Oh the humanidity!

Also: going (slowly) uphill on gravel, hit a soft patch which slowed me to nearly a standstill, then spun out the back wheel and almost went over. Getting started again on a fixed gear uphill on gravel is a challenge.

Lastly: wishing my American friends a happy 4th of July!

It's feeling very lonely here. Another warm and very humid ride to work today. There's an older gentleman that I see out for a walk almost every time I ride to work, and usually in the same area. He always waves and says good morning, and I always nod and grunt something in return (I'm usually going uphill at that point and can't manage more than a grunt). Today I saw him way earlier on the trail, which meant that I was running way behind. Got to work a good 15 minutes late.

Have a great weekend!

Unexpected "commute" today dropping off the pickup truck at the transmission shop one burb over. I'll count it. Took the Paramount. Every time I'm reminded what a good frame and wheels it has and how I hate the cockpit and controls. But it has to be what it is, changing it would be heresy

Sunny, warm, and a little breezy. It's gonna be hot for the ride home.

Two days in a row! Quite a streak I've got going. Got hit in the mouth by a dragonfly, otherwise uneventful. Like, really uneventful. Traffic was nearly non-existent. Have a great weekend everyone.

Three days in a row! I'm unstoppable! Until the next time it drizzles in the morning. Actually, I just missed a few raindrops this morning. Good ride; these are nice summer mornings with quiet roads and trails.

It was a commute this morning. I am back from a two-week vacation and the first day out riding again. It is humid this am and will be warm this afternoon. I see a slow ride home.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1458:

It's been in the upper 90s here the last few weeks, often times with humidity. I'm not complaining in the least, as the memories of February are still fresh in my mind.

This morning on the way in it was 79°F, and there was a pretty stiff headwind. I haven't been sleeping well the last few weeks and am feeling pretty wiped out, so I went for slow and steady against the wind rather than completely trying to bust my hump and save five minutes.

Was about two miles from the office when I noticed a co-worker riding a few hundred yards in front of me. I picked up my pace to attempt to catch up with him. I got within about 50 yards when he made a traffic light and I didn't. About a mile down the road I finally did catch up when he was stopped for a light. At that point we only had about 1/4 mile left to the office, but it was nice riding with him even if for a very brief amount of time.

Still haven't done the rebuild on my road bike, so the crank is really wobbly in the bottom bracket and I have to do a lot of coaxing to get the rear derailleur to shift. Yesterday I noticed I have now officially worn through my left brake hood (one of the replacement items I have sitting at home in the box of parts.) This Saturday it's supposed to be in the upper 80s and rainy, so I'm hoping the garage will be a reasonable enough temp for me to spend the day finally going through and refurbishing this bike.

Four days in a row! That's... not unprecedented actually. I think my record is somewhere around 15 days, which seems exceptionally lame when I'm posting right after Tundra_Man . Oh, and welcome back essiemyra too, it was starting to feel like this thread was becoming Groovestew's Boring Commute Diary.

I just about didn't ride today, and not because of weather. My wife asked if I could pick up our younger daughter from a birthday party on my way home from work, which I would need a vehicle for. And I said in response, "Woman, I'm the Man, what I say goes, and schlepping the kids around is your responsibility!" Yeah, that didn't happen. In reality, I timidly expressed my preference for riding my bicycle today, but would be perfectly willing to help her out in any way possible. In the end, she graciously worked out a plan for picking up the kid around her schedule, leaving me free to ride.

A bit on the warm side this morning. Naturally, one of my colleagues came into my office before I could even catch my breath, to discuss a document as I sit dripping sweat.

Five commuting days in a row, but perhaps more significantly, the third consecutive day this week. It's been a while since I've done that. I can feel my legs getting tired due to overall lack of riding. I debated taking a multi-geared bike today to have the option of lower gears and easier pedalling, but the fixie was right there and ready, so I just took it. A bit cooler this morning, and a bit breezier too.

It's very hot in the UK at the moment and all four nations of the UK recorded their highest ever temperatures with the first ever 40°C temperature officially being recorded In England. Thankfully, South Wales was cooler than that and my commute is very short but I was still dripping wet getting home as I do give it some gas riding home. My ride into work should be much nicer for the next six weeks as "School's out for summer, School's out forever" and the traffic will be so much lighter and calmer.

I'm not seeing much on my commute but whilst at work (I work outside) we are seeing Red Kites, Buzzards and the occasional Kestrel. The Buzzards mystify me as they allow themselves to be mobbed by Jackdaws and Seagulls and never fight back. There's every chance that my contract will be further extended to the end of March 2023 and I'll probably retire after that but there's a lot of thinking to be done as my wife is also keen on early retirement and the cost of living crisis is becoming a real issue.

I rode a multi-geared bike today after riding nothing but my fixed gear for a couple of weeks, and I be like
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bb0d80ff00.jpg
The saddle is a bit nicer, the handlebars a lot wider, and I can coast! And change gears! What a novelty. My legs needed that bit of relief.

We continue to get nice warm days, thankfully nothing like the UK! We had near 40C temps last summer, and it wasn't pleasant. July has been mostly in the mid-20's, which is really nice. It'll turn cold soon enough.

This morning I came across a couple of police training groups on a gravel path in the valley. The first group of about 20 looked like they were in some kind of SWAT training, wearing body armour, hi-viz vests and carrying fake-looking semi-auto weapons. They just carried on with their business as I rode past. The next group was about 40 people in navy blue uniforms out for a jog. As I passed by, the leader started counting, "ONE....TWO....THREE" and then the whole group shouted in unison, "GOOD MORNING, SIR!" And I yelled "Good Morning" back. Not gonna lie, that little exchange put a big smile on my face. Made my commute.

Two weeks and three days til school starts and I get my commute back. Counting it down...

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1462:

It was actually on the cool side this morning at 61°F. After the heat wave we've been experiencing for the last month it almost made the air feel chilly. Once I got warmed up though it was about the perfect temp.

I spent most of Saturday rebuilding my road bike, which I had let go far too long without doing a whole bunch of needed maintenance. I wound up replacing the bottom bracket, chain, cassette, front and rear brake pads, rear shift cable (frayed at the front brifter and only had two strands left holding it together!), brifter covers (had worn holes in the old ones!) and bar tape. Gave the bike a much needed scrubbing while I had it all apart as well.

I'm still having an occasional noise and vibration that will show up, usually on descents over 20 mph. It will only happen about once per day. I will suddenly hear a muffled buzzing noise that sounds like something is rubbing against my tire (nothing is) and I will feel a resonance in my handlebars. As I slow down and drop below 5 mph the noise will stop, making it tough to diagnose the problem as I can't recreate it when I'm not riding. My gut says front wheel bearing, but I'm not having the typical "click" that a worn wheel bearing normally makes. There's no lateral play in either the front or rear wheel. My hubs have sealed bearings, so I'm not sure if there's any good way to fix the issue other than replacement. And I'm not sure paying someone to re-lace the existing rim onto a new hub would be any cheaper than just buying a whole new wheel.

It is supposed to rain today between 9 and 2. I wanted to try out my newly refurbished bike, so rather than taking my hybrid with fenders I decided to risk the weather. If the weather forecast holds true, it should be dry by the time I ride home. If not, well then I guess I'm cleaning the bike again.

The rebuilt bike rode great. The last couple of months shifting the rear derailleur had become difficult. Single gear shifts in either direction rarely happened, and I usually had to click the shifter multiple times to get the chain to swap cogs, leaving the highest and lowest gears pretty much unusable. It felt amazing to click the brifter once and have the bike immediately go to the next gear without any coaxing.

Front shifts also became much improved, which I attribute to the new bottom bracket as the old one was worn so bad I could see the chainring wiggling 1/8" back and forth with each rotation. Without that play, the shifts happened so fast and silently that the first time it actually startled me.

I also hadn't realized how bad the brakes had become, as brake wear happens so gradually that you tend not to notice. All four pads had worn past the wear marks. The new pads grab the rim a lot more aggressively (but reassuringly) compared to the old ones.

Was really enjoying the ride when about 1/2 mile from the office my rear derailleur shifted all the way down into the highest gear, and trying to change gears just resulted in a "click" with no resistance. I finished the ride by muscling the bike in the highest gear. Once I got to the office I inspected things and saw that my new cable had come loose where it connects to the derailleur. Should be a simple fix that I can take care of before I hit the road to go home.

If it’s a cup and cone hub you can get a whole axle assembly with new cones and spacers. There’s essentially a Chinese standard cone and a Taiwan and it’s likely one or the other.

If it’s a cartridge bearing you just whack it out and whack a new one in (I’m simplifying here)

Don’t discount it might be something stupid. I learned about the cones chasing a noise on my MTB. The new cone didn’t fix it because it turned out to be the wheel reflector

Back to the bike commuting again. Yay! The commute this morning was pleasant as it was 66 f degrees with no humidity. Finally. Hopefully the ride home will be just as pleasant.

Streak broken, I drove yesterday :(. One of those days where my schedule was all messed up and driving was more practical.

Back on the bike today, on another lovely morning. Uneventful, other than that I had an annoying rock in my shoe which alternated poking me in the toes and the ball of my foot.

After today, I'm off for the rest of the week and then a holiday Monday. Sayonara until next week! Happy commuting!

A pleasant yet uneventful commute to work this am. May every morning be this nice.

A little cooler, a bit windy. Now that it's August, I think I can expect cooler mornings. As I was riding along, I thought my front tire seemed a bit squishy, so I checked at a stop light, and yeah, it's a bit low. Please remind me to pump it up a bit before I head home, okay?

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1468:

Just rode 10 miles from our company office to a client location in 101°F air temperature. I'm a little bit sweaty at the moment. At least I can rest easy that in about 5 months it will be 120° cooler than it is now.

Saw a guy riding an eBike on the MUP come off a bridge way too hot into a hairpin curve, and fling himself into a ditch. He now has some scrapes and bruises to remind him that just because he can ride that fast doesn't mean he should ride that fast.

Cool and cloudy this morning, with a few showers starting halfway to work. Honestly, if it had been raining at home, I might have driven instead.

Back when the office was downtown, I had occasional opportunities for Silly Commuter Racing, as it was known around here, basically racing or chasing other cyclists on the route. Now that we're out in the 'burbs, such opportunities are rare. This morning, a guy in lycra on a carbon road bike whizzed past me while I was tootling along, so I gave chase, spinning madly on my fixed gear while he powered along at a lower cadence. He was definitely faster than me, and I kept falling further behind until he got through a stop light on green and I got caught at the red. When I got going again, he was barely visible. Eh, it was fun while it lasted.

It's been a messed up week with a death in the family and summer ending and it's going to be a messed up weekend with the funeral on the other side of the country but still hoping to start commuting again next week when school starts

Back in town but no commute yet, 8yo bussing arrangements don't begin til next week

Edit: if then

It feels like forever since I have commuted by bike to work. I am working 46 hours a week right now so it feels like I have no extra energy for riding. I told myself ride the direct ride no extra miles and lo and behold I had the energy to do that this am. It was a very pleasant ride to work this morning with the temp at 59 f degrees and a the sun is coming up a little later in the am.