bmthom.gis

I left my bike at work on Friday and hitched a ride home with The Better Half (lots of storms popped up, and I started feeling kind of crappy). I drove in today and somehow managed to actually remember everything I need to bike home! I was skeptical on Friday that I would remember to bring my riding stuff. Should be a nice spin. Hit it really hard on Saturday slaying my Strava PRs on a hilly route and I'm still a bit sore from it. A good spin should feel just right later.

timvan_78

nice ride in. Lots of roadies out there...

Darth Lefty 

I'm out this week, spending my time and energy building a swing set for the 2yo, who will be fully 2 on the 23rd. The kit has about fifty boards and maybe a couple of hundred fasteners... and factor in do-overs

essiemyra

Today's commute was uneventful. I had to ride directly to work because of thunderstorms early this am(4am). I heard those and went back to sleep thinking I may not be able to ride. I woke up at five thirty and found no storms, and was on the bike by quarter of six.

At the beginning of last evenings commute, I had my head down as I started climbing the hill, and luckily I picked my head up in enough time to see this guy coming down the hill really fast on my side of the road within inches of me. Needless to say I was startled. I should not put my head down I guess.

mgw4jc

I left a little early and hit 15 miles this morning. Quite pleasant out - a little humid but not bad at all.

Longest daylight today. I ran under the setting Strawberry Moon this morning before riding in.

When I got to work. I ate a banana.

esmith2039

Hot both ways.. the workout in the morning doesn't help. Last night ran errands around 10 hilly miles.. I felt that! Going to start having frozen water bottles ready.

ypsetihw

the weather says 40% humidity and 4mph wind . . . I beg to differ. it was already hot in the sun at 8am and I felt like I was riding through turbulent soup and there was a headwind all the way to work. then again, maybe I'm just a fat piece of crap. half a pizza and the pint of whiskey in my stomach from last night probably didn't help.

jrickards

Nice cool 9C/48F but sunny start to the day, it has already warmed up to 13C/55F and promises to be a nice afternoon. I took it easy riding today, felt a bit tired and there was a mild headwind for the first 10km/6mi.

Close to having ridden 750km this month, on track for my goal of 1,000km.

Tundra_Man 

Consecutive bicycle commute number 90:

Beautiful morning, so I left early and tacked on an additional 10+ miles on top of my usual 8 mile commute. Wind hadn't picked up yet, low humidity and not a cloud in the sky. Temp was even on the cool side for summer (upper 50s.) In fact the first half of my ride I was wishing I'd put on my gloves as my hands were a little chilly. By the 2nd half though I had worked up enough of a sweat that I was fine without them.

Legs felt tired and my hamstrings were tight from the previous 4 days worth of activities (a couple runs, walking two rounds of golf, riding my fixie and a bunch of yardwork.) Didn't feel like I was riding that fast but when I checked my numbers I discovered I averaged a whole mph higher than my typical pace. So apparently the way my legs felt didn't affect their performance.

arsprod 

Hot n muggy with afternoon temps near 90. I like it, except for the pop up thunderstorms

ptempel

Was really nice this morning (67F?). We had a slight shower but no big deal. Did the park n' ride today since I rode in form home yesterday (Bloomfield to NYC). I felt pretty strong yesterday so I guess I don't need the rest week yet. Got a front flat yesterday. But brought the pipe wraping tape with me in my backpack. I took off the old tape and put some on the front wheel. Will see how it goes. It looks like a thicker and more sticky version of electrical tape. The 1in/25mm width fit the Velocity A23 rims nicely. It can also stretch to help in fitting.

noglider 

Hoping to get my cycling average to more than 2 days a week to work (and back). I rode in today (Tuesday) for the second time this week. It's easy when the temperatures are in the 80s. My new bike is comfy, and that helps.

EndUser2016

Commute was good this morning ... my 43 mile commute has taken a heavy toll on my Norco XFR 4 bike... my OEM wheel is not holding true as long anymore so I just had to pony up some $$ to buy a new rear wheel... my chain is reminding me how much I hate chains with the squeaking every week it seems to need more lube... the rain storms I been hitting a few times each week and headwinds ... UGH.... but I am still pushing forward ... I just need to start learning how to do ALOT of work myself as bike shop costs add up when you frequent them... so time for me to pickup some of the load...

Would love a local to give me a brief on bike tune ups if there are anyone in the Seattle area on here -_-

snow_echo_NY

I haven't come here to post in awhile

@noglider I'm so sorry about your mom and the subsequent car tow. I hope you are feeling better-

I'll try to sum up my entire spring:

Ran bike trains weekly in the AM with another rider until Bike month- those days were great! Chatting while riding was fun.

Helped out with TAs bike to work day comfort stations.

Backstory: in April a couple Brooklyn cyclists were killed within a week of each other by drivers not heeding the law. The BK borough president led a ride the following Sunday and then took measures to start a "put a bike lane on Flatbush" campaign - it's a major arterial street here that connects the many neighborhoods of Brooklyn. They already banned left turns from the street as it's too much (danger that is). It's the same street I saw Hal from bicycle habitat who does those "how to lock your bike" YouTube videos just a year prior - I saw him around the Barclays center.

In May, our company switched offices and moved to a bigger space. This meant moving the communal bike pump from one bike room to another and also navigating a new route and figuring out how to bring the bike indoors. Altho Mike Bloomberg wrote it into law, bringing a bike inside is a time consuming awful exercise. We can't use the front door we are forced to enter where delivery trucks are also forced to enter. And once were inside it's a mess. And freight elevators that sometimes come, sometimes not. I rode the Yuba to work with the little one and we had to wait over 20 minutes for a freight elevator. I've since started calling security to send them in a timely manner when I start approaching the 10 min wait mark. Sigh.

I wrote the backstory bc: in recent weeks, A cyclist one was killed by a left turner on chambers st. Driver was turning from the west side highway aka "west st" where we are located. Onto chambers st, crossing the west side bike path - one of the only truly safe places to cycle in NYC. One of my coworkers and longtime friend was extremely upset he sent a mass email to our cycling email list at work. How could this happen even on the west side path? I chatted with some of the other guys and it seems his email has left a sour note in our throats and stomachs - for all. We all know how bad it can get as we ride everyday...we certainly don't need the reminder. Common themes: Incredulous. Upset. He did acknowledge his email could be too much. But a couple of us responded with a "yes that's a valid way to feel and express it." And I certainly believe so. I don't mind discussing it bc it helps me sort out my feelings and thoughts - but I know how riled up I can get so I prefer to leave it and just discuss with my husband at home. And when I'm chatting with colleagues with our bikes, I prefer to focus on the positive and the jokes and small talk. When talking to the other guys, it sounded like a couple of them did not want to hear it either - and I can understand that too. But I also understand my friends need to express how disturbed he was. I definitely do not blame him for it. The status quo is mortifying and it is our reality. It's not easy to reconcile.

There was some victim blaming (as there always is in crashes that leaves their victims dead and voiceless) but I sent along the next steps response I have learned over the years. (1) infrastructure (2) NYPD community affairs and community boards (3) write the corrupt Albany legislators and expect them to pay lip service if anything at all and doing nothing to help the situation. Yes, cynical, but reality. I was once a newbie cycle commuter and now I was the experienced one doling out the comfort.

Grief, victim blaming, saying the what ifs, more grief, determination to change things. Futilely trying to make changes. Not seeing results. Changing tactics. Moving on despite the numbness. Repeat. Sigh.

A friend and coworker began bike commuting after the killing on chambers st - right outside our office - he biked the west side path - then before chambers rode to the water and then back again to the path after chambers. I told him it doesn't matter. Take chambers just be careful of cars. He wouldn't listen to reason. Chambers is not great. But running into a bad actor especially one who will kill you is really unlikely.

In any case. Fear. There you have it. I on the other hand become reasonably scared while transiting by car- those crashes are far more likely to happen and far more likely to maim and kill. And pedestrians bear the worst of it when looking at the statistics. Its sad.

So it's been a very cool spring with super windy days. Which means less people on the commute (cycling wise) but lots of headwind, making for amazing muscles I suppose

My daughter had a moving on ceremony and I went back to work around 11-12 and made the mistake of taking the Brooklyn bridge. I had the unfortunate experience of going thru the bike path and shouldering a pedestrian bc they were on the wrong side and didn't heed my bell. Ugh. Hate the Brooklyn bridge unless it's winter or early morning. It's my ride in every morning (and sometimes my run into work) and it is never this bad. But with high tourist season it gets hairy. I still say hi to the bike advocate crossing guard at the BK bridge every morning. It's a nice regular part of my ride, greeting him. I take the Manhattan bridge back to Brooklyn everyday after work-and it's almost always smooth. All except for last Friday and today.

Let me come back in another post detailing those days...this one is quite long already

snow_echo_NY

Short flat story since everyone's sharing flat stories:

Was ready to take the Yuba and go to a friends birthday- only to realize there was a flat! My husband got the pump pronto from our apt and raced back down to start pumping the rear tire. But after he stopped there was a definite hiss. Since the rear is under the weight of a cargo bike, wheel skirt and panniers we took the bike in. Plus we did not have a 26" tube, only our standard 700x28s for our surly commuter bikes.

We walked over to 718 cyclery our LBS and they had us up and running in no time. Turns out the last time I rode it, there was something that got caught in the sidewall - that ripped a hole right thru the sidewall and tube. So we got the tube and tire replaced and went off.

Our first flat story of the year. Hubs has had 4+ in the last year. He definitely had one in recent months - but not me. I haven't had any (knock on wood) and I think it's bc I ride gatorskins. I don't care about a softer ride (my commute is 5 miles one way) - I just wanna get there on time as expected. I've ridden bad potholes, cutouts in bike lanes by the utility company, over glass shards, mud, snow, rain puddles - you name it I probably plowed thru it.

Bizarre!

Also have been riding with the cycliq fly12 since we got it in April. So far we like it. We submit taxis parked in bike lanes and provide photo evidence and taxis pay a fine. Now if only they had that program in place for cop cars...

essiemyra

Good to see you back Snow Echo NY!

It was a nice uneventful commute this morning with the temp at 55f degrees.

Phil_gretz

I really enjoyed your posts, even though you confront the harsh side of bike commuting in a northeastern city daily. You have my admiration.


My commutes have been uneventful and pleasant the last few weeks. With warmer temperatures and sunlight now when I leave home, there are fewer things to juggle.


Dodged the storm cells yesterday afternoon, commuting home between bands of intense rain and thunder. All was well.


I'm coming up on one year of full time bike commuting - it's been really fun and a lot easier than I'd have thought going in. Yay.

tarwheel 

Warm and humid this morning with temps in the mid-70s, but still mild by summer standards around here. Tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher, and I plan to drive. I'm leaving on a weeklong bike trip early Friday morning and need to give my legs a rest. I have been racking up the miles the past three weeks, including a 45-mile commute yesterday and metric century last weekend.

I'll be riding over the coming week in the area around Madison, Wi, with my brother and friends. It should be a lot of fun. We are going to alternate days riding on the roads and rails-to-trails. Hopefully the weather will be cooler and less humid there.

mgw4jc

Wheeee! New forum colors and such.

Pretty normal ride today. The traffic is definitely better these past couple of weeks since the schools closed.

baron von trail 

New forum format sucks.

The ride into work today did not.

baron von trail 

They have a nice R2T system in central Wisconsin. My mom and dad live up by there in summer. We ride the trail from Reedsburg to Tempealeau on the Mississippi River, a small town about 50 miles or so north of La Crosse. It's a beautiful trail through woods and rural farmland.

You know those trails are unpaved, limestone. Right? I mention it because you said you would be riding roads and trails. I would not recommend using a road bike on those trails.

Tundra_Man 

Was awoken at 5 AM by a monsoon hitting our roof. Got up and looked out the window at the downpour, then went back to bed knowing there was no way I could control it. I recently finished off a large portion of our basement and now I'm gun-shy every time it rains even though I've never had moisture as long as I keep the undersized gutters running free. It's on my list to replace the gutters on that side of the house wtih larger ones. Once that's done I'll probably worry less about the basement flooding.

Alarm went off at 6 AM. Got up and the rain had stopped. Went out for a 2.5 mile run and it actually was pretty nice out, but quite humid. 70 degrees and the clouds were moving out of the area. Blue sky slowly returned as I plodded along. I decided to switch it up and run my normal loop in reverse. Funny how the same things you see all the time look a little different when you come from the opposite direction.

Back at the house I showered off and headed out the door for the 4 mile ride to work. The wind looked to be favorable today, blowing cross-ways on my way to work and then it's supposed to shift around and give me a tail wind on the way home. Because of this I rode the fixie for the 2nd time this week.

Got to work and my work shirt was pretty soaked from the humidity. I even rode a fairly slow pace to try and prevent sweating. Looks like it's reached the point of the year where I'm going to have to commute in different clothes even on the days where I just have a short 4 mile jaunt.

arsprod 

OK, I'm not seeing things... good. A cooler 68F and rain this morning with looming thunderstorms. I'm amazed how fast I can ride when trying to beat threatening weather

jrickards

It was a nice commute in. It started with heavy clouds, possibly carrying rain, in the west with a wind from the west but as the commute progressed, the clouds gradually disappeared and I was riding into a bright morning sun.

Our "Share the Road" event is tonight so I'll have to have dinner before I leave work.

I also have to make a stop at our local outdoor sports store to buy another Buff: I had hung mine out to dry on Monday night, grabbed it on Tuesday (yesterday) morning but didn't put it on, didn't need to, just draped it over my shoulders. Forgot it was there, headed off to work, 15 minutes later, remembered what I had done but it was gone and I didn't have time to go back to try to find it. I checked on the way home and this morning on the way out but it appears to be gone, darn, it was really nice.

Rothaí

Can't wait to be commuting again....waiting on an op to remove a metal band from my hip that was put in after I broke my hip socket (yes, cycling!)...3 years ago and is bothering the sciatic nerve.
From a daily 36km round trip commute to zero.
Not fair!