Darth Lefty 

Took kiddo to daycare in the kiddo seat. Riding with a 3yo is great. "Whoa, look at that! Is that a trash truck? Is it a yil (little) one? We are going too fast, get on the sidewalk. Is that a bulldozer? Is he going to dig up the road? I need a stick, daddy."

First ride also with the 12-27 replaced with 11-34. My knees thank me

rhm

New experience this morning: I got a citibike with a Nuvinci hub. Very smooth. They usually have Shimano or Sturmey Archer three speeds, which are fine, but the Nuvinci was a fun change.

NewATBikeComute

This weekend, swapped out Schwinn Street Comfort tires (or something like that) and heavy duty tubes for Geax Street Runner City Tires, and Geax Ultralight tubes. Totally amazing how much lighter the wheels are with the different setup, but would they be faster, and would they hold up?

Also adjusted my seat down, and adjusted the handlebars to (slightly) increase the seat to hand grip distance. A quick ride on Sunday seemed more comfortable, and faster, but the real test is the commute, with all the stop signs, traffic, and lights.

Well, averaged 0.7 mph faster on Tuesday than the nearly identical route on Friday, over a total of 17 miles round trip. More important, no punctures. Have two patch kits, but definitely can and should carry a spare tube, since I have a pannier. Also more comfortable. See, the Trek 800 sport is a small (16.5") frame, but I had managed to hike the seat up too high, which naively I thought was impossible.

When I took my first drive + bike commute last year, I worried excessively about everything that could go wrong. It's amazing that I stopped worrying long enough to do something about it, but I knew, knew that I had to do something. The mental changes have been greater than even the physical.

July 1st last year was the first day; not even 3 miles each way, and it left me soaked in sweat (well, it was 85F and humid). I made it to late September, before the darkness during the evening commute put a close to it. My best month was 162 miles total, and I was proud that I did that.

Today, I made 163 miles for May, having started on the 6th, so only 25 days. I am doing 8-9.5 miles each way, but I have an alternate of 5 miles if weather is bad, or I am running late. For June, my goal is 20 or more days of riding, and 200 or more miles. Also, I intend to improve my lights, clothes, bike fit, while keeping to my budget (which isn't much).

I hope this long post is okay; obviously what I have accomplished isn't to impress anyone here, but I am the happiest I've been in a long time, and just wanted to express it. I love the variety of experiences, people, and of course bikes that are Bike Forums, and am grateful it is here.

Darth Lefty 

Got a PR. First one in a good long while. It's the little things.

mgw4jc

Great that it is working for you and you are getting things dialed in. Keep it up!

@Tundra_Man, 600 is huge. I hit it once or twice a year. When I do, it means I didn't have many days off work - so a blessing and a curse?

I hit a kamikaze rabbit this morning. He darted at me as I was already passing him. I didn't really feel anything, but I looked back and the rabbit was about 4 feet in the air. His foot or something must have gotten caught up in my back spokes which threw him up. He landed and scurried away, so I'm hoping he was okay.

Good ride otherwise. Humidity!

jrickards

I was planning on going for ride this morning but it wasn't going to be a commute in.

My wife called me about 3pm yesterday afternoon and asked if I was going to ride home because the weather was looking worse. I told her that the forecast was for thunderstorms and they hadn't happened yet so maybe I'll just leave my bike at work and take a ride home in the car with her. (In the end, the weather cleared and it was nice, warm and sunny (but very windy). She also mentioned that she starts work today at 6am and that if I drove her into work (5 min drive from my work), I could take the car to my work, hop on my bike and go for a nice ride starting and finishing at work (but not a commute as I said at the outset). This is what I planned on doing so when I got to work at 6:05am, I reached for my mag card to let me into the parking lot (and then the building) and it wasn't there, I guess I hadn't brought it home with me so therefore, I couldn't get in to get my bike, so I just went home.

As I was getting ready to head out the door again at 8:15 to drive in to work (and borrow someone's mag card to get into the parking lot), I noticed on the shelf where I put my keys, my mag card. Sheesh, I could have done the ride as planned.

Oh well, my wife is out of town tonight so I can ride the long way home and make my dinner when I get home and not worry about her dinner.

Tundra_Man 

Only slept about two hours last night. Ugh. Rough one. It was tempting to be lazy this morning, but I forced myself to get out and take the long way to work.

I rolled past the 600 mile mark for the month of May. By the time I get home tonight the tally for the month should be 617. When the odometer hit 600 I stopped and took a picture to commemorate the event:


A few miles down the road I rider was passing me on the MUP. As he went by he slowed down and we figured out that we knew each other online, but had never met in person. So we rode together and talked for about five miles. Always nice to make a new friend.

arsprod 

I hit a kamikaze runner on the ride home yesterday. This happened almost exactly 4 years ago - young woman runner, ear buds in, I ring bell several times, as I reach the no return point she turns right into me. The difference is last time I did my best not to hurt her and went down - broken thumb and concussion. This time my reaction was to lead with my shoulder and never lost control. The runner's reaction was the same - "sorry, my fault, you ok..." run off the other direction. WTF is wrong with these people?! MUP's are roads - would someone turn and run the other direction without checking for traffic? It's rhetorical...

This morning was beautiful

noglider 

Color me embarrassed. I forgot to bring trousers. Actually, I didn't forget. I decided to wear the spare pair in my office to keep my bag light. I guess I forgot that I brought that pair home at some point, so now I'm wearing a dress shirt, a cardigan, and my bib tights. I'll sit at my desk for as much time as possible. Good thing classes are out now. (I work at a college.)

I got one of those last week. It's fun. On the Citi Bike thread, people complain that it doesn't shift easily. I fully disagree. It worked like a champ for me.

HardyWeinberg

50F, gray, clammy (but no standing water!)

groovestew

Last time I took my 3yo (almost 4) in the kiddo seat, she screamed and bawled for the first several minutes. Once she figured out there was no danger of falling, she calmed down, but kept reminding me not to crash. I'm sure she'll be much better next time.

Between feeling fatigued and a (slight) headwind, today's commute felt like a chore. Maybe it would help if I rode more than once a week!

Darth Lefty 

Mine started off in a trailer and I put him in a bike seat as soon as I could, it's a lot less work. He never complained about the trailer but the bike seat made him cry a few times last year. But I think it was more 2yo cussedness than fear or dislike. He'll be three in a month and he loves it now. Good luck with your threenager!

mgw4jc

HardyWeinberg

Story of my life.

Actually I did forget a helmet today.

noglider 

As I left this morning, I thought outloud to my wife, saying that when I'm wearing a cap, I tend to forget my helmet, since I have the sensation of something on my head already. And you know the rest of the story. Plus I forgot my keys as well, which isn't that big a deal. My boss has the key to my office, and a neighbor can let me back into my building when I get home.

HardyWeinberg

I did have my under-helmet hat on so my head wasn't immediately chilled by stepping out uncovered...

I do leave spare clothes of all descriptions in a filing cabinet drawer but when I use them I try hard to remember to replace them, which sounds like it might have been your downfall...

sunvalleylaw

Same route, good commute. Windy this morning. Breaking wind the whole way north. *no, not THAT breaking wind*

joeyduck

@groovestew

I started the boy in the bike seat at about 8 months, he didn't like it but quickly got used to it. I would have to say that the 3-4 year age was the best to commute with him. We would chat and pass snacks back and forth. It was great. My favorite was the day he learned about photosynthesis (he went to an awesome daycare) and he explained it all to me. That is a memory I won't forget.

I think that my daughter would love to be in the seat, but I don;t think that my wife will ever allow me to get another seat.

PS @groovestew You said you used to vacation in Parksville right? Just an FYI, we live in Nanaimo now.

joeyduck

@rhm and @noglider I wonder what our old friend @TransitBiker is up to, he used to be a big supporter of those hubs.

essiemyra

My first day back to commuting to work since hurting my arm. I went to see an orthopedist this past Friday he said an hour a day is okay for riding until my arm is better, my arm is about 80% and I miss riding so I am commuting to work. A very nice foggy uneventful commute with the temp at 51f degrees.

mgw4jc

Glad you're able to commute!

A thunderstorm popped up at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon. It was small enough that the worst of it was gone by 5, but I did start out in the lingering rain. It stopped a little after halfway though. Not too bad at all.

A cooler morning today in the low 60s. Quite nice.

noglider 

Not that I'm competing with others, but I am competing with myself, aiming to get stronger. I think I'm succeeding. I pass more Cat 6 commuters than I did in the past. Some others still pass me, and it will always be true, I'm sure.

groovestew

You have a good memory! We were last in Parksville three years ago. My truck got broken into in Nanaimo that year. We considered coming back this year, but we decided to try out Salt Spring Island instead. An acquaintance told me about an 85K cycling loop that he recommended I try (details here: Saltspring Island under "Longer Route"). I don't know if you can vouch for any of the route...maybe you'd like to join me?

HardyWeinberg

58F, muggy, wet.

Darth Lefty 

Taking kiddo to daycare, about a mile from home when I hit something, hard. "I hope I didn't get a pinch flat," I say to myself. A half mile further and the tire is flat as a pancake. I walk bike and kiddo to safety (a bridge overlook with guard rails on both sides so kiddo can play), and check out the tube. While I do that, kiddo steals the aerosol sunscreen to play with, and I just let him. Massive pinch flat, four holes. The only wonder is that it didn't flat immediately. I can't get it to hold air at all, if I pump the tube it just breathes out. I get out the spare tube - it's the wrong one, with a too-short valve stem. I get out the patch kit - one patch left. I make the call to Mommy, I'm lucky she even has her phone because just then she's feeding the twin babies. It's a solid 40 minutes til she arrives, kiddo and I retreat to a nearby gas station. We take kiddo to daycare. As I walk away from him he announces his need for the little boys' room, and instead of falling for this stalling tactic, I make the daycare teacher deal with him and listen to him cry as I flee. Mommy and I go for coffee/brunch. On the way home from that we stop and run into traffic to shoo some ducks across the road who have also run into traffic. Then I go to retrieve the bike, drive to work, and the morning is pretty much spent.