mgw4jc

Warm and humid. Saw quite a few walkers and joggers.

There was a lady on a bike with a dog beside her on a leash. She may have been trying to train it to walk with her or something. She was going very slowly and had one foot off the pedal as if she was prepared to stop quick. I gave an on your left and she stopped to let me pass. That was good because they were kind of taking their part of the path out of the middle.

beachball42

Apparently all the people that stayed home yesterday came out today and then some. I saw more people on the trails during my commute than I would normally see and in places that I almost never see anyone. At the very beginning of my commute I have a very narrow trail and never encounter anyone in this section. This morning, I had 1 walker and then 3 bike riders (dad and two kids at 6am) of course going the opposite direction so passing was a bit tricky. It also seemed like the whole way I had a slight headwind which I normally don't have any wind. For as easy of a commute I had yesterday, this morning made up for it.

wphamilton

Taking the road bike today, an awesome commute. I thought my collarbone would complain about the low position - but it was nothing. If anything, it was easier on my ribs than my more upright commuting bike, which is unexpected.


It always helps my enthusiasm to add or improve something, and I've already put a rack on it, like I threatened to on Friday. While I'm kind of a purist in wanting to keep a clean road bike, I'm caring less about that these days and I think it's a permanent fixture now. Too convenient to just drop my stuff in the trunk bag, it's worth an extra pound of weight.

pdlamb

First commute in for a while, I didn't know whether to celebrate and mix it up with some intervals, or take it easy in the hopes it's not so scorching hot this afternoon I just want to coast home. So I just tried to keep my legs moving.

I think most all our songbirds have nested and fledged. It's like they have a union: it's 7:30, temperature just passed 80F, it's time to sit quietly in the shade. (Wonder if they inspire road construction workers?)

timvan_78

First commute in 6 weeks this AM. Back on May 20 I busted my collarbone into 4 pieces while mountain biking. I went around some kids standing on the trail, and then I was going slow so I readjusted speed before the next jump. Overshot the landing and hit my shoulder on the ground. Stuff happens. I had a plate and a dozen or so screws put in the next day. I just got the doc's "all clear" for road biking again last Thursday.

First commute back and it's only of the only days it's rained in the past 6 weeks. LOL. Still feels great to ride again.

Darth Lefty 

I took the truck this morning because of an appointment, and exchanged it for the trike at lunch time. I took lunch on the hoof - Mountain Mike's pizza, that we bought for my kid's birthday party some weeks ago and that I took out of the freezer this morning. They use that little extra spicy pepperoni that curls up when cooked to make a delicious little bowl of spicy oil. Unfrozen and still cold, the spicy oil has congealed to orange lard, but never mind that anyways, because the curly pepperoni has small bond area and just falls off the pizza slice onto the bike path. In summary, it's a terrible product for bike commuting.


@timvan_78, ouch, welcome back. Talk to @wphamilton about collarbones...

My collarbone breaks were not "shattered" so they have never prevented me from riding, the pain came with shoulder driven backhand motions

beachball42

Very quiet ride in this morning. A lot more humid than it has been but otherwise a really nice ride. I expect the ride home will be a bit more congested as the July 4 festival in my town starts at 3pm today and my main MUP run's right through the center of the event. Yesterday on the ride home they had the Women's World Cup up on an outdoor screen in our new Midtown area. The game had just ended when I rode by or I would have stopped to catch the ending. Our new bike counter has been out of commission the past few days so not sure what is going on with that but the numbers so far have been pretty impressive on how many riders use the trail.

mgw4jc

@wphamilton - I've been rolling with the seat post trunk on a road bike for years. I know it looks a bit Fred, but I'm over that. I definitely prefer it over a backpack. And it comes off super easy if I do ride other than to work. And the bike feels so light when I take it off!

Plenty warm and humid still. But tomorrow is a holiday! Woo-hoo!

oldgeezerjeff

Nice commute this morning. Turned 61 yesterday and hit a new PR this morning on the ride in to work. Averaged 17 MPH on my commute this morning. Highest average I have ever hit. When I started riding this season, it had been a few years since I had commuted on a bike and I was averaging about 12.5 MPH. So, I am happy this morning.

wphamilton

I didn't want to bulk up the road bike too much, but I'm at the point now where all my bikes need racks. My new policy of having nothing hard or rigid in my jersey clinches it. I just leave the trunk bags on, using like a box really, and put a bag inside them.

BTW very smooth ride on that bike this morning. I've got 28's installed and decent ones, front and back, which I think helps more than anything else.

Darth Lefty 

@beachball42 fun town!

pdlamb

Overcast this morning kept it pleasantly cool (only 76F when I got in!). I think there's a linear increase in how many people are taking off for the Fourth and getting out of town all this week. I don't mind.

Radar looks like a front is headed this way, I'd like for it to hit now and be gone by 4:00 instead of getting here at 3 and lasting past sunset. Ya hear that, O Great Rain Gods?

groovestew

What a miserable city I live in. We've had rain almost every day for the last month, and this whole week, there isn't a single day with a forecast daytime high above 20C (68F). While Europe is sweltering, we're freezing. 10C/50F for the ride in today, with a possibility of some showers for the ride home. Unlike many of you, I don't ride to work in rain, but I don't mind riding home in the rain if I have to.

wphamilton

My new rack and diy trunk bag:



and if I need to, it opens fully to the whole bag. There is an elastic strap over the top to hold everything down.






another view, loaded up:

groovestew

@wphamilton, how do you find your bike rides with that trunk? I tried a similar setup for randonneuring, and I couldn't stand how the bike handled with the weight so high up.

Pretty nice ride in this morning. A degree warmer today vs. yesterday (11C). Struggled a bit on the hills. Why did I struggle on the hills?

Happy 4th of July to our American friends!

wphamilton

I couldn't tell that it was there, but to put that into perspective that rack weighs only a pound and the DIY trunk is very light - all together, less weight than the saddlebag with minitool etc. Which is about 3" lower now than it was previously, which maybe offsets it some. I do tend to keep my commuting load to a minimum.

Darth Lefty 

Rode to the coffee house with 5yo kiddo on his 16er. We took the longer way there, which made it about 3.5 mi round trip. Kiddo is having trouble with his confidence downhill. His bike has slick tires and he had a big crash in gravel about two weeks ago. He worked through it, though, with some cajoling. I was pleased to take my MTB. It was a welcome break from the surgery-recovery trike but I'm not ready to use it week 'round yet. He drew a picture about it. My bike took up the whole paper so he had to add another paper for his bike.

essiemyra

It was a very pleasant commute this am with the temp at 67 f and a bit muggy.

I have been seeing another cyclist out on my morning commutes he is traveling the the opposite direction than me. He is on an e-bike.

mgw4jc

Off yesterday, but back in today. Overcast and humid, but the high is supposed to be under 90 due to the clouds.

Happy Friday which kind of feels Mondayish.

Tundra_Man 

Wet. Today's commute was very wet.

pdlamb

Not wet here, just damp. I don't think the thunderstorms last night quite got to the house -- if it did, it was after I'd gone to bed. But it had rained at work, and the whole ride was 90% muggy.

The streets were awfully quiet -- it was like an early weekend morning out on the road!

groovestew

Nice and sunny this morning, but still a bit on the cool side. Shoes were still a bit damp after getting drenched on the way home yesterday.

I'm pretty sure a bird flew between my wheels, under the bottom bracket.

Near the office, approaching an intersection where I make a wide right turn, a big tandem dump truck passed me and I felt my speed picking up. I guess I caught a nice draft; felt like I got sling-shot around the corner.

Third bike commute day in a row...whaaaaaa???? Look out @Tundra_Man, I'm coming for your record.

essiemyra

It was a very pleasant yet uneventful commute to work.

subgrade

Today it was alright, the rain had just stopped, so had to navigate around some large puddles here and there.
But last Friday on my way home I had a close call with a pedestrian which darted across the street in front of me. As I hit the brakes, and tried to steer around her, the rear of the bike went into a massive slide on the wet tarmac (it had rained not long before and I was doing 20 mph). All ended well though, I caught and corrected the slide and managed to pass behind her back safely. She didn't even look in my direction once...

beachball42

A little humid but not a bad ride. It is a little darker now and each day I loose a little more time of light in the morning but the afternoons are fine. Had a little surprise this morning, a new guy showed up at the office gym this morning and he told me he rode his bike for the first time today so told him where the bike racks are located around our corporate campus. Then my next surprise was when i was leaving the gym to hop back on my bike there was another person just showing up. He also rode for the first time. In the two years I've been doing this I told him this is the most bikes I've seen at our campus gym.

Two weeks ago I saw a women on a bike going to one of our other buildings and I know there is one other person who works in the health clinic who will ride from time to time so that gives us 5 people now who potentially could be bike commuting.

The one person I talked to said he always thought it was too far but this past weekend he went for a ride and just for the heck of it rode up to were we worked and he realized it was possible to do it. I told him I had that same thought before I started and then once you do it you realize how much easier it is than you think. Hopefully these new people are able to keep it up.