Beautiful morning for a ride ... and this afternoon is supposed to be gorgeous as well. 52 degrees, a little chilly but still ok after I get warmed up.

Yesterday afternoon was fantastic. Sunny and warm, but the morons were let loose on the MUP. Had this kid on a BMX pass me shortly after he joined the MUP, and he was huffing and puffing but insisted on passing me. Of course he's riding a BMX with the seat low, and tilted up, so he can't sit down on it. Literally. I wasn't pushing hard at all. Yesterday was an easy ride by design, but I do keep a somewhat brisk tempo. And this kid is hellbent on staying in front of me. Pedaling hard for about 15 or 20 strokes, then coasting. It's really rather humourous because he's also somewhat chubby. This continues for 10 minutes or so and he keeps looking back to see me, just sitting there riding, not rushing him but not backing off. Finally he gives up and I pass him. It struck me as funny.

I also found a "back way" to avoid a busy street. I knew of it, but had never explored it because it requires a difficult left turn across two lanes immediately after a draw bridge. It was fantastic. Very nice for a leisurely afternoon ride when I want to avoid the vehicle traffic.

Hah! Idaho stops, Indiana lights, where will it stop? No wait, there's no stopping involved! :lol:

Today ended up being terrible! Well, it started out terrific. I left clothes at the office and I was pretty pumped to take a ride on my road bike this morning - the weather was upper 50s and drizzly. Motorists were behaving quite nicely. Then at about the 1/2 way point my chain slipped off the cassette (well, I probably tried to downshift one too many times) and wedged itself between the cassette and pie plate (yes, I know...I still have the pie plate. I just been too lazy to remove it since I got the bike). For the life of me I could not get the chain out. Gave a solid 30 minutes worth of effort and tried everything I could do roadside. Ended up having to call up a friend at work to come and pick me up.
I will probably have to take the cassette off this afternoon, which means I need to take it to the shop 'cause I don't have a chain whip or cassette remover. Thank goodness for terrific friends, though. Waiting on her gave me time to enjoy my coffee
(I had another 5.5 miles to go, either to work and back home. Wasn't really walkable in bike shoes with road cleats on a slippery roadway).

Beautiful morning ride. I bought lights this past weekend and glad I had them for this morning's commute, much darker than previous weeks. On a side street bout a half-mile from my destination, some jerk in a Jeep coming toward me thought it would be cool to intentionally swerve into my lane. I gestured that he was #1 and uttered my curse of choice. How big of a *#$%@#$#$% do you have to be to think to do that at 7 A.M.? I'm normally very non-confrontational but I was prepared to pound this guy when it happened.

No, no, no, you must stop for 2 minutes before proceeding (to get slammed) - here's an explanation Indiana Bicycle Law Update: Red Traffic Signal Law

Brisk breeze from the south this morning, which was mainly to my benefit, at least for the ride in. Maybe a bit cool for a t-shirt at 13C/55F.

[MENTION=311713]Mr. Hairy Legs[/MENTION]

There is a publication in the metro area telling cyclists is after a reasonable amount of time the signal is not activated you can proceed if safe. Generally two minutes. I never checked the motor vehicle act though.

i think it rained most of the night. It stopped just before I left the house this AM...but then started again. The fenders earned their pay.

My plastic thumb splint is starting to stink from getting/staying wet. Have to wash after every ride.

Obama in town, UN in session, streets were blocked everywhere. I had to walk the last 5 blocks to my office. But otherwise a nice day.

Very cool!

I was awarded a Clean Air Commute t-shirt for cycling in to work
 

Great job!

My commute was nice this morning. It was a bit rainy but not bad. The only change I have made since summer is shoes covers, dry bag lining in my panniers and an extra front light. I am going to swing by MEC and get these: Rainy Day Biking Plain Jane Reflective Mud Flaps (Set) - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available With my low bb my rear fender ends pretty high on the arc of the rear wheel so these should help people behind me, considerate of me I think.

I found an old stopwatch and put in a new battery and used it for some intervals on the way to work, I just have to keep them up and do some ore workout and I will give racing a serious consideration for the spring.

I have had a rash of shoalings recently. Why do they do it!

61F / 16 C And full rain gear kinda morning.

The temp was 46f degrees this morning so not as cold as Tuesday when I last rode. One of the roads I usually ride home is being worked on so I have to use an alternative route this afternoon.

Grrr ... I thought I would get in at least four bike commutes this week and perhaps five. The forecast on Sunday called for mostly clear weather all week, with a slight chance of rain on Wednesday. It was raining yesterday when I got up and radar showed a lot more coming, so I drove. Good call because it rained 3-4" across the area, breaking a record for the date. Forecasters said the rain would stop overnight. I checked the radar when I got up and no rain was showing, so packed all of my gear and planned to ride. However, when I get ready to leave home I hear rain pouring down our gutters. Check the radar again and nothing is showing, so I walk outside and it is raining very hard. It was drizzle but definitely a soaker. I waited around the house another 15-20 minutes, but still no letup so I drove again. Very frustrating.

I know a lot of bike commuters ride in the rain but I don't if I can help it. First, I need my glasses to see and the rain makes it very difficult, particularly heavy mist and drizzle. Second, my commute distance is pretty long (15+ miles) and takes about an hour, which means I get soaked if I ride. Third, my route follows several roads with a lot of traffic, including a high school with lots of teenage drivers. Fourth, I hate cleaning my bikes after riding in the rain.

The plus side of all this is that I'm riding a bike tour next week and probably should scale back my miles this week anyway, as the tour will be close to 500 miles. I also should stop by my doctor's office before the trip to deal with some minor issues, and I've been too busy to do that. So, I'll make good use of driving today.

A cool (9C/48F) misty morning but not as thick of a mist as yesterday. Forecast to be sunny and 22C/72F this afternoon.

Our Premier and cabinet are having a meeting in our building today so our parking lot is not available to us (well, them, not me) and apparently, there is security but it sounds more like it is just our building manager directing cars to another parking lot on the university property.

A bit of a drizzler on the way home yesterday. Nothing too bad. I was a bit damp when I got home. My shoes and socks were the wettest from road spray. I hear fenders can help with that. Oh well, nothing a little newspaper stuffed into the shoe couldn't dry up overnight.

Good, dry ride in this morning. There is a railroad crossing just before a stop sign that I go through. That particular crossing has one of these signs:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=408333

On one side of the tracks is a short, but kinda steep slope. And this morning there was a flatbed semi stuck just like the picture shows. Luckily for me there is a pretty easy short bypass to this situation. He had traffic a bit mucked up at that spot.

:thumb:

Very nice ride this morning, I managed a very decent 56 min. without any tailwind.

Very sunny, a perfect 11° celcius.

An absolutely gorgeous sunrise this morning ... one of those mornings where you see it and it reminds you that being up earlier than many, just so you can ride your bike to work, has many rewards.

Crossed 1,500 commute miles for the year today. Sunny, 57, virtually no wind. Really a perfect morning.

Yesterday was gorgeous, and I knew today would be my last commute of the week, so I extended my ride last night by five miles. Was just a beautiful afternoon/evening to ride.

All this commuting lately has pushed me up in the National Bike Challenge ranks too ... as of right now, I'm #4 ,676 in the nation and #650 in the state. Not sure I can ride Monday ... but I'll definitely ride on Tuesday to wrap up the challenge.

Oh ... and I need new cleats for my road shoes ... my left foot doesn't like to stay engaged

It was raining when I rolled out, heavy clouds and cooler than I expected (mid 50's) so I went back in to bag my feet, phone etc but decided against any other rain-gear. It was a false alarm, clearing up to a heavy mist by the time I got started again. Some of the traffic was a little weird, overly cautious in the heavy traffic areas and near schools and I needed to wave a couple of them on to go ahead and pass. Or maybe they were just staring at the strange looking guy on a road racing bike with tight jersey, shopping bag feet and gym shorts.

I felt the same way and regretted not carrying my camera with me for a misty sunrise. I'll try to remember to bring it tomorrow.

No bike commute the last couple of days because my second job required me to travel. It's killing me. The weather here has been about perfect this week. Looking forward to a long commute home Friday. Over 1,800 miles this year.

I can tell it's autumn because this thread is devolving to weather reports, and my coworkers are losing their &#$%ing minds for football. In that vein, it was warmer than the past week and misty this morning, and turned to rain just after I arrived. Lucky! Strava gave me a silver and two bronzes. My coworker who thinks he's the cruise director wants us all to come play a bunch of Kickstarter board games on Sunday afternoon, so it doesn't interrupt his football watching, which is also his fantasy football dice rolling.

this week has been less than expected
 

i bailed on riding home in the rain yesterday. I called a friend to pick me up. (down to one car and a honda civic, no rack too) I did not feel like messing with 55 windy and light rain. I have my college reunion this weekend and I hope to be healthy for it. :)

what exactly is shoaling? i have tried to look it up but i cant find a definition.


[MENTION=86492]tarwheel[/MENTION] i have pushed through with riding this week. the weather has really been less than i thought it was going to be at the beginning of the week. I thought I would have beautiful weather but it has turned quite horrible. COLD and Rainy. BUT I rode this morning in the rain. we sold one car earlier this week so we are down to one. My wife had to be in another town at 8:30 and it would have stressed her out a ton to get ready to take me. :love: So I bundled and the ride was not bad at all. feet were damp but not soaked. I love my fenders and am so glad I installed them.

i hope that the partly sunny is true this evening though.

I am part of the national bike challenge and I have risen to #1 spot with my company this week. I am off tomorrow but I hope to hold my spot to the end of the challenge Sept 30. I have ridden 89.7 miles this week though :p