I'm back Baby!! Got in a scuffle with a car 2 Fridays ago, (the driver pulled out in front of me, I hit his/her car, he or she fled the scene- *******)

Anyhow, The road rash scabs are mostly gone, the bruises have faded to that ugly yellow, and my separated right shoulder is functional enough for riding, although still giving me pain mostly when sleeping or changing clothes.

The ride in itself was uneventful other than the beautiful sunrise...Mid level clouds turning all shades of red, orange, yellow...Very nice!

Sunny. Low 60s. No wind. Wound up in a peleton. :D Well, of 4 bikes. Not going very fast though. I caught up to someone. Then we both caught someone else. Then all 3 of us caught a 4th. Nobody wanted to pass. 15MPH or so. We did pass a couple of other slow solo riders though.

Today I felt like I was making good time. And I was!

The guy on the yellow Raleigh was back. At first I thought it was a ten speed, but a second look and I noticed no derailer, or shifters. He just left the Cogs on, and has it as a Single speed. Probably left the cogs on to change what ratio he was at depending on the conditions. He also took off the original drops and put on bullhorns. This suggests he is a pretty avid cyclist.

He said hello this morning. I opted not to try and keep pace with him today. He's in better shape than I am, If I see him again I might ask about his bike or whatever.

The rest of the ride was nice. Made it on time. It was a bit warm, but It could be worse.

Big Ron - Welcome back!

My ride in was good. Light traffic, temps not bad, motorists, etc were nice. I felt good and strong. I just might be getting the hang of this! Maybe my next week back to work after 7 days off I'll be able to do 4 days! Maybe even 5! OMG!

Yeah ask me tonight how I feel ... yuk yuk

The commute in this morning was hot and humid, but otherwise pleasant.

Yesterday I did an alternative commute (cycling/MARTA train combo) and filmed it and put it on YouTube. The URL
is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHF7LgFH4fU

Some days I wish I had some bike traffic on my commute. I swear I'm the only one out there! Gets lonely sometimes...

I did pass a fellow bike commuter on the way home yesterday though! I was so excited to ring my bell and say hello!!

Yea, I've been excited the past few days, I've seen lots more cyclists then usual!

I passed the only other Nisku commuter this morning. He was riding a fixie and doing a decent pace. I put allot of distance between us on the downhill, but i think he started closing the gap on the uphill.

Nice weather this morning. I used my improvised arm warmers again and i'm a big fan. On when you're cold then strip em off before you start to sweat, they work great.

No chain... no ride. Looks nice outside, though...

I think the drivers who make the run I do are getting used to me. There seems to be less freaking out and more acceptance. I do wish I had some company though. Come on folks get those bikes out!

rode home in the rain yesterday which was nice but the drivers tend to get a little wacky out there when there is a little rain...the ride in this morning was good a little damp but i had a good time

i saw one other commuter this morning going in the opposite direction, it looked like he was enjoying himself as well

It'll be too hot by this evening to tow my little ones home in a trailer, so we experimented with leaving the stroller home this morning and walked to and from the subway.

They did pretty well for three-year-olds made to walk a mile to get to preschool, but we'll all be happier if I find some other way to get them home this evening.

Very nice today. I put fenders on my bike last night finally. It rained here last night so I went through every puddle I saw on the way in :D

Nice ride for the first 2 minutes, until I fell. After that it was good. Nice temp, no sun, which kept the squinting at a minimum.

/\
what happened, how did you fall?
if you wish to share that is

Damp coming home last night, coming in this morning. Hoping for dry this afternoon, but sun apparently not very likely.

Morning clouds, cool and misty. Nice ride, and fast! 14.5 miles in 1:02.

Ditched the backpack this morning for the first time (strapped a fanny pack around my lunch to the rear rack instead). That made this morning's ride a bit more relaxed and enjoyable.

^ bummer...

My ride was great once again. That makes 3 commutes, well, once I get home it will be 3. I did get cut off today, kind of. I was in the bike lane and making a right. There was pretty heavy traffic so I signaled for like 150 ft, no joke. But this person still felt the need to make the turn about 15ft in front of me, I had to make the turn tight and rally the gutter. It's all good though, not like she was trying to be rude, just another stupid person. :D

Almost hit this morning.

I was going south, crossing a 4 way intersection, had the green for a while, cars were going, all that. A coming from the north was making a left turn, and the second the last car went by, he just went (at this point, I was just about to enter the intersection. I was somewhat in the lane, enough for cars to have to shift to the left a bit to pass me safely, but this guy just decides to gun it. I let out a loud shout and give him a dirty look, and he managed to jam on the breaks about 1 foot from me. More dirty looks followed, but he just drove on, without even an apology. Jerk...

Other than that it was fine, though. A little humid, but cool.

dry. started out windy and dusty and the uphill part. but once i got out off that $hitty area, the wind died down and it was smooth sailing. Probably lower 80's, so it was warm. First day on the new bike! It was great. Didn't beat my best heavy full suspension knobby tired mtb time, but it didn't kick my @ss and that's what matters. Once I get used to this bike, I'm pretty sure I'll catch up and make that time that standard. I was pretty loaded today, too.

no commute today-I am on vacation :)

bad news is that I wouldn't be able to ride if I had to, since my bike went into the shop this morning :(

waiting on the call from the lbs now to pick up :|

Nice ride home. Wife rode into Burlington and we met some friends for beer and free wings. Waited out a downpour, then left for home. Ran into a runner-friend on the MUP. Talked to him for a while. Lots of waves and smiling faces after that. Good juju tonight. :)

Ride home was good. Hot though, in the 80s. One of my water bottles cracked so I ditched it for a bottle of gatoraide. I got another flat too! Dam! Only 2 miles from home at the end of my 44 miles day. The funny thing was it popped and leaked but held at a low pressure so I was able to ride to a safe place to do the change.

Detoured to the lbs on my way home to buy another computer. After alittle debate i ended up getting the exact same kind that went through the washing machine. That way i have a spare harness and it was all set up and ready to go. I entered my circumference and was on my merry way with sweet sweet cycling data.

I was fighting the wind all the way to the lbs so to change direction and head home was really sweet. From the lbs to home is more city riding than i usually do. Although i don't envy you city cyclists traffic can be fun. Especially when it was a seemingly endless guantlet of construction. If i was in a cage i'd probably be on the verge of a coronary, but as a cyclist it was a blast. Splitting lanes of gridlock is positively euphoric.

Rough riding going home today. Hot as hell, tired as hell, knee started giving me problems. Waited for 2 trains and one of them twice.. don't ask. Dusty hot wind in my face the whole time. But it was great.

The best thing I've done for my commute is ditch the computer. Who cares if my average speed is a little low today. For whatever reason, I was always racing myself from the previous day or whatever. And it's not like I need to know the distance to my office anymore.

Yes, I've been very conscientious on the short stretch in the morning that I share with cagers. Now they seem to be educated that I'm traffic and don't hold them up so much. Still the occasional one, but not major problems.

This afternoon I got off at 1pm ( should have the whole day, but that's another story, grrrr :notamused: ) so found a secluded spot by the river to work on smoothing out my biker tan, but by the time I set off home again, the Southerly wind had switched around ( and increased! ) so had to grind away at the last half, still felt strong at the end though.

Lots and lots of bikes on the MUPs.

re: "Splitting lanes of gridlock is positively euphoric."

I can tell some cagers don't like this meaning the are jealous, so sometimes hold back and wait for the light within the midst of the cagers. I sense a new calm in the group and a greater acceptance, feeling more like one of the family. You know like, "we're all in this together, even the bikers".

Other time however, the is NFW I'm waiting!

My left knee is a little sore, maybe I can't 5 days. I hoping to blow everyone aw at work next week. That's a stupid motivation anyway, all I ever get is a passing comment like: "ride to work today"? My boss is an avid cyclist but we never talk. :( One other guy like to ride in the am but doesn't "commute". He got a flat the other morning so we that to share.

Geez what's with the flats? I can do the fix'm up in about 15 minutes. Anybody got a record on that? I suspect I can improve my time some.

Finally stated commuting on my bike. Single speed Gary Fisher Triton. Yesterday (friday) was my first try. It went great. 20 miles round trip. Will shoot for 5 days a week if the weather holds. Thanks for all the great info on this site.

I do this now, it seems to have educated the drivers that I have right to be there. This is in the usual 1-2 light sequence wait. If it does all become a solid parking lot, then I filter or ride the grass, when its like that they don't seem to mind.
It usually takes me about 10 minutes, have done a front in about 7 before. Could probably get it under 5 if everything went perfect. To speed things up I swap out the tube, not patch, and carry CO2 inflator as well as a pump. Start inflating with the pump to make sure its all good, then hit it with the CO2.