I did a quick mileage comparison between my car and bicycles over the weekend.  I've put about 700 more miles on my bicycles this year than I have driven the car.  If I can make it to August 9th on a quarter tank of gas, then it will be three months between fillups.  I'm really curious to see what the end of year totals are like.  We have three trips planned that will involve the car later this year, but I should have about 1000 mile lead at this point. 

As I ride more, I continue to realize that it really is quite practical to run errands, etc. with the bike.  It may be my imagination, but I swear I'm seeing more bicycles on the roads these days.  This doesn't include just the types that are out training to race, but your average day Joe.  I wonder if high gas prices are actually beginning to have an effect.

Someone sent me a link to this absolutely amazing cycling video Some of these moves just don't seem like they should be possible.  If it were up to me, I'd certainly add this as an olympic sport. 

I just purchased a new set of tires for my car and was shocked to determine that the cost/mile of the tires on my car and those that I put on my bike are pretty much the same.  They both ended up being somewhere around one cent per mile.  There were assumptions made on both sides, so the estimate is really rough, but they are surely in the same ballpark.  Bizarre.

I was riding into work this morning, when an over zealous bambi decides to dash out in front of me! I probably had 10 feet of clearance, but let me tell you, it was close enough to get excited. The bambi did it's little spooked dance thing, you know what I'm talking about if you've ever seen a spooked deer. I have to admit, hitting a deer is something I've never even thought about as a danger in cycling!

So this got me to thinking, if I'd been driving a car, could I have avoided the deer.  Probably not.  I would have been moving faster, had far more width to avoid the deer with, and not have been as nimble.  I still would prefer never to meet another one cranking down the road though.

Well, today will certainly be remembered as one of the more interesting commutes.  It was my 18th commute this month and this month happened to be the first time I broke through the 700miles/month barrier.  Perhaps it was in celebration of these accomplishments that caused it to be one of the most hectic days at work I've ever had.  I didn't get left until 8:30pm, which, for those of us on the far edge of the East coast, means dusk is quickly approaching.  Having not expected to be leaving so late, I didn't bring a bike light.  After hunting around the department for a while, I found a flashlight and managed to rubber-band it to my handlebars.  Fortunately, I had just left a couple of blinkers on the back, so I at least had taillights.  All told, the ride was pretty good.  The temperature was great, the sky was clear, but the bugs were horrible.  Next time I ride at this time of night, I want to be wearing ski goggles!

I passed the 2000 mile mark today.  You couldn't have asked for better cycling weather today, low 80s and the weatherguessers said 0% chance of rain.  I've observed a few random things in recent commutes, that I thought I'd share with you.

A few days ago, I passed a farmers field.  As I approached, I saw a man in the middle of the field, whom I initially assumed to be the farmer.  After getting closer, I realized that the person was in the middle of this field with a metal detector.  This was either one really optimistic treasure hunter or a farmer looking for a lost piece of equipment.  I could understand some random person combing a beach looking for loose change, jewelry, etc., but a farmers field?

Somewhere along the biketrail, there is a family that owns, what I would certainly deem,  a very large house cat.  I finally stopped to ask the person what type of cat it was and they said it is a Savannah.  You can see some pictures of this cat at The International Savannah Cat Club website.  I'm not actually sure that this website does this cat justice, the one along the bike trail literally wears a dog coller, is walked on a leash, and would be much closer to what I would call a tiger.  I just hope I don't meet it some evening after dark!

I experienced my first sidewall blowout this morning on the way to work.  Fortunately, it was on the rear wheel, so the extremely fast flat didn't really have much of an impact.  As far as I can tell, there was no good reason for the failure; no brake pads rubbing on the tire, fender was clear, etc.  I had been using Continental Gator Skins, as they are a kevlar lined and should have helped prevent flats.  After going through three tires now, none of them making it 1000 miles before failing, I've decided to give a different tire a chance.  I've switched over to a Panracer touring tire, let's see how it deals with commuting.

I took one more bike commuting step today and turned in my parking pass!  It was getting to the point where I just couldn't justify the $30/month for the few number of days I was driving to work.  If nothing else, I figure this will motivate me to ride on those days where I may have otherwise wimped out and driven.  I still have the bus to fall back on or even the car, but I'll just have to park on the street now.