Finally was able to commute

I was finally able to commute to & from work today. I was hoping to ride yesterday, but someone (me) forgot to turn the alarm on, so I woke up too late to commute yesterday. Today's rides were great. I've been doing a power workout week on my road bike & commuting gives me a chance to just spin my legs & loosen them up for the workouts later in the day. Today seemed to go by at a good pace. I think riding into work had something to do with it, but not sure. I really didn't have much traffic to deal with & the weather was fantastic. The ride home was great. I decided to do the workout I was going to do on my road bike on my commuter bike & then get some other things done when I got home. My legs really felt good on the way home. I was totally surprised at how they felt, haven't felt that good on the way home in quite some time. I'm looking foward to commuting on Friday, can't do it tomorrow due to an appointment not long after I get off work, but if the weather will co-operate for Friday, I'll be commuting. I know I've been really slack this year, but it seems like either the weather or life seems to get in the way lately. I'm hoping it will stop & I can commute & keep one less car on the road. Thanks for reading.

Mother Nature seems to have something against me.

Mother Nature just seems to have something against me this year as far as commuting goes. I haven't been able to stay consistent in commuting to & from work. I've only been able to commute few times since getting the shoes. I've finally fixed the problem with the insole for my right foot. I found out that the arch support was held in place with velcro. I removed the arch support & now I don't have the problem of my arch bothering me anymore. I'm still having to adjust the cleat position though. I'm hoping the weather changes here soon to get back to a regular commuting schedule. My workday seems to go by faster when I get to ride into work each morning. I'm looking foward to commuting again & getting back to a normal routine for me.

New shoes & nice weather for a change

Today I was actually able to commute to & from work. The weather this morning was great, it was about 55 degrees out & I had a tailwind to work. I was finally able to try some new shoes I had gotten with a gift certificate I had won on New Year's Day from The Bike Store. I got a pair of Bontrager Mt. Bike shoes. They look as follows:

I'm still tweaking the cleat position, so it's going to take a few rides to get it right, but they are working great as of now. It's actually nice to be able to walk & not sound like a horse clopping through the stores or the hanger at work when I'm off the bike. The only complaint I have so far about the shoes are the insoles that came with them. They have e-soles inserted inside. The one for my left foot feels fine when I'm walking & cycling, but the one for the right foot only feels fine when I'm walking. When I'm cycling the arch position of the insole seems too far forward. I took it out on the commute home & it seems to feel much better without it. I'll probably get another type of insoles & see how they work with the shoes. Speaking of the commute home, it was a hard one, I had a headwind of about 20 mph the entire ride & my legs just seemed a bit on the heavy side. I'm thinking I didn't have the proper food to eat for the ride home. I took a shorter, but hillier route home. There is one good climb on the route I took today & I was able to get up in only downshifting one time. I can tell that my legs are getting stronger & I'm looking forward to commuting as much as possible this year. I'm going to try to surpass 1800 miles commuting this year.

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.......