How was your commute today?

[s0ckeyeus]

What the crap, man? It's February and I've ridden in shorts and short sleeves just about all week. I have to keep my mouth closed in a couple sections to avoid a mouthful of bugs. I'm hoping to hit the trails tomorrow before the rain returns.

[rodar y rodar]

I had two noteworthy incedents on my ride in tonight. First, I passed a skateboarder going the other way. I didn`t actually see him (her?), but heard the unmistakeable sound of a skateboard being kicked up a slight grade on the other side of the road. By that time, the rider was directly across from me, and way out of my light spread. I said "Hi" and kept riding. Five minutes later, passing the Job Corp campus, I saw "the gang" hanging out, smoking, and BSing outside the front gate of their dorm area. As always, I gave them a little salute, but for the first time I heard one call out "Hey, crazy bike guy". They see me go by most every night, and are probably used to me, and they sometimes wave back, but I`ve never heard any understandable greetings from them (that doppler thing). Pretty exciting night, eh?

[David C]

^^ that was very exciting indeed.

[Dalton]

Second commute of the year with being sick and the odd weather patterns. I am hesitant to put on the spikes because it will snow one day and they melt the next....

[CommuterBoy]

This morning I passed a fence post... hundreds of them, actually but on one of them, blending in with the wood and the dry grass behind, was a great horned owl. Massive critters! He took off right as I got up to him, which really got my attention. He flew parallel to me along the bike lane, getting out ahead of me and then dissapearing behind a row of evergreens that separate the road from the field in that spot. I thought he would vanish, but he hung a sharp left between two of the trees and flew directly in front of me at about eye level, crossing the road and dissapearing into the woods on the other side. Very cool encounter.

[s0ckeyeus]

Originally Posted by CommuterBoy

This morning I passed a fence post...

(cool story about the owl though)

[rodar y rodar]

On a good steep upgrade, I think I`ve had a few of em pass me, too. Never hundreds though.

Oh, I see- YOU did the passing. Never mind.

[CommuterBoy]

You guys are missing the whole point!! There was an OWL!!

[BrianMc]

Being passed by a fencepost would be a man bites dog sort of thing, It sounds like the owl looked like a fence post at first, or was it merely making one look like a taller fence post? Awesome creature and a great side benefit to your ride. Good no deer crossed in front while you were distracted. No headline "Cyclist ogling owl deer damaged."

BrianMc

[rodar y rodar]

Awright, it does sound very cool. Much cooler than fenceposts or ninja skateboarders.

[woodway]

Originally Posted by CommuterBoy

You guys are missing the whole point!! There was an OWL!!

Who? Who?

[Spinnyspinspin]

Today's commute was freakin' awesome. Yesterday I finally finished the new cross bike I've been slowly putting together since the beginning of the year, so I bring it home planning on riding it today. Yesterday here in Santa Fe, New Mexico was cold, but sunny and blue sky, with little to no moisture. Wake up to at least a foot of real soft, powdery stuff in the apartment complex parking lot and think, "You suck, universe. You know I want to ride my new bike, and this is the challenge you've laid out before me? Well **** you." So I suited up and head out, and it was one of the single best bike rides I have ever had.

I built this cross bike up from a Redline Conquest Pro SS frame, running 46x18 fixed and 20 on the freewheeling side (which won't see much use outside of actual racing, damn UCI regulations) and I ended up shaving ten minutes off my normal trail commute, then added another fifteen miles of pavement, including a long, steady climb to end the ride. Then immediately got a delicious breakfast burritio smothered in green and red chile, and as soon as I get another few cups of coffee in me I'll feel like doing it all again.

[mtbxplorer]

Nice owl sighting! I had one swoop across the trail near dusk once, it was neat!
7F this a.m., trails still fast & frozen & fun. A shot in East Barre village, my pavement connector at about the halfway point

[jeffscott]

Originally Posted by CommuterBoy

You guys are missing the whole point!! There was an OWL!!

Was it a real owl or just a carved one?

[CommuterBoy]

I see those from time to time too.

A barn owl would not even warrant a comment...but this dude was LARGE. If you've never seen a great horned owl, they have a wingspan like a Bald Eagle...6 foot range. And the body is a couple feet tall.

MTBX... Summer St...wishful thinking?

[BrianMc]

Originally Posted by CommuterBoy

Who, who ya laughin' at?

Originally Posted by CommuterBoy

.. this dude was LARGE. If you've never seen a great horned owl, they have a wingspan like a Bald Eagle...6 foot range. And the body is a couple feet tall.

Yep. Big. Come to think of it, I saw my first one about 50 years ago...on a passing fencepost.

I wonder if CB will pass (on) any more owl posts?

A little cooler than yesterday: only 53 F. Its Feb 3! Average the last two winters and we'd be close to the long term average. Don't expect the tails of the curve back-to-back like this, but I'll take it.

Decent speed after some sprints and pushing it in traffic. Maybe the legs aren't up to power yet but the heart and lungs sure are better without the continuous dose of Mercury and the cleaning they have have so far! I have another year or two to go so time to get the legs back in form. Getting into top gear on the level is great.

BrianMc

[rodar y rodar]

Spinnyspin, with a foot of snow, you cut ten minutes from your normal time? How the heck did you manage that !?! Hey, I think we need a photospread of your Conquest on the bike pics sticky.

Mmmm... small town pics. Looks delightful, Xplorer.

My owl on fencepost story is smaller. We see occasional full sized owls around here (don`t ask me exactly what kind other than "full sized"), but we also have a species of miniature burrowing owls. One summer, about four or five years ago, for a span of at least two weeks, one of those mini owls took to perching on top of a T-post every morning right next to the road I take home from work. As long as I kept pedalling, he`d just sit there and watch me go by, but if I stopped to visit, he took off into the sage brush. I`m sure the Great Horned Owl is more impressive, but these guys are pretty cool too- probably about eight inches high.

[rufio]

The ride today was pretty good. I had my GF drop me off at work today as she was working in the area this morning and I rode home on the Bianchi that I built up. It was a good ride. I made pretty good time because the route home has waaaay more downhills than uphills. I have one climb on the way back that is like 1/8th of a mile and a second one that is also about 1/8th of a mile, but it's a grinder. The 2X1 for what I do is a sweet ride.

[Spinnyspinspin]

Apparently my ability to measure the amount of snow is severely distorted. It was more like 4 or 5 inches, so I have been told several times today. Today was the first time my commute didn't involve any dirt, so I managed the faster time primarily because the cross bike is much faster than my previous commuter, a Monocog 9er.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[BrianMc]

Originally Posted by rodar y rodar

My owl on fencepost story is smaller. ... One summer, about four or five years ago, for a span of at least two weeks, one of those mini owls took to perching on top of a T-post every morning right next to the road I take home from work. As long as I kept pedalling, he`d just sit there and watch me go by, but if I stopped to visit, he took off into the sage brush.

Until 1966 we had a Sugar Maple tree with a hollow close to the farmhouse. The Screech Owl family sitting on a limb when the little ones were fledged with the moon rising behind them. Big and little silhouettes was a sight and you might say a hoot!

Eastern Screech-Owl, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

[rodar y rodar]

Originally Posted by Spinnyspinspin

Apparently my ability to measure the amount of snow is severely distorted. It was more like 4 or 5 inches, so I have been told several times today.

That`s okay. I`m sure it wasn`t the first time that 4 or 5 inches has been billed as twelve.

[Spinnyspinspin]

No, nor will it be the last. The new bike rides so nicely I just couldn't stop. According to mapmyride I logged 36 miles round trip yesterday, including 7 miles of singletrack that I hit after getting to work an hour before I really needed to be there.

[bedwards1000]

The trails are passable again! Not fast but passable. It's supposed to get above freezing today so they should firm up after it freezes again. (I just have to stay off them tonight)

I only had a little flip over the handlebars when my front wheel disappeared into a not quite frozen swamp. I tried to push the pedal through my calf - luckily that didn't work. My ribs made that not good crunching sound as I hit the ground and I have a pretty stiff/sore neck. But I was able to ride away...It's all good!

[s0ckeyeus]

This morning I passed a bunch of trees, some power lines, and a fair number of fence posts.

[CommuterBoy]

Did any of the fence posts look like this? Because these are the ones that will scare the crap out of you.