I forgot to post my Friday night commute. I took the longer route home to include a monster hill climb. I have a split in my rear tire starting from the top of the sidewall on one side and continuing around to the sidewall on the other side. I inspected it closely and felt it was safe for the trip home but I was careful zooming down the hill and kept a straight line ... just in case.

I'm back from vacation, had a great time rode over 400 miles during my week off and happy to be back to my commute. Had a great ride in this morning about 65 degrees and no wind, I atched the sun rise as I rode, the morning was extremely clear and traffic was light. I did notice that it's quite dark when I left this morning, It's a sign of the fall/winter riding season sneaking up on us.

Much cooler this morning and far less humidity. But the head winds were nasty. Despite this I still managed 15+ mph. Three more days and then off to Italy to do some walking, running and hopefully, biking.

back on my bike after a two week break to recover from my crash injuries - it was great to be back in the saddle

I only have about 5 days of commuting left until a 3 week vacation so I need to make the most of it

It is amazing how small route changes can affect the ride.
Late last week I found a route that is partially on side streets, a
bike path, and a subdivision that gets me off the 1.5 mile busiest
section of my commute. I didn't think I minded that section but
now that I am not riding that section I notice how much I didn't
like it.

Brennser -- glad you are back in the saddle! I have two weeks left until my vacation. Where will you be going? We will head north to a small island in Lake Winnipesaukee, NH.

Paul

Nice ride this morning. The air was really clear and still. I pushed hard and managed to average 19.1mph which is about the best this rider can manage.

looking forward to the ride home,

Cheers,

Ed

It was a typical Sacramento July morning: cool and calm in anticipation of the frying-pan heat of late afternoon. Expected to be 105F on the way home tonight. (But it's a dry heat. :))

Also, this morning it occurred to me that it might be fun to turn my commuter into a single speed. For awhile I've had this little daydream fantasy that I'd upgrade to Dura Ace on my "A" bike and swap the Ultegra to the commuter. But I was thinking that it's totally flat and mostly well paved between my house and my office. I'd still be able to get rid of this chunky RSX group and it'd be a lot less maintenance and expense, right?

I think I may have to check out the SS/Fixie thread!

My commute today, and possibly every day from now on, was on my newly converted fixed-gear road bike. An old Motobecane Super Mirage with some doctored parts makes for a lot of fun, even on the hills. I'm riding a 42x16 gear for now, but it seems I have more trouble spinning on the downhills than I do grunting out the uphills, so I may go a little bigger, perhaps a 15 or even 14 on the rear.

Anyway, enough tech talk. Bottom line is that fixed-gear is a blast!

Thanks Paul - I am off to Ireland for three (yes, three!) weeks - really looking forward to it - because we'll be primarily staying with relatives we can afford to stay a little longer - NH sounds great - I really need to explore that part of the country sometime - I've been to Vermont once or twice but never to Maine or NH

Man it was warm this morning --not hot but certainly is pointing to a hot afternoon/evening. Just a bit of wind, and not too crowded for such a nice morning. Didn't push it too hard over the weekend, so I was feeling as good as one can expect for a Monday morning. So a great commute all around, well except I was a little late so I took the absolutely shortest route in. Woulda been nice to have spent a few extra minutes on the ride.

caloso and Makoa, I must confess that I don't get the fixed-gear thing. I've heard that reliability is improved over multi-geared bikes, but I can't say I have many/any problems with my gears. What might I be missing?

I'm just thinking it's kind of duplicative to have two road bikes with triple groups. My "A" bike is a Trek 5200 (Ultegra triple) that I train and race in triathlons, long rides, and maybe a crit. My "B" bike is from REI and has a really great Al frame and not so great RSX triple components. Rather than continually tweaking the RSX derailers I thought it might be fun to turn it into a single-speed just for riding around town and to work.

New record on my commute home tonight. I usually average between 16-17 mph on my Vision R40 swb bent. All the lights were green and there was a slight tail wind. Despite one loaded panier (laptop and clothes) I was just shy 23 mph over 9 miles. I thought I would hit 23, but ran out of commute road and did not want to blow by my driveway just to hit this number. :)

Rode home in heavy rain & wind ,cold day working outside at work .I was glad to get home.Only rode 30ks all up (there & back) I was riding my road bike , the one without the fenders ,so I got soaked but my rain bike seems to be hard work in the wind so being soaked was a better option for a short commute ,Irish coffee in order when I got home :D . 2 days off now:D

Nice day, no wind, heavy traffic for some reason this morning. I saw no wildlife and no other cyclist along the way.

Great ride in today. Looks like I will be able to ride in everyday the rest of the week! Yeah!

Had a nice commute this morning. It's been nice and cool (10 degrees celcius) lately and I'm almost considering long sleeves in the morning, but so far have stuck with shorts and t-shirt. It's always plenty warm on the way home though (25 or so usually).

It was a glorious 60 degrees at the start this morning for my 11 mile commute to downtown Chicago. A great ride in, helped by the fact that I cleaned my chain last night.

Cool, almost fall'ish, morning. No wind, no clouds, great day to commute by bike. Those pesky motorist miss so much.

Pretty chilly and nice tailwind for most of the ride. Then, with 100% assurance, the wind changes direction at First and Brokaw, resulting in a headwind for the remaining 6 miles.

(I think the northerly sea breeze collides with the morning southerly breeze at exactly that point. Odd how commuters know these things.)

I zoomed in to be able to make an early meeting and to pad some time in case my split rear tire blew up. I'll change them out today to Michelin 700x37 at 85PSI!! Can't wait for the ride home.

Andy, for me it is just fun. Some say that fixed-gear riding will strengthen climbing legs and improve cadence. Others talk about less maintenance, etc.

Reliability is improved, at least in my case, because I no longer have shifting mechanisms that get gummed up due to nasty-weather riding. And as far as gaining strength, either my knees are going to give out, or my legs are going to get stronger--I hope for the latter.

I just love the simplicity of it--the look of the bikes, and the feel of it. It is pure and simple. Other than that, I can't explain it.

Check out: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html for more thoughts.

caloso and Makao, thanks for input.

Nice and cool this morning (90 degrees) so I took the long way in. Almost 100 by the time I got to work. Pushed a little harder today and am pleasantly tired!

Another warm morning, and getting hotter --into the 90s supposedly. Otherwise pretty much the same as yesterday, clear almost no breeze. Had enough time this morning to take the slightly longer route. Nice, but I wish I could have just kept going...

It's benn hot here, about 98 degrees F yesterday, and it was supposed to be 100 degrees today. But I had two good days of rides. Yesterday, I got in over 17 miles taking a longer route home. Today, I went to a bicycle shop that is going out of business (Aloha Bicycles, and they've discounted everything!). I bought a new helmet, and it is definately cooler. But I like riding in the hot weather, rather than the cold, wet stuff.

John

Cool morning, feels like fall is in the air, I got off to a slow atart this morning, just didn't feel like being out there, once i got going things got better and I did enjoy the ride. I didn't break any speed records though, it took me 1 hour and 12 minutes to get in, hope I feel more energetic this afternoon.

Nice ride in. Cooler than late and less clammy, so a thin wicking fleece and shorts.

No real wind to speak off. As I crossed the bridge, a cruise liner was sailing underneath. Very picturesque. On my own on the way home so a quickish ride I think.

A fantastic morning - sun shining brightly, and very little traffic (same as last night for some reason..) It's been nice and cool the last few days, so I'm happy about that - at least my morning ride is comfortable (I hate hot weather).

Tough ride home last night. Had a headwind all the way home. I was tired last night.

The ride this morning was pleasant except for the bozo that decided to turn right in front of me to get to a gas station. Besides that traffic was light and it made for a quiet morning.