Fast ride in for the morning. I had a light tail wind all the way.

Just Wonderful
 

Weather in low 60's and a tail wind !- temperatures have finally moderated here in the land of the heat index. One thing though - I ran over a squirrel. How can you run over a squirrel on a bike? He went back and forth, back and forth (like they do) and then back and for..... whump whump - didn't quite make the last forth :eek: . Looked back and he was hopping off but with a decided hitch in his gait. I guess if he wasn't able to successfully dodge a bike then he was probably not long for this world anyway in the neighborhood he was in. Maybe he will live over it.

cloud/rain means the (ever-shorter) day's worth of sunlight does not zip back out into space at night so warmer mornings. yay I guess.

Skipped the gym this morning and instead cleaned up the bike from last night's ride in T-storm. Left later than usual and coasted to the office at a very leisurely pace rather than push myself. A couple college age guys went past me....I usually pace my way to the traffic light. They sat and waited awhile....I timed the light perfectly, and as I made my left turn, they were still waiting for the light.

More and more bike traffic these days. I don't feel alone anymore!

Tomorrow is my last commute for a couple of weeks. Sunday we head for vacation...two week cruise in the Mediterranean. I'm looking forward to some downtime from the office grind.

Happy riding all. Be safe.

Heavy, heavy legs. You know those days when you keep looking at your tires, thinking that they must be flat? That was my ride this morning.

I had the exact same feeling this morning, only I kept looking behind me to try and find the anchor I felt I was dragging.

Today? 20mph headwind. I'm on knobby tires. It's Thursday, which means my legs are tired from the week's riding. I missed breakfast this morning.

Much fun was had. I think my string of curses at mother nature added about three miles an hour to my speed. :3

Sadly enough I didn't get to ride today :( But I hear it's good to take a break....occasionally.

The sun was shining, the temp was cool, but comfortable. Perfect. And I had to take the car (I seldom drive) into the shop for a $400 worth of maintenance. Some days I wish I were carless.

Oh man I thought that was just me! I have been feeling like my back tire is flat all week. My legs have been put through the ringer this week from work.

Ride to work was a little challenging physically. I was able to ride at a pretty good pace through the whole ride. About half way I think my muscles where warmed up and it was much easier. I walk in to work every morning feeling like a bad ass. I don't think my co-workers understand.

Since I don't work tomorrow I decided to take a long way home for the first time. I was glad I did it. My body has been getting used to the same distance so it was good to give myself some new scenery and a longer work out. I will make this a habit.

bike path ride in this morning. quiet and gorgeous but a little bit of head wind.

It was at my back on the way home and I made great time. sweet.

Why motorists slam their horns...
 

... as a bike commuter for 10 years, mostly in Chicago, and recently in the NW suburbs, I am amazed still at how motorists think it is okay to slam their horns when passing cyclist.

Given, I try to be as visible as I can- light colored clothing, reflective vest, reflective commuting bag, blinking taillight, reflective tape and bike reflectors, headlight.

Also, I always wear a helmet, signal early and often with my arms and hands, check behind me and ride close to the shoulder as much as I am able. But still, on two occasions, I have had motorists lay on their horns this week. It makes me nuts!

Anyway, at 5:00am today, given it was a bit foggy out, I was midway through my ride and I could see the headlights of a vehicle from behind... I continued cautiously, but confidently riding, and as the pickup truck passed, the driver decided to lay on their horn... No, I didn't crash, but was quite irritated as my blood pressure spiked for a moment... What happened on your commute today?

Great ride! My commute is 3 1/2 miles there and back. Due to my work hours, I always ride in the dark mornings. Took my time and enjoyed the coolness. I was somewhat spooked (that weird feeling). It was particularly dark this morning and I had waken up from some crazy nightmare. So I was jumping at the slightest sound but it was a good commute either way.
I'll go around the park on the way home today.
Ernest

Wet and cold. I was tired, I slept horribly last night.

Great Weather:
I commute to a bike ride.
Had a tan Honda pull up beside me, SideWalk the driver yelled.
I told him where to put the sidewalk.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...DoaRide029.jpg

Really nice commute even though I had an unusually confrontational interaction with a driver. With two lanes open next to me he blares on his horn and starts pointing and screaming at me with the window up ashe's going by. For the next few minutes of my commute I looked for him at every traffic light until I finally found him stopped in a pack of cars. I rolled up beside him and banged on his window hard enough that he jumped to get his attention and then yelled at him "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?". He got all timid and rolled his window down a crack and said "you need to stay off the road" and I forcefully shot back "no you need to read your ****ing traffic law. I don't need to ride on the sidewalk, I don't need to ride on the curb either. I can ride anywhere I want to and if I catch you honking at me again I won't be so friendly when I come looking for you". Then I rode off through the slow moving traffic and left him behind.

Felt good honestly, scares the **** out of aggressive drivers when you take away their bubble of anonymity and confront them at a stop.

Oh and the weather was fabulous

Little chilly, but everybody was just so damn nice and cheerful this morning, waves, good mornings, nice bike, nice helmet...must be Friday.

Damp and cool, but not too bad. Riding without the backpack was great.

I need a pannier to schlep my laptop to and fro work...Too bad the good stuff is expensive!

Wonderful weather this morning. 61 when I left the house around 6:15. This is my first week of riding full time so my legs are pretty dead, but that didn't even put a damper on the beautiful morning ride. I actually pulled off the road to watch the sunrise. Just gorgeous!

A few miles later I am at work starting the grind. I think I'll take one of the longer routes home if this weather holds out.

Cheers!

Nice and temps were perfect...
Running late so consequently had to do a mini sprint on the fixed to work. Legs feel all pumped up and only a little dry heaving after a 20+ mph, 10 mile sprint to work with loaded bag...

oh well, its fun and why my legs are kinda large...

My seat post came loose and the seat came down very low while riding. It happened within a few minutes of my arriving at work, so I just decided to ride it out and fix it at the office. Big mistake, the strain on my legs was 3 times as much as when I have the seat up to it's usual height. The weather was perfect though, overcast and cool.

Another shorts 'n' mittens day today, but traffic was smooth and my lights were working fine.

Funny, this happend to me on the way home yesterday. I could use a nice stainless allen bolt to replace the rusting hex bolt, I think.

Drove in this morning; I've crossed the threshold and it feels weird to drive now. Too bad winter's coming and I'm a sissy. :)

Didn't ride this morning; legs a little too tired and sore. Should have stretched last night; knew better. :(

Last's night's right was a slogfest; felt like I was dragging a boat anchor. About 2/3rds of the way I pumped up my tires to 100psi; seemed to help a little. Some yokel tried to scare me by yelling out his car window; guess he didn't realize that I ride about thirty feet from the train tracks and hear the train whistle as it passes by. :lol:

May ride tomorrow morning (not commuting, just a fun ride) and try adjusting the seat height some; replaced the old saddle with a Brooks B-17 and didn't adjust the height. Maybe that'll work.

I decided to drive today and into the near future due to my alergies. :(

The past couple of days have been murder on me with my eyes. I feel like I just want to scratch them out of my face. Today I feel a little better since I drove with the recirculating air.

I normally drive on Fridays but decided last night that since the weather around here is unbelievable gorgeous, I would take the bike. Great decision. Temp was 56 when I left, clear, no wind to speak of, light traffic, and to top it all off I made 11 of 14 lights green. Did a personal best. 12 miles in 43:30. For me that is outstanding. Maybe I should do Fridays more often!! Have a great weekend all!!

Checked the temperature, dressed appropriately and stepped outside. Turns out it had just rained, which changed my clothing strategy entirely. I hummed and hawed but decided to go with the rain gear as it was cold and any spray from the road would freeze me to the bone. Glad i did as the rain resumed 1/2 way through the commute.

Edit: Forgot to add that i saw another commuter in Nisku! And on a rainy cold day nonetheless.

had a tough time keeping my cadence up. I kept falling back to 79-78. Weird because I felt strong and there was no traffic, slowdowns or headwinds. Maybe I was pushing a higher gear ...

A bike commuter I see regularly over the past 3 years, was not paying attention yesterday and nearly drifted into me on the MUP. :( But at the very last second he either saw me or finally heard me screaming at him and veered away. I only had an inch or two to spare from the tree on the right and he passed probably a foot to the left. I was making myself small - elbows and knees in!!

Hammered hard this morning, felt I should because I'm planning on racing next month for fun...1st time.