ouch!

gorgeous cycling weather in Beantown these days. Love my commute.

On the way to the university, it was a gorgeous 18*C. A couple hot girls smiled at me :-). Gave the nod to an older gentleman today; he seemed to appreciate the acknowledgement. Almost saw a semitruck flip over. That was neat.

On the southern portion, faced 30km/h headwinds. As I was going along, a bus passed me, and I could feel the great drafting sensation so I dialed up to 11 and threw down the hammer :-p. I ended up leapfrogging the bus all the way to the campus (it was an express bus, so it was decently quick). One portion I had to pass him on the right, and he wasn't to pleased so he honked at me. So, me exerting my manliness, tailgated him...haha.

On the way back home, had an AMAZING ride. I was really hammering down and had a few people yell, "WOOOOHOO" at me. That was pretty cool. Hit 47km/h on one portion. Had one girl in a car say something to me that I couldn't decipher so I gave her a friendly wave. Saw her again on another street so she said the same thing (which I still couldn't understand) and I gave her another wave. Made it home in 45 minutes, or roughly half the time it'd take busing.

Last night's commute was good weather, saw one guy with his shirt off it was so warm. NOT so today, ( yeah, I wimped out ) but the ride finished with me climbing a hill that has the buses struggling when loaded, with a total bike/cargo weight of about 70-80lbs. I was impressed with myself, but pretty much collapsed for the rest of the evening.

First ride of the season with my road tires; I just took the knobbies off last night.

Great ride home today - well, yesterday, since it's 2am. Warm weather, and I had the afternoon off; I set out on a slower, more interesting route home. I had some GPS fun, got to keep pace with traffic being stopped every few blocks by a schoolbus, and got home sweaty with my endorphins topped off.

Riding where I want to, for no reason other than "hey, that looks cool", and taking as long as I want... that's one of the few times I feel like a kid again.

The ride in was awesome. It was t-shirt and sunglasses weather! I won a tailwind! The trees are FINALLY getting buds; it's not winter anymore and I am so glad.

The ride back wasn't bad, either. The moon looked like a giant, softly lit, french vanilla colored orb sitting on top of the shopping center at 52nd & Vance. It cheered me up after a hard night at work.

I was called "Jesus ******* Christ" by some guy in a suit on a hybrid when I passed him... He had no helmet and was teetering along. I don't know why he yelled that. I thought I gave him enough room when I passed him (maybe it was the 25mph part?).

Then an old lady called me A**hole! She hadn't even started to cross the street yet!

Grumpy city today, but a great warm, fast, sunny ride home, with some grumps.

One of those days where I was really feeling good... it was finally warm enough on the way home to wear a long sleeved jersey without gloves, a hat, or a second layer. w00t! Cleared out my mind, all that good stuff.

I want to start varying my route as extra training for Courage Classic.

It's spring...and they're out in full force!

WIND. I was two to three gears lower than normal on my ride to work this afternoon. I have a good hill that I usually pull in second abd third gears on my Shimano Nexus 8 speed. Today I was in first all the way and had to stop two thirds of the way up the hill th get my respiratory and heart rate down. That is a first on my commute. I sit upright to keep weight off my 65 yrar old wrists and hands, and have two panniers, so I'm not exactly streamlined.

I am sick. I am not at work. I am not riding. I am not happy (except about the second part).

Get well, trombone. IMO, autumn is the best time to ride.

59F/15C with a light, steady rain--shorts and Showers Pass.

Also, I think I'm in love. Swapped out my 50mm Big Apples for some 35mm Marathon Supremes and felt like Lance Armstrong on the way in (though to the unknowing observer, it's just another Fred going by).

WONDERFUL ride in to work. One incident though. I was riding along at a pretty good clip when a girl in a red car came up from behind. We were approaching an intersection where I was going to continue straight but she was turning right. I think you know what is coming.She must have misjudged my speed as she executed the turn anyway without letting me go first and I almost hit her broadside as she turned. But I acted quickly on the brakes and avoided the encounter. Otherwise, great!!

Finally, it wasn't cold and overcast! Spring may actually be here!

Somewhat quick today. Legs are getting back into condition. No wind. Sunny. Low 50Fs. I wore shorts, jersey, jacket, and gloves. Gloves were overkill. Actually the jacket probably was, too.

The beaver has removed all the branches of the felled tree, and is now working down the trunk.

Flat, dead rat on the road near work. Ick.

Great morning for a ride - ~69* F as I pulled out the driveway at 6:30 as the sun was coming up. Wind was with me this morning (won't be so nice on the way home this evening) and I felt as good as I've felt since I started back on the bike. The bubbas were out though - obnoxious pickup truck drivers, all must have been late to work on a Monday morning. Almost took a side mirror to the back of the head... Made great time, too...

Uneventful ride to work this morning. Temp was in the low to mid 50s, overcast and it's starting to get humid, so I sweat like a racehorse. Being a new commuter, I'm still getting used to the drivers around here, who are not particularly adept at sharing the road with cyclists, although I am not at the point where I would consider myself a real "cyclist."
The highlight of the ride was in the elevator at work, a woman who works a couple floors below thanked me for wearing my hi vis jersey. She said that she sees too many cyclists and runners that blend into the background, thus making it hard for her to give them enough room on the road. Makes me glad that I invested in that gear as part of my overall safety gear.

chipcom - i feel for you.

Looks like I'm a cager for the foreseeable future. I got a big ole puffy knee. Self-diagnosis is tendinitis in the Hamstring Tendon. I've been having lots of trouble keep loose on long rides. Cramped bad yesterday over the last 12 miles of a 60 miler. Think it did a number on my knee.

still getting used to spring weather. It's warm enough that I can leave the long sleeved mid-weight wool jersey at home, but not so warm that I can just go in short sleeves. Kept on trying to decide if I should take off my arm warmers or not.

Marathon Day in Boston meant that traffic was refreshingly low ebb. I did a double metric century on Saturday and legs were still feeling a little knackered, so I spun easy for most of my way through Harvard Sq. and Kendall Sq.; but then lost my discipline when I climbed over the Longfellow and came up to a red light with a fellow commuter on a Giant OCR3. Then, it was red light sprints all the way into Post Office Square. I think we split 3 for 6 on that.

Racing side-by-side in the right hand lane of Cambridge St. through Government Center was great. Having dead quads while walking around the office today? Not so much.

God, I hope I don't see him on my way home.

Almost got creamed by a city bus downtown! I was in right lane, bus was in middle lane. I was coming up on the bus fast, probably pulling about 25 or so and started passing. Got halfway past the bus when I saw the directional go on. Immediately slowed down since I did not know if it saw me or not and was waiting for me to pass. Maybe I should not have been passing - this particular downtown street is three lanes wide and I can easily do 25 if I hit the traffic light timing right. Here is the street (I was headed south in the right lane - ignore the "ONLY" in the right lane - it is no longer there and is a through lane now):

https://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&h...286,-78.636686


other than that, very nice ride in this morning - no rain which I was expecting. hopefully the same goes for this afternoon as well. Didn't check the temp before I left, but I guesstimate in the mid-50's.

I disagree. There's no more real cyclist than one who rides to work.

Good legs today. No, check that. Great legs today. I was testing out my new TT position on the bike trail this morning and I was flying. A la chingada as my grampa might say. [I know that the ARBT is technically a MUP, and that I was breaking the 15mph speed limit, and it's a frickin' zoo on the weekends, but it's pretty safe to go all out on weekday mornings. No walkers or rollerbladers were harmed.]

cold today, 30F. No hail at least. Just sorta spun my way in, pretty low avg speed.

First commute on my new bike. I love her. She's a beauty. Treated myself to a new trip computer too but it's not picking up the signal from the wireless transmitter. However, I can tell you that it was 18.5 degrees centigrade when I set off in the evening so it is definitely spring! And to top it off I saw the first Swallows of spring - or were they House Martins? Not sure - they were too high up.

Late start out, so more cars to contend with. Timing off on a couple of blocks, so red lights. Idiot college kid riding in front of me, so looked good to the cute teachers in front of the school.

Conditions were near perfect. 69F, little to no wind, slightly overcast. Rode in high gear more than ever before. Starting my 4th week and the hills keep getting easier. I'm hooked.

The ride to work was brutal. I left the house late. When a driver leaves the house late, he or she can just push the gas pedal down a little farther and watch out for cops. When a cyclist leaves the house late, there's physical punishment involved! My legs were screaming at me!

The ride home was brutal, too. OMG headwinds. Good thing today is my Friday.