Hi Folks

Nice ride in this morning. I'm on the older bike which doesn't have a computer. This is sometimes a real benefit as that little speed display can be a torment, not to mention a distraction.

Luckily it has just started raining for the ride home, so I won't be in danger of getting too dry ;)

Cheers,

Ed

Nah. . . everyone here is selfish and they just go. . . which is fine - that's what I want them to do.

On another note, I had a minor scare on the way home last night. I was travelling downhill at a pretty good rate of speed, albeit cautiously due to traffic, when a woman swerves into the bike lane to pass traffic on the right. Of course I'm immediately behind her and clamping the brakes hard - hoping to stop in time. She then notices me and, of all things, hits the brakes! Nice move. . .

Anyway, I was able to barely squeeze my front tire between her car and the curb, stop, and catch myself by wrestling my foot quickly from the clipless and prop it on the curb. I would certainly have collided with the car, if not for the fortunate gift of space between the rear bumper and curb. Granted, I was almost stopped at this point, and would probably have just fallen onto the sidewalk, but I would have been REALLY upset.

I was still angry, though. I waved to her. She pulled back into traffic and I gently rode past her open passenger window. . . glaring. . . not a word was spoken. . . and she made no acknowledgement of her error. Oh well, overall, I had a pretty good ride home.

Personally, I would find that extremely difficult to do. I'm sure I would find something inappropriate to say!

This morning's commute was a heavily laden one - laptop in one pannier, knapsack with work clothes in the other, and gym bag with ball hockey stuff carried messenger bag style. It all seemed to work ok, went downhill faster and uphill slower, got to work in about the same time. NIce sunrise, temp about +6C, (43 F)

Yesterday's ride in to work was a long one - timewise not distance wise. Approaching the lift bridge, it started going up at 6:20 am - the ship started passing under the bridge at 6:46 am! Ever since one of the dufus bridge operators dropped one on a ship near Welland in 2001, they start lifting the bridge when they see a ship on the horizon.

I just figure that if I say anything, people will get indignant, which will prompt them to think I'm the idiot. If I say nothing, they are left with nothing but the fact that THEY are the idiot :)

Now I'm curious about the stick. . . carried joust style perhaps? Just imagine the possibilities - I could have speared through that woman's rear window yesterday.

Actually I already had the stick at work. But every road hockey player knows the stick gets lashed to the crossbar. Blade can be either fore or aft, depending on preferences.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse around here, been a bit wet and the wind has re-appeared. I had one of those horrible parts to a ride where you have to work hard just to go downhill.

Never mind its all character building:D

Overcast and slightly chilly today here in the "greater" Seattle area. The usual head wind, which this week has had the additional novelty of being more of a cross wind that manages blow against me in both directions that I travel in my commute. Doh, indeed.

2 beautiful days running, what a treat! Mornings are 45F/8C, evenings 65F/18C. The only thing that ruined my ride was the car that pulled out of their lane into mine just as I passed their tail. Cars parked on the side of the street didn't leave much escape route to the side. I was very lucky today.

Hey, Kodama, I had that same crosswind...the legendary bi-directional headwind.

Today I was back in sweat pants. The weather was cold, gray, and had a tendency to dribble. It was just sprinkling on the way in.

I would actually have accepted a ride home if it had been offered tonight, but I've trained my co-workers too well. :p So, into the dark I went. The rain was falling a little more substantially, and it was cold. My streak of nobody using their brights ended tonight (maybe it was just that it wasn't so dark on the other nights?) and my glasses and mirror were spotted with water.

Two miles from home, the rain started falling seriously, and when I got home I was fairly wet and my fingers were numb. I'm dried out now. :)

BTW, this is the anniversary of my very first post on this thread! (And second commute!) This thread was started last year, April 20th, and still going strong! Go, us!

Damp and Grey. Awoke to the sounds of a fairly strong wind and thought about taking the car. Wife even asked why I wasn't taking the car. Comprimised by cutting out some of my loops on the ride.

Very wet, in the way that only a Scottish downpour can get.

My riding partner and I met on the bridge and got soaked within minutes (at least from the waist down).

having said that, I was only wearing a thin wicking fleece under my Altura Dalby jacket, and the jacket kept me perfectly dry, in the heaviest possible rain, even resisting a splashing from a puddle driven through by a white panel van.

Hi Folks,

So far I have been lucky in avoiding the downpours. Yesterday we had an amazing hailstorm, but I was jammy enough to have just the 1/2 hour dry spell that I needed to get home. Wonder if telling you all this has just cursed me....?

Cheers,

Ed

Well, it's May. We went through the coldest April since 1975, and one of the rainiest, if not the rainiest.

Today's ride in was actually rather warm and dry. I forgot my jacket (a rare thing) but was still warm enough. I've been cutting through Willow Glen and Santa Clara Univ to take in some more sights along the way. Usually I'd go faster, more direct routes. But it's that time of year when people are out and about. Quite a few more bikers, too.

Tomorrow the forecast calls for a monsoon.

Clocked up around 241 miles in 19 days commuting to and from work in April, thankfully no crashes or punctures. Reached the 1000 mile mark yesterday since start 2003.

I tried out my new 28c(back) and 25c (front) tire setup this morning (bought it for a ride I am doing this weekend in the woods and includes 14 miles of dirt roads). I tested them on a canal road that follows my commute. They worked great. I also noticed that the pavement seemed a lot smoother with bigger tires on. I am sorely tempted to leave them on for commuting permanently. I didn't go much slower than usual and not having to worry' about every little piece of debris in the road was very nice. I was able to actually ride IN the bike lane instead of next to the white line where the cars sweep the debris into the rest of the lane. Had a great ride, and got to ride a little dirt (3 miles) to boot! Nothing better than that I figure, oh yeah, temps were in the 70's.

Amazing to watch the explosion of spring. You may remember I posted some pictures from my winter commute back on 2/17/03. This is the same view now.

Amazing, Jean. To see spring springing up North a few weeks behind us in the South. :)

Today, I jogged/walked w/pack to the bus stop (1 mile, much uphill,) talked with friends at the bus stop, caught the bus, talked with another good friend on the bus and the train, then jogged another mile to work.

After work, I walked to the train, slept on the train and on the bus ;) then jogged about 2.5 miles (very hilly) home.

5.5 miles total. (I like variety.)

(one thing I noted: my "cycling heart" can really handle jogging. much of the time I could breathe comfortably through my nose, until the uphill jaunts caught up with me. then I had to use my mouth.)

:beer:

Today was sunny and dry again, but with the same pesky crosswind. I crawled with no momentum both ways. Wearing shorts was a mistake, as it turned quite cold in the evebning! Still, no dogs, no bugs, and most people dimmed their brights for me again. :)

Just beautiful weather up here in the PNW. Rode home in short sleeves and shorts and I was actually WARM. :fun: Wow.

The exercise I get commuting is really starting to show now, I'm getting a couple of gears higher up nearly all the hills on my route. I love the positive feedback :D

Off to the San Juan Islands tomorrow afternoon for a bit of biking and lots of relaxing :beer:

It was Bike to Work day today, in DC at least - there was a rally downtown with probably 500-1000 bikers - definitely the most I've seen in one place at one time - it was a nice event w/ free t-shirts, bagels and a raffle of 2 free bikes

commute was great - its a beautiful spring day with temps in the mid 60s

Last night I had to go back to my daughter's high school for an event. I timed it after looking at the weather forecast to confirm wind direction. They were wrong!! I ended up pushing against a monster headwind and I had to hustle to make time. I was beat at the end of the 13 mile ride.

I jumped into my wife's van (she had parked earlier) in full biking regalia and appeared moments later a respectable looking father (I guess!!). The van has darks tinted glass so it's like my own personal locker. The same wind that perstered me the whole way worked to my advantage as I dried off on the short walk to the event.

I thought yesterday's auspicious start in the pouring rain, thunder and lightning and cool temp (+4 C, 40 F) was bad enough until I realized I had no rain protection on my feet (feet became very soggy 4 or 5 blocks into the ride). Then as I approached the lift bridge (up again) I realized that waiting in the rain is much worse than riding in the rain. Then I got the bike all gunked up, riding through some sand on the beach bike trail.
Nice ride home last night, though - warm and windless. This morning it was warmer than yesterday and not as wet, (light showers and dry feet).
All in all, even though I didn't stay as dry as I would have liked, both days were better than driving! :D

Wimped out today. It's raining again, April showers having turned into, well, May showers. After work my wife and I are heading to her aunt's house in Granite Bay for her granddad's 88th birthday. It's a doable ride (35 miles or so) but I was just too lazy to get my stuff together this morning. Blah.

Had a nice commute in. On yesterday's ride the construction crew had made a little bike lane so I and other cyclists could cruise on through without having to wait for the opposing traffic to be stopped. Pretty cool.

Little cool this morning, cloudy, no rain, and I thought I should have dressed a little warmer - sleeveless vest over long sleeve jersey and shorts. Warmed up after a few kms. Had a bit of light headwind so I decided not to drive too hard on the pedals, just maintain a steady cadence. Felt my thigh muscles working hard going up the QB bridge into New West. I don't like this part as we can only use the west sidewalk, the sidewalk is narrow and the travel is against the traffic, darn trucks go by with less than a metre of space and fly by at 80km/h. After that, it's downhill to the office. Arrived in great spirits, washed up, changed and enjoyed a slice of fresh home-made ww bread with honey and with fresh brewed coffee and listening to Music & Co on CBC FM as I am reading my e-mail and getting organized for the day. Feeling great all morning. Hoping for that tailwind on the way home.