JohnnyOTS

Miles: 20
Time to work: 1 1/2 hours
Times I put my foot down: 0

pinkrobe

I spent the weekend catboarding in Revelstoke, then didn't get home until after midnight last night. The first hill on the way to work nearly killed me. Every muscle in my legs is sore, even the sartorius. I think I'm going to spend tonight stretching everything out. Owwww.

Itsjustb

There's a reason pro cyclists get massages every night after riding. Feel better and drink lots of (non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated) fluids.

The commute today was uneventful. Unlike Friday's, where I felt compelled to give a driver the finger after he passed me on the right and then cut in front of me with about 2 feet to spare. His lane wasn't ending for another several hundred yards, he did it just because he's a d*ck.

He got stopped at the red light further on and I caught up to him. Made eye contact and let him know exactly what I thought of him--he's #1! He's probably just pissed because his team (Duke, by the bumper sticker) was eliminated in the first round.

mtnwalker

It was 46F around 6:30 this morning. I had just the right amount of layering to make the commute comfortable. The ride, 11 miles, was quite uneventful with a bit of headwind but not much. Found a cell phone on the bike lane but the sucker was ran over a couple of times from the looks of it so no chance to get it back to the owner. I chucked it at the nearest bus stop. Maybe somebody else will have better luck with it.

caloso

Back to commuting after a week off. I came in for a bit yesterday afternoon to sort through email and phone messages.

As I was closing my bike box, I noticed some sandwich board barricades leaning up against the wall and I grabbed one to put in front of the bike box to prevent someone from parking their car illegally in front of the box. Happens almost every time I come in on the weekend and I'm guessing it's one of the city employees.

So I put it into place and then I hear "Excuse me, sir! What are you doing with that barricade?!?" It was one of the City Parking employees. So I explained that I've had problems with people parking in front of the box, sometimes totally blocking it. There was a pause and then he said "Oh, you park your bike in the box?!? Well, I never thought of that!" And then he grabbed another barricade and totally blocked off the area in front of the box. "I think I know who it is. I'm going to make sure they don't do it again."

And the cool thing is that when I returned this morning, the barricades were still up.

HardyWeinberg

In the 60s yesterday, cool (39F when I left the house) and foggy coming in this am. Bright and sunny now, maybe warm later, hopefully. I did an extra 9 miles-w/-big-hill this am on top of the 7 mile commute, certainly good weather for it.

Spent part of the morning trying to convince my 5 yr old to take his training wheels off, but he doesn't want to. He is going fast enough that he can lift both training wheels off the ground (they are jacked up as high as they can go) but he doesn't want to let them go yet, even though most of his friends have. It will come I guess. His was the 1st bike at school this morning, no surprise.

Dickseacup

Today was the inaugural commute of 2007 for me. I quit commuting in October of 2006 as I didn't have any 'cold weather' kit. Turned out I probably didn't need it until February. I've been wanting to start riding again for the last couple of weeks, but I kept saying, "Well, once the weather cooperates, I'll get back on the road." But, last night I realized I could be saying that until June, and so, with rain and high wind forecasted for today, I went through the pre-commute/night before ritual.

I had forgotten how much time it takes to iron my work clothes the night before, get everything laid out and ready to go, and the commute bag semi-packed. I also discovered that all of my nifty additions (elbow and knee warmers, helmet liner, rain jacket and pants, polyfleece gloves, etc.) push me to the limits of my Epic trunk bag. I'm going to have to get a bar bag to keep the non-optional items like spare tubes, CO2 inflater, patch kit, tool kit, etc. in so I actually have room to carry my necessities...like work clothes.

But, to the ride...7a start with 60.2 degrees and 70%+ humidity, a stiff wind out of the west as I headed, you guessed it, west. A couple of blocks into my commute, I discovered the battery in my bike computer has died, so I have no idea how fast I'm going (or not) or what time it was. So, in true Dick Seacup fashion, I decided, "Well, I'll just take it easy and enjoy the ride. I'll get there when I get there and too bad if anyone complains...after all, it's only work!" Imagine my surprise when I made it there fifteen minutes later, which is about on par with my 'fast' times last fall (but not my PB...heh). So, either I'm in incredibly good shape for not having done *any* exercising for four and a half months, or...I'm going to pay for this tomorrow morning. Heh. I should note here that my cow-orker, Mr. "People Who Wear Helmets and Ride in the Road Deserve to Die" was displeased to see my bike in the data center once again. Bonus!

The ride home was unremarkable except to note that, as usual, the wind had shifted to east-southeast and was still blowing pretty steadily. Traffic was light and I only had one JAM crowd me, which is also per usual. Although the ride back is uphill, I made it home in just a little over 15 minutes as well. I'm really going to be hurting tomorrow.

All in all, the commute today was...most excellent! It's good to be back in the saddle and I'm glad I didn't let inertia keep me off the bike. Oh, and no problem remembering how to use clipless pedals...heh, my wife was worried about that.

stockholm

Yet another perfect morning: 6:45, sunny, +3C, some wind but not too disturbing.

Did not meet a single soul along the way, that was odd.

Si.

Where's this wind going to come from Chewa?

BBC Forecast is as still as a millpond for central Scotland today, usual commute into Edinburgh from Penicuik with not even so much as a breeze in the hair this morning

Big Ron

Very pleasant ride in. I'm just back from 2 weeks in Germany, so felt all the Spaetzle, beer and inactivity slowing me down...hopefully a few weeks of commuting will take care of that problem.

vtjim

Foggy and damp in Vermont this morning. Low 40Fs. I reeled in someone on an MTB but didn't overtake. Saw some loons in the lake. Heard a woodpecker in the woods. Saw some geese flying overhead. Smelled a skunk.

Yesterday I ordered a pair of Michelin Transworld MTB tires. Hopefully I like them. I don't want to put the OEM knobbies back on the Trek, for obvious commuting reasons.

GTcommuter

Great ride in this morning. There was a low fog, temperatures were slightly more chilly than warm, sunrise over some trees, and I bumped into Map Tester. Several new commuters coming out with the warm weather. Great day.

Mr_H

Last Night: 75 and 23 mph winds. That was somewhat of a pain. I kept feeling like I was going to get blown into the middle of the street.

This morning: Nice ride in, 49, calm to light winds. I had a close call at an intersection where someone didn't see me and cut in front (though I was riding awefully close to the SUV in front of me, the other car probably never saw me til it was too late. Gotta watch that).

I had an feel good encounter. I came up to an intersection and a fellow in a van pulled up next to me, rolled down the window and shouted out, "You're smart, with those lights and bright colored clothes, you're doing it right." I said 'Thank you' as the light turned green. Nice to know I could be seen ,wearing my new nashbar crossroads, plenty bright

ModoVincere

Pleasant.

luckysnafu

Warm and humid ride in this morning, got pretty sweaty by the end of the ride. Gonna be in the mid 80s for the ride home, can't believe it's this warm already...

Itsjustb

luckysnafu, don't get used to it. 82 as the high tomorrow, 58 as the high on Thursday. :-)

The theme for today's commute was impatience. At least 4 or 5 different drivers felt the need to race past me to get to a red light less than a half-second ahead of me, just so they could wait longer. Otherwise it was uneventful.

pinkrobe

The weather forecast was calling for heavy snowfall overnight, but it didn't materialize. Instead, the white stufff started flying about 15 minutes before I left the house. Thankfully, it was warm enough yesterday that it's melting as soon as it hits the road. Thus, it was a wet ride in, but not sketchy by any means. The trip home may prove entertaining...

caloso

The local weather people forecast rain so of course this morning was brilliantly clear. I rode the race bike rather than the fixed gear so I can join a group ride after work.

It's such a beautiful day that it'll be torture to wait that long.

aMull

15 degrees C, minimal wind, i'd say almost perfect weather. Wore shorts and long sleeved shirt, felt great.

vrkelley

Great ride in...let's see if the weather holds for the return ride. It's rare to have dry pavement on both runs.

HardyWeinberg

damp down here after dry morning. Still, took quick lunchtime buzz up to nearby (19 miles roundtrip) state park.

I probably should have turned around at the end when I got to 'Hill Road' going down (ulp) to the park entrance, but it made a nice outing, and I have a mondo long day coming up Friday so I don't feel bad taking an extra 20 min for lunch today.

Dickseacup

10 degrees cooler this morning than yesterday and the wind was pretty stiff out of the northeast (so, at my back mostly on the way in). The temperature during the ride home was hovering around 50, and the wind was still out of the East-Northeast. Fortunately, it was a steady 15mph, with some nice gusts, so I got quite the workout on the way home (edit: also did one-block, all-out sprints followed by about three block recoveries...I'm way out of shape).

mtnwalker

42F this morning with a 17mph headwind throughout the whole 11 mile commute . I was beaten psychologically thinking "OMG, why am I so slow and weak today?" Kept telling myself "Its the headwind, its the headwind" as I pounded, coasted, and wheezed.
The good news is, according to Accuweather.com, I'm going to have a 17mph tailwind going home. I'm the fastast madapacka there.

tomg

wind on my back, attempting to go the long way home (+20.0 miles) and temp at 76deg F, all was looking great! until about 10.0 miles into return trip, i hit a small pot-hole that was big enough to blow-out my rear tire , could not locate source and had to take the entire wheel off to put another tube in. while doing this i noticed there were hidden mounds of dog-doo, and i was recipiant of the smear technique (both shoes) , . ying/yang principle fits here!
cut the ride short, talked to a honda dealer about an insight "not on the east coast"; called it a day at 37.6 dst. total.

tomg

[QUOTE=mtnwalker] . I was beaten psychologically thinking "OMG, why am I so slow and weak today?" Kept telling myself "Its the headwind, its the headwind" as I pounded, coasted, and wheezed.

i think headwinds are the biggest spirit robbing conflict riding any distances. you just can't really get away from them, they are persistant. the fairing on my recumbenthalps some, but like you said, going the other way, with the wind pushing is fun!