Stop throwing shit

Seriously. I knew it was coming, some day I was bound to get hit by something thrown from a car. I read about it on commuting forums all the time. Today was my day. Riding down Rio Salado a car full of kids go whizzing by as I feel a light tap on my back (would have been worse if I didn't have my Camelbak on). Must have been a rock or something, but they had a crappy aim so I just laughed and waved as they drove by. 5 minutes later I'm riding down a side street and this black Sentra is in front of me by 50 feet, doing well over the speed limit so that distance increases quick. Soon I see a flying beer can go out the driver's window. I swerved to miss the more half empty can leaking all over the pavement. 

What the hell is wrong with people? Hopefully karma catches up to them before the weekend is over. 

Cupcake 150

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from TBAG. Tempe Bicycle Action Group. They organize all sorts of activities centered around biking. This morning they had a Cupcake ride, from Tempe Beach Park to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Scottsdale. 17 mile round trip. I woke up early enough and got ready. Left my house at 9am and arrived in Tempe at 9:55. Met new people and joined 16 other riders who were craving cupcakes :) Took a route that was completely new to me and was very scenic. 

We arrived at Sprinkles about 11am, had a $3.50 cupcake (Peanut Butter Chocolate) and a $2 coffee. Everyone sat around telling jokes and enjoying their carb and sugar laden treats, then we turned around and headed back to Tempe. Seems like a pointless journey but it was really fun and the weather was pretty nice. Meeting new people with like-minded interests is always a plus. Total mileage for me today was 41.2miles. My longest non-commuting ride, and certainly my longest without a 8hr break in the middle. 

Monday: 34 mile commute (road bike)

Wednesday: 34 mile commute (road bike)

Friday: 41 mile commute (mountain bike)

Saturday: 41 mile cupcake ride (road bike)

My first 150 mile week! 

Coffee = Great! Weatherman = Bad!

I stopped again at Dutch Bros. Coffee this morning to take Jim up on his offer for a mug (see post below this one). Heidi was awesome this morning and gave me a choice of mugs, checking to see which one would fit into my bottle cage. I tried to pay for the delicious latte that filled it, but Heidi wouldn't accept it. I'll have to tip her double next time since I didn't have anything smaller than a $20 today. Doh! Big thanks to Jim and Heidi for going out of their way to make sure my cup unhappiness was resolved, they've got a customer for life now!

I got about 3 hours of sleep last night, and right before bed I checked the weather. 79 degrees, 10% chance of rain, sunny and 3mph tailwind. Great! Within 3 pedals strokes out of my driveway I realized the weather was off. It was muggy, about 84, and still way too dark to see the clouds. 

About a mile after my coffee stop, I crossed the Mill Ave. bridge just in time to catch the sunrise over the lake below. The ASU rowing team was out for an early practice, so I took a moment to take a pic of the sunrise and enjoy my coffee for a moment. On one side of the bridge was a nice sunrise, the other was clouds and lightning. Lovely. I kept on pedaling to work and arrived without any weather worries. 

About 1pm, after my tasty lunch of Easy Mac and applesauce, I'm draggin'. The 3 hours of sleep are starting to sink in. I take a peek outside and see the trees blowin' in the wind. Hmmm, wrong again weatherman! There's clouds building the south, so I duck out about 3:15pm for the ride home. It's windy. Not the 7mph tailwind as weather.com reported, more like 15mph headwind. Ugh. Did I mention my lack of sleep? So I debate getting a "bus boost" to cut 10 miles off of the trip home, but even though I'm tired and it's windy...I'm havin' fun! So I press on. 

Made it 3 miles from home when I see about a dozen police cars blocking the road. As I get closer, a pedestrian tells me that I better go around. "Go around? Why?", I asked. "There's a shootout going on, SWAT is there". Didn't need to tell me twice! So I hit unfamiliar streets to detour around the crime scene. My 3 mile home stretch becomes 5 miles, and I'm a bit lost. Of course this is in the scariest part of my route, and there's a crime in progress to boot. I muster up some energy and haul ass outta there. My fun was definitely over and I arrived home safely, albeit worn out. Hopefully Wednesday's ride will treat me better. 

Coffee = Good

Had to test out the newest addition to the bike, so a quick stop at Dutch Bros. on Rural was in order. Their coffee is pretty good although the service is kinda slow. The cups they use are garbage though! This cup was soggy and barely stood up on its own by the time I got to work. I gotta find a dedicated mug that fits a bottle cage (that doesn't cost $20!). 

This morning's ride was great, I think it was about 78 degrees, which is the coolest its been since I started biking to work. I can't wait for the winter! The ride home was about 102...it's just a tease since it'll be back to 112 by the weekend. Although the lower temps brought out some new riders, I met 5 new (well new to my route/timing) commuters today, even had a nice conversation with one on the way home. I haven't had a conversation in the "cage" (bikers loving term for a car) that didn't involve a middle finger or cell phone in ages!