I fell ill during the weekend so didn't commute on Tuesday (first day of the work week for me). I knew I had to commute today lest I berate myself, so despite another typically slow morning so I got out just in time to make it to work with enough time to wash up and change before I have to start. As soon as I was out on the trail I felt rejuvenated. The morning temps weren't too bad (we've been rocking triple digit temperatures for the past week).

I noticed the trails were more crowded than usual. Lots of people must be thinking it's a nice morning for a ride, I thought. Soon I was hitting bike traffic jams on the trails: a first for me. This is a little odd, I thought. I hope this commuting thing hasn't suddenly become super trendy overnight. I saw large group rides... which I I've never seen on a weekday morning. At this point I am asking myself what the hell was going on. Gaggles of cyclists gathered around stands serving fresh squeezed orange juice. I didn't pay much attention to the absurdity and just kept riding. Finally by the third stand I saw the sign: June 27th, Bike to Work Day. I had no idea. For a minute I kind of proud that I was biking to work totally oblivious to the fact that it was bike to work day. "Ha! For me EVERY day is Bike to Work Day!" Until I realized they were handing out free schwag at the stands. Including free breakfasts. I didn't have time to stop and partake. Ugh.... I hate passing up free schwag.

great! gf rode in with me :D

can't wait for the ride home and for Germany to win!

Decent ride in at 67f (19C). I surprised a young buck on a turn, and he almost fell forward in flight, as those hooves don't offer much traction.

I suspect that Germany will win. My neighbor is from Naples, so I will tone down my yells when Germany scores. The Spain and Portugal game was a good exercise in defense. I usually get home about 15 min before end of the 1st half, so plenty of time to enjoy the game.

It would be nice. Germany has never defeated Italy in international play (Euro/World Cups).

How do they broadcast the game in the states? ESPN or something similar?

just another nice quiet ride to work this am. I hope to add a few miles on my way home.

Fast. :) Endomondo gave me a PB of 2:30 seconds for the mile and an average of 3:45. I also managed to add 20 miles onto the commute back - for fun.

Very warm this morning, and forecast 100's this afternoon. I just took it easy coming in. Traffic very heavy, particularly for summer. School busses were beening "steered" ( I can't say driven) erractically by temps who haven't got the word about the 3' passing law.

First post in awhile.

ESPN. They even have Michael Ballack as one of the color commentators. He almost makes up for Alexi Lalas.

I'm rooting for Germany, too. They're not only very, very good, but they're playing attractive soccer.

PS The ride in was nice and uneventful (that's good!), but the heat is coming. Supposed to reach 100 F (38 C) Friday and Saturday.

ESPN has Ballack? Seriously, that's quite interesting. I've actually never heard him speak English (even if he does, they dub him into German over here :lol: )

I don't know about attractive football, it's really precise and played correctly, and very strategic, but I find it missing the passion/beauty of southern european football.

Italy/Germany will be an interesting match. We watch it with people who work for the DFB (German Football Association) so we get a huge amount of backstory, which is quite interesting.

edit: just saw Ballack on ESPN ... where he's discussing the greek:germany match ... a lot of german english in there :lol:

Yep. 86 and humid when I rolled out this morning at 8. I usually ride home for lunch but may skip it today.

Very very nice morning to ride, A cool and comfortable 20 celcius, a gentle headwind, very sunny. I went earlier and slower to enjoy the ride.

Different bike today. ;) Nice and warm out, almost ducked work to go riding.. But, I didn't. At work now, with bike is the next cube.. Life is sweeettt!! ;)

Amazing!
Not too hot, not too cold, sunshine, no wind and very picturesque.

I've been wearing a GoPro for the commute for some form of safety. Got to work and a security guard confiscated it at the gate. Freaking hell, I have to pick it up on the way out.

Forgot to add, we can all have camera phones on our person is most cases, but a GoPro is a great security breach... lol

was dripping this morning...86 degrees, dew point 70 and humidity was 65%. The 10 miles back this afternoon are gonna kill me.

Miserable.

It was hot. I twisted my back yesterday in the shower, so my mid-back aches on one side. Also my left ribcage and ankle started acting up. All of a sudden all this just happens. I got two leaks. First time I found a tiny metal thorn-like piece sticking through the tire. I assumed that was the cause. I put the patched tube back in and rode off and later noticed the tire became flat again. This time I couldn't find the leak. It wasn't at the same spot for sure. It was noisy where I was, so I gave up and used my spare tube. I rode the rest of the way back with no problems except my aching pains. The second time I thoroughly looked at the tire and rim. Maybe whatever caused it came out while I rubbed my fingers along the tire and rim.

I saw a few trikes today with what looked like wagons for people to sit in going in the opposite direction. They had no passengers. Maybe it wasn't for people to sit in but whatever it was was big and tall and had a window or some rectangle hole in the back. Also I saw a few bike riders, salmons and ninjas. Some passenger, just some random dude, in a car started talked to me. I couldn't even hear him, so I stopped talking lol.

Hi everyone, just back from three weeks in Poland-Ukraine. Wow! Hard to explain the blowout that was. I went to Ger-Den in Lviv, Ukraine. Unforgettable experience.

I have been to both countries a few times in the past 15+ years but I gotta say the most noticeble thing for me was how many more casual cyclists were out in Ukraine. In 1995-ish I never saw many bikes, now they are everywhere. In poland the bike commuter scene is amazing, I sat having beers with a friend in Warsaw and just watched bike after bike go by. (It's hard to be sitting here in the office btw..)

So back in the saddle, hot as can be, and I forgot to bring my lock.

Well it was an eventful commute today. I got my first flat tire of commuting. When I realized the tire was flat I unclipped my right foot and immediately fell to my left side. Oh well. I picked myself up off the ground, called my daughter who came and retrieved both me and my bike and brought us back home. I now need to learn to fix a flat tire. Yeah plans for the weekend!!

Perfect!

Nice weather, fast commute on the road bike. I'm liking my slightly extended route because I get a super-fast descent into the valley on a road (as opposed to winding trails where you can't go very fast). I need to bring my GPS sometime to see just how fast I'm going...probably not as fast as I think!

OK my wife or I have biked our 7.5 yr old to her new camp from Sunday (orientation) through today except for Tuesday. Sunday she didn't want to interrupt her day off, complained, foot-dragged, whined, refused to shift out of 1st gear and it took 20 min to go 1.6 miles. Each day had a measurable improvement in her performance from the previous day (holding a line, mostly but also familiarity w/ a new set of intersections), and other than the whiny day she was taking just about 15 minutes for the ride. She's been riding in the street more and more of the way, up through last night coming home in the bike lane of a few block section of a 4 lane road. She really wants to cross the 4-lane road and ride the bike lane out in the mornings too but that is something we don't even let her almost 11 yr old brother do yet.

But anyway, we have been comfortable w/ the 15 minute ride but today she powered through in 12 minutes, and she conked out as soon as she entered the parking lot to the tune of me needing to coax her the last few dozen yards to the bike rack. So hopefully next week will bring fitness increases. By the end of the summer it would be nice if she can lug her bike up over the curb to get it to the bike rack.

A cool sunny 70F with some wind.

Was pretty muggy in north austin today, broke a sweat like crazy this morning and rode a bit slower than my usual self. Not seeing many (none..) bikers out in the later half the week.. heat was bad, but i'm still keeping it real :)

Left downtown at 3:30 and the temp was 106°f. Stopped a couple of times more than usual.
Guess turning 60 next month has been on my mind...
Might drive in on Sat and Sun.
Seems we set a record of 109° today.

The cycling portion of my commute is at an all time brevity.
I do hope that is right. What I mean is the current ride is about 10 minutes long each way, down from 40 minutes each way a month or so ago. I feel very heavy and am dieting and searching for a new bike option.