Commuting - Very long commute club: week eight

I am looking out the window of my porch as I type this. The sun is maybe 45 minutes from setting, one of my favorite times of the day. I can see the Adirondacks across Lake Champlain. On Friday, I saw the first sailboat of the season on my commute. I really am lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world...

The weather is looking good fro the next couple of days, even in the upper seventies on Tuesday. :) I was wondering what bikes the VLCers ride. My roadie is a Cannondale R200, from the eighties, I think. My rainbike/winter bike is a Redline Conquest cyclocross. Post pics of your bikes if you have them!

Looking forward to some nice riding this week. Good riding, friends, on this eighth week of the VLC!!

I have two recent Raleigh models. My road bike is a Raleigh Supercourse and my commuter is a Raleigh c700 (cross/hybrid). It's going to be great weather here, too...I can't wait!

Good commuting!

It was another beautiful morning in the Nations Capital. The day started out at 47 degrees and a beatiful sunrise. I got in 31 miles this am, so my week is off to a good start.

The bikes that I ride to work vary on my mood.

My most used commuting bike is a Lemod Propad with fenders and a rack.
Bike two is a Spectrum Ti.
Bike three is a Spectrum Softride
Bike four is a Spectrum fixed gear.

May everyone have a pleasant week and keep the rubber on the road.

I agree with Tbike it was a beautiful morning for a ride in DC. Great temps, beautiful sunshine and all the vivid colors of spring. I even slowed down and rode 2-3 miles with a new commuter from my neighborhood. It was so cool -- I actually had to slow down -- I'm no longer the slowest! Even with my little chat session I still made the whole trip in my standard 55 min.

I ride an '04 Fuji Supreme hybrid with fenders, rack, lights, etc. Right now its on stock wheels, but by the end of the week I hope to have a significantly sturdier rear wheel. I've broken 3 spokes in the last two weeks so it was time to bite the bullet and put a stronger wheel under my excessive mass. Keep on biking.

I just started commuting again last Saturday after a few years off. My old commute was in a different town and much shorter.

I took off Sunday due to weather (I'm a fair weather commuter). I had originally planned to commute on my Hybrid, but I love my new road bike so much I can't stay off of it. It's a Trek Pilot 2.1 (no pics yet). I don't use anything other than the blowout bag. My workweek usually starts with one graveyard shift and I bring a bag of clothes, towels and such for the week and leave it at work, then I drive on my last workday and bring the bag home. My route is 30 miles round trip.

Well looks like the VLC is a no-go today and tomorrrow, but tomorrow I will try to go 40+ on a ride in the late afternoon. It is supposed to be real nice starting tomorrow. Today is a no-go however due to work logistics and the need for a car. The weekend was a total washout with the Nor'easter storm pounding us with rain and wind.

They're talking 75+ on Wednesday, now if that's not a shot in the arm for commuting I don't know what is!

I also ride a Lemond Poprad cyclocross - great city commuter for the awful roads around here. It's a 2003 but I don't use racks or panniers. Everything fits into my little wedgie bag - spare tube, irons, patch kit, phone, wallet, keys and I bring spares clothes to work typically once per week. I use the nubby cross tires 700x32 but just this weekend I switched to 700x28 road tires. I'm hoping to see what kind of speed increases I will see by swapping the tires. I do about 4-5 miles of trails per day, narrow gauge rail trails with gravely surface so I hope the new tires will be OK.

Good luck to all with the commuting this week. I wish I had pics of my bike but my camera is broken.

I had a beautiful ride this morning. 58 degrees with a light wind from the South. It had rained last night. So the roads where damp, but the air was fresh. Love those times. Cruised really nice this morning. I had my race with the pack of dogs on my route this morning. I usually don't have it till the ride home. But, I swear they where waiting for me bright and early! Nothing like an early morning sprint. My ride consist of paved country road. I live in Oklahoma, so the scenery is of pastures with a some residential areas. Not much traffic.


I ride an older bike: Bridgestone Synergy RB-2 (yr?) Running new Specialized rubber and self sealing tubes. Wore out my Continentals last year. I have a quick disconnect rack with a Zafal Tripper bag, and lighting provided by Cat Eye (front and back). Bike was given to me by a friend. Didn't look like much, till I cleaned it. Beautiful bike. I use my MTB ('03 Giant Ranier) for my urban assault trips (short runs to town), where I take any route to get from point A to B.

Well, see you all on the ride home!

OKBiker

I live in Oklahoma, so the scenery is of pastures with a some residential areas. Not much traffic.

OKBiker

I used to live in Owasso and I commuted to the Tulsa airport. I see you live in Claremore so I'm sure you know where I'm talking about. Now I live close to Fort Worth and I commute to DFW airport. There's much more traffic, much more challenges, and much longer, but it's still fun.

I ride thorugh Owasso. I take 106 all the way west to Sheridan and go South. I work at MCI, Cherokee Industrial park. They are re-doing 76 street to a 4 lane. When they are done, I will commute from Claremore. I'll take the port road to 56, then up to 76 and to work. I drive a few miles now to Limestone Fire dept on top of Ketonville Hill, then ride to work. Keetonville Hill is too dangerous for me to ride in morning. No room on the road, and everyone is speeding.

What a small world we live in.

OKBiker

I ride thorugh Owasso. I take 106 all the way west to Sheridan and go South. I work at MCI, Cherokee Industrial park. They are re-doing 76 street to a 4 lane. When they are done, I will commute from Claremore. I'll take the port road to 56, then up to 76 and to work. I drive a few miles now to Limestone Fire dept on top of Ketonville Hill, then ride to work. Keetonville Hill is too dangerous for me to ride in morning. No room on the road, and everyone is speeding.

What a small world we live in.

OKBiker

I lived not far off 86th street, right behind the Wal-Mart (not sure if they moved it). I worked at the control tower in Tulsa and MCI has the telco contract. I used to work with an MCI guy a lot. I think his name is Leland. You might know him. Last I heard of him he got a job in the large MCI office there in Tulsa, but that was 5-6 years ago.

Awww, okbiker and dfw, you guys are bringing a tear to my eye! :) okbiker, I also love that clean air post-rain morning ride.

My commute was so wonderful today. I'm worried it's illegal to have that good of a time on the way to or coming home from work. It made it into the upper 70's today, with beautiful blue skies puncutated with puffy white clouds. I saw bunny rabbits and wildflowers, and had the best view of Pike's Peak and the rest of the front range. AND I had a tailwind on the way home!

My bike is relatively new, got it in Oct. after the accident: an Independent Fabrication crown jewel, in a very rad shade of orange.

Well I managed to sneak in a quick 20 miles today before sunset. It was cold and gray and dank, very humid, but wow the new road tires make the bike go FAST. cool.... The knobby tires were good but definitely had more resistance. Today's ride was quite aerobic in nature, something I wasn't able to experience as often on my fat tires. Maybe it's because I was 4 days out of the saddle after my crash and during the nor'easter. Maybe it's because of the new tires. Anyway I now feel that I need to work on my speed and cadence. Tomorrow I have a beautiful early afternoon start to hopefully ride a 40ish miles, which will be my season long. Need to keep the miles up for my 150 mile ride.

The weather people are predicting another nor'easter this weekend. That would mean 5 out of the last 7 weekends were complete and total disasters. :(

Very nice commutes both ways today. Passed within 15 feet of a great blue heron wading in a marsh near the highway. Hundreds of red winged blackbirds. Hawks hovering over the highway looking for mice...

Monument Man: my favorite spring moment is taking the winter knobbies off the cyclocross bike and putting slicks on. Man, I feel like I'm flying after that.

The sun gods must be looking down, we had beautiful sun yesterday and today, clear blue skies, cool though arounf 15 degrees by dat freezing by night.

Christie you are making me jealous - Ind Fab's are gorgeous. Other bikes on my wishlist would be Soulcraft, Circle A, or a nice Matt Chester UTE.

My commuter sun bike is a GT Zr3.0, rain - Dawes Comp
Trail Bikes: Kona Singlespeed, soon to have - On-One Inbred Singlespeed

Great commute this morning- 53 degrees and clear. There is a chance of rain this afternoon, but it will be about 80 degrees so I won't care! I missed the commute yesterday and glad to be in the saddle again.

DC is just so nice this time of year. I passed 2 people on the way in today. And a hill that usually gets me down didn't seem so big today. Can't wait for the ride home...in shorts!

Beautiful ride this morning. Temp about 15C and light wind. Unfortunately I had to wait 25 mins for a cruiser going through the locks on the St Lawrence Seaway. The same thing happened while going home last Fri. They shut the gates about 1 min before I got there.

Had a great ride this morning and even shaved a couple of minutes off my time. Velogirl is right, DC is great this time of year. It was a little chilly riding in shorts this morning, but tolerable. Riding home last night was great although there were lots of people out on the trail. I still had one of my fastest rides home, so things are definitely geting better the longer I'm in the saddle. Let's just hope my stock wheel holds up until the end of the week when my sturdier replacement arrives.

dfw.....Don't know a Leland. There used to be a lot of people here. Before the layoffs. About half remain now.

Todays ride was wonderful. About 58 degrees in the am, supposed to get to 90 by afternoon. The roadkill should be nice and ripe for the ride home. :( ....

I actually had one of my faster times this morning. And I even had to stop at a crossing and wait for all the cars to pass.

Well, See you on the road!

OKBiker

Dano - Southern California - 30 mi.one way - moderate hills - pedal in, drive home

Tuesday: Didn’t get to ride this morning, yesterday, or this whole weekend for that matter. It really sucks when we get so busy we have to begin sacrificing the very activities that make life worth it. Seems the first to be compromised is my riding, followed by... So it seems that I’ll ride tomorrow and maybe Friday. Not even enough. Waaa waaa waaa. Hey, you guys and gals are the only ones worth complaining to.

So no ride to report on until tomorrow. We’ve talked bikes before, I ride a Surly CrossCheck. It’s sporting a two speed drive train at the moment, but I’ve run a single as well as an internally geared hub in my search for the ideal commuter. I’ll see anyone’s pic’s of their rides, and raise ‘em a pic of me on the ride (Damn! lookin' pretty huge in that shirt!). Looking forward to tomorrow.

I gotta go. Take it easy everybody. Dano

Well today we finally broke 70 degrees in the Boston Suburbs, but only 55 as I got closer to the Atlantic. Anyway it was GEORGEOUS and I had a fantastic 40 mile ride in the saddle this afternoon. All the crew teams were out on the Charles, the MIT sailboat racing team was in full effect, the Community Boating Center is open so the Charles is packed with boats, and the Harbor/Ocean is starting to get busy with the big boats. That reminds me, my sailing center opened last week. Hmmm, how in gods name do I find time to go sailing when I've got my bike to worry about? decisions, decisions. I go sailing out in the ocean, there's lots of uninhabited Islands and lighthouses in outer Boston Harbor, and it's cool to sail 'neath the skyline.

Anyway, great day in the saddle. Tomorrow is a "normal" 37 miler - 5 mile in/32 mile home. Found a new route in the morning which takes me across the locks of the Charles instead of a rusty old bridge. Either way is cool but it's fun passing the all the marinas in the morning.

The warmer weather does have one downfall, I estimate that I'm going to start to encounter much higher traffic on the Minuteman Bikeway. Anybody else deal with this issue?

[QUOTE=DanO220]Dano - Southern California - 30 mi.one way - moderate hills - pedal in, drive home

Tuesday: Didn’t get to ride this morning, yesterday, or this whole weekend for that matter. It really sucks when we get so busy we have to begin sacrificing the very activities that make life worth it. Seems the first to be compromised is my riding, followed by... So it seems that I’ll ride tomorrow and maybe Friday. Not even enough. Waaa waaa waaa. Hey, you guys and gals are the only ones worth complaining to.


Not to worry, Dano. I rode enough last weekend for both of us! I did the Cruising the Conejo Century ( my 1st) just over the hills from you, covering Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Camarillo, Moorpark and Simi. So, I'm donating 30 of my 100 miles to your commute totals. That leaves me 70. Since I'm gonna rest this week, I'll need to drop 28 (my usual once-a-week RT) into the bucket, which still leaves me 42. If anyone needs some miles, let me know and I'll donate some to you, gratis.

Sheldon

[QUOTE=DanO220]Dano - Southern California - 30 mi.one way - moderate hills - pedal in, drive home

Tuesday: Didn’t get to ride this morning, yesterday, or this whole weekend for that matter. It really sucks when we get so busy we have to begin sacrificing the very activities that make life worth it. Seems the first to be compromised is my riding, followed by... So it seems that I’ll ride tomorrow and maybe Friday. Not even enough. Waaa waaa waaa. Hey, you guys and gals are the only ones worth complaining to.


Not to worry, Dano. I rode enough last weekend for both of us! I did the Cruising the Conejo Century ( my 1st) just over the hills from you, covering Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Camarillo, Moorpark and Simi. So, I'm donating 30 of my 100 miles to your commute totals. That leaves me 70. Since I'm gonna rest this week, I'll need to drop 28 (my usual once-a-week RT) into the bucket, which still leaves me 42. If anyone needs some miles, let me know and I'll donate some to you, gratis.

Sheldon

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

Hammer Bob joined me on the long rde today! It was awesome to ride all those lovely miles in formation with my buddy. So much faster to ride when we can take turns drafting off each other. Very nice out, nearly 80 F this afternoon. Hammer was hurting by the end of the afternoon ride, though, he has been "only" riding 16 miles a day! ;)

Dave F., Your wish list is awfully inspirational! I do love my IF. Such a great company, too. My mtn bike is a Ritchey, and it's a little old. I might start saving soon to replace it w/ an IF. Maybe Monument could schmooze the IF guys out there in Sommerville for me to get me a deal!?

Sounds like everyone's commuting is going fairly well, and I'm glad to read that Hammer Bob has resurfaced AND that he's hurting!

My ride today was great, but the weather's supposed to get crappy tomorrow--cold rain, a chance of snow (arrrrrghghghhh!), and stay that way on Thursday, too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they're just being alarmists again. I'm driving in tomorrow anyway, b/c I have tons of stuff to bring home, and don't want to have to drive at all next Mon. or Tues.

[QUOTE=christie133]Dave F., Your wish list is awfully inspirational! I do love my IF. Such a great company, too. My mtn bike is a Ritchey, and it's a little old. I might start saving soon to replace it w/ an IF. Maybe Monument could schmooze the IF guys out there in Sommerville for me to get me a deal!?
--------------------------------------------------

Christie, you can add maybe a Moots, Ibis, or a Salsa 'Juan Solo' to that list as well - maybe one day!!

Great weather again today, clear blue skies, frost last night. Easy spinning today, no more than 130 bpm HR, as i am doing a 24 hr mtb race on weekend - rain and wind forcasted :0(

DanO: I am a graphic designer aswell - in the golf industry of all things - and you think cyclists wear weird clothes!!

Stay safe guys. Later.

The warmer weather does have one downfall, I estimate that I'm going to start to encounter much higher traffic on the Minuteman Bikeway. Anybody else deal with this issue?

Yep. It depends on your hours. The mornings are generally OK, if you are out early enough. The summer evenings are bikepath rush hours, and it's better (safer/faster) to simply avoid it. Too many inline skaters, peds and dogs. Very dangerous at any reasonable speed.

When it gets like that, I generally take the path from the head in Bedford to 4/225, then take 4/225 all the way in, skipping most of the Lexington and all of the Arlington section. This is actually quicker, albeit less fun.

The weather was just perfect in Philadelphia yesterday, low 70s, sunny, some wind (7-10 MPH against me the whole way). 32 miles home, like others the popular 'bikeway' (here, Kelly Drive near the Philly Art Museum) was packed and so it took much more concentration to navigate the crowds, also much more slowing down and speeding up which is more painful near the end of my ride.

The morning in (1 mile + train + 3 miles) was great; I love the 50-degree morning weather and flying down the big hill from the train station. 38.5 mph yesterday.

-=$>Dave<$=-

Had a great ride home (set a new personal best) and another good ride in this morning (tying my best time ever). I'm still working noticably harder to keep up those speeds, but I think it's getting a little easier. Hopefully in a few more weeks it will feel easier. It looks like we should have reasonable weather the rest of the week with some chance of rain. Maybe I'll get to try out the new raingear. I should hit 500 miles of commuting by the end of the week -- a small but cool milestone.

Anyone riding a MUP has to deal with increased traffic in the afternoons. On my path there is more traffic in the spring mornings, but most of the users are regulars who know how to behave so it is not a big problem. In the evening there are 2 sections of trail, maybe 5-6 miles total where you encounter lots of roller bladers, dogs and people without a clue. It does take more care and concentration, but I've found that with reasonable anticipation I can keep up my regular pace. It does necessitate more speeding up and slowing down than the inbound trip, but its only a small hassle.

I think my biggest springtime hazard is going to be short skirts! It would be so embarassing to have the headline read "Man Killed by Car When Distracted by Short Skirt". I simply must learn to concentrate on the riding and not the people watching.

I think my biggest springtime hazard is going to be short skirts!

So true, I ride along a very high traffic riverpath in the afternoon and dear lord the college girls...

Anyway today was around 48 when I got on the train and felt like a HEAT wave when I got to my stop in the burbs in preparation for the 5 mile ride in. Oh boy is it ever pretty out. Can't wait for the ride home today. Something about shedding those extra clothes makes me feel so good. I feel much more "connected" to my bike. Guess i can't explain it.

Noticed a bit of a tan on my arms. Note to all to not forget the sunscreen especially us northern clime folks who aren't used to wearing that kind of stuff.

Man everyone on the East Coast still has pretty cool temps. My ride home yesterday was in the 90's. My ride in today started at 68 at 6am. Right now it is 87 with a South wind at 15. I ride North for about a total of 5 miles on the way home. The rest is due East. Yesterday it gusted up to 30 from the South. We have 50% chance of rain on friday, so it may get a little wet. On my way to a 5 day ride week(most weeks seem to get interrupted), 147 total miles. That will be 147 miles for the bike, and 63 miles for the car :( . Eventually, it will be 210 for the bike, 0 for the car :) . Saw my biggest pancaked snake this year yesterday, 3 foot long King snake.

See you on the Road!

OKBiker

VLC 37 Miles: 32 miles pedal home, 5 miles plus train in
beauty of a ride home today. 75+ degrees when I left and around 65 at home. Noticable headwind most of the way which increased a lot when I got into the city.

Definitely need to think about changing my route up a bit. The Minuteman so far is cool but the Esplanade is just WAAAYYY to much of a MUP in the nice weather. It's a great route though and it adds to my total mileage so I'm reluctant to give it up.

Goodbye to Hammer Bob for the summer :( He is done with his classes and is leaving for Cape Cod in a couple of days. We rode our last 2 rides today noncompetitively, chatting and just hanging out. I will be a lonely figure out riding alone.... Haven't seen Doug the Thug except for the day I talked about him. I guess I will have to create an imaginary friend... any suggestions for a name for my imaginary nemesis?

... any suggestions for a name for my imaginary nemesis?

How about "The Whipping Boy" since in your mind, you'll always be whipping his butt?!?! Sorry to hear about Hammer Bob. The stories were great. Perhaps another evildoer will appear for you.

I could not ride in today, my work schedule just wouldn't allow it. It was 80 degrees again today so it was hard to miss. Tomorrow looks like decent weather again, but much cooler.

The usual 24 miles RT today. No short skirts except my own (got a skort!) No flat tires and relatively few problem people. But wow, there are alot of folks out using the MUP!

Had a great ride home tonight and for the first time did the almost 12 miles in an hour. It was a glorious feeling. I was actually passing people on the uphill ... its amazing how much progress I've made in just 2-3 months.

Kept my eyes on the road (mostly) and avoided rear ending any cars. The MUP was crowded with all manner of man and beast tonight, but obviously they didn't get in my way too much.

I find the biggest problem with the crowds is that you have to think a lot more. You have to anticipate what the dogs, peds and rollerbladers will do, what to do in the worst case scenarios, what to do when riding through crowds, etc. In the morning I can let my mind wander and/or enjoy the scenery, but at night its more focused on the task at hand.

Mars -- how about "the Wuss" -- in keeping with his perpetually beaten state. But beware the problem of sequels -- they so rarely match the original in quality or believability. Hammer Bob may be irreplaceable.

It's Thursday afternoon here so I'm done commuting for this week as Friday is always a rest day to recharge before the weekend. With my 3 commutes I managed 120km with 1590m/5200f of climbing. My legs are sore now but it feels good.:D

CHEERS.

Mark

I got one 65 km commute in this week. I wanted two but my IT bands are still a little painful from my 300K last weekend and I've got a 200K coming up this weekend so I think I'll rest the rest of the week.

My ride home yesterday was very nice. Strong crosswind, gusting at times. But not too bad though. The mean dog was out today. Luckily, he didn't catch me. I need to get some dog biscuits to throw at him. Temp was in the 90's.

Ride in this morning was beautiful. However, we are expecting severe thunderstorms by mid-afternoon. So I may get wet on the way home. Temp this morning was 70, with a light south wind. I had two deer jump out within 10 feet of me today. I think they where more frightened of me, than i was to have them so close. Being quiet on the bike spooks them when you get so close without them seeing you coming.


Well, I hope you all had a great ride in today.


See you on the road!

OKBiker

Dano - Southern California - 30 mi.one way - moderate hills - pedal in, drive home


I guess I will have to create an imaginary friend... any suggestions for a name for my imaginary nemesis?

Don't you mean another imaginary friend Mars? Gone off to the Cape for summer... very creative and convenient indeed. But hey, it beats the heck out of an imaginary VLC. It looks like I'll finally ride in to work tomorrow. I'm leaving my truck here in the parking lot just to mandate it! One thing or another has kept me out of the saddle the whole week. "All work and no play makes Jack (DanO) a dull boy! The short ride my wife sent grummpy on last night in order to save our marriage doesn't count for a whole lot. It was the cycling equivalent of paying just the vig to the local loan shark just to keep me even. I still owe a whole lot. I've read everyone's progress this week with growing envy and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Take it easy everyone. I gotta get to work. DanO

wiiiiiiiiiiind. Ugh.

I've almost had a few accidents caused by my wandering eyes, so I can commiserate, Maryland. And it's definately getting to be that time of the year. Not so much due to short skirts, usually shirtless runners or handsome helmetless guys on custom road bikes (terrible, I know. I must have a secret thing for the reckless bad boy type). Speaking of which, I fixed a flat tonight for the boyfriend so he could ride his very short commute to band practice--anything to get him on his bike!

Only three more days of my current commute! Yay!

Christie, glad to hear its not just a guy thing. Its all just a matter of focus (I keep telling myself). It gets easier as you grow more accustomed to the sight.

Had good rides in and back yesterday. It is getting easier to keep up a faster pace. No new personal bests, its just easier to do it each day. I passed the 500 mile mark on my new bike yesterday so that was kind of cool -- although neither the bike nor I look any different.

This morning with temps in the 50s it seemed a little cold. Maybe it was just the dampness -- I don't know but it made me wish that I had worn my wind pants. It was just an incentive to pedal faster. It must be good karma Friday since today I hit one intersection just as the light was turning in my favor (first time for that) and at another intersection there were no cars so I could go through without a stop (also a first).

Have a great wekend everyone.

Hey guys. Did y'all miss me? I've been MIA chasing a gremlin in my front wheel this week. Plus...after spending a week in Florida with great weather, coming back to 3 straight days of rain really broke my will to ride in incliment weather. But fear not. This weekend I'll be riding my first century and I'm sure that'll get me back in the spirit. Have a great weekend everybody!

Ride on.

Marylandnewbie: Great sig!

Beautiful sunshine for ride in this morning but a bit cool (5C). There are lots of tulips in bloom by the F1 circuit. also redwing blackbirds they are very pretty but there singing is not up to much.

After a welcome day off yesterday - cold, high winds, sore and tired body....

It's a nice but cold day here. 39 when I left the house this AM, but should heat up to around 55-60 for the ride home. I'm doing the VLC today. Tomorrow is a 50 miler thus will bring my weekly total up to 180. of course it's supposed to rain this weekend grrrrr, 6 out of 8 weekends have rained, however I think we're definitely going to go.

This week was interesting because I found a few things: 1) after doing 100 miles in 3 days my body was really tired yesterday 2) I skipped my pre-VLC banana on Wednesday and I definitely felt like I had less energy 3) Distances are starting to shrink 4) my VLC may have to change up a bit during the warmer weather and crowds and 5) I'm just SO comfortable and in-control now on my bike.

By the way I was thinking the other night how happy I am on my bike. I really love the commuting, not only good exercise but man it's just plain fun. And to think that a few (3-4?) weeks ago I was on these boards complaining about chronic flats and how I was worried that the VLC might be too abitious. You guys convinced me to rethink some things and I've been nothing but happy with the results. Anyways thanks and have a great weekend everybody.

Monument, glad we could be of help. Guess that old line our parents always had about quitters never wins proves true after all.

I would urge anyone who wanted to try bike commuting and didn't have serious medical problems to do it for a while so they can get over those first hurdles (the flats, equipment problems, route problems) and see if they don't enjoy it.

I haven't run into the new commuter I met the other day from my neighborhood, but when we rode together on his first ride he was amazed how easily and how quickly he could do the 5 miles or so. Even starting out he could match his car commuting time -- with a little practice he was confident that biking would actually be faster.

I'm enjoying the commute immensely and I've lost about 15 pounds since I've started so its all working. I will also complete my first 5 days a week VLC tonight. Finally had a week where it all came together to let me be in the saddle all week. I'll get my new sturdier rear wheel tonight, so with luck broken spokes will be a rare occurence in my future.

Dano - Southern California - 30 mi.one way - moderate hills - pedal in, drive home

Friday: Great ride into work today. FINALLY! Although reading about everyone’s progress during the week made me feel like the bassist in Spinal Tap - who has to fight and struggle out of his malfunctioning pod only to burst out onto the stage, exhausted, just in time to strike the last power chord in the song. (Those 40 somethings out there should know who I’m talking about.) But at least I didn’t flat! That’s a good thing, because my legs definitely let me know they don’t appreciate hitting the climbs after a week off. It is surprising how much fitness you can begin to loose in a relatively short amount of time. Of course I knew I would prevail once I was over the pass, and had a good ride after that. I’ll have to get some short rides in on the weekend so I can get back to VLC business as usual next week.

My baby is bound and determined to do the ride/train/ride route into work next week so we can commute home together. I told here that if she’s going to commit to a 12 mile ride to the train station she really should become certified in flat tire repair. She’s not happy about that. I was hoping to swap the all season truck tires on her 35 lb. comfort bike for something a bit faster in order to help her along. (I’d really like to upgrade the whole thing at this point.) But I better leave well enough alone. She never flats and wonders why I do so often. Listen to me prattle on...

I gotta go. Take it easy everybody. DanO

PDX : 16 miles each way : Moderately hilly : 70 gear inches

I only managed 2 days this week due to scheduling and being a wimp about the rain. It was nasty here early on this week.

DL- What century are you doing this weekend? Good luck.

Christie133- You said that you only had 3 more days of your commute. I knew you were interviewing, but did you get a new job? I must have missed somthing.

Dano- I dig your bike. What headlights are you running underneath your bars?

Dano- I dig your bike. What headlights are you running underneath your bars?

Those are two of Cateye's finest, EL500 somethin'-or-other, LED's. They're decent 'hey I'm riding a bike here' lights. They don't actually illuminate much of anything when car headlights and streetlights are present. But they actually light the way adequately in total darkness (when you really need it) once your eyes dilate a bit. Descending a pitch dark, winding road can get a bit spooky, so I slow down a bit. But then everything is a compromise. I used to run a bright, albeit heavy, rechargeable halogen light. But too often I was ready to ride and the battery needed to charge for another 56 hours or so. I know things have improved there, but these things run 30 hrs. on 4 AA's that I can stop and buy anywhere along the road and they weigh next to nothing.

DanO

**************Long First Long Commute Story*****************************
Today I did my first commute that might be worthy of this thread, mileagewise anyway......
I have commuted on and off over the years but never more than 6 miles one way.
A few years ago we moved into a rural area 14 miles away from my job so I alternated between a scooter and a motorcycle with the mountain bikes used only for recreational riding. In an effort to simplify and lighten up for an upcoming move to another state I sold two motorcycles and determined I was going to try to commute by bicycle for a while in no small part inspired by some of the stuff I read here. Obviously I needed to unburdon myself of some of this new found money so a black, old school, steel framed Surly crosscheck shown resplendant to me through the sea of carbon, aluminum and flourescent paint that was the norm in all my LBS's. Outfitted with a mirror, strobe tailight and rider who hadnt been on a roadbike since 1990 I headed out into the dark of Sadsbury on my 2 day old Crosscheck for a 14 mile trip down Rt. 30 to work. It was a very nice ride. I live almost 1/4 mile elevation above the town I work in so the ride in was easy. At 5:00 AM in the morning the urban parts of my ride were eerily quiet and very pleasant with 45 degree ambient. My ride starts with 1/2 mile of hill but after that there is a 2 mile downhill that you can carry good speed on 'til the road flattens out for the rest of the ride which I did pretty much in two gears just alternating between the big cog and smaller cog for the dips and rises. I expected to make it in over an hour but I surprised myself by doing the 14 in 53 minutes. Obviously the speed down the long hill is what helped this average. The ride home was much more in line with the hour + . I didnt time it but with the heat, traffic and killer 2 mile up-hill it was much slower. I have always avoided this stretch of Rt. 30 in a car and now I know why. The traffic was bumper to bumper for at least 5 miles and moving a whopping 5 or 6 cars at a time through the lights. In their defense, cars saw me using the shoulder and acted respectfully, one even moving over to give me more room. Of course he got a wave and smile for his efforts ! It felt great to be looking at that mess and not be part of it.
Arriving home I realized a few things......Mountain biking excercises different muscles than road bikes, the Surly is spec'ed for Might Joe Young or a Cro-Magnon man with the stem and bars reaching out like limbs of an old oak tree. They will be changed out for something shorter and narrower soon, and most important, a rack will be used instead of a backpack. Overall it was a great 28 mile day that went even a little better than I thought it would. Cant wait until Monday !! Ha Ha....
Thanks for bearing with me on this Gone with the Wind Part III saga !!

£em in Pa.