Commuting - Commute photos

Inspired by a number of recent posts, I decided to document my commute with photos.

http://www.tomtheisen.com/?section=commute032106

This is only one route of several that I take.

keep on keepin on

Looks cold. Those pictures have a nice surreal quality.

I love seeing everyone's shortcuts and paths. It's such a different perspective than what you get with a car.

Looks cold. Those pictures have a nice surreal quality.

I love seeing everyone's shortcuts and paths. It's such a different perspective than what you get with a car.

Surreal. I like that spin. :) See, I would have just called them low resolution and blurry. Your way sounds so much more artistic.

I agree about the perspective. Sometimes people ask me for car directions and I realize I don't really know how to give good car directions. I suppose it's like that for most people with cycling. Most people probably don't even realize these paths exist.

And depending on conditions/my mood, there are several other routes I take. Maybe I'll document some more of them.

We almost need a subforum of commuting that we can post these photo documentaries...I'm worried that I've missed some of them already.

Thanks recursive.

Some parts look like a rail trail/MUP to me. But then, some parts of all rail trail/MUPs all look alike to me. I think that convention center is by Frank Lloyd Wright, not a bad sight for a commute.

I seriously enjoyed that! Cheap knockoff, nothing! There is seldom really new stuff around, my version is a knockoff as well, from someone else's which may very well have been inspired by yet another, and so on...

I find it amazing how enjoyable it is to go along on someone's commute.

BTW, what is all that white stuff lying around? Never seen anything like it on my commute. ;)

Sticky vote for the commuting links!

I will get busy as soon as I am not such in a rush to get to work.

cool nice job

I worked in Madison like in 1993 and not too far from where you do now. I used to bike around the city then but not to work. Your pictures kind of brought back some memories.

Awesome !

That's a nice bike path, and that dashed yellow center line makes it look like a wee little highway for bikes.

I loved this, thanks for posting. I used to ride in Madison all the time in college (note avatar). Thanks again!

Compared to your road hazards, my route is pretty boring. Nice pic's recursive.

I cant believe he really looks like his avatar.... :)

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Maybe I'll document a different route sometime. I'm glad to see all the current and former Madisonians out there.

Edit: Yes, that's really me in the avatar.

Good on you. I would love to try that but I would get killed by the traffic.
I held my curser on the down arrow and scrolled down through your pictures quickly. In a spooky way it felt like I was riding with you.
Steve

Great photos and nice ride.

One question: What's the white stuff on the ground? ;)

Recursive -- nice photo documentary. I love seeing all those bikers and walkers out in cold weather. Folks around here are wimps. Most hang up the bikes for the "winter"



We almost need a subforum of commuting that we can post these photo documentaries...I'm worried that I've missed some of them already.

I second this idea. How about someone start a thread that is just for links to the photo docs, not for comments about each one. Then ask a mod to sticky the thread.

Here's my daily ride
http://www.hauntedfrog.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=3021

Here's my daily ride
http://www.hauntedfrog.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=3021

Nice. It would seem unusual to me to commute for miles at a time with unchanging scenery. What's the deal with that bridge? Why is the sidewalk closed? How are pedestrians supposed to get over the bridge?

Nice. It would seem unusual to me to commute for miles at a time with unchanging scenery. What's the deal with that bridge? Why is the sidewalk closed? How are pedestrians supposed to get over the bridge?

The bridge is many, many years old. It goes over a river. Part of its support is an old concrete dam. The bridge and the dam both need replacing. Problem is, the dam is under private ownership and (wait for it) nobody knows who owns it. So the bridge can't be repaired until they get ownership reverted to the state.

THEN, nobody actually wants to touch it, because for a damn 50 foot bridge, this is going to cost millions, because the dam needs replacing as well, and it has created about 2 miles of wetland that's been there for 80 years.

[edit] the sidewalk is closed because the concrete has eroded to the point where there are holes all the way through.
As far as pedestrians, they just walk on the road. Traffic does not go fast over that bridge, and it's pretty wide. Besides, I'd be surprised if more than 20 people a day walk over it.

As far as the scenery not changing, it does, just not dramatically.There's often wildlife and stuff to check out too.

great pics

It is truly hypnotic to see someone else's commute. But would you do this again in springtime? I seem to remember Madison as a beautiful place...not the, uh...how to put this delicately? The postapocalyptic dystopia of your daily commute? But I mean that in a good way!

The bridge is many, many years old. It goes over a river. Part of its support is an old concrete dam. The bridge and the dam both need replacing. Problem is, the dam is under private ownership and (wait for it) nobody knows who owns it. So the bridge can't be repaired until they get ownership reverted to the state.

THEN, nobody actually wants to touch it, because for a damn 50 foot bridge, this is going to cost millions, because the dam needs replacing as well, and it has created about 2 miles of wetland that's been there for 80 years.

[edit] the sidewalk is closed because the concrete has eroded to the point where there are holes all the way through.
As far as pedestrians, they just walk on the road. Traffic does not go fast over that bridge, and it's pretty wide. Besides, I'd be surprised if more than 20 people a day walk over it.

As far as the scenery not changing, it does, just not dramatically.There's often wildlife and stuff to check out too.

That story about the bridge is hilarious. I imagine they'll somehow find a way to fix it if it becomes so bad that it is impassible. :)

Regarding the scenery, I do some rural riding also, and I do enjoy it, but for some reason it just strikes me as odd on a commute, since I'm not accustomed to it. I would probably prefer it though.

Thanks for sharing your commute. It was actually entertaining to see what other peope ride on. :)
I wish the Cincinnati area had cycle-friendly roads. :(

So, do you wear cycling clothes while riding or your work clothes?

That was a fun ride. I may do that on my, part rural, part urban, ride soon. Very nice touch to these journals.

So, do you wear cycling clothes while riding or your work clothes?

My normal winter gear is a wicking shirt, Arcteryx softshell jacket, ski gloves, insulated cycling tights, Lake winter clipless shoes, and maybe some wool socks. And spiky helmet.

I change when I get to work.

Can I ask a practical question? How are you taking these pictures? Stop and shoot? And where do you stow the camera?

Can I ask a practical question? How are you taking these pictures? Stop and shoot? And where do you stow the camera?

These pictures were all taken on the go. The camera is mounted to my head tube. When I want a photo, I press the button.

This isn't mine, but it looks almost exactly like this:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=1961962&postcount=105

Can I ask a practical question? How are you taking these pictures? Stop and shoot? And where do you stow the camera?

Oregon Scientific ATC-1000. It shoots AVI video files (640x480) at 15 frames per second. A set of AAAs and a 1GB card gives me over an hour of shooting. Then I load the file into VirtualDub, and copy out the frames that I like and paste them into PhotoShop.

As you can see, the video quality isn't great, but hey, the camera was $80 and came with handlebar and helmet mounting gear. The SD card was another $50.

Oregon Scientific ATC-1000. It shoots AVI video files (640x480) at 15 frames per second. A set of AAAs and a 1GB card gives me over an hour of shooting. Then I load the file into VirtualDub, and copy out the frames that I like and paste them into PhotoShop.

As you can see, the video quality isn't great, but hey, the camera was $80 and came with handlebar and helmet mounting gear. The SD card was another $50.

It's too cold to use the video mode here now. If I try to record video, it usually shuts off within a minute reporting insufficient battery. It works properly inside, so I'm stuck with photos until it warms up. When that happens, I plan to take some video.

It's too cold to use the video mode here now. If I try to record video, it usually shuts off within a minute reporting insufficient battery. It works properly inside, so I'm stuck with photos until it warms up. When that happens, I plan to take some video.

That's odd. How cold? I've been taking vid of my whole ride (about 50 minutes) in 5*F weather.

When I first got mine, it only made it about 10 minutes when cold, so I bought some new NiMH batteries for it, now it can go an hour even in the cold.

That's odd. How cold? I've been taking vid of my whole ride (about 50 minutes) in 5*F weather.

When I first got mine, it only made it about 10 minutes when cold, so I bought some new NiMH batteries for it, now it can go an hour even in the cold.

About 20 degrees. I am using new nimh batteries. Maybe they need to be broken in or something. I should give it another try I suppose.

rechargable batteries perform very poorly in the cold. Try some good old alkalines. If that still doesn't work, I think lithium batteries (not the rechargable ones) are excellent in cold weather. All my photographic gear and GPS stuff gets tempermental in the cold when I use NIMHs.

Nice photos, too. I have an aunt that lives in Madison, so it was neat to see a few landmarks I recognize.