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.....