Had to spend yesterday out at a local chemical plant, but didn't have to be there till noon. I was pretty nervous about the highway ride involved, but it was actually much better than I'd feared. The tailwind helped. Of course, the headwind on the way home wasn't much fun, and the road debris (proximity to the city dump and a lot of factories and such) was pretty harsh. Riding the decking of the drawbridge was the most nerve-wracking part of it, even though I was unclipped for that part.

Today was the normal 5.5 mile office run and it was nice. A bit of wind, but not bad. Fortunately I'm getting on a plane tomorrow morning instead of riding to work as a hurricane approaches.

Nearly got taken out by a red light runner driving a --- wait for it --- BMW. I was not totally blameless, as I jumped the green slightly. Take it from me, kids. It's not worth the gamble.

rock on brutha.

A car passed me this morning and backfired, i dang near had to break the glass on the emergency underwear.

Last night an old black pick up with leaking exhaust pulled up even with me and gunned it.
It seemed he was trying to damage my ear drum for some reason.

I acted like I didn't notice. It felt good to imagine him checking his rear view hoping for a reaction and getting disappointed when he got none.

word

The last two days have been wonderful for biking to work and back home again. I did have one car a little close as they passed me the day before yesterday. The Am & PM hours are starting to get a little cold now, but it does make for a nice ride...

I'm in that spatial warp today whereby my commute into work was about 20 miles, and my commute home will be a bit over four miles (I'm trying to get as many miles in as possible to get ready for a few centuries coming up, and rode to Decatur and back before work). It was a good ride, though. It's usually a good ride. I left at 6 AM so I got to try out my new headlamp (a MiniNewt.x2). Yep. It was a good ride.

Decent ride in. A bit warmer (upper 60's) and more humid. Still, better by bike than by car.

North Dallas Commute
 

My commute yesterday was uneventful except for the north wind left over after Hurricane Gustav came ashore. This made for a nice cool ride, head wind home though. It's rare that anyone honks at me with my full reflective vest and strobes on the front and back but I'm sure he honked (I could barely make it out over the Thump Thump of his stereo as he drove past). Any day on the bike is a good day.

It rained. Warm and nice rain. Problem is it had not rained for 4 weeks and it has been really hot. So the roads were slicker than a goats axx. I had no problem on my road bike but cars were sliding around everywhere. 2 crashes and it is scary hearing a car sliding somewhere behind you. Hopefully all this oil and stuff gets washed off over night. All in all better than 90 degrees.

Last night was late leaving work, had to go all out to get to 3.5 yr old's daycare before closing time, so I took the direct route, 4 lanes divided the whole way, made it in 19 min vs 25-30 typical on my usual. Not today though, plenty of time to get there.

Had my first squirrel incident on the ride home... Heard the little guy in the bushes on my right, guess he was jumping around deciding which way to go. I looked up to check out the upcoming road patches and as I looked back down, saw the little guy jet between my front and rear wheels. Guess he was lucky that I missed him, and guess I was lucky that he didn't head for the spokes of the front wheel.
Seem to be getting used to the Aurora, ride times are down, even with increased traffic, and I'm not working as hard as when I was riding the Trek 7300FX.

I got to see a this redneck guy and his fat headed wife having this crazy argument about 100 yards from the courthouse...that was kind of entertaining, i was expecting her to drop him with one punch

I got an extra bonus 18 miles in; I got 9 miles into my commute and realized I left my bag on the ground at home. At least it gave me the opportunity to remember to get my Red Cross card for giving blood this afternoon; it's the first time I've remembered it in a year.

I had a bizarre noise going on only when I was pedalling all day (45 miles of it) - the harder I pedalled, the more noise. I found the cause this evening: Broken axle:
http://www.hauntedfrog.com/gallery2/...Axle-small.jpg
Not bad, it made it 15000 miles (today actually, so not quite). $350 bike, freewheel axle. I've been riding on horrendously washboarded gravel roads for 2 weeks due to detours, and I ride on relatively rough roads daily normally, 8 miles a day.

Time to build a new rear wheel. (I'm not disappointed, I'd been thinking about it anyway, but this does mean I'll be riding my wife's bike for a week or so).

Ride home was rough, I was super tired and the wind was all in my business. All in all, made good time and glad I got 40 miles in today! Time to rest up for a hard roadie-ride this weekend...

After a day off the bike, it was great to have the it with me today. It felt weird sitting on the train yesterday without Little Red folded up next to me.

Good ride in this AM. Tough riding in the dark for the first 1/2 hour. Still waiting on NiteRider folks to return my warranty repair on the headlight. I got the SOL. When it is working it works great. Not so sure on the Customer Support side of things. Light parts have been shipped back and forth from CT to San Diego several times now. Each time I get the light back it doesn't work? Tip to NiteRider guys: Test everything before you stuff it in the UPS box!

Commuter TT! :D :rolleyes: First, the weather: Overcast, too humid, high 60sF, headwind.

I spied someone about two tenths of a mile behind me, and riding fast. I was only doing 15, so I dialed it up a little and cruised around 20 for the remainder of the commute. 5 miles or so. Never did see the person again. :p Passed a woman on a cruiser. Caught a guy on a hybrid right before I left the MUP. Fast ride today.

great rides in this week - only Wed-today though. Still on those damned stock pedals - Performance has my Campus pedals and should be replacing them by next week - can't wait - tired of my feet slipping off the pedals. The weather has been very nice - mornings are perfect temps.

Was super windy this morning, shame it was a headwind. Very stiff. Also, started raining a few miles before I made it to work. Made the ride interesting, but made getting coffee a bit tougher.

I've ridden in the rain before, but this is the first time I left for work when it was already raining. I welcomed it. I enjoyed it. My bike is not in my office yet. It's in an uncarpeted part of the building dripping.

I still need fenders though...

This is the first time riding in the rain with my clipless pedals. It was nice to not slip off of the pedals. However, when stopping, I had to be very careful, as the cleat slides against wet road with oil slick very easily. It would be less of a problem on an upright bike, but a recumbent makes you put your leg at a weird angle to lean.

it has been a stellar week for commuting...this morning i decided to take the route with the hill and i am glad i did, it felt good to challenge myself
hoping to get out this weekend and rack up some miles

30 mph cross wind was a pain. And what is it with these back to school drivers, I got buzzed at least a dozen times (I wanted so bad to catch a least one of them at a light but no luck) and they have changed the timing on all the traffic lights (must be for the school traffic), it took me 10 minutes longer.

64º and bracing...I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

I whimped out today. Drove in. It si so nice and cool now I really really regret it. Might sneak out early, go home and ride. I have 120 miles since my last spoke busted. Going for a record.

I drove.

I'm weaksauce.

Drove because work is piling up and I don't know how late I'm gonna be here tonight.

Still chilly in the morning. Here's hoping it warms up next week...

Bad luck with tires lately. Sliced an armadillo sidewall yesterday.

I'm used to the flats, but these sidewall cuts are getting expensive - I just changed out a Marathon Supreme that was sliced and now this one. Luckily (?) the Armadillo was about ready for retirement anyway.