Excellent! What a big day for you both!

As for me, I expected rain (since the forecast called for it) and wore my rain gear. No rain. Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed. Brutal headwind, though. Terrific.

First off- WELCOME THOMAS BROCK!

sounds like you've got a nice ride- I'd take my time, too.

My ride this morning, however, was a swift road ride in with lots of construction and I was running late so it was time to keep right up with the traffic.

The ride home, along the river on a bike path, which is sometimes my leisurely time, was anything but since I think I had a stiff tailwind that pushed me along at a rapid pace all the way home.

I drove to NYC last night to see a friend's show, then went to the party afterwards, then drove home- got home at 4:30am, slept a few hours then out the door this morning and now I am beat!:o

Ugh, cold NYC spring rain...worse then winter rain. shiver.

Kind of bummed this week. Normally I can bike commute 3 days/week. However this week I was only able to ride one day due to other commitments. :(

Here's to next week! :D

Hello Tom! Welcome to the club.

And somewhere along the way I missed that DataJunkie is back in the saddle. Woo hoo! Great news. Best wishes for the rest of your recovery.

Commute felt a bit hard going this morning. Fridays always seem tough! Still, nice weather. Cool, blue skies, sunshine. Also had a very friendly motorist let me out in front of a queue (I was cutting up the inside of traffic, and it started moving. I was going to stop, as it was his right of way, but he held up the traffic to wave me through). But then he was behind me, and I felt duty bound to go hell for leather for the next 2-3km so I didn't hold him up!

Lovely ride in this morning. About 50-ish F/10 or 11C. Just barely brisk.

Lots of little unusual things: cars appearing suddenly at stop signs, pulling out of driveways, and slightly more traffic than usual in general. There was even a cop quietly sitting at the median crossing where I jump back out onto an arterial for a short stretch (nice to know I'm in full compliance with State law). There was even a guard out early at the rear entrance to our campus (I usually go a bit further and go 'off-road' onto the power line ROW to avoid the gate).

All these little things kept me looking at my watch to see if I was off somehow--but, no. I guess everyone's just trying to get to the weekend a little sooner. :D

Had a rough head wind home last night- 15 mph with gusts of ~25 mph. Other than the extra effort, it was a very nice ride. Can't beat 75F and low humidity. Should be a duplicate ride home today. Pleasant with brisk headwind.

Welcome to cycle commuting, Tom. Glad to see another Tarheel hitting the streets. I didn't realize Jacksonville had a bike trail. Can anyone ride it, or do you have to be affiliated with the base? When I used to live in Savannah, they used to let cyclists ride around Hunter Army Airfield, but they probably quit allowing that after 9/11.

Another gorgeous day in Raleigh, NC. It was 60F when I left home at 6:30 am and it's supposed to hit the mid-80s this afternoon. Rode into a stiff headwind all the way to work, which is unusual for this time of day. Hopefully it will continue all day so I can get a nice tailwind pushing my home this afternoon.

Nice this morning. Mid 30sF, not really any wind. Sunny. Waved to a cargo plane on approach to Burlington. :) I figured my neon jacket would stand out against the dark shoreline. Caught two cyclists, passed one to catch the other. All in all, a reasonably quick commute.

headwind was not too bad late last night except for a few big gusts. This mornings ride was great. Although a car did pass me a little close for comfort and I think on purpose. I was riding center in the right hand lane of a four lane road and the car coming up behind me barely moved over and passed VERY close!

Tarwheel, thanks for the welcome.

Anyone can ride the trail up to Camp Lejeune's main gate. It's a touch more than 5 miles from beginning to end.

Hopefully, the City will be able to fund a new path extension that will follow Highway 24/Lejeune Blvd from the existing path to the downtown area. That'll shave about 3 miles from my ride, but add new paths for folks to walk.

Upper 60s and raining...my first commute in the rain. I wasn't exactly expecting it, but it's all good. At first, I was like, how is my bike sending a constant sprinkle of water directly into my face??...then the light went off ;) I took it easy and it was fine.

However, I have to disagree with the observation that drivers are more considerate in the rain. I found them to be equally as bad, if not worse, this morning.

Mid-60s, drizzle, 10 mph headwind.

Ride home should be with a 20-30 mph tailwind in the rain. Perfect for Friday :D

It's still a bit chilly in the morning so I wore gloves on my ride in. Took a different route which included a pretty steep climb so that made it fun. Love the sun and the birds

Cleaned the chain last night and adjusted the tension and it felt great this morning.
Get to leave at noon today so I get to ride again in a couple hours, yippee!

:)

Back on the bike after being out of town for a few days. I think my legs shrunk while I was in central/northern Alberta. :(

I really need to put a bigger gear on the SS - 48x18 just isn't cutting it on the flats. 53x17 should do fine. :)

I may change up my cog too, riding a 48x19 right now which gets me around pretty well and I can climb hills pretty easily but I may go with a 17 instead.
I ride a steamroller and I know they make a dingle cog which is a 17+19 in one, what a cool idea. You can just switch the chain when you want a different ratio.

Close call this morning. I was rolling pretty fast downhill towards an intersection, when someone pulled ahead of me into the bike lane to get ahead of the queue for an upcoming right turn. Then STOPPED dead in the middle of the bike lane when others who were following the lane striping and merging over where it was LEGAL (ahem) got in front of her. Had to brake damn hard - and shouted at a couple of other drivers so focused on trying to get around her that they were in danger of hitting me instead.

We all managed to sort ourselves out without damage. I caught up with the cutoff lady at the stoplight and told her (very nicely) that she really needed to be more aware of bikes on this stretch.

Didn't realize I was shaking until a quarter mile further on. But I smoked the next long uphill. Nothing like a good shot of adrenaline to get you going in the morning.

Kinda/sorta commute today. Didn't go to work, went to the doctor (nothing major, just something annoying me). About 7 miles round trip. The bad part was the return ride, which took me past a strip mall and then on a very busy road in the research park here, both at lunchtime. Lots of drivers on the road and not paying attention or passive/aggressively buzzing me. However, the temps are perfect for me--upper 70s.

Today's commutes were delightful, just missing the rain both in the morning and evening. Thunderstorms rolled through the area this afternoon and again this evening.

What made it best was the scent of trees in blossom everywhere along the route!

I made a couple of videos on my commute home the other day. They're actually pretty boring, but I'll post them anyway. :D

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=DSCN0232.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=DSCN0236.flv

Lamplight: What camera do you use? Does it have a special mount? or something you rigged?

It's just the video feature on a Nikon Coolpix digital camera. No mount; I just held it with one hand while steering with the other. That's why it's kind of all over the place a few times. :o

LL - That is a damn cool ride... what did you do with all the cars?

:)

My first commute on a fixed gear today. Actually, my first time riding a fixed gear for longer than around the block, due to an impulse buy. Awesome; I can see why people like these things.

Otherwise, it was 48 degrees, per the Watchtower sign, and yet despite the relatively cool weather, I still arrived a sweaty mess due to the humidity (wearing a short sleeve jersey with a light short sleeve baselayer). Surprised at how much energy braking takes this on bike. First time in quite a while that I arrived at work feeling like a had a workout. I like.

It looks as if my commute will be changing a little as I got a job offer today that I really cannot refuse.

There will be 6 less kilometres to travel and although the smell of grease will be present, it will be the pleasant smell of bike grease.

I figure I will be more than making up that 6 km by test driving newly built bikes.

:D