I had the Wild Kingdom commute home last night. Started off with seeing a fox not a half mile from my office while cutting through a forest preserve that I never take as part of my commute. I always stay on the roads, but for some reason I decided to get on this trail through the preserve last night. I had not done it in a few years. Probably because much of the trail runs along a river that floods regularly and the trail is basically either flooded or mud too often.

Next up was three big fat raccoons battling it out in the darkened parking lot of an elementary school that I was taking a shortcut through. Only two were actually fighting, but they were making such a racket and didn't seem to mind that I was lighting them up with my bike lights. I was enthralled at this. Eventually one ran off the lot into a grassy drainage swale, only to get chased by the other two and tackled from behind by one. The battle continued until the outnumbered raccoon made its way into a storm water catch basin.

Finally, I was only about a mile from home when a group of coyotes from somewhere in my vicinity (never saw them) decided to started yipping and howling.

Crazy wild life in the urban/suburban world.

Wow, hubcap, that WAS a lot of wildlife for your trip home.

The trail you were talking about that's always flooded, is it the Des Plaines River Trail? I tried to take that to work one day last year. They run the trails under bridges that span streams. So when it rains, the always flood the trails. I made it a mile or two, but then there was at least 2' of quickly-running water on the trail under the bridge. I carried my bike and waded through that one. But the next one's current was so strong, it nearly swept me away. I had to turn around and go back, then drive to work, sopping wet.

Never been back to that damned trail yet. (I was going to ride from Gurnee to Northbrook via that trail)

Do pigeons and dead rats count as wildlife? I actually hit a pigeon a few days ago. NY pigeons are getting really lazy and don't get out of your way on time.

Same in Toronto, they must be interbreeding.

I love your camera set up by the way, might be worth looking at getting, each day I can get at least 2, generally 4-5 idiots parked in no parking bike lane zones. Would be worth the effort if the local police would mail them tickets over it after getting the pictures. :)

Jim

How fast were you going and how did your bike respond? I've always wanted to know what would happen if I actually hit one. In Toronto I'm always slowing down for the darned things.

I was going maybe 12mph at the time, 15 at most. I'm used to birds getting up really quickly, but maybe this one was sick or something :) So when I got really close I expected it to take off so I didn't even hit my brakes. It took off, but not fast enough, I managed to swerve and it got under my right pedal. I think I hit it with my foot on the downstroke, I didn't run over it, I felt its wings on my leg I think, and I heard kind of "woosh" sound. I slowed down and looked back and it took off and flew away, so it wasn't serious. But it was totally weird.

No, cops won't issue a ticket based on someone's photo or video. If you're lucky it might go on a record as aggressive driver complaint. But a decent company or public institution may reprimand a driver based on your complaint.

That works too. :D

Jim

It was supposed to be in the high 50s/60s today in DC. Stepped outside in bike shorts and summer jersey and it was about 45...too late to go back upstairs and put on thermals, so I decided to ride as is.

After about 10 minutes my ears started hurting, applied rule 5, kept going.

At mile 3 of 17 I hit some road debris near a work zone, heard something go between my wheel and chainstay a few times, sound then stopped.

Mile 8/17 - start hearing the sound again, stop to check...nothing

Mile 11/17 - tire goes flat, find that a nail that went straight through my tire. The sound I was hearing was the nail occasionally scraping the brake pad. Fortunately I was right in downtown Bethesda, MD when this happened, so I hailed a cab to get to work...got the tire replaced at the REI near my office over lunch.

Ride home was perfect; low winds, warmed up to about 55...took some great photos (links below)

http://postimage.org/image/5xeo4p1gj/
http://postimage.org/image/3wpi5zk53/
http://postimage.org/image/6bobgkey5/

Cold, wet. Survived though. Wanted to make it 15 consecutive days of riding. Drivers were unusually hostile. Probably trying to get out of town for the weekend. Usually when the weather is crappy, they leave me alone. I think its because they assume I'm crazy.

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1...duv1o1_500.jpg

Three of my least favorite weather features ganged up on me today. Cold, rain and wind (headwind). Still got to my car (drive part of the way bike the rest) and really enjoyed the bike ride. Is that a sign of some sort of mental issue???

There are rules? Please enlighten me. Anyway another cyclist on a road bike today approached me from behind at a red light. As I was waiting, I saw him approaching in my mirror lol, and I never turned around. I ditched him. He wasn't wearing spandex though.

It was 60 degrees today which was nice, still kinda windy like usual. My first half commute was agonizing--stomach was aching pretty bad or something. I ate breakfast too early, so I thought I needed something to eat, and oatmeal always makes me feel hungry too early after eating it. When I got to my destination, I ate some Chinese. Half of whatever it was had onions. That probably made my stomach worse. First thing I did after that is sit on the toilet. I had so much gas it was ridiculous. I just sat there and kept passing it all out and played Angry Birds on my phone. It felt good. Anyway the commute back was fine I felt very good actually except for one stretch where I noticed my speed was slow for my effort, and I was one cog lower than usual. I stopped and observed my bike. The rear brake pads were rubbing on my rim, so I fixed and went on my way. With the wind, you can't hear it. I went down a big descent that's a bit bumpy prior to that, so it had to have been that.

You and me both -- hello from Grand Rapids -- what part of town do you ride through?

Yes, the Des Plaines River trail. I can use the stretch between Higgins and Belmont as part of my commute, but almost never do.

Got 4 days in. Going into a vacation and between the projected rain and needing to haul home some stuff that's been collecting in my office I drove Friday.
Really nice weather this week. Wish it was like this year round.

hiyer1: That is a great trail that you've got on the way to work. Thanks for sharing the pix.

Rimmer: Too much information. It seems like a shame to not even greet a fellow cyclist when you see him. :(

Ride to the train home was kind of eventful as I joined up with some guy on a Giant MTB at an intersection who happened to heading to the train too. Turned out it was his first commute. We talked, I introduced him to some of the other train/bikers (one he already knew was a coworker who talked him into it). My commute train got a +1.

I bought my month pass at the ticket machine. My goal for April is to not drive to work a single day.

:thumb:

Keep track and let us know in a month how it played out.

I drive from Grandville to Zeeland, then bike to Holland.

Last week I managed to commute to work four out of four days. Unfortunately, on the fourth morning ride over I broke four spokes and limped into work cursing myself for not replacing my beaten and broken Trek sooner. Still, to weight 380lbs and bike 12-14 miles a day is a real accomplishment for me. Two years ago, when I weighted around 500lbs, I couldn't walk a 200 feet without my back hurting and a year ago I couldn't walk a mile.

Pretty bad today. 50's and some rain. This was my first bike commute to an every-Sunday walk/coffee group at a park about 10 miles away. I left a little late waiting for the storm front to clear the area. About mile 7 the it was evident that the weather report was way wrong - it started raining hard with some lightning, so I put on my raincoat and slogged through the downpour. I was late getting to the park and got a call from a couple of the guys, who had skipped the walk because of the rain and went straight to coffee. I waited for about an hour and a half at the park for the rain to quit (it didn't), and finally just got on the bike and rode back home.

It was kinda fun running full-speed through rivers of water running across the road. The fenders worked well, but my legs and feet were drenched anyway. About an hour after I got home the sun came out and it's lovely now. :twitchy:

Hey look I'm back, I've done 8 shifts in the last 7 days and most of them have been wet. Today wasn't bad 46f this morning 55 on the way home. I'm not on a computer at work any more so I'm gonna be a ghost for the most part as this site is a pain on my phone.

Hey Fizzaly, welcome back. You didn't miss much winter wise. It a very mild winter here. I didn't bring my MTB out for the commute all winter. Another mild morning at 48F (9C), but the wind is back and no doubt it will be worse this afternoon.

Wind is definitley here! Not a lot of vechicular traffic out there on my route today, good.

Friday I advised a co-worker to ditch her rolling death trap of a bicycle. The thing literally had no back brake and the tires were showing wear down to the threads. What could rust was rusted. I respect her for commuting but this thing was unreal

Damp from rain last night, with a headwind. 34F/1C. A nice ride overall. Saw a couple of bike commuters headed the other way. Supposed to be a nice tailwind for the ride home.

A view from the bridge.

http://a-world.net/files/cycling/201...Picture-01.jpg

Yeah... trucks! But I was ready for this one and stopped early enough. I like Pepsi better anyway

http://a-world.net/files/cycling/201...Picture-02.jpg

Ah... the gorgeous Williamsburg! This canal actually does smell in warm weather like... well you know . This is a draw bridge with grated metal surface, gaps and a dangerous Y split at the end and lots of loonies making a turn from the second lane. I ride on the sidewalk here.

http://a-world.net/files/cycling/201...Picture-03.jpg

40 degrees, dark, and foggy. But it wasn't raining! I'm hoping for shorts and t-shirt weather for the ride home. I got passed by one car in the 9 mile ride.

Almost hit...
 

I almost got hit by a car that wizzed by about an inch away from me. Always nice driving in the city where people barely know how to drive.

Back in the Saddle-

Second time commuting since March 7th, when a pedestrian stepped in front of me and we both went down. About three weeks of recovery, mostly to let sprains and bruises heal. My shoulder joint is still a little achey when I first get up, and my right hand is still a bit tender when it was slammed between the bars and the ground when I fell, but everything is slowly getting better.

Commute in today was actually pretty nice. About 50 degrees when I left, then sunny and warm after 2 miles in. Ride through downtown was sweet - hit most of the lights and drivers were all cool. I'm still riding super cautiously though... taking a spill at 18 mph is no fun - wouldn't recommend it to anyone!!

Adam-
Thanks for posting the pics - nice to see how the other coast lives and rides!!

Gorgeous (though windy) ride in this morning. It was about 35 degrees but should be low 50's when I get out tonight for the ride home. Nice and sunny all day!