jrickards

Today is the first day of Bike Month and also the first day of the Great Cycle Challenge and for the second reason, I increased my morning commute so that by the end of June, I will have racked up 1,000 km.

It was a beautiful sunny morning although there was a moderately strong, albeit steady, breeze from the north-east and for probably 16km of the 44km ride, it was into the wind. Nevertheless, it was a great ride and I was only 15 minutes late for work (but my boss showed up about 15 minutes later so all's good, besides, I went in last night from about 11 to 11:30 to pickup paper off the floor from in front of the plotters and load two new rolls of paper onto the plotters so they can continue plotting so it all works out).

Thought I might have been chafing but the soapy shower didn't burn so I think I'm OK. However, I did put some Vitamin E cream on the area that does chafe, I find that really helps.

I'll see how my legs are feeling this afternoon so either I'll do a 9 or 22 km route home.

Have a good day everyone.

groovestew

Lovely commute this morning. Sunny, breeze in the right direction (at least for this morning) and cool but not cold. Rode fixed; used my brake once when my foot came unclipped during a skid stop.

rhm

Pretty warm these days, even in the morning!

My half mile on the canal towpath is not very nice these days. Yesterday and today the air was so full of gnats that they looked like snowflakes in the beam of my headlight. I had to keep my head down and squint to avoid getting them in my eyes, and as a result I didn't see the geese on the path, almost ran down four separate families.

If I could leave the house five minutes earlier, I wouldn't have to rush so... but I don't seem to be able to leave five minutes early no matter how hard I try. But I didn't miss my train!

Tundra_Man 

What gear inch ratio are you running? I'm currently at 71 (46 x 17) and I can't skid my wheel no matter how much reverse pressure I apply to the pedals. I weigh 200 pounds but when I try to skid stop I just bounce up and down as the pedals keep turning.

groovestew

I'm running the same GI as you, same gears. I'm 160 lbs, so that might help. I'm not great at skid stopping. Practice on dirt or gravel or a wet wooden bridge deck. You're using foot retention right? Because pulling up with the front foot is as important as pushing down with the back. Stand up and lean forward a bit. It's also a bit easier the faster you're going. I have a hard time holding a skid when I'm not going very fast...I'll skid a bit, then a half rotation of the pedals, then skid a bit more, etc. Or just use your brakes. I'll never remove my front brake because I still find it handy sometimes.

GovernorSilver

First hot-weather commute of the year. My back got sweaty from the backpack, but I can live with it - a moisture wicking shirt like the cheap REI Coop t-shirt I bought for $6 helps a lot. Maybe I'll be crying for mercy on the evening commute.

DeceptivelySlow

Beautiful cool morning; 58 deg F at the beginning of the ride. Sunshine with just a hint of residual fog from showers the previous day. Below is a photo from the morning commute:

Johnny Mullet

I have not missed a day commuting since my last post on this thread. Weather has been awesome!

GovernorSilver

First full day of commuting on the new saddle - Specialized Phenom Expert - complete. Feeling sore down there but at least the sit bones have proper support now, unlike the stock saddle.

Commuting with a backpack in 80F weather wasn't great but it was bearable. Maybe I'll sing a different tune when it gets hotter and more humid.

baron von trail 

Very nice summer-like morning. Hazy and warm, but not uncomfortable. Little wind made it just sweet, perfect conditions for a bike ride.

Last couple days were hot and muggy. Temps will break today though and stay in the low 80's. Just in time too, as I have a fast-100 scheduled for Saturday. 100 miles in 5-6 hours, which is right on the edge of what I can handle without passing out.

mgw4jc

The past 2 days on my ride home I have had a car behind honk. Not the car directly behind me, but the next one behind him. Both times the driver behind me was not passing me until he felt safer to do so, which apparently wasn't soon enough for the one behind him. Some people's lack of patience is pretty bad.

Nice foggy ride in this morning. I was a little too slow getting my phone and going to get a good picture, but here's a horse pasture I pass every day.

wphamilton

It's a fixed-gear day since it has fenders that I'll probably appreciate this evening. I got here a little hot because I heard a couple of guys gaining on me, and they'd have caught me if they hadn't been so noisy. Hybrids, this was a pretty low-speed chase.

Out of habit I'd packed my dumb-looking clip-on drop-bar basket instead of a regular bag, and was strapping it on to the back rack before realizing that it should work just as well on the fixed gear handlebar as on the road bike, and clipped it on in front. Doh. Maybe I should have a morning coffee after all.

arsprod 

Looked outside and it was bright and sunny, 0% forecast for rain so put on my sunglasses (almost never do in the morning). Within a couple miles it was cloudy and raining... but it's June so who cares!

Steely Dan

today was my first bike commute in roughly two weeks due to a very mysterious and painful foot issue that made even walking damn near impossible at times.

my doctor never got to the bottom of what was wrong, but my foot has been feeling much better over the past couple days, and with the gorgeous weather this morning, i figured i go for it.

what an awesome ride! it's always great to get back in the saddle after a hiatus. there is simply no better way to commute than to bike commute.

jrickards

It was a beautiful 14C/57F and sunny this morning. I was tired from yesterday's 66km of riding so during the 20km commute this morning, I took it easy.

The temp was perfectly fine to wear just a jersey but I insist on putting on a light merino long-sleeved shirt underneath. If I look back a couple of months ago, I would have been wearing not much more at much colder temperatures. It might be partly because my body is cool in the morning when I first get up so I need a bit of insulation and then I just continue with it into the ride.

It might rain today, not sure.

KCBikeCommuter

I've been taking it easy on my commuting mileage this week to ensure my legs are ready for the torture they will endure at the Dirty Kanza 200 this weekend. Not sure why I do this to myself.

https://www.dirtykanza200.com/wp-content/uploads/Dirty-Kanza-Riders-Bible-20161.pdf

groovestew

Fun!

Another lovely commute this morning, a little chilly on my skinny bare arms, but sunny and no wind.

timvan_78

bike to work week around here, and it's been busy so far.

This AM my chain got stuck in the FD and folded like a pretzel. Totally FUBAR'd. I took skytrain/bus the rest of the way in.

metro2005

Quite foggy and headwind but overall nice:

mgw4jc

Maybe a little too warm for the morning ride: 73F. And pretty muggy too. Summer is upon us here in NC.

Less than a quarter mile from my office I was behind a car turning left. He went and then a car going the opposite direction started to turn left into me. I said, "Whoaaa!" as I swerved a bit to the right to avoid her. It was a convertible with the top down. She did stop before getting too close and said, "Sorry." I just continued on, but I'm guessing she hadn't seen me behind the fist car coming or something.

wphamilton

I got to practice a "stoppie" this morning, as I was leaving the apartment complex. Road clear, I start to go and at that moment an SUV comes barreling around the corner from my left at a good 65 or 70 mph. It's about 350 feet away where they're visible there so objectively you have 3-4 seconds but still, that was one quick stop.

About 650 morning commutes across that street, and that's the first time I've had to abort like that.

WonderMonkey

First commute of the year was home from work last night. I've been fighting a calf/heel thing. Rode back in this morning. Distance is around 17.75 miles each way.

WonderMonkey

No matter what there is always that magic timing from when the road is checked, you go to take off, and a vehicle appears. All those variables are sure to be such that at some point it will happen.

wphamilton

You can't ever let yourself get complacent, that's for sure.

Tundra_Man 

They were predicting some rain today, so I last night I packed the bag planning to ride the rain bike. My heart wanted to ride the road bike, but my head told me that probably wasn't a good idea. I'm glad I listened to my head.

When I left the house there were ominous dark clouds and some lightning to the north of town. However it was dry at my house and the darker clouds were heading in the opposite direction from where I was heading. I hoped that maybe I would skirt the storm. Completely dry ride until my halfway point at 4 miles. Then it started to sprinkle. At mile 5 it turned into a complete downpour. By mile 6 through mile 8 though it lightened up to just a steady rain.

When I arrived at work a co-worker in the parking lot noted, "You look a lot dryer than I thought you would be!"
I had a one-word response: "Fenders."