Holy bike to work week in Chicago, Batman!

yesterday storms threatened, so i guess that kept A LOT of the fair-weather people in their cars or on transit, but today is an absolute stunner, and with it being bike to work week in chicago, there were a ridiculous amount of bike commuters out in the city this morning. thousands and thousands of them, cyclists everywhere, the inbound lakefront path looked like the inbound kennedy expressway, except with bikes instead of cars.

55F and M-U-G-G-Y

Really could not have been a more pleasant morning to ride a bike. Took the opportunity to take a detour and my only regret was not leaving at sunup so as to get in even more miles. Wonderful.

Saw a Road Runner on the way in. This is the fourth one I've seen this year and also the fourth one I've seen in my entire life.

*always* humid here, regardless of temp. Ride in to work yesterday it as 8*C with 99% humidity = FOG. Learned that my sunglasses needed a LOT of wiping so I could see well enough to determine if the dark spots ahead were pavement patches or storm drain covers. LOL

Nice cool rain yesterday on the way home, which I always enjoy because the paths are more clear of pedestrians and recreational riders and because it's an opportunity to take it easy on the wet surfaces and enjoy the ride.

The morning ride was amazing. No clouds in the sky and very little traffic. I did see a runner but as of yet no cyclists. The way back there was a risk of T-storms and rain but that never came about and I even realized that I had overdressed a little. I took a 4 mile scenic detour on the way back and slowed down to enjoy it. It didn't even add time to my normal travel because of the faster pace I was able to keep up earlier on the route. Great day both at work and commuting!

Hey SD, My son just moved to Chicago and is working at Delilahs. He's a dedicated bike person. Say hi to the 6'4" doorman if you get that way...

found a shorter route today and beat 30mins on the way in for the first time. I can use the time saved for a longer ride in the evening :D

A beautiful morning at 68f (20c). Only one bad driver today, and I am seeing more these types. There are circles in the street on one of the
roads I ride. The circles are to slow traffic down, but there is not enough room in the slot for a bike and a car, however today, a van came from behind, initially no lights, then he switched them on and rode inches from the back of my bike through that circle. We are always told to get tag numbers of people who purposefully break the 3ft law, but I didn't bother. There are just too many of those types out there.

I am not sure exactly what the temp was, but I should have worn my light jacket or a long sleeve Tshirt, kinda chilly. And a bit of a breeze. Nice ride in.

Woke up late so had to rush in, best commute time yet. All this after the most miles I've ever done in 7 days so feeling pretty good, was a good indicator of improvement.

Last night didn't ride home because of lightning.

This morning biked 17 miles to work then ran 3 miles.

Cold front came through NC yesterday so we will finally get a break from the warm, muggy weather we've been having. It was still humid this morning from all the moisture left over from rain the past couple of days, but this afternoon is supposed to be a big relief. I'm batching it the next few days with my wife and daughter out of town, so it looks like pizza and beer for dinner. Yes!

I spent most of my morning furiously redoing my rear derailer trying to get the road bike back to 'reliable' for today's surprise sunny day, but it was the front derailer that betrayed me; at some point, the bolt holding the cage together went missing and the outer arm bent out and snagged my crank arm. That was a surprise! But I could bend it back out of the way and leave the chain on the big ring.

Thinking about just removing the FD for the ride home, don't want any more surprise bends on the cage to reach out and grab anything.

Personal best speed wise for the five mile commute in. Endomondo gave me an average speed of just a hair under 15mph, but that number is always a little on the low side. This was with a headwind battering me for the first two miles.

Hoping to do the Wednesday night hammerfest after work, so I rode the race bike and brought bibs and jersey in my bag. Please, please, please let no one schedule a late afternoon meeting!

off to hit the pub and watch Germany knock Holland out of EURO 2012.

Holland did not look good against the Danes, so I don't think that they will survive Germany either.

It was a good ride in at 67f (19c). Just beautiful weather this week.

A pleasant 54F/12C. Sunny. No wind. I took roads. Seemed like there was more traffic than usual but everyone behaved, as usual.

The south end of the greenway was clogged with some kind of high school jogging club, but after that cleared out it was a fast ride. It strikes me as a little weird that the ratio appeared to be over 6-1 female to male. What's wrong with young men today, missing out on that?

I had another early shift today and got out at about 5:50 am, later than ideal for being ready for work at 6:45. I was sporting a new bike toy: a handlebar mounted mp3 player/speaker. Not sure how that plays as far as biker etiquette goes but it's a safe way to incorporate music into the commute, and I figure it can't be any more of a nuisance than a car that is blasting music -- You hear it for a moment then it goes away with the car/bike. And the volume wasn't really loud enough for anyone but me to hear it. The Hendrix long jam version of "Stone Free" from "Band of Gypsys - Live at the Fillmore East" goes great with a bike ride : )

Since I didn't get out early enough I took the shorter 10.5 mile route which has a little over two miles on streets. I was riding along when a driver coming the opposite direction threw something at me. Not sure what it was, but it was in many pieces and made a fairly loud popping noise when it landed. Nothing hit me but it's another reminder that cyclists have to deal with indiscriminate and impotent hostility from random gutless motorists. And in case anyone was wondering, the music was quiet at that moment so I can confidently declare the bike speaker did not inspire it (even if the music was louder the driver wouldn't have heard it). That aside it was another nice ride in and a great way to get the day started.

54F, gray but dry.

Nice 1x commute while waiting for a new FD to come in the mail.

Saw quite a few other commuters this morning, including a stylishly dressed woman in a sundress. I noticed she was wearing flats but had fancy heeled sandals sticking out of her pannier. Way to go, CycleChicGirl!

Wonderful morning ride in warm fog. Left early, so no real pressure to go fast. Work went great and then on the way home I decided to take a detour - a nice 4 mile side trip which included an extremely steep hill. Barely made it over that thing! Got a flat tire but managed to replace the tube and limp home. Overall an... interesting day.

Toward the end of my commute, some stinking ass in the left lane decided to drastically slow down then proceed in the right lane just cutting me off and just crawls like a turtle killing my momentum. He didn't need to turn right at all. In fact, at the traffic light ahead he got back in the left lane. I think he was just being an ass. Yesterday I saw two salmons, and both, yes both, were listening to iPods with their white iPod earbuds. I screamed at both of them that they're on the wrong side of the road. One smiled. The other nodded his head. I doubt they heard me, and these were separate cases. On the way back home, it was 70. It felt pretty good.

It was a very nice commute in today, the temp was in the 48f degrees, which is chilly but with a long sleeve shirt I was fine. I didn't want to wear a jacket as who needs extra stuff in their bag on the way home. Anyway the commute was quiet which I like time to enjoy the scenery.

Just another beautiful morning with good temps to match 68f (20c). Coming in later the traffic was heavier, but well behaved.

Pretty nice ride in today. It seemed a little breezy, nothing too arduous, but I felt like I was working a little harder today.

I finally figured out why my new IGH was skipping gears sometimes...the stupid in-line barrel adjuster on the shifter cable keeps loosening (i.e., shortening the housing). I think I need to swap it out with one that clicks every quarter turn. In the meantime, I might just immobilize it with some PVC tape.

No commute today: took a "professional development day." But got some riding in by taking the kids to the BMX park while my wife is working.