KCBikeCommuter

It's been a very pleasant week of commuting so far. The gale force winds from last week have gone away (thankfully), and we've had cool mornings and warm afternoons. Should be lower 70's for the ride home tonight!

PatrickGSR94

Did you make any kind of left hand signal before moving left to the left turn lane? Perhaps your lateral movement took that one driver by surprise. Or maybe he was inattentive, or merely being a d-bag.

Another fairly uneventful ride, but I woke up late again. Usually I leave the house at 6, but this time I missed the alarm I guess and work up at 6. Rolled out at 6:40, got to work before 8 and was ready to go about 8:15. Control and release working well again, except for one person where I did not make the "stay back" signal, so they hurried on past with another oncoming car nearly on top of them. Idiots.

jrickards

Yes, I did signal just before I moved across the lanes and kept my hand out as I moved across the lanes and then put it down once I had reached the left turning lane (with the intention of raising it again as I got closer to the road that I would turn left onto).

I think it was inattention as there was no "violent" actions afterwards.

RidingMatthew

38F but I saw a low of 33F on the GPS. it was cold and I felt tired from longer ride home yesterday. Supposed to be warmer today. I had the right gear but my wind proof gloves elastic has come unstitched. My wife says "we just bought those." I said "yeah 3 years ago, just bought, haha"


I am in the market for windproof gloves any suggestions?

LoopRider

We've been spoiled this year with sunny, warm weather. However, this morning's commute featured a cold, north headwind the entire way. My ears are still tingling from that chilly ride!

PatrickGSR94

Do you use a mirror? When I turn left with traffic behind, I use a combination of my helmet mirror and head turns, while my hand is out, to make sure they're not about to pull some bonehead move like trying to pass me on my left as I'm preparing to turn left. Seems to work pretty well. Usually you can tell if a motorist sees you or not. If they're moving to the left turn lane behind you, especially with a turn signal on, you could also let them go by in the left turn lane while you're still in the left thru lane, and then get into the turn lane behind them.

Just some thoughts and suggestions you might try out in the future, even though you said you may not go that way again.

joeyduck

@jrickards That is a scary situation and ti does seem that it was inattention and misjudging by the car. I get the sense you know what you're doing and that you wouldn't put yourself in that situation.


I went for another family ride Sunday with some friends as well. It was just in the area and a total of 12km, with blossom gazing and a picnic. As we were going past the botanical gardens it was very busy, the entrance for it is on a smaller residential street that is also a bike street. So we had to stop and I had to relieve anxiety from my wife and move the family to the sidewalk until we got across the next major street when we were in a quite residential area. She is a superstar, we are facing fears and handling anxiety. Next time we will put my son on the trail-a-bike; having him free roaming was too much. He wasn't holding a good line and she was terrified that he'd swerve into oncoming or passing traffic. He did give me and a pedestrian a scare when he almost hit a parked car, I am almost not sure how he missed it; the pedestrian even gasped as the inevitable was approaching.

My son also got upset since we were on the back of the group and I made him stop with me while the others rolled through stop signs, I even made him and I dismount and walk across a busier street. I tried explaining that in the gap between us and them a car could easily show up and not see or expect us and I was too far back to approve a safe crossing. As well as the fact he is still a kid and weak at starting up from a stop.

My wife was a further champ and pulled the trailer with the two kids, gear, and our son's bike lashed to the back. She's awesome!

But the ride did make me realize I need to get a mirror, I grew very accustomed to having one while commuting. I will head to the store to get a mirror and a rack. And a threaded rod to tighten that Dia-Comp headset.

jrickards

No, no mirror but it is something to consider, thanks

essiemyra

Well it is Friday! With a nice chilly 30f degree commute to end the work week. I did not extend the ride this am due to the temp. No need to ride longer in chilly temps.

dcb23

45F/7C, clear skies, no wind. Nice ride in. There was a skinny fox just hanging out on the square in front of the Lincoln Memorial this morning around 06:30.

Last night on the ride home I discovered that my handlebars had become almost entirely detached! The two bolts attached to the neck were very loose....explains a lot of why I thought my grips were slipping.

mr geeker

much like the rest of the week, it's gonna be awesome. 50's this morning and 70's on my way home... oh yeah!

jrickards

Yesterday's afternoon commute home was in beautiful weather, 11C/52F, sunny and absolutely gorgeous: I wore my shorts and light jersey home, my coat and tights were in my pannier. The afternoons for today and the next few days are forecast to be the same or better so although I didn't commute by bike today, I will be riding this evening and for the next couple of days to take advantage of the weather.

tarwheel 

Morning commutes this week have been like butter. Clear skies, tailwinds and cool but not cold temperatures. Had my fastest commute time in a while today, making it to work in about 55 minutes, and will top 140 miles for the week. Perfect way to end the work week.

mgw4jc

Low 40s again today, but still going with shorts and light jacket.

I saw an opossum hanging out at the edge of some trees. He was standing, but motionless as I rode by.

Later I saw a dog trotting along on the sidewalk with no owner around. I must have spooked him because when he heard/saw me, he kinda did a quick turn up into a yard all the while watching me. Which meant he didn't see a small tree and walked smack into it. He let out a yelp/bark and continued on into the yard. I couldn't help but chuckle.

wphamilton

First commute this week! Out of town on business. Seeing bike riders everywhere, in that perfect Florida weather, I admit to some envy. My co-worker commented that I wouldn't be the weirdo bike rider there, which we quickly modified to "outlier" for the sake of accuracy. But back in the saddle again, and while not nearly as pleasant here it felt good to get back in the routine.

baron von trail 

Hit the wall riding home last night. 10-15 mph headwinds for 25 of my 30 miles...and a nasty cross for that other 5. After three straight days of 50 mile R/T commuting, I needed a break.

Sitting here now, I am glad I chose not to ride this morning. Definitely need a recovery day. I am not yet in shape to ride 4 or 5 straight days.

KCBikeCommuter

Another beautiful morning commute with 50F temp and light winds. Should be in the mid-70's for this afternoon. I could really get used to this.

RidingMatthew

Wow last nights ride I thought was going to be a great ride but the wind every time I turned east was tough. I sometimes I am riding down a road 19ish mph but yesterday I was working hard to maintain 15-16. HEADWINDS STINK. I told my wife I would love to have a tailwind up this road near my house. It hasn't happened yet.

Rode this morning though was able to get 15 miles. Tonight, my wife and I are going out to eat and then watch The Wizard of Oz play locally. In between after work and getting together, she said I could ride some. She gets me! It is going to be fun to ride without panniers around then back to work so I can shower and go out.

Tundra_Man 

Rolled into the driveway last night to see a package leaning against my front door. The new panniers I bought on Tuesday afternoon already showed up (I didn't even pay for express shipping!) Bought a set of Ortlieb Back Roller Citys from ModernBike.com. Have to give props to Modern Bike. Not only did they have the cheapest price, I'm amazed with how fast they arrived.

Used the panniers for the first time this morning. Holy cow they're nicer than my old Avenir Metro IIIs. The Avenir made it nearly 7 years before finally getting so bad I had to replace it. I wasn't sure about spending an extra $70 to get the Ortliebs and almost just bought another Avenir for $40. Well, I think I'm already glad I spent the extra money.

Before I would pack all my stuff in reusable grocery bags, then carry them out and put them in the panniers which always remained attached to the bike. This usually took a few minutes of squeezing and stuffing as the grocery bags would hold more than my pannier pockets. Pretty annoying when I was wrestling with packing the bike in sub-zero temps.

The Ortliebs connect and disconnect so easily it's amazing. Literally maybe two seconds each. Pull on the handle and they release. Set them on the rack and they click into place. I probably saved at least 5 minutes this morning (half when loading the bike and half after I arrived at work.) Last night I just packed the pannier like I previously would have my grocery bag. This morning I walked out and clicked it on the bike. Done. When I arrived at work I locked my bike, then just grabbed the handle and walked into the building with it. The time savings alone was worth the extra money for these bags. So I heartily recommend them for anyone shopping for panniers.

Oh, and my commute was fine.

arsprod 

Finally reached 40F this morning! Almost got nailed and totally my fault. Coming up to 4 lane crossing and I looked east into the sun, seeing nothing close I kept going into the intersection rather than stopping. Wrong choice - there was a car in the far lane and barely missed me. My heart's still pounding and I'm reminded (yet again) that 10 seconds of motion is not worth getting nailed. Slow down!

RidingMatthew

@Tundra_Man I love my ortliebs as well. I got mine from Modern bike as well. I have yet to ride in the rain with them but I am sure I will have a chance soon enough.

ptempel

Was a brisk 45F this morning and will go up to 60F or so this afternoon. Spring is here! Nice park and ride today. Rode the full distance from home yesterday. Nice weather lately...

essiemyra

The commute this morning was a nice uneventful ride with the temp was 37f degrees with no winds. May all days this week be biking days!

mgw4jc

Clear and cool at 41F this morning. Nice enough ride, though my hands were a little cold for the first half.

I have some friends running the Boston Marathon this morning. I may be a bit distracted later on as they progress through the course.

baron von trail 

This was one of those odd mornings where temperature was below 50 but the air felt warm anyway. No wind and a reasonable level of humidity. So, I rode in shorts and a T shirt, which made it very pleasant.

The results were good too. I matched my average morning commuting time from last year, 1:15. So, now I can focus on beating last year's best time, 1:10.

It's supposed to be 81 this afternoon. So, I expect a very nice ride home.