yea, I overslept today too, but when confronted with the idea of driving, I decided not to. I figured, if i was driving, and woke up late, then I'd be late to work, So why should I drive?

Newbie Question - Taking the Lane
 

What does taking the lane mean?

Yesterday's ride in was very cool (ok, maybe 65); morning marine layer was still hanging out by the time I got to work.

Co-workers think it's nutty to ride 10 miles in, so they took pix of me right before I left for the night. I'm afraid of year end presentations....

Had crazy tummy cramps all the way back home, though. Worse on the hills. Need to watch what I eat for lunch on ride days.

I think next week I'll try riding in on Wednesday's, too. I'm not hobbling with soreness anymore and I seem to be OK for my pilates class.

Taking the lane means occupying it so a car can't share it with you. If traffic behind you wants to get around you, they have to change lanes first. If you're riding to the right, they'll try to pass you while staying in the lane which is more dangerous for you.

This morning's commute included being honked at by a truck which I totally deserved.

I had to stop myself from laughing. Someone came up next to me at the light wearing the same jersey and bibs as me. Looked like we were in the same commuting cycling club. Performance does make affordable and comfy clothing though...

Today was my first day biking since I've moved. My commute used to be about a mile, and now it's a bout four. It was different, but, I definitely noticed my energy level being higher, and myself being more alert from it. My one mile commute was barely enough to keep me awake, now, It's a half an hour ride in what is usually pretty brisky wind (it was a cool 60 degrees this morning and I realized not long after that a light jacket couldn't hurt).
I enjoyed it though, and looked forward to the ride home (despite that it's mostly uphill home).
I think I'm gonna enjoy it even more once I get a new bike.
GR

We're having unseasonably cool, dry weather here, which makes for a pleasant commute. I'm sure we'll be back to hazy, hot, and humid before long, but I'm enjoying this while it lasts. The LHT continues to perform beautifully.

wet, cool, windy, and GREAT! I did my first grocery run on the way home tonight, and still the commute time was less than 40 minutes. Groceries totaled over 25 lbs, so not that much, but they were with me for 8 miles of the 10.25 mile trip. Felt good to be stocking up the bike ready for a rain ride home when people were scrambling to get to their cars. Packed everything into my panniers and my trunk bag, lined with plastic bags, and everything was bone dry when I got home.

Great ride in, was nice and cool.

Forgot to bring food in, and was starving all day. (I was supposed to leave work early today) So I had to stop by BK and get a chicken sandwich to make it through... but it was nice to finally be under 90 degrees!

Tonight I made a Personal Record for my journey home.



It was, without doubt, the slowest time I have ever posted. :o

Energy levels were dropping from 3 o'clock on. By the the time I got on the bike....
Sooooooo tired, sleep now.

Still a good ride though.

Let's just say weather.com has been less than accurate lately.

Sunny, high 50s, some headwind. I reeled in some dodgy-looking woman with upturned handlebars (drops pointing up) and a milk crate on the back.

Saw a kitty, and a squirrel with a mouth full of grass. Probably building a nest somewhere.

Wife is riding in after work. Free wings! :)

Nice to see what those kids look like in their trailer. Cute!

Yeah, weather reports ... This morning was exceptionally nice. The sun came out, the drivers were considerate, one even blew her horn approaching train tracks around a blind curve and I was able to signal for her not to pass and she obeyed! :-) :-) After the tracks I signaled her to pass and and a thank you wave, let's not forget our thank yous folks - it will go along way tomorrow when the same person has a judgment call to make while passing you tomorrow. Make friends, not enemies ... :-) Similar situation with a GIANT dump truck towing a back-hoe. Because I was fast as a car and ahead of him I was able to see before he could that a landscaper was pulling into our line of sight. I could hear the truck's engine and the indecision in the driver's foot, (about passing me and when to do it) so I signaled for him to slow down and he soon appreciated that as he was then able to see what I saw. When he caught up and was about to pass, I gave the thank you wave ...

I hope someone gets rid of the rotting raccoon, it's turning ugly.

Someone mentioned pumping tires once a week but I think I will check mine before the ride home and it's only Tuesday. I like 'm hard and fast.

It's gonna be a nice couple of days around here coming up. This morning was really nice. Cool, but not too much so, and not a cloud in the sky. I thought I was dogging it, but actually had a decent time.

The ride home should be beautiful!

was very sore from yesterday's kung fu training. The teacher had me lead the Warmup-workout. And I am always afraid of looking lazy, so I worked us pretty hard, particularly the legs. So today I was very sore when I woke up.

Ignored my alarm, was half dreaming when it went off, and thought it was part of the dream. But I still rode in.

The ride felt pretty good, I was hoping the ride would work the soreness out of the muscles. It did not. But the ride felt fine.

Forgot my belt. This is the first time I have forgotten an article of clothing. could be worse.

Thanks. The torrential downpour doesn't quite show up, though. (Trivia: The downpour in the famous scene in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN was a mixture of water and milk so it would show up on camera.)

I do acknowledge things, but don't have much hope of seeing the same people twice. NYC is just too big.

Today got completely rearranged because of my wife's sudden freelance workload and Air calling for one of our random NYC night rides. We took the subway to preschool instead of the bike trailer, my wife will pick the boys up tonight, and I'll be home by 6:00 to get on the bike and pedal back down to Air's place for the ride.

Odd commute. Somehow I was 30 min early and would have just missed the earlier light rail train. Since I did not want to wait or ride to the other line I kept going. My legs objected greatly since they were tired.
Then in a park near my work that I cut through a man was riding with his dogs off leash way behind him. Very friendly dogs but they were confused when he was calling them. I pointed to their owner and off they went. In the same park a half mile away I encountered a dog walker with a 30' leash (well at least that was what it seemed to measure). I advised him that he needed a longer leash. :p 200 feet away from that incident I passed a panicked looking juvenile coyote standing 20 feet away.
That and I lost my rear batteries and holder for my dinotte rear light while experimenting with a new mounting method. Guess that is what spares are for. So much for that idea.

Last but not least I have dropped 6 lbs in the last month and am just about ready to drop below 160 for the first time since I was 24. 33 now.
Shorts are fitting oddly.

First commute in a while. Been working 13 hour days for the past 2 weeks, so I've been taking the car every day.

Felt great to FINALLY take the new bike commuting. Shaved a good 11 minutes off my average with the old bike!

10.5 miles uphill...used to take 60 minutes, today was 49 minutes :D
I used to do 45 minutes coming home...I wonder how the new bike does on the downhill commute. :-)

But while commuting today I got a wave from an oncoming roadie in full spandex...I was looking right at him and gave my usual nod, but I'm not sure if he noticed since he was on the other side of the road. I didn't even think of waving back since I was booking it up a steep hill.

Felt kinda bad thinking that he waved and might not have seen me nod back. Roadies around here don't tend to be social and wave very often. It's pleasant when they do.

Same dog that lunged at me on 7/21 was being walked by it's owner last night. They were in the driveway in front of their house as I rode by, I saw the dog, the dog saw me and decided I was prey. Unfortunately, the house is on a corner with a light and a left turn lane for oncoming traffic. I had a red light. As I approached I asked the owner "You got him?" and with a slight nod indicated the affirmative, but the dog was still pulling the owner around pretty good. The dog, fairly big and powerful (guessing 150 lbs) German Sheppard and the owner was a 200 lb male. Seemed that I was at that light for like 10 minutes, waiting for it to turn green, so I could get out of there.
There are other dogs on my route, some bark at me, some small yippie dogs chase me as I ride past their yards, but stop at the fence, but this one has me nervous. He's big and powerful, could probably knock me off my bike with no effort at all, and I fear that one night, his owner is going to loose control of him. I need to explore some dog repellent concepts... maybe a cayenne/ ammonia mix in a water bottle, cause this dog makes me nervous.

No problems on the way in today, and I get to go to the pub after work. WHeeee!

I'm surprised...German Shepherds in my experience don't go so crazy over people passing by. That owner was doing a bad job. He should have instructed the dog to behave, not just hold him back and let him keep pulling. A dog that big and athletic is very dangerous if not properly trained and well-mannered.

Where on Long Island is this?
I commute from Copiague > Amityville > Farmingdale > Old Bethpage > Plainview

Short Commute... Port Jeff Station to Stony Brook along Old Town Road and Sheep Pasture. Dog lives on Old Town Road just south of Ward Melville High.

Ah...not my area at all. I've only been to Port Jeff once. Never to Port Jeff Station. I fish in Riverhead regularly, but that's quite a bit south.
And I've never gone that far east on bike.

In any case, good luck with the dog. I'd get some mace if you run into him again. Sports Authority or Dick's will carry it at the gun section. If you go to a real gun shop, they might have more variety, maybe something designed for dogs. I don't know about repellents, though.

I drove out to the dump this morning, which is near my office, so I dropped my panniers of while I was out there, drove home, then biked back w/ just handlebar bag. That was nice. No other news, which is also nice.

Glorious morning - just under 60F, clear and dry. Another 5 or 10 degrees cooler and I'll have to pull out the arm warmers.

Didn't eat a good dinner last night. I had a bowl of cereal before heading out this morning, but I should have eaten more since I felt like I was on the edge of a bonk by the time I rolled into the parking garage.

You'll never win gold medals like that. Need to eat more like Michael Phelps:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08132008...rge_124248.htm

Wow. What is that? Like 10,000 calories just for breakfast?

The dude is an animal. Built like a tank.
That is more calories than I eat in a day.

12000 cal for breakfast, the article says.


edit: check that, 12000 cal/day

Phelps is amazing. Me, I had some toast & a banana & coffee. And then I rode my bike to work. Slowly.