Ride In 7/29

Hot and humid. Worst day this week, by far. Should be even worse on the ride home. I plan on drinking a lot of water this afternoon.
Do you hate clicking noises and knowing that your chain rests steadily on one of your rear cogs? Then friction shifting is for you! I had forgotten that I left my bike this way the other day and was a bit surprised how smoothly the lever moved when I first pulled on it. There's really no substantial difference, at least as far as I can tell.
Did I mention that it was really gross this morning? I'm normally a good 10 minutes into my ride before I notice any sweat. Today, it was at the first occasion I stopped, which was at the end of our building's driveway.
I find that using my left hand to signal that I'll be temporarily moving out of the bike lane and into the travel lane (on account of some obstruction or other) is really effective and that most drivers seem to know what I'm doing when I point my fingers downward and show them my open palm as I move my left arm away from the handelbar and extend it to my side. More exciting bicycle hand signals can be found here. 
Not much else noteworthy today. Some guy be trackstanding and some girl be riding in front of me at a light, but that's hardly news. I like to wait back from intersections a good 5 feet or so because I'm cautious like that. No sense having your front wheel clipped by a careless driver. Plus, it slows me down from getting into the intersection too quickly. Another guy ran the light on M today (by a lot) so I raised my hand and pointed skyward, as if to a traffic light (though the light which gave him a red was nowhere near the direction I was pointing). He sort of looked at me and I think he knew what I meant but what I really meant is that you're carelessness is inexcusable and could have really profound negative consequences.
I like the noise that the little rocks on the roadway make when they shoot up and out of my front fender. It reminds me of a slot machine.
I've grown too complacent at the intersection of Tunlaw and 37th and I screwed up today and accidentally cut someone off. He slammed on his brakes (dramatically) and I raised my hand in apology, having cut my turn short to allow him to continue driving. He was proceeded straight down Tunlaw instead of turning right like I wrongly anticipated. This was totally my fault and I promise to pay better attention next time. Much like drivers, bicyclists also grow less vigilant on familiar routes.
Today was a day where I really wished my route was flatter. That last .8 of a mile (I only know this because there's a sign) is really sapping. Even with bike lanes on New Mexico, convincing people to ride that hill will still be a challenge.