Jur -- happy B-day a little late.

Cyclaholic -- good luck on the job hunt.

I got my new trekking bars and put them on last night. Not very difficult (I did it while watching "Lost")and have a reasonable understanding of both the process and the show. I think they might need to be tad higher, but they're pretty close. I think I like them, although that first mile riding in the forward position I felt like I was so far forward I could look up under my front fender. Following some suggestions I found on BF I left the forward position lower than the rear and that does seem to give me a better aero position. That is a word I never thought I'd use in connection with my riding -- even more amazingly I found I could ride comfortably (and powerfully) in my more tightly curled position. I don't know if it was the aero advantage of the bars or just feeling my oats this morning, but I averaged an incredible 14.9 mph and at the end of the MUP before I had to deal with traffic I was averaging 15.4 mph. If it is a result of the bars, then it was one of the best $10 I've ever spent.

It was nice to ride this morning without needing gloves to keep my fingers warm. Have a great ride everybody.

Newbie, when you get in the aero position, you are actually rotating your hips. The rotation brings in more of the gluteus muscles. Also your core muscles are used more.

1)good luck on the job hunt
2) Happy Birthday



3) Today I'm back on the bike today, maybe needed more rest days but came in above 12 mph ave so that's pretty good. It will probably rain on me on the way home but on way home isn't as bad as I can shower. Felling good

anybody ever get a sore throat but only one certain spot in back of throat? It comes and goes and I'm wondering : alergies or something or did I pull to hard drinking one time and sot of pull a muscle in my throat? crazy?

Saturday I'll probably do a 50 on the fox river trail, never done that trail before, we shall see. Also maybe try my new chain cleaning machine this weekend.

Ride safe

Fixed !!! Yeah !
46x17 for me. 12.3 = 40 minutes flat but that is without one stop the whole
way !
..........I Vermont !

Happy B-Day Jur.
At almost 47 Im in the best shape of my life.....'Getting old' is only something
little kids worry about !

Cyclaholic...Sorry to gear of your unfortunate job situation.
Im in sort of a job rut myself (Temp )so I feel yer pain.
Take a break, ride a lot...collect your thoughts....you'll be OK !

Ta again for the wishes...

46x16 single speed. I'm too chicken to go fixie. No bike speedo so i don't know my best time but it's around 1h05 for the 28km... add 10 minutes for the ride home, more uphill. Since i started riding to work i stopped wearing a watch, too sweaty, now it's gathering dust. There are clocks everywhere in this rat race.

Jur - Happy Bday, funny about the watch - I don't wear one either, don't like it on the bike or on the computer, but I get really frustrated about not being able to find a clock at work or in airports.

Cycloholic - sorry and and good luck.

Did my legitimate speed trial today
AM - 3.02 mi / 10:38 min/ 17.04 mph
PM - 2.99 mi / 10:36 min/ 16.92 mph

Slight headwind in the afternoon, and I faded worse than yesterday, after the PM sprint, my average speed dropped to 13 mph for the rest of the way home. anyway, I felt pretty good about it - Cig, I'll catch you yet . . .

anybody run slime or anything, or anything I can run to help agaist punctures, I am not very dexterous and fear my first flat...I don't even own a cell phone, I must be one of the few that still does't.

^^^wonkemtel....

Do a fake flat fix in the comfort of your own home.
I hate to be the harbinger of grim tidings but you will
eventually get a flat. Being familier with the process and what
tools you need will greatly expidite the repair. It only takes about
10 minutes.
For punctures you dont even need to remove the wheel from the bike.
Its really not the big deal it appears to be !

My bike (Giant Cypress DX) came with slime-filled tubes when I bought it 3 years ago.

Flat #1 that I got was a leaking valve, due to the slime gunk eventually preventing the valve from closing fully.

Flat #2 was on the other tire, with the same problem!

Flats #1 and #2 were in my first year of riding.

It was 2 more years until I had flat #3 about a month ago from a wire/staple thru the tire.

So from my personal experience I don't recommend the slime, however my tires are hybrid wide/tough tires and not high pressure road tires.

I hate to do this too you guys but I did a TT this day.

Am Run:
Miles = 3.01 Time = 6.71 min. Average Speed = 26.9 mph (43 Km/h)

PM Run:
Miles = 3.25 Time = 7.67 min. Average Speed = 25.4 mph (40.6 km/h)

Total Average Speed for the TT = 26.15 mph (41.8 km/h)

Believe it or not the shoes helped more then the tires did. But the tires did feel a lot better then the old ones. I want to see want I can do with everything off the bike. So one day this week I'm going to take off the bag, headlight, tail lights, water cage, kick stand etc.... I thank it will not help a lot but I want to see how much it is slowing me down. I will just take two tire tools and a tube in my pocket. And tie my work shirt around my waste. But I'll have to fly home before it gets dark.

BTW, on the way home I stop and fix a guys car for him. The tubro chager hose clamp come lose. All I had to do just put the clamp on. And he was on his way again. He tired to pay me but I just told him to go get a beer with it.

^^^ Totally believable CigTec !
3 days a week I have to ride in steel toe
work bootz and it feels like I have someone
elses legs for a while !! A lot more power from
the super stiff, heavy fece punters !!!

Tibike -- so that's what the gluteus muscles are for! Here all these years I've just been piling on weight back there to help hold down my desk chair. I figured it was like axle weights on a tractor -- helped give you traction. Who knew your gluteus had another use. I suppose next you'll tell me that by closing my thumb and forefinger together I can pick up small objects more easily than my current proceedure of catching them between my palms!!

Cigtech -- I think I might hate you! Although, Tibike seems to be right about the stronger pedalling in a aero position. I was totally wiped tonight on the ride home after a full day of moving office furniture, but I experimented on the lower end of my ride that is fairly flat. I found that the difference between the upright position and the "aero" position was 1 to 1.5 mph with no additional effort. Maybe with my newfangled trekking bars I can start to approach the exalted heights of Cigtech and you other speed demons!

Well the Chancellor of the Exchequer has determined that maybe I should go hunting for a decent rear wheel, since I broke 2 spokes on the way home. Her thinking is that this way I would have a good spare wheel should anything happen to my main wheel or for mounting snowtires. Tomorrow the hunt begins for a suitable wheel. Always good to strike when the checkbook is open.

Also the bike gods seem to be smiling on commuters on the CCT today. The District patched several potholes in G'town making access to the trail much easier. And for reasons unknown, the county went through and re-lined its section of the CCT. Now at least people travelling on the wrong side of the trail will know it. And finally, it didn't rain on the homebound trip this afternoon. All in all a good day for biking.

wonkemtel, I saw your post about riding the Fox River Trail. Where do you live/ride. I live in St. Charles, IL and commute to Naperville. If yours is the same Fox River Trail then maybe we'll meet up sometime (though I don't usually ride that trail since is adds a handful of miles to my already VLC).

Newbie, get yourself a really well built, quality wheel. You have shown your dedication to this form of commuting, so you deserve it.

I have a bunch of new stuff, starting with pictures of my commute. Unfortunately the camera battery died about 1/3 of the way to work (doh, next time charge that sucka). I plan to take more pictures tomorrow morning with a fully charged battery then maybe post them early next week. I also traded out my 23c cheapy front tire with a 28c gatorskin to match the 25c gator in the back. I must say, it's much smoother going over those railroad tracks now. Lastly, I slapped on a pair of clipless pedals (eggbeaters) that I got on ebay and a pair of shimano casual mtb shoes picked up at a local shop over the weekend and took to the road locked in. I fell over a couple times first trying them out since I unknowingly had the cleats set up for the larger of the release angles, but now I've got them figured out. Impression from initial commutes - I think everyone should eventually try them out. They are definitely keepers for me.

And oh, I don't have a cycle computer or even a digital watch, so getting exact numbers for the time trial thing is tough for me. I also have a few lights that I have to wait quite a while for, but my typical time for the approx 18mi commute is 1hr 10ish min. I think I'm going pretty fast, but I don't really know.

I'm to chicken to commute fixie too... I'm riding 48x16. I love my SS.

Thanks for the kind words of support guys. Congrats Cig, great average speed for the time trial, I'm too bummed out to have a go at it this week but next week I'll give it my best shot.

I'm going fishing this weekend and just decompress and regroup, I'll still be doing my daily 'commute' rides next week otherwise I'll lose my mind so I hope you guys don't mind me staying in touch with the VLCC untill I find another job.

Anyhow, I have another hour or so of employmeny left so I'm off to steal some stationery and eat all the cream filled biscuits out of the office kitchen. Have a great weekend y'all.

Best of luck Cyclo - the new one will be better mate.

Jur - you old bugger! Congrats mate.

Who is the youngest VCC'er? - Might be the topic of next week Mars? Maybe we should guess ages first then reveal later in the week?

Anyway, it is again beer o'clock boys and girls - i haven't been riding for 4 weeks, so i LOOK like it's been beer o'clock everyday. Havagudweegend guys.

Next week I am going to join your ranks! I have found a route that is reasonable that'll take me from 5.5 miles to 13.5 miles. I need more miles, as I want to do a century (or close to it, at least a "metric" century) this summer. I figure if I get up early I can do the 13.5 miles, then 5 miles at lunch and 5.5 miles on the way home. Should put me at 24mi/day which is alot of miles to me! I'm doing 11 a day right now. I'd have started tomorrow but I got called in on an emergency at the office and am going to spend the night here. So I have no need to commute in the morning. But, come Monday, I will be doing that 13.5 miles in the morning.

You guys that are afraid to go fixed.... TRY IT! Its the most amazing thing, I think. I did the single speed thing for about 6 months before going fixed. I haven't used a freewheel since! Its really addicting. Just *try* it

Man I just got up and now I have to ride like the win g\to make it to work on time. See ya'll later.

Hello VLCC. I've started commuting recently after a long break - since Fall of last year. Anyhow, it's taking me longer now to do the 16 mile commute than it did before. I hope to get back to where I was in the next few weeks.

Anyhow, I had an interesting commute in this morning. I was at the end of my commute going downhill at over 20 mph and a squirrel jumped out of the bushes beside me and went under my front tire. It scared the $hit out of me. I even think I yelled - anyhow nothing happened and I just missed him. After I was thinking of what could have happened if I had hit him - we both would have been in bad bad shape.

Well no riding today, I was too beat last night to fix the spokes. I will commence the hunt for a good rear wheel today. Now if I can find a bike shop that has one in stock, the week will end perfectly. Anyway, one way or another we're off on our mini-tour this weekend. Hopefully it will go smoothly. Have a great weekend everybody.

Great idea, let's do that!

Wow, that's really fast. Without a wind assist, I'm not going to be able to beat that. You should think of looking into the local Time Trial races in your area. I am sure you would do quite well. Ccyling shoes really do make a difference. Do you have some good pedals yet? Your next purchases, if I may offer some advice, should be lycra cycling clothing and pedals. The clothes because you will notice another speed increase without the drag caused by your civilian clothes. You should also look into a messenger bag to haul your stuff, uch more aero!

Anyways, awesome run. I think that you are going to take the speed week prize, at least unitl Cyclaholic takes his shot!

I ussually ride the North shore Path/Robert Mclory Path from Wauconda (where I live ) to Waukegan
it connects with the Des Plaines River Trail, a descent trail. I haven't riddeen the Fox River Trail but I think we are starting in Mchenry County North of Crystal lake but this summer I may go pretty far on it...We are trying a ride with a fellow commuter (well he did one on BTW day last Friday) hey the more the marrier, as I understand it (although parts under a different name the fox trail goes from wisconsin to Aurora although at the Mchenry County line it has a different name. Hope to eventually see you and I will try and post my plans, still havent done a century but I have some good base miles with my commute going now.

Welcome rykoala! +1 on the fixie. When I am riding the shorter miles, I sometimes like to take my fixie. I roade her for about 4 months striaght a couple of years ago. At first, I had the standard front brake, but then decided to see how long I sould go without using it. After 3 weeks I took it off and went brakeless. I like the brakeless dynamic, you really have to be connected to what is going on and plan ahead.

By the way, for a pic of a gorgeous fixie, check out Lem's link to his bike.