Man ... just an epic ride this morning.

Woke up late, didn't hear my alarm, so I rolled out of bed about the time I'm rolling out of the garage.

52 degrees, little discernable wind and what there was was an ever so slight tailwind (3mph). I didn't have to wear a fleece this morning, but I still wore tights on my legs and a long sleeve baselayer.

Passed by a roadie who was commuting today, and it made me feel slow, but about three miles in I realized I'm really moving along.

Got to work 2 minutes faster than any other time this year so far. Supposed to be low to mid 70s for the ride home ... I SO hope the weatherman is right.

Under 40 minutes to home for a faster than usual ride home yesterday.

60F for the ride in this morning which is about a perfect temperature for a bike ride. Sunny and nice out, but expecting around 90F this afternoon.

It's been wonderful in Ames since last week's constant rain finally eased up. It hit 88F yesterday. Unbelievable.

The ride this morning was plagued by an incessant squeak coming from... somewhere on the Bridgestone. While riding, it sounded like it was coming from the crank, so I rode to the workshop (3 miles across town) and we pulled the bottom bracket apart for inspection. There was a bit of horizontal play and a telltale groove on the spindle, so we repacked the grease and gave it some new bearings. It felt a lot better after putting everything together, but the squeak remained. We put it back on a repair stand and listened while turning the crank, isolating the sound to somewhere in the rear cassette. There was a lot of dirt in there and on the derailleur, so they were cleaned out. The whole length of chain was hit with White Lightning for good measure. Put back on the ground, and she's silent and trustworthy as ever.

The ride home was "fun". I concluded my morning by helping out with some yardwork, moving 40lb bags of topsoil around the yard for flowerbed placements, so I was rather tired out. The ride home is roughly five miles, and it was pretty hot out by the time I hit the road. The very last crosswalk on the way was blocked by emergency vehicles, as there had been a recent crash. Two cars, both crunched like a soda can and belching black smoke into the sky. Two fire trucks, about five police cruisers, and two flatbeds picking up the pieces. I was informed that it "wasn't safe" to cross at this point in time, so I was forced to double back to the trail and ride another mile just to move essentially one block over, cross there, and zip past the accident site from the other side of the street. It took me about an hour to get home because of this stupidity.

It's bike month here in Thurston County, WA. Today was sloppy wet and I didn't see as many folks on their bikes as I have in the last few days. I'm officially in love with disc brakes and am quite pleased with the Portland Design Works Full Metal Fenders' trick of keeping the slop off my shoes (mostly) while looking pretty damned good.

First commute in our new warm weather. It hurt me. 21 miles.

Yesterday was 'Bike to school' day, apparently. I saw so many kids on bikes, riding with their parents, on my way home that I was afraid I'd succumb to a cuteness overdose. It's sad that today, not being 'Bike to school' day, not one kid was out biking with their parents, even though it was sunny and warm (60°F is what we northern folks refer to as 'warm', or 'shorts weather').

Scary moment on the ride in this morning: I was overtaking another cyclist on the MUP, a middle of the path wobbler on an MTB. An early morning drunk on his way back to camp somewhere in the greenbelt, was my thought, as I considered which side to pass him on. So I waited until he weaved to the right, dinged my bell, and passed on the left. Now, dealing with homeless inebriates is just part of living in Alaska, and rarely do they cause trouble or get aggressive during my regular encounters with them in the Chester Creek greenbelt, where many of them live.

This guy, however, exploded when I rang my bell, cursing up a storm and threatening to do me bodily harm. I have worked in construction, oil fields, commercial fishing, and kitchens, and am no stranger to foul language. It doesn't shock me, and I can give as well as I get; but this dude's vitriolic explosion was surprising enough to make me slow down and look back. What I saw was a younger guy, out of the saddle and pedaling hard, no longer weaving, face red and contorted with rage, screaming about killing me and coming on hard.

I quickly changed my evaluation from 'drunk' to 'insane', put the hammer down, and made amazing time the rest of the way to work. Seriously, I left the house almost 10 minutes later than I should, and still showed up with loads of extra time.

Dude, that sounds miserable. 90°!? I personally consider 65° and sunny to be the perfect temp, or 75° with a good breeze.

Wow, 67F 17C no wind, humid air....feels like summer. (Saw a fox.)

First ride on a new bike (TREK 7.3 FX).
14.3 miles, 53 minutes, averaged a little over 16 mph from the suburb into downtown on a meandering route of roads, greenways, and city streets with 10-15mph cross wind.

A traffic back-up on one road yesterday afternoon meant a bit of filtering and passing on the right for me. Only a few cars though as I had a right turn soon enough to get me out of there. Seeing traffic like that always makes me happy I'm not in a car and stuck like that.

I took a small detour on the way in this morning so I could drop a couple of items off at the library. My parents are visiting from out of town this weekend. They always worry about me biking to work. I'm debating on if I should show them my route or not. Part of it would put them at ease but other parts may make them worry more.

I did have one truck pass me a bit closely this morning. I'm not sure if he just didn't see me in time to give proper space or was just being a d**k. When anything like this happens I just shake my head and hope they see my disappointment in their rearview.

13C & sunny, just a light headwind & all passing motorists gave lots of space today. Was a great ride!

Cheers!

Awesome commutes into work this week, it's been 60-70 most mornings so I'm comfortable in a t shirt.

The ride home yesterday was a bit harsh. 92 degrees. 10 miles.

65° this morning and it was pleasant but I like the warmer temperatures better - 90 feels 'normal' to me and "hot" is over 100, which honestly is pretty rare in these parts.

And that is why my wife isn't too keen on taking the dog for a run by herself in Russian Jack in the predawn hours. Personally I would rather deal with the moose and the bears than the humans living in the park. Moose and bear you have a better chance of reasoning with.

Wish I was home and riding. Instead stuck in Quebec City, but the weather is improving so I might get some rides in here.

This week has been great! Temps in the upper 50s in the morning, mid 70s coming home. Light wind and no rain.

I did some quick adjustments to the bike last night. I adjusted my saddle angle so I no longer slide forward while riding. I also gave two turns to the cable adjuster on the rear derailleur and it's now back to shifting immediately instead of after a few second delay.

Next week is National Bike to Work Week. I'm going to post something on our company social network today. Hopefully I see some more bikes on the rack next week. Usually it's just me, occasionally there's a red mountain bike on there too. It's odd because there are a lot of cyclists who work here and have expressed an interest in commuting.

A little windy, around 20 mph. Rode a little uphill this morning.... But in an hour I'm off to home, downhill, with the wind in my back ! Yippiiii

11degC/52degF and overcast. Everything's wet because it POURED last night.

Was tired/sore throat this morning, almost decided to take the car...Glad I didnt: I rode in and felt awesome!

Foggy. The kind of fog that makes your glasses all wet, leaves you damp as rain when you finally get where you need to be. Cleared up now though, looks like it'll be 80 today.

M.

Second day in a row that I had to take a back-up route due, to continuing work on the Capital Crescent Trail. I was riding on the towpath but with all the rain, I was covered in mud. No thanks. I moved over to MacArthur Blvd but turns out that was even more unpleasant, esp. during rush hour and along the reservoir. The mornings are worst than the evenings. The sidewalk offered a smoother ride, plus I felt safer. It is not just the bad road and traffic, you also have to contend with parked cars. Yesterday, while on the sidewalk, a parked car pulled into the roadway and stopped just in time (maybe one inch) from having its front bumper ripped off. A worker on the CCT told me the trail should be open by Sunday. Anyway, aside from the commuting, I finally got a GPS and I love it!

It was Disney magic out there today; deer and bunny rabbits.

Also found a storm grate some drunk guys had pulled off and left in the middle of the road (the joy of a 5 am commute to work on a Sunday). I slid it back into place - hate to think what would happen if a bike or a car found that big open hole :-O

63F 17 C Humid but not too bad...lot's of media out for reopening of the Washington Monument. There was a fife and drum squad playing on the mall...this is at 06:15 in the morning.

The temp was a nice 51f degrees this morning, when I left the house. I was able to wear shorts and a tee-shirt, though a little chilly it will be 80f degrees later today. I am planning on taking the long way home this evening.

Comfortably cool, 4C/39F, sunny but with a headwind of 19kmh/12mph. Forecast is for showers for the next couple of days and then sunny and warm leading into the long weekend.

Storms and rain are forecast for most of the week ... and this afternoon they're calling for storms, but it's also bike to work week here in MKE and I was committed to riding hopefully four days this week.

Roads/MUP were wet, but not bad, no rain on my ride, fairly calm winds and a balmy 52 degrees or so. No tights over my legs, but I did wear a long sleeve base layer.

Nice ride in this morning until I ran over a nail. POP!

At least I got to entertain the motorists driving past as I changed the tube.

Warmer this morning with 9° celcius but still a strong and constant headwind.
Sunny sky.