Yesterday on the ride home I was in the bike lane going up Hazel with its usual traffic, around Winding. I rode over a rock and it squeezed out from under my front tire. It went TONK against the door of the Accord next to me, startling us both. You never know how someone is going to react to something like this. Does she think I kicked her door in? Does she think I think she hit me? I was prepared to stop, apologize, defuse, but she drove on. I hope she doesn't run over the next guy to get back at me.

I have done that more than I can count. The almost worst was a guy in the Porsche.

The actual worst was I sent a rock two lanes over and broke a passenger side window.

I forgot this morning I saved the life of a rat. A cat just was ready to pounce from under a bush right as I came by. The cat got scared and stopped mid pounce. The rat scampered with a cheer of fear and glee (my anthropomorphism) in front of the bike.

I drove to work today because I had an early appointment in the next city. As a weird coincidence, a cyclist was killed in the bike lane of a road I ride several times a week. In fact, I was on that exact stretch yesterday afternoon about 6pm. And this, just a few days after the new 3ft passing law went into effect. If anything at least the DA will be able to use it to establish a presumption of negligence.

Foggy on the way in, and people seemed to forget how to operate a motor vehicle on the way back...so about par for the course

Mighty fine.

Got a call from the teenager just as I was changing clothes for the ride home. Her car had a flat. Ironically, she was eighty percent of the way home (I ride 15 miles a day, she drives 2.5) and on my route, so I stopped to help her. The spare was flat too.

Now what will that rat do for the Karmic Rebate?

61F / 16C feeling very Fall-like. I am riding with my broken rear spoke and will get my bike into the shop after work...I only commute 3.5 miles each way and it is all urban so I am good.

The commute this morning was a chilly 40f degrees when I left the house. I lost my front light so I took the short ride allowing me to leave later than usual, but I need to replace the light.

A bit cooler than I expected. Said 62 on the computer but was 58 by the bank clock. Got my new headlight and tail light on.. left the old head light on also. The new lights are much brighter guess it's a good thing to replace after a few years, the old headlight is 4 years old.

warmer than I expected. 65F I even found some some rain to ride in. The roads were either wet from dew or it rained some last night.
either way I got to test my newly installed fenders out. It really is amazing how quality fenders work versus the cheap ones I had on the first bike I started commuting on.

when riding in the rain i always wrestle with should i stop to cover bags or keep going. I kept going today and rode out of the rain. Everythign is in plastic bags anyway

In french it's spelled «tuque»

I should've put mine on this morning, almost at the freezing point but very nice sun, I saw the blue heron again this morning but this time it took flight and landed a few hundreds meter further along the road, it was very nice to see.

Man oh man, where to begin...

Last Thursday was quite insane. There was the threat of rain, so I had the fenders on the bike ready to go. I was up at 5 AM, looking at the radar. There was some rain nearby, so I figured I could beat it to work. And so I did, barely.

This pic is from about 3 or 4 miles away from the office:


LITERALLY 10 seconds after getting under the front porch at the office, the sky just opened up. And it rained, and it rained, and it rained some more. 10 inches in some places of the county, they said. Flooding everywhere. Homes and cars destroyed. Thankfully my home and office are both on somewhat high spots.

By the time I was ready to leave, the rain had moved out, and the water receded. I took another pic on the way home of a creek, just to the left of the pic above. This is normally just a trickle of a stream, at least 8 to 10 feet lower than the water seen here:



I rode past lots of areas that flooded. One area I ride in the morning has the entire street covered in dirt, and lots of nasty, wet building materials piled outside all the houses. I really feel bad for those folks.

Tuesday must have been uneventful, I can't remember much about it.

Yesterday was a b*tch. I overslept, and instead of leaving around 6 AM it was more like 6:40. However it was still pretty uneventful. Yesterday afternoon was a WHOLE different story! I normally leave the office around 4:30-4:45, but this time I didn't get underway until about 5:10.

Now I always ride as visible and safely as possible, with 2/3 of my route on 2-lane rural roads, mostly with little traffic. Before yesterday I could count on one hand the number of cars that have buzz passed me this year. But yesterday I must have had 7 or 8 cars either do a split-lane pass with me riding lane center or left of center, people flipping me off, honking, coming REAL CLOSE behind me and then flooring it into the next lane to pass me, etc. I don't know if it was the later time of me leaving or what. It really was insanity.

^ probably just people that aren't used to seeing a bicyclist on the road. If you left at 5:10 every day, the buzzes would stop after a few days.

The weather continues to be gorgeous here in southern PA. Low 50s in the morning, upper 60s in the afternoon.

Dram - if you like blue herons, come farther south. They're such a regular sight around here that most people don't even watch them.

I admit it, I Cat-sixed a couple of guys today. I could say that I was warming up when they passed, and it would be true, but even more true that there was something compelling me to pass them back later.

I think in the states we spell it 'toke'?! Pleasant this morning, 48F and calm. Felt really tired so took it easy. When I got to work I checked and this is the 4th week I've bike commuted every day including Saturdays. I love the ride but think a couple days off the bike is a good idea.

Yarrr

Red sky at morning, sailor take warning! Today I set me course for me place of employ, and though the passage be uneventful, the glowering Sun climbing above yon smoky horizon bids an ill omen on the day's task.

Did ye pump it up with yer bicycle pump, and did ye tell the young lady off?

Well the deal was: You get your grandma's old Camry wagon (21 years old, 64K miles). I pay for maintenance, but she has to do all the maintenance logistics. She has to pay for gas.

Then she appealed to a higher court (my wife) and threw herself on the mercy of the court. Sweet relief for her and my tough love goes out the window. Wife and I are now handling the whole thing.

sigh...

Yesterday was interesting to say the least.. I overslept so I rode in at 5:30 instead of 4:30, temp was in the low 40s and I noticed more than usual traffic out on the roads. Apparently none of them have seen a bicycle in late September before as nearly every single one passed within 1ft (not 3 feet like they're supposed to) rode up beside me and revved up their engine as if they were trying to be intimidating. I had one guy yell out of his truck for me to get off the road. To add to the craziness, my phone wouldn't stop ringing all day yesterday, all telemarketer related (when I answered all I heard was a recording that said "You've been preselected for a free cruise, all we need is a valid credit card number.") Err, drove me nuts, since I'm supposed to be on the national do not call registry! I didn't want to bother with the further stress of traffic on the main roads so I took the back roads yesterday afternoon which put me behind a Amish buggy, which the horse that was pulling it seemed to have a digestive system problem. After pulling around them, I got stuck behind a tractor with wheels taller than I, which was spitting up mud from the field it just came out of and he rode in the middle of the road so because of my size I couldn't pass safely. I just couldn't catch a break yesterday.

Today, the calendar says we've got another 3days of summer but the temperatures and dead leaves on the ground already indicates fall is already here. 38 degrees according to my home thermometer this morning, and I'm still wearing shorts and a t-shirt under a wind breaker. Otherwise it was an uneventful and stress-free ride in at my usual time.

She has a great car with only 64,000 miles. I loved the 96 Corolla I had until a few years ago, got up to 200,000+ miles. They just keep going. And a sweet deal. I always had to pay insurance, gas and repairs. The benefit was we owned the garage and parts were at cost and repairs were done by me. Man it was tough when I moved and had no tools, no lift and no way to reasonably service the car. Labor and parts get pricey.


The commute was nice this morning. Wet, but not rainy until the last little bit it started to rain/mist more.

i did my clothes run last night and this morning, so I was a bit more laden down. I only wash my pants and shirts every three to four weeks (I wear undershirts and underwear and a lab coat), so they stay clean. I also have a place to hang them on a hanger every night. So I spent the evening laundering and pressing all my clothes. I cannot wait until NCIS comes back on; I find it very relaxing to iron, watch NCIS and have a beer; I also try to plan it when my wife is at yoga and the boy is in bed. When I got to work though they were all wrinkled a bit more than normal, I roll them and they rarely are too wrinkled. I figure they will fall out over the weekend; not that it matters I dress better than I need to and I can use the excuse I bike to work as to why they are wrinkled.

The ride was uneventful, which is good. I have felt rather tired all week also.

arrr...Sept 19

Today the heavens be openin' up and blimey! but me fenders be stowed somewhere in the cargo hold.

Some scurvy lass headed towards me on the gentle S-curve on the MUP but she didnt curve at all! She just headed straight into my lane and I had to careen my vessel hard-to-starboard at the last minute to avoid the scurvey dame and the bollard on the path.

I got one the other night and I gave it to my son. It was hilarious and the guy only lasted a minute or two.

I did get a cruise one once and it was a good deal with only taxes and a flight. We thought about it since it left from Boca and my g-ma lived there and it would have been a nice Christmas visit. But since I get sick in the bathtub I decided against it.

My son acquired four large balloons on the way home from daycare the other day. Which we tied to his seat and they drafted us all the way home. People really enjoy seeing a kid on a bike seat with a bunch of balloons. One guy I passed didn't seem to enjoy it since he spent the next while trying to pass me back; he only got past when I stopped behind a van turning left and he went around in the left like an idiot causing the van to slam on its brakes. He had a good mustache though.

Arr I know the section ye speak of. Blithering idiots travel them currents.

First 4-commute work week in a long time due to all of the lousy weather we've had this summer. We had beautiful weather the entire week and the only reason that I didn't ride every is because I had to help my daughter do some work at her apartment on Weds. Hopefully this trend will continue through the Fall. However, I will miss an entire week of commuting Sept 29-Oct 3 while riding on a bike tour, unless you consider riding while on vacation a type of commuting.

Today was nice ride in. It was a little chilly though which I didn't expect. But, I did hit two milestones today.

1. Rode to work 5 days this week
2. Have commuted exactly 800 miles since I started

I'm stoked

Didn't expect to do any riding today because I'm working from home, but construction crews were repaving in front of my house, and my wife couldn't get out of the driveway to drive my daughter to kindergarten. It was a simple matter for me to hook up the tag-along bike and bring her to school that way. Didn't take any longer than driving because of some shortcuts I could take by bike, and my kid really enjoyed it. I should do that more often.