Commute was awesome, -3 but almost perfectly still.

You shouldn't be wearing any kind of underwear with any type of padded short.

I almost hit a pedestrian this morning. It was 100% my fault, and feel really lousy about it.

She was in a crosswalk and I just didn't see her. I should have though, all sight lines were clear. My head just wasn't where it should be :(

She actually said sorry to me. I said sorry back to her and added "My fault." I wish I could have done better than that, but there were cars behind me and I was in their way at this point. I feel bad about the whole thing.

Up until 1AM, waved off the commute this morning and took the bus. Yeah, lame, I know.

I'm loving the cooler weather (low 50s early in the morning), though I hate coming home and it's already nearly dark. I recently misplaced my cheap-o blinkie, so I purchased the planet bike blinkie, holy crap that things is bright! Also picked up a Ultrafire C3 Cree Q5 with a twofish mount, and am loving it.

I'm trying to commute an entire week, it seems in the past there was always some reason for me to take the car a day or two. So far so good!

Beautiful morning - high 40's when I left, low 50's when I arrived, perfect temperatures. Fastest commute of the year today as well, a full 1.5mph avg., and nearly 8 minutes faster than my next fastest time. 15.8mph and 1:07! My legs are feeling it a bit, but if feels good. May have something to do with my extreme euphoria over the election results last night...

don't feel bad - you both did the right thing. Glad no one got hurt.:)

+1,000. :D About to go out and get a calzone.

I'm amused by the number of "I'm tired/hungover/slow" commute posts this morning.

Thanks, I really enjoy reading this forum. I was lurking for a while but decided I might as well post something

As for the commute, my average week looks like this.

Monday - ride both ways (I'm usually fairly rested after the weekend
Tuesday - ride both ways
Wednesday - bus to work then ride home (I need a little mid week break)
Thursday - usually ride both ways but sometimes bus home if I'm feeling lazy
Friday - both ways

I haven't ridden both ways all five days of the week yet but I think that'll happen soon. I'm kinda lucky because the whole ride is pretty much flat so it usually only takes me an hour to get to work. One funny side note that I'm sure a few of you will laugh at is that I was biking in jeans for the first four weeks I was doing this commute haha. I didn't really realise my foolishness until my mom bought me some proper bike gear for my birthday. Man it makes a difference, I'm 100% more comfortable on the ride now.

As for today I took the bus, needed the mid week break and little extra nap. Hope everyone had a good ride. It's fairly nice out here, so the ride home should be enjoyable.

Monday morning, coming around a sharp corner off a bridge, where I have to ride on the sidewalk, I hit this thing that was hanging out over the sidewalk. It was dark. It appeared in the beam of my headlight for a split second and then I was on it. Next thing I know, this piece of blue plastic was hanging from my rear axle. WTF? Ah, a McCain / Palin sign.

No damage done, so I'm not going to sue the McCain campaign over this, but I really hate these campaign signs hanging out over the sidewalk.

And for the sake of full disclosure I will admit that, had it been an Obama sign, I might have gone back and put it back up. But... well, you know: if things were different, things would be different.

Only one other commuter in 10 miles.

A youngster going to school.

i hear ya on the signs, those blasted things...they are either just lying in the road or they are sticking out into the road

Where in Queens? I've been looking for a decent route from Riverdale...

Dang it. A couple weeks ago my front crank assembly was "knocking" and didn't feel right. Quickly took it in to LBS for fixing. They were suprised, said it had come loose and re-adjusted everything. Told me in no uncertain terms that if it started doing it again, immediately cease riding and bring it in again. So yesterday, same thing happened. So bike will go to shop on Thursday. I'm doing a part bus/part walk to work now. Not so bad, but today it is a beautiful day and I miss my bike. At the least it's still under warranty so the assembly should be replaced entirely.

I <heart> my fixed gear bike. There is nothing like the silence of a perfectly cleaned and lubed fixed gear drivetrain. Nothing but the gentle zzzzzzzz of the tires on the asphalt.

Yesterday afternoon's ride was the most miserable ride of my life.

It rained all day yesterday; I got pretty wet on the ride in (I really need rain gear). That meant putting the wet tights back on for the ride home. You know how unpleasant it is putting on a wet bathing suit? Now imagine a wet bathing suit...over most of your body. :(

The good news: it didn't matter much after about a mile. The bad news: it didn't matter because by that point I was soaked to the bone.

When I arrived home I literally poured water out of my shoes.

I've said before on this thread that I've often regretted driving in on days where the weather was bad in the morning and never regretted riding in under similar conditions. As of yesterday, that's no longer true.

Another deferred flat. Yesterday was glass, today was a piece of bicycle brake cable that I pulled out of my tire halfway in today. Made it in fine, then took off for meeting. 4 hrs later, come back, flat tire. 1st flat on the front >6k miles.

The morning was awesome, a few other commuters, and when I stopped to adjust my seat a fellow rider asked if I was alright as he came behind me. Darn nice of him.

Instead of heading home after, I went straight to the bike shop, and then after I trued the wheels and paid for the parts I bought last week, I rode home. In the dark, for the first time, with no lights. I need to buy some. Got home safe, but even on fairly well lit streets it was sometimes hard to see the onramps to the sidewalk. I had simply forgot it was going to be dark when I left.

The ride home was ok. Windy, but not terrible.

My rear disc brake seems to have lost it's stopping power...Maybe have to run by the LBS for an adjustment this weekend.

My fixie has developed a soft 'click' each time the cranks go round, and the chain rattles a bit because the chainwheel isn't quite centred so the chain tension varies slightly.

It's starting to annoy me more and more. I want it to be silent! (It's still quieter than my road bike though). Could be another service, another trip to the LBS...

Ah, but it made a great story. However bad it gets, just keep telling yourself that it will make a great story down the pub...

This morning was a great ride, a little tailwind to make it nice and easy. But when I was about a half mile from class, I started to feel my right pedal wobble a little bit. It was a very strange sensation, so I walked it the last half mile because I didn't want to destroy my crank arm and my pedal. After class, I walked the bike the mile over to the lbs and their tech called it a warranty repair so I got two new pedals and a new crank arm (I tried not to destroy them by not riding but the damage had been done) and the nice fellow straightened my rear derailleur hanger for free cause he felt bad that I walked my bike a mile and a half today. You gotta love the customer service at a good bike shop. I wish I hadn't walked all that way, but all and all not a bad day.

congratulations America :thumb:

Finally back on the bike! Had a nice, uneventful ride in. I did have a driver roll down his window and say " that's a great way to start the day", which surprised me enough that all I could think to say was "thanks". I guess "yes it is" would have been a better response, but at 6AM I'm suprised I managed to emit something more meaningful than a grunt. Should be a beautiful ride home with the leaves at their peak, sunny, ~75F and a tailwind :-)

The first half was okay. Now I've got to ride another 6+ to another office building to get some information and back.

The total ride (both legs) will be just over 11 miles and will be my full commute beginning in January.

Ride home last night hurt. This is why I only do it once a week right now. 85 miles in a day, with tons of climbing, kicks my butt. It's like I never get a chance to recover during the ride. As soon as I cruise down one hill, the next one is staring at me. I think I need to pack lighter. Right now, I have ~20lbs of gear. But heck, I don't want to be stuck in the dark without proper tools and such. And right now I'm in the dark all the way - both ways.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...OMMUTETOPO.gif
This is one leg of my commute. From work to home. (notice the biggest climb peaks over the image.) God help me. I want to do this twice a week.

Sincerely,
Wimpy Boy

Real nice this morning. Low 40sF, no wind, mostly clear sky. Quite comfortable. I passed a couple of riders but didn't see anyone going the other way. I need to clean my chain.

Beautiful weather today, although I strangely miss the dark mornings. Somehow I feel more visible when it's dark because my lights light me up so much.

I didn't ride the past two days due to rain and meetings that required my vehicle at work. You might think I would feel all rested up today, but I was achy and sore. My shoulder hurt, my ankle was sore and my legs felt tired. Strange because I also got a lot more sleep than usual last night after staying up late to watch the election returns the night before.

Another rideless week. :( I had to go in Monday for a transjugular liver biopsy (not fun) and was told by the doctor not to drive for a day, so I took Tuesday off. I don't feel like pushing it too soon, but I do have to work this weekend, so maybe I can ride then.

It was only a light drizzle when I left my house in South Philly. 1 mile later, it was a downpour. It was awesome. Put my new Ogio RPG bag to the test, which I'm happy to report is highly water resistant.:thumb:

I went to Target last night and bought some more base layer stuff. I also picked up the $6.99 Christmas lights to decorate my bike later in the month. :) Those things are awesome.

That said, I overslept badly this morning, and had to drive. Too bad, this is going to be the last good weather day in a while.