Since my wife is currently jobless and I don't have to be responsible to see the kids get up, functional, and off to school, I've started to try commuting 3-4 days a week. I packed several changes of clothes to leave at work and put my bike on the car and drove in today. I left the car at the office (gated office compound) and biked home. I'll bike commute Wed, Thurs, and Fri and drive home with clothes and bike on Friday.

Anyway, it was kind of warm this afternoon (mid 80's) and there was a headwind coming off the bay for the first part of the commute. I'm still checking out different options. I'll probably take a direct route in to work and find a longer route for the ride home.

Yesterday's was eventful. I cycle in with my friend and, a couple of miles from the office he had a rear puncture.

He told me to go on, but I turned back after fighting my way to the side of the road through the traffic.

He had all his tools out, but had left his tyre levers at home.

"No problem" says I "I'll give you mine"

I confidently opened my tool kit to find mine missing, left in the garage where I repaired a slow puncture at the weekend.

We managed to get the tyre off anyway and soon on our way.

Luckily, John bought a set of levers at lunchtime as I ran through some broken glass on the way home, sliced the tread and sidewall of my rear Conti (my second last 27" tyre in that width) wrecking the tyre and comprehensively destroyed the inner tube.

We managed to patch the sidewall with some cloth, new tube in and I made it home OK (10 miles or so).

Swapped the rear for one of my last 27" tyres, a Michelin Fifty, which has been hanging in the garage for ages and could easily be 20 years old.

Uneventful this morning thank goodness!

My commute today was sad. Very, very sad.

Chris, if we were closer, I'd loan you a bike. My ride this morning was slow and relaxing under heavy cloud cover and 54 degreesF, I just knew I was going to get a good shower before I got to work. I didn't, I just felt a few small sprinkles as arrived at the office. The ride as a whole was peacfull and quiet with very little traffic, I was back on the commuter today, I didn't want to get the bridgstone wet. That's my pampered bike. Have a great day all, I hope you find your bike Chris.

(Inky hugs Chris)

I'm back in the saddle again! Had to drive to work last week due to standby, drove yesterday due to a "ball hockey back of the knee injury" lingering from last week. (One foot firmly planted, other foot slid forward a lot father than it should have) Can't run, but riding seems ok. Took yesterday off from riding just to give it a rest.
A sparkling clear morning, but a cold (7 C, 45 F) brisk (20mph) headwind out of the north made the trip about 5 minutes longer than usual.
Passed a couple of fellow commuters on the way in, they didn't look like they were really trying.

Had a good commute despite the fact that I didn't have anything prepared last night. Not my cycling clothes or my work clothes. I'm surprised it came off as well as it did to, cause it's the first time I used the backpack instead of leaving my clothes at work. Still a little chilly this morning, too. I figured it was in the low 50's but checked the temp when I got to work and found it was only 46! Oh well, I warmed up after a while. Just about average for the trip too, 48 minutes.

12.75 miles
16.0 mph avg.

Wet roads and cool, around 60 degrees. Had a flat tire also!

Hi Folks,

Dry ride this morning, but it is starting to rain as I type this. I was feeling somewhat tired this morning & didn't have the usual energy but it is always good to ride.

Cheers,

Ed

Good morning. Foggy and wet today as I commuted up the bike path along the coast.

Have a great day.

Couldn't wait to ride in today. Did a 100K (5000' elevation gain) on Sunday, ran Monday and yesterday, and was anxious to get on the Green Monster again today. It was a great and fast commute. The commute following a long ride, such as last weekend's ride, is always fast b/c you're stronger.

Can't wait for ride home in (hopefully) 90 degree temps !!!

The first rule of bike commuting:
Stiff headwind on the way in =....dead calm on the way home?

Better than another headwind, but not the tailwind I so richly deserve.
Nice ride home, sunny and comfortable temperature. Would have been a quick ride, but I spotted an old curvy CCM coaster brake model in the trash, had to stop and look - rims are rusted, fenders rusted, but everything looks straight, might drive by later and pick it up if it's still there. Might have to store it at work, I think I've used up my junk quota at home!

I was having an epic ride in, until I ran over that thorn. I was trying out the new setup on my Trek (aerobars and forward seatpost) in anticipation of a tri in July. I was absolutely flying: 24mph and cranking the big ring like it was nothing. Oh well. It's been awhile since I fixed a flat on the side of the road and I needed the reminder.

Looking forward to Friday, perfect weather, 60 - 75 temp spread, slight tailwind inbound.

It was sunny, with a slight crosswind today.The critters seemed to be on the move...I saw a cat hunting, and a rabbit and a ground squirrel...

On the way home, there was a bright sunset. I turned off and saw someone at the top of the hill--I thought it might be another cyclist. When I got closer, I saw it was a rider on a horse. We exchanged greetings. I see many horses on my route (including this one), but this is the first time I saw one being ridden. There was plenty of evidence on the road that he had no constipation problems, BTW.

When I had gone a few miles further, I heard a terrible screeching of brakes behind me. It wasn't quite dark, but the rider had no bright colors, lights or reflectors, so I can't help worrying. I suppose I'll worry until I see if the horse is back in his field again tomorrow.

I actually took that same horse's picture yesterday, but didn't post it on the route pics thread.

I spooked up a bunny later, it ran along the road ahead of me, its tail practically glowing in the dark.

Awesome ride home. I hit very few red lights, which was true for my ride this a.m. as well come to think of it. Those I hit I hit at the end of the cycle. I made it home in an hour -- about 10-15 mins faster than normal.

Had a great day yesterday. The morning was a little bit chilly, and I forgot to bring gloves, so my hands were pretty cold by the time I got to work. However, the sun was shining and is was clear sailing. The ride home was warmer.

Today, I was smart enough to bring my gloves, which is good, because it was 2 degress celcius when I left the house...brrr.. suprisingly I didn't feel cold at all (even when I walked out the door. Strange....)

Was very cool this morning. Thank God, my flat was from last night and I caught it this morning before I left. I hada staple in my tire.

Absolutely perfect weather this morning. Not to cool, not too warm - morning sun peeking around some thin clouds, and only an occasional, slight breeze. Wow! Makes for a nice, enjoyable ride.

Warm and humid this morning, at least for us. The ride itself was unremarkable. Expecting mid-90s (F) this afternoon. But I'll probably be working late tonight and will miss that. One benefit of overtime, I guess.

I have been commuting in record tieing heat the last few days. It is interesting. Todays ride home is supposed to be 107. Luckily I have a frozen water bottle ready! I got a pinch flat on my way in (tires were at 110 PSI too). The heat makes patching a breeze as the fluid gets tacky within 10 seconds or so. Overall it was a nice ride. I had a really pleasant breeze to cool me off while changing the tire.

Great commute home last night. Very fast and hit most of the lights. 12.6 miles, 41 minutes, 18.4 average speed.

Grey skies and a steady light rain this morning Still I'm pretty happy about the whole thing since this was my first "by choice" wet commute. No where near as bad as I thought it would be, and it will be even better next time when I get around to putting my fenders on

The ride in was quiet (I only saw two other riders) and chilly, in the low 50's. Went kinda slow as I was trying to stretch it to 45 minutes for better fat burning potential and still got to work early. I hoping to get home before the rain starts up again.

Well, I been on vacation since last Thursday biking in the San Juan Islands (look for a report with pics in the touring forum, at some point) Anyway I was back commuting on tues, in drizzling rain. Skipped Wed, as I need to shop, and was back at it today. Today was again drizzling rain. But warm, and no wind, so really not much to complain about, helps keep the stroller pushers down I'm really pleased that I'm still feeling full of energy after the 5 days of biking, taking yesterday off was probably a positive in that regard.