Commuting - You say I'm crazy like it's a *bad* thing

I decided to take the long way home again today...

http://www.mechbgon.com/commute/index.html

Good times :) (Cliff Notes: snow + rush-hour traffic + highways + snow)

And in the dark. 19mi awesome commute.

Haven't ridden in snow, but it seems like it would be fun without heavy traffic.
Nice effects of the falling snowflakes with your lights, making it look like a small meteor shower.

Sweet! Nice pics, makin me jealous. Love that snow.

I like the clearance light idea.

I couple weeks ago I mounted one of my surplus compact Cateye CSPC blinkers on the outboard back corner of the left pannier. I've been thinking of putting one on the other side too, just to give a larger, more moto appearance. I just measured the span, the distance between the two outboard blinkies would be about 2 full feet.

Possibly mixing it up with amber solid lights. Add a couple of lights mounted wide outboard in the front as well, try to look as fat as a honda goldwing.

Do you run a blinkie in front all the time for being seen as well as your headlights for road vision?

A perfect night for a ride in the snow. Nice photos. Makes me look forward to getting the snow. No mater what the weather is when I go for a ride in the snow, there are bike tracks because someone else has already ridden in the snow that day.

Sweet! Nice pics, makin me jealous. Love that snow.

I like the clearance light idea.

I couple weeks ago I mounted one of my surplus compact Cateye CSPC blinkers on the outboard back corner of the left pannier. I've been thinking of putting one on the other side too, just to give a larger, more moto appearance. I just measured the span, the distance between the two outboard blinkies would be about 2 full feet.

Possibly mixing it up with amber solid lights. Add a couple of lights mounted wide outboard in the front as well, try to look as fat as a honda goldwing.

Do you run a blinkie in front all the time for being seen as well as your headlights for road vision?I saw that Nashbar has an amber blinkie with a clear lens (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=101&subcategory=1068&brand=&sku=2149&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=) that comes with a bar mount, if you wanted to get some side-marker clearance lights. I ordered a couple, plus a Planet Bike self-levelling helmet blinkie, to try out. I used to use the amber Cateye there as a front blinkie on the left fork blade, because its domed lens shows well from the side. But I can't find anyplace to buy more of the Cateye, so maybe I'll put the Nashbar ones on the sides and the Cateye can go back in front again. Overall, I'm warming up fast to the idea of side-marker lights :) Some of the bullet-shaped ones from led-r-us.com (http://www.led-r-us.com/fmlights.shtml) would be pretty trick, although maybe 2x too big to look right on a bicycle.

It snowed more this morning, and I was blasting past the cagers (they were timidly crawling downhill at 10mph) going down Southeast Boulevard in the bike lane. Props to the snowplow guys, they always plow to the edge for me :). Since the ol' Canon A60 was right there in my front pannier, I grabbed it and did a quick on-the-roll shot as I approached Sherman and 5th:

http://www.omnicast.net/~tmcfadden/morning.jpg

And today's forecast didn't even call for snow. Tonight and tomorrow we're supposed to get dumped on, though :) I gotta top myself now!

edit: pic of the Nashbar amber blinkie attached now.

that was a great series of photos. it musta been a bit scary being on the highway with all those trucks in the snow.

Visually, a great commute. I love the snow covered bike pics. Makes me glad I'm in TX, though. :)

Cool pics - just one thing to note:

Put down a blanket or something to catch the drip, and clean as much as you can while the bike is outside. You don't want to put it in your tub. The salt and sand and grit will eventually back up the drain, which your landlord will probably charge you for...

Hard core commute. At least you and your bike are well lit.

That last pic of the bike in the tub is the best! That's like the 3rd one I've seen on BF.

That's all the stuff you lug in the wintertime (though my lunch and snacks consume almost a full pannier by themselves)? Anyway, you make me jealous so long as the drivers aren't sliding all over the place.

wow, awesome pics mechBgon :D great lights too!

what kind of tires are you using?


oh and before I forget: I'm a visibility newbie so thanks for putting together that page with all the info :) It was very helpful for me.

that was a great series of photos. it musta been a bit scary being on the highway with all those trucks in the snow.

I certainly was staying alert out on the highway! Plenty of people have to decelerate for right turns and that was the top issue on my mind. The shoulder is a full lane wide, so I was far from the vehicles going straight, but I was watching my mirror very carefully at places where people would need to decelerate from 50mph to 15mph to leave the highway. So the professional truckers are a lot less of a worry than the average soccer mom in a Lexus SUV ;)



Put down a blanket or something to catch the drip, and clean as much as you can while the bike is outside. You don't want to put it in your tub. The salt and sand and grit will eventually back up the drain, which your landlord will probably charge you for...

Good point, I will do something about that. After the "meltdown," I found two pebbles in the tub. So THAT'S what was slowing me down... yeah... :p



Hard core commute. At least you and your bike are well lit.

And we're going to be better lit yet, after I get my helmet blinkie, and after my dual-beam NiteRider halogen gets back from repair *evil laughter* ~65W cruise, ~90W peak... sign me up!



what kind of tires are you using?

oh and before I forget: I'm a visibility newbie so thanks for putting together that page with all the info It was very helpful for me.

IRC Blizzard, 112-stud variant :) But I think some Nokian Extreme 294's might be justified. Thanks for the compliments on the visibility guide, I am going to work on it some more tonight and add stuff that people have suggested :)

Dude, that's a hardcore commute. Well done! (nice pics too) Clever to use that amber light on the bar-end.

Extreme commute. I have never lived in a snow place, so this is all new to me. Thanks for those pics, they really showed how it can be!

I decided to take the long way home again today...

http://www.mechbgon.com/commute/index.html

Good times :) (Cliff Notes: snow + rush-hour traffic + highways + snow)


nice - hardcore commute with hardcore weather

those are awsome pictures, i love riding with fresh snow. nice bike, how do you go by not getting the salt eat the bike away?

Ride with Pride!!

Very nice! I'm in the same boat. My commute is only 6 miles one way, however.

I'd love to have those nice wide shoulders to ride on! My route is on 45MPH rural road with no shoulders. It can get dicey quick.

Thanks or sharing!

I'm from SE WA and have visited Spokane quite a few times. Interesting winters for sure. Kudos on the commute.

I decided to take the long way home again today...

Dood!

That's muy hardcore! When I grow up I wanna be like you.

simply awesome ... One day I will grow a pair and get me a setup like that to ride in the dark.

You da man mechbgon. My commute is only a mile or so each way, I kinda feel bad for parking the bike for the past few days.

And we're going to be better lit yet, after I get my helmet blinkie, and after my dual-beam NiteRider halogen gets back from repair *evil laughter* ~65W cruise, ~90W peak... sign me up!
That's what I call a lighting system -- how do you power it? You'd need almost 2 hrs burn time to make it all the way back in the snow. If I could get anywhere near 65W cruise, I'd switch to an automotive headlight. Heck, automotive HID only draws about 35W.

Fun pictures!

I haven't been near Spokane since a nearly forgotten Cannonball ride.

Thats great, but what is all that white stuff on the ground?
I've wanted to take pics of my commute, but don't have the patience to stop so often.
Al

That's what I call a lighting system -- how do you power it? You'd need almost 2 hrs burn time to make it all the way back in the snow. If I could get anywhere near 65W cruise, I'd switch to an automotive headlight. Heck, automotive HID only draws about 35W.The Flamethrower is the equivalent of about 50W by itself, and goes 4 hours like that. The old dual-beam NiteRider halogen system has 12W and 20W bulbs and runs 10% overvoltage, so there's the other 15W cruise (~2.5 hours) or ~35W peak (~45 minutes). Its battery is getting older, so I may have to get a new battery for it someday.

You say I'm crazy like it's a *bad* thing

Hehe I did a 30 mile commute once from Hayward to Santa Clara. 16 of the miles was on Mission blvd. which goes through hayward, fremont, and milpitas, ca. I had a nice bright rear blinkey, but a very weak low quality headlight that was only on, so cars could see me.

Now picture the commute on a dark night, absolutely no street lights, and the only light is an occational car passing by, as well as a traffic light now and then. The only way I had assurance that I was going in a straight line was that I could just barely see the line marking the edge of the bike lane, and I was following it. It was about 10:30 to 11:00 PM, and I was on my e bay bought motobecane mirage pro :D

Atleast you could see where you were going...

HOOOAAHHH!!!!you got stones!

stones good

The Flamethrower is the equivalent of about 50W by itself, and goes 4 hours like that. The old dual-beam NiteRider halogen system has 12W and 20W bulbs and runs 10% overvoltage, so there's the other 15W cruise (~2.5 hours) or ~35W peak (~45 minutes). Its battery is getting older, so I may have to get a new battery for it someday.
BTW, mechBgon, I take it you ain't hitched. My wife would kill me if I attempted your 19 mile ride through snow just for what it would do to the commute time. Still, it's a damn cool ride if you have the gear and are in condition. 10.3 mph through 3" snow on a mountain bike with wide tires is respectable.