherwise I was fine. I started from the house about 6 minutes earlier than usual, and it made a huge difference in traffic volume - a significant reduction, to say the least.

25 mile commute each way. Weather today was upper 60's going to maybe 79, HOOOMID.
All went well this am, through the city streets without too many taxis trying to make me into a paperweight. Of course I had a flat, first in over 2000 miles, on the BAAAAAK. No problem, changed it and went on my merry way. Total commute time about 1:45, usually 1:35.

Hope to get some new lights for my bike next week as the days are getting shorter, but I usually ride in the dark anyway.

Time to get some new tires, my Conti 4000 are good, but wear a bit faster than I had hoped.
Oh well,


Robert

50 degrees and dense fog this morning all the way in (15mi mostly on MUP); visability about 20'. I had to point my helmet mounted light higher (more horizontal) to reduce the reflected light.

My 1st ride in heavy fog. I thought it was sooo cooool!

blech drove. It's a crappy day, so people assume the worst, but I actually have a meeting right after work across town...

Haven't been riding since Monday due to bronchitis, but thought I'd post a note about the Orionid meteor showers. They will be peaking between now and Oct 23 or 24. Best viewing is in the predawn darkness, so look up a bit more as you're riding in to work, you might get a good show!

I've ridden back to work from my lunch break regularly for several months, but today I finally woke up early enough to ride in for my early shift. Left home at 3:45am for my 35min ride. The commute in is only 5 miles, but it's 1000+ feet of climbing. I'll need to leave earlier next time to give myself more time to cool down and change clothes after the final .3mi climb (14% max grade).

It's nice to ride that time of night - I was only passed by two cars, and they were both co-workers on their way in!

Not an easy 5 miles, that's for sure.

My wife goes to a personal trainer two times a week - a gift from her dad- and I worked out with her on Tuesday. The leg muscles I use in bicycling, mainly the quads and the "leg biceps" on the back, were fine. However, the trainer gal had me use the inner and outer thigh machines. OH_MY_GAWD! I am so freaking sore! It's agony just to throw my leg over the bike. Pedaling is not too bad, because again, mainly quads and the back of the leg, but otherwise, I'm in a lot of pain. My wife just said "I warned you!" She's not the sympathetic type.

I did some errands on the way home from my carpool, and there was traffic everywhere. Filter, baby, filter!

I didn't need that rear derailleur anyhow...

What happened?

This is what happened on my ride today. No warning, nothing, it just popped right off, jammed up my wheel and stopped me cold. The bike is 3 weeks old.:( I guess it's time for my bike's first tune up.
Attached Thumbnails http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1192750207 http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1192750222

See " broken rear derailler" in bike mechanics forum.. for a better look...

Thank you, yeah thankfully i was going up a slight hill so i wasn't going that fast. Was quite surprised since i hadn't taken a fall in years. Oh well :o

Sweet fancy Moses, how does something like that even happen???

Absolutely no idea!
The people in the bike mechanics forum are working on some possible scenarios though!