Lousy weather here the past few weeks

Sorry there hasn't been any posts here lately, but the weather has just been too cold to commute. It's been under freezing here most of the mornings, so the commute just isn't as much fun as when it's above 40 degrees. I'm hoping that the weather will get a bit warmer in the mornings, but it probably won't. I guess I'll have to find some extreme cold weather gear to commute when it's this cold. I'll let anyone know if I get to commute here anytime soon.

The difference between two weeks.

Boy the weather sure can change between weeks. About a week ago, the weather was great for commuting. It was a bit cold on a couple of days, but not that bad. I was able to ride at least 3 days that week. Fast forward to this week. The weather was just above freezing every morning. Riding in weather like that, then having to work all day really isn't my idea of fun. It usually takes me sometime to warm up after getting to work and I usually have a chill most of the day. I didn't commute at all this past week because of the cold weather. I'm hoping that the weather is a bit warmer in the mornings this upcoming week. I guess I really just need to quit wimping out and commute as long as it's not foggy or raining. I've already paid for the bike by the amount of gas I've saved by riding to & from work. It's nice not having to fill the tank up as often too.

Time to catch up with things

I'm sorry I haven't posted on here in a while, but last week was pretty much a wash for commuting to & from work. It rained just about every morning when I got up and I have been having sinus problems, so I just felt that getting out in the rain with how I was feeling probably wasn't a very good idea. I know that may sound like a cop out, but I really do enjoy riding to work. Last week just felt like everything slowed down and the work days seemed to last longer and seemed more stressful than when I get to ride to & from work. This past week was a totally different story. The weather each day was clear, cool, & crisp. It made for some nice riding weather. I was able to commute 3 days this week. The only day that was a problem was on the ride home on Thursday. I had ridden hard with some friends after riding home on Tuesday & I guess I was still feeling it. The ride to work that Thursday morning was good, my legs were a bit stiff the first part of the ride, but felt much better the last part of the ride. On the way home, it just seemed that my legs weren't attached to my body. They just felt very heavy and no matter what gear I was in, it just seemed to be too big of a gear. I haven't felt that tired on a bike for a long time. I was just happy to make it home. I'm looking forward to some longer rides this weekend if the weather co-operates.

Good week for commuting

This week the weather has been fantastic. It was only 47 degrees when I left the house this morning, but it felt fantastic. I love riding in the cooler weather. My legs felt good on the way to work, although it took a bit longer to warm them up in the cool weather. There is just something about riding in cool weather and the dark that makes it feel like an adventure each time I do it. I love the fact that when I leave for work, there really isnt' much traffic at that time. The return trip is a totally different story. I'm just happy that I haven't been knocked over a few times with the way some people drive. I have been able to commute 3 days this week. Tomorrow is my treat to myself. On each payday I drive to work and stop and treat myself to a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. I really love those things & I'd have one every day if I could afford to. Well the early forecasts look like next week will be another good week for commuting. Stay tuned for more adventures.......

Off to a good start this week

This week's off to a much better start than last week. The weather today was great and the ride in felt good. My legs felt a bit heavy after yesterday's ride, but that's the way it goes sometimes. The ride home was uneventful, but after lifting batteries all day long at work, my legs were a bit on the heavy side. The forecast for the rest of the week looks good for commuting, Thursday looks to be a bit on the cool side, but that's ok. I'll ride as long as it's not raining or foggy. Last week I was able to commute at least one way each day of the week, so I felt good about that. I didn't realize that I had put that many miles on the bike just by riding to & from work. I guess it does all add up in the end.

Better day today.

Today was a much better commute. I had no problems whatsoever. I took a hillier route to work today to make up for not getting to ride much yesterday. My legs felt ok going up the climbs. The weather was a bit on the cool side, had to break out the arm & knee warmers. It felt good riding in the cool weather. The commute home was even better. My legs felt great on the way home & I had a bit of a tailwind most of the way home. I kept up a good cadence and had a good comfortable ride home. Everything on the bike worked great. As I was putting my ride info into my computer, I noticed that I have commuted almost 1,500 miles this year. The commute to work will put me over that mark. I didn't realize I was even close to that number of commuting miles. It feels good not having to fill the tank up so much. Stay tuned for more commuting adventures......

What a lousy start to the week!!!!!!

I got up this morning feeling a bit stiff & sore from mountain biking yesterday, but still determined to commute into work today. I thought that if I rode in, my legs and back might not feel as sore as they did when I woke up. I dressed, ate breakfast, let the dogs out, & fed them before finally heading to work. The weather was great, about 60 degrees when I left, so I had to break out the arm & knee warmers. I had a comfortable pace going, wasn't planning on pushing it very hard. I passed under an overpass near Robins, AFB, when I noticed that the rear wheel felt a bit on the mushy side. Oh no I thought, not another flat. Sure enough, my rear wheel was flat. I took off the rear wheel and proceeded to remove the tire & tube. I found out that I had ran over some type of staple & that was the cause of my flat rear. I pulled out the new tube, only to find out it was the wrong size. I had to call a friend to pick me up & take me back home. I called in work to tell them what happened & that I would be late. I showered, dressed, & headed to work. I was about half way, when I realized that I had forgotten my work badge, so I had to turn around & head back home to get it. I got to work about 30 minutes late. I stayed an extra 30 minutes to make up the time. I headed to The Bike Store to get 2 new, correct size tubes. I installed one & now the bike is ready for tomorrow's commute. I hope I have better luck tomorrow. Stay tuned to find out.....

Good week for commuting

This past week was a good week for commuting. I was able to commute 3 out of the 4 days of my work week. The light system I've been borrowing has been fantastic. It puts out great light and lasts the entire commute without dimming much at all. The weather this week has been great. We finally have some cooler weather and it's nice not to have my jersey soaked by the time I get to work. I love riding in cooler weather. The bike has been pretty much bullet proof since getting that last flat. That's about all I have for this week, stay tuned for more commuting adventures......

Back into the swing of things

Today I put the lighting system Charles loaned me to good use. It's from Sigma Sport and has a 5 watt and a 10 watt lamp. The battery for this system is much smaller and lighter than the one I had before. I mainly just used the 5 watt lamp and it gave off great light. I did use the 10 watt lamp when I was passing through some very dark sections and never had a problem seeing where I was going. My legs felt great both on the way to work and on the way home afterwards. I'm hoping to ride the rest of this week & it seems that the weather is going to co-operate and get cooler all week. I'm looking forward to the cooler temps and lower humidity on the rides into work. Just doing my best to save some gas.........

Still around

I know it's been way too long since my last post, just got my computer back & am looking foward to doing some more updates. The Ergon grips are working great. I added a trunk rack for the bike & that has really helped. I was riding to work one day a few weeks ago & ran over something and blew the rear tube. I caught a ride to work with a friend and during my work break found out that not only did I blow the tube, I ran over a good sized piece of metal that put a hole in the sidewall of the tire. I replaced both tire and tube and rode as much as I could when the weather permitted. Last week I found out that I have to purchase a new battery for my lighting system. I've had the system for quite a few years, so this wasn't a total surprise for me. Until I get the new batter, Charles is letting me borrow his Sigma Sport lighting system. I'm hoping the weather co-operates Tuesday morning to give it a shot. If I like this system, I just might purchase a new system instead of just a new batter. Thanks to everyone who reads this.

Trying some new components

Today I was able to ride to work, my legs have been pretty tired the past few days training for the racing season. I bought some new parts for the Trek & have been wanting to try them out since earlier this week. This morning was the first chance I had to use them. I installed some Ergon Grips on the Trek. Charles from The Bike Store said he has some on his mountain bike & loves them. I thought they might help stop the numbness I get in my right hand from riding to & from work each day. I guess I still have to tweak the adjustment, my right hand did get a bit numb during the ride, but not as much as before. Here's what the grips look like:

I also added a bar end mirror which lets me know when something big is coming up behnid me. I thought about a glasses mounted mirror, but the bar end one is much larger & I can see better with it. It worked great on the way in this morning. Hoping for good weather the rest of the week to ride into & from work & run errands all weekend.

Back to the commute

I know it's been quite some time since I've posted anything here, but the computer is still down & I've been out of town for work & just getting back into my normal routine. The price of gas here at home is just over $4 a gallon or just below it. I've actually ridden to work 4 days this week. They changed my work schedule, instead of working 5 day a week for 8 hours, I now work 4 days a week, 10 hour shifts. Traffic on the way home is a bit more of a problem than before, but it's something we all have to deal with. Tuesday was the first day of my commuting week and the legs just really weren't there. That has something to do with racing over the weekend & doing 40 miles on Monday. They felt heavy both trips. The rest of the week it seemed like I had no problems and on Friday especially, my legs felt like they were coming around to where they were before heading out of town. I just found out that one of the other people from work just bought a hybrid bike to begin commuting. I'm trying to find out what his riding schedule to work is so we can hook up & ride in together at least part of the ride. I'm looking foward to this coming weeks commute and I just have to look at the gas prices to see why I get up at 4 am each morning for my commute. Here's to safe commuting to everyone.

Sorry it's been so long

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post, but my computer is messed up. The past few weeks haven't been great in terms of commuting. It's either been bad weather, appointments soon after work, or not getting enough sleep to get up early to commute. I know, the last two excuses are lame. You can dog me as much as you want to about that. This week so far has been much better. The weather has been great & no other reasons not to commute. They started a new uniform program at work & it works great for me. We have our uniforms cleaned for us & then once they are cleaned, they are put in lockers for each individual at work. No more carrying a uniform to work each & every day. No more taking a week's worth of uniforms & dropping them off on Sunday, only to take all the dirty ones home on Saturday to wash all at one time. I just have to bring underwear, socks, & my t-shirts to work then take only them home. I throw my dirty uniforms in the bins & they get picked up to be cleaned. I wish they had started this program a long time ago. The weather looks great for the rest of the week, so it looks like the Trek will get some more loving miles put on it. Stay tuned for more.....

A new week

Last week I was able to commute only 2 days last week. Mother Nature decided she wanted to have rain, so needless to say my commuting suffered. This week has gotten off to a good start. I've been able to commute to work yesterday & today. The weather has been great, yesterday morning it was over 60 degrees & the trip home yesterday was lots of fun. I had a tailwind the entire ride home. I actually did my road bike scheduled workout on the way home on this bike. It was a hard workout, but it was fun doing something different for a change. On the way home, some smart aleck kid decided he was going to be funny by yelling at me as he passed me. I was lucky I didn't lose control of the bike & either turn in front of his car or wipe out. I saw where he turned & was tempted to chat with him about why he shouldn't do things like that, but I was still a bit upset about it & decided that he probably wouldn't listen to what I had to say anyway. Maybe next time it happens & I can follow the vehicle, I might have a change of mind & have a chat with them. This morning the weather was great, just a bit under 60 degrees & not much of a wind. I just took it easy & cruised into work this morning. I'm looking forward to the ride home, forecast says it should be nice. The rest of the week looks good for commuting & if it holds out I certainly will be doing it.

One last blast of winter

Last week Mother Nature decided it was time for one last blast of cold weather. All week long it was about freezing or just above it. I really don't care to ride in weather like that, then have to work all day long, needless to say I didn't even commute one day last week. The weather has been better this week so far & I was able to commute yesterday, even though it was drizzling, I did get to work. I started out & then had to return to the house to get the waterbottle I forgot. I then decided to try a different route to work. The route I used was a bit hillier than my usual route, but I did get a good workout. The ride home was uneventful, just kept a nice pace & had a good ride home. I then had to run some errands nearby, so I did those on the bike also. All in all it was a nice peaceful day to be on the bike.

Not a bad week last week

Last week wasn't a bad week for commuting to & from work. I was able to ride at least 3 days. The only thing bad about riding last week, was that each day I rode, there was a strong headwind on the way home. On Friday, I had the headwind again, but just decided to put it in cruise mode & just enjoy being outside on a nice day. I drove to work today seeing as I'm going on a group ride in McDonough this evening, but brought in my uniforms for the rest of the week. I'll be riding the rest of the week as long as it's not raining. Stay tuned for more adventures......

Two days down this week

I've been able to commute to & from work the past 2 days. The rides to work have been great, cool temps, not much traffic to bother me. Of course I'm riding to work @ 5 in the morning. LOL The rides home have been another story. I've had a 15-20 mph headwind the past 2 days. It's been a hard ride home. The traffic is also getting worse, but not much I can do about that. The bike has been awesome!!!! My thanks go out to Charles @ The Bike Store in Warner Robins, for hooking me up with it. Since that minor problem with the fender, there hasn't been any other problems. I had to drive to work today seeing as it's going to rain later in the day, but I did bring in extra work clothes for the rest of this week. The forecast looks good for riding. Stay tuned for more commuting adventures.....

Not a great week for commuting.

This week hasn't been the greatest for riding to & from work. I've only been able to do it today. The weather & other things in life hasn't made it great for commuting. I'm taking tomorrow off the bike to rest for my races this weekend. I'm hoping the weather is better next week & if so, I'll be commuting to & from work. The bike has been fantastic so far. I had to run to the store for a few things last night & took the bike seeing as it wasn't that far away. I found my lock & took another pair of shoes to change into once arriving at the store. I bought what I needed & then headed back home. This was the other reason I bought this bike, running errands that are close to the house instead of wasting the gas for short trips. Stay tuned to see what happens next......

Good week so far

So far this week has been better than last week to commute to work. I've been able to get to commute for 2 days this week. I'm hoping to ride tomorrow also. The forecast is looking good to ride to & from work. The ride to & from was pretty uneventful today, just the way I like it. I won't be able to ride on Friday due to other commitments after work. I've been enjoying riding to & from work. I feel much more alert when I get to work & it seems to make the day go by faster. I'm also enjoying saving some money by cycling. Gas around here is about $3.15 a gallon. I get bugged sometimes about cycling, but I'm not worried about it with the price of gas being what it is. As long as I can save some money I'm good with the teasing. Stay tuned for more......

Off to a good week (somewhat)

The weather today was great to ride to work this morning. It was about 46 degrees with not much of a wind. The ride into work was pretty uneventful which was great. The ride home was another story. The weatherman said that the wind was going to be between 5-15 mph out of the south. He was just a bit off on his forecast. The wind was blowing out of the south southeast at 19 mph with gusts up to 24 mph. I had a headwind most of the way home & it was brutal. I was lucky if I could hit 17 mph & that was going downhill a bit. I'm hoping that the rest of the week will be better. The forecast calls for rain tomorrow, so I'll be driving. The rest of the week looks good for commuting. I'll keep posting to let everyone know how it goes.

Mother Nature isn't playing fair!!!!!!

This week hasn't been a good week to commute at all. I've only gotten to ride to & from work only once this week & that was on Monday. On Tuesday it was raining, so that day was shot. Today it was a bit on the windy side. The wind was from the NW at 20 mph with gusts to 32 mph according to weather.com. Tomorrow isn't looking that great either. The temp around the time I have to leave will be below 25 degrees. I can handle the weather up to about 35 degrees, but after that it's just not worth the effort to ride as far as I have to. The early forecast for next week is looking much better for commuting. There are a couple of days that might be a bit iffy, but it can't be as bad as this week has been. I thought Mother Nature would smile upon me, seeing as I'm taking one car off the roads, but I guess she's still waiting to see how committed I am to this adventure. I'm going to prove to her that I'm serious about this. That's about all for this week.

No doubt it's Monday

Today certainly was Monday!!!! Things started out great, a bit on the cold side, but no rain in the forecast. I headed out to work, and noticed that my legs felt a bit heavy. I've rode my road bike the past couple of days, but didn't think that my legs were that tired. I just downshifted a gear & it felt much better. I just continued to pedal towards work, when I neared an intersection where there is a nice downhill section. I just figured I'd put it in the big ring & use the momentum from the downhill to get up the smaller hill. I tried shifting to the big ring, but it didn't seem to shift, that's when I noticed that I was already in the big ring. It had been that way since the start of the ride & that's why my legs felt the way they did at the start. Well a bit further down the road, I noticed that my front fender was loose & ready to fall off. I stopped for a few minutes & tried to re-install it, but I quickly gave up that idea & got back on the bike towards work. Upon re-installing the front wheel, it seemed that the brake pads didn't line up correctly, so it was rubbing on one side the rest of the commute. I re-installed the front fender during a break at work. Once work was done, the commute home was pretty much uneventful. The only problem on the way home was the headwind the entire way. The forecast says there's an 80% chance of rain tomorrow, so I'm going to play it safe & drive to work tomorrow. The early forecast for the rest of the week looks good to commute. Stay tuned.....

Rain today

The forcast called for a 50% chance of rain. I woke up this morning & it wasn't raining, so I decided to get things together & ride into work. I was surprised how my legs felt after all the riding I did yesterday. After I felt warmed up, I put it in a bigger gear & pushed it a bit. I actually put it in the biggest gear on the bike & just kept up a good cadence. I actually made it to work faster than the other days I rode in. During the day the rain came in, so needless to say I didn't get to ride home. The forcast for tomorrow calls for a 70% chance of rain. I guess I'm driving to work. I need to look into getting some good rain gear, so I have one less excuse for not riding to work. I'm hoping to get to ride all next week, but we'll just have to see.

Day two, surviving so far

The commute to work today was pretty much the same as yesterday. The temp was 39 degrees with not much of a wind to mention. My legs felt good on the way in. It was pretty much an uneventful ride in today, just the kind of ride I like. After work, on the way home, I decided to try a different route home. This route was a bit shorter, but it was much hillier. I certainly had to work on this route home. My legs certainly felt the hills, especially with everything I was carrying in my panniers. The forcast calls for a 50% chance of rain tomorrow, if it's not raining when I get up & ready to leave, I'm riding. If it's raining, I guess I'm driving. I'm hoping for no rain till after I get home after work. We'll see what happens........

Day one, no problems!!!!!

Today was the first day that I left the car at home & rode to work. The weather this morning was a bit on the cool side, only 42 degrees, but there wasn't much of a wind, so it wasn't that bad. I felt good on the way in, warmed up nicely & there wasn't much traffic on the way in. It felt good being on the bike that early in the morning, the darkness made it a bit more interesting, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Once I was finished with work, the real adventure began. I left work & headed home, know that part of the way home was going to be a bear dealing with the wind. I had a headwind the last part of the ride & it made for some hard riding. Traffic really wasn't much of a help either. I seemed to have more semi-trucks going in the opposite direction I was than ones going my way. Oh well, that's just the way it goes sometimes. All in all it was a great day to ride to & from work, looking forward to the rest of the week if the weather holds out.

Today was not to be.

I was hoping to start commuting to work today, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Last night there were some bad storms in the area & there was a tornado that touched down in Crawford County not too far from here. I was hoping the weather would move through & be dry enough to ride this morning, but alas I was wrong. About 3 am I was woken up by a flash of lightning through my bedroom window. After seeing that I decided not to even attempt riding into work today. I reset my alarm & woke up @ 5 am for work. I'm planning on riding to work on Tuesday morning, the weather forcast is much better, at least no rain. I can handle the cold, but cold & rain isn't much fun. I'll let anyone who reads this know what happens.

A new adventure begins!!!!!

Welcome everyone to my blog. I just purchased a brand new Trek 3700 mountain bike. This mission of this bike is to commute to & from work mainly. I will also use it to make short trips to the store & other places nearby. I swapped the knobby tires for slicks, installed a rear rack, added a front fender, installed Egg Beater pedals, & installed both front & rear lights so I can be seen. The reason I chose the Egg Beaters is that I have a set of Crank Bros. Quattro pedals on my road bike. I can use the same shoes on both bikes. I have an older set of panniers to put on the bike over the weekend. I plan to start commuting to work on Monday morning. I have a 17 mile ride each way. The route is mainly just rollers, not too hard, but not flat either. I have to be at work by 6:30 am, so I figure I'll leave my house by about 5 am so I have time to clean up once arriving at work. Today was the shakedown ride with the Trek. I used a loop I've ridden several times when I need an easy ride. Everything worked out great on the bike. The bike shifted perfectly & I am getting used to riding in a more upright position. I'm usually on my road bike tucked in a more aero position, so it will take a few rides to get used to being a bit more upright. I just figured it was time to start saving some money by riding instead of spending it all on gasoline. The only time I probably won't ride to work is when it's raining. I'm looking forward to Monday & the start of my new adventure.