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2016! how was your commute today?

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2016! how was your commute today?

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Old 07-11-16 | 05:17 AM
  #1751  
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From: Fair Oaks Ranch, TX

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Happy Slurpee Day!

It was a bit cooler and quite pleasant this morning. Had a car approach me as he drove the wrong way on a one-way street. "Hey!" I shouted while pointing down to the bold painted arrows ... Sheesh.

Last edited by Phil_gretz; 07-11-16 at 05:18 AM. Reason: clarify
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Old 07-11-16 | 06:07 AM
  #1752  
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Originally Posted by joeyduck
How did it turn out?
Pretty well. I dug out all the grass and laid a nice rock border around it before filling with topsoil and compost. It looks nice. Wife is happy. Bike sat idle though.
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Old 07-11-16 | 06:09 AM
  #1753  
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Great ride in today as temperature and humidity levels were perfect. No wind. No haze. No issues at all. It won't last as forecasts call for hot and muggy for the next ten days or more. But, it sure was nice this morning.
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Old 07-11-16 | 06:18 AM
  #1754  
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From: Kansas City, KS
Originally Posted by baron von trail
Get a set of Gatorskins or Marathons. I never get flats and ride over a lot of crap.
All the tires have a couple k left in them or I would.. but will keep the Marathons in mind when replacement time comes.


Drank a little too much wine last night.. rough night and ride in!
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Old 07-11-16 | 06:29 AM
  #1755  
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From: 25 miles northwest of Boston

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the ride in was cool, mid-upper 50s. I wisely wore a long sleeve jersey over my usual jersey. there was minor rain last night but not a drop this morning. news reported spotty fog but I didn't see any. traffic delightfully light especially through the Concords, after the 1/2 way mark there was one suspicious white pickup that did a (closer than necessary) drive by. there was no opposing traffic so he had plenty of room to move over, or even drive down the center of his lane but he was well right in his lane. I was on the shoulder, a wide shoulder delineated by a solid white line. the streets need sweeping cuz these shoulders are loaded with cr*p. I may have been a little left of center within this marked shoulder area, but nowhere near the white line. so I don't know what that buzhead's issue was.

Last edited by rumrunn6; 07-12-16 at 07:39 AM.
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Old 07-11-16 | 07:23 AM
  #1756  
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From: Mooresville, NC (Charlotte suburb)

Bikes: Cannondale Synapse, Trek 5000 TCT, Giant OCR

I was off work all last week and had a good visit with family in Florida. I did not take my bike but made up for it by napping every day. Early mornings there were usually 84F with a 78 degree dew point - wow!

A good ride in this morning. Not near as hot or humid as Florida. Hard to believe July is close to half over already.
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Old 07-11-16 | 07:54 AM
  #1757  
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From: Malden, MA

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Overall good commute in this morning. The intersection of Commercial and Centre St right before Malden Center T stop was a little nervewracking. I go straight through that intersection to get around to the back of the station where the bike shed is, and I need to be in the right lane to make the turn, but a lot of cars in the right lane are trying to turn. Usually I wait for the crosswalk signal to hop over but this time opted to go in the road with traffic. Yeeeeeesh that was scary to do in the morning rush D:

On the other hand I finally downloaded Map My Ride and found out my route is slightly longer than I thought but that I'm doing it faster than I thought. Wahoo!
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Old 07-11-16 | 07:59 AM
  #1758  
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From: Columbia, SC

Bikes: 2014 Cannondale Synapse Carbon 4 Rival; 2014 Cannondale Trail 7 29; 1972 Schwinn Suburban, 1996 Proflex 756, 1987(?) Peugeot, Dahon Speed P8; 1979 Raleigh Competition GS; 1995 Stumpjumper M2 FS, 1978 Raleigh Sports, Schwinn Prologue

FIrst commute from home I have done in awhile - and it felt great! Did almost 70 miles on Saturday and it was nice to have an easy spin to loosen up the muscles. Rebuilt one of my pedals last week to see if it would cut down on the squeaking, and it did, so time to rebuild the other one. Made some rice cakes over the weekend, so I got to try one out today on the ride in...very yummy for bike food. This afternoon is going to be hot. IT also will probably storm so I might catch a ride home with The Better Half. I'm fine riding in the rain, but won't with thunder and lightning.
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Old 07-11-16 | 11:05 AM
  #1759  
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60F and sprinkling. Good day for longsleeves, no coat. Have the short sleeves for 70F pm commute unless the sprinkly steps up to full on showers will try long sleeves again.
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Old 07-11-16 | 11:15 AM
  #1760  
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Originally Posted by SteffyMacD
Overall good commute in this morning. The intersection of Commercial and Centre St right before Malden Center T stop was a little nervewracking. I go straight through that intersection to get around to the back of the station where the bike shed is, and I need to be in the right lane to make the turn, but a lot of cars in the right lane are trying to turn. Usually I wait for the crosswalk signal to hop over but this time opted to go in the road with traffic. Yeeeeeesh that was scary to do in the morning rush D:

On the other hand I finally downloaded Map My Ride and found out my route is slightly longer than I thought but that I'm doing it faster than I thought. Wahoo!
It takes a bit of time to get used to being in the melee, but once you get used to it and find your space and keep it it isn't too bad. I really liked having a mirror and that helps I my opinion on what is happening around you.

Great job getting into it though!

If you need help fixing or adjusting things don't be concerned about asking either here or in the Bicycle Mechanics sub forum.
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Old 07-11-16 | 04:45 PM
  #1761  
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I've ridden way more than I'm used to and more than I intended to today. I forgot about a meeting offsite, then a friend wanted lunch in Folsom, then we had another meeting offsite.I'm at about 17 mi and still need to ride home!
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Old 07-11-16 | 06:28 PM
  #1762  
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From: capital city of iowa

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Mornin commute was lovely; evening commute was hot and windy as all get out.
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Old 07-11-16 | 07:06 PM
  #1763  
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Morning was great. Evening was hot - in the low 90s plus a large heat index - and very windy but still good. 31 mi RT.
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Old 07-12-16 | 05:18 AM
  #1764  
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From: Merrimac , MA
This mornings commute was a nice uneventful commute. I am still trying to find the perfect morning ride, where I get the gardens I want but lose the small hill and get 10 miles.
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Old 07-12-16 | 05:42 AM
  #1765  
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From: Kansas City, KS
What I put on FB...

Looks like a fine ride in this morning.. the only question bike or kayak? If I was wise would drive in but can't resist arguing with a woman, and mother nature and I argue quite frequently!



Actually wasn't bad was riding the front coming in. Rode 12 mile last night with errands and didn't accomplish anything. Probably will do the same tonight.. let's see how that goes!
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Old 07-12-16 | 07:00 AM
  #1766  
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From: Mooresville, NC (Charlotte suburb)

Bikes: Cannondale Synapse, Trek 5000 TCT, Giant OCR

The storm caught me about three miles from home last night. For about two miles before that I had fun in winds changing back and forth between head wind and cross wind. But just as some sprinkles started hitting me, a strong tail wind pushed me up a hill and I thought I might be able to beat the storm home.

But then the sprinkles suddenly changed to heavy rain and the lightning and thunder hit. I stopped in front of a house, hopped off and quickly walked under an awning type carport to wait it out. I texted my wife to let her know I was stopped for a few and checked the radar. While waiting, one of the residents pulled in and waved to me. When she got out I said, "I hope you don't mind."

She said, "Not at all. We had about six in here the other day." Some more lightning and thunder made her give a scared look and she darted inside the house. A few minutes later and the rain let up enough that I could ride on home.

Here's a short video I made while waiting:
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Old 07-12-16 | 07:07 AM
  #1767  
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From: Mooresville, NC (Charlotte suburb)

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Originally Posted by SteffyMacD
On the other hand I finally downloaded Map My Ride and found out my route is slightly longer than I thought but that I'm doing it faster than I thought. Wahoo!
I find that Map My Ride, Runkeeper, and all those apps tend to be long as compared to my Garmin GPS watch. One mile my GPS will show as about 1.03 on one of the phone apps. YMMV.
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Old 07-12-16 | 07:24 AM
  #1768  
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On the way in this morning a mini van ran a red light. He was sitting at the light when it turned green for cross traffic. Suddenly he accelerated into the intersection. Fortunately the cross traffic stopped. He made a wild left turn coming pretty close to me and a pedestrian. Then all was good again.

But I'll bet there were a dozen drivers, the pedestrian besides me who's heart was beating faster.
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Old 07-12-16 | 07:37 AM
  #1769  
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From: Malden, MA

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Looks like temps are coming up again today, not quite as comfy of a ride in but not too bad. Had a slightly scary moment going across an intersection when a garbage truck tried to take a turn across my path. Pretty amazing how much bigger they look when you're on a bike and they're coming right for you. I need to get a really loud horn on my bike, people are just oblivious.
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Old 07-12-16 | 07:37 AM
  #1770  
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Originally Posted by mgw4jc
"Not at all. We had about six in here the other day."
hysterical, nice video! brings back memories
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Old 07-12-16 | 07:49 AM
  #1771  
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Today must have been our city's "Drive Like A Moron Day." I didn't get the memo, but I certainly saw plenty of people celebrating it.
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Old 07-12-16 | 08:26 AM
  #1772  
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Originally Posted by baron von trail
Get a set of Gatorskins or Marathons. I never get flats and ride over a lot of crap.
+1 On the Gatorskins. Have been using them for a while and they seem to be a nice compromise between a supple more racy tire (4000s) and a stiff tire with more flat protection (4 seasons). Only drawback is the price ($44 and up depending on where you get them). I just pulled out a small piece of glass from the rear tire this morning. No flat, just another battle scar slice on the tire. Helps to wipe the tires with your hands once in a while to try and catch bumps like this one.

The ride is was really nice this morning. Was 72F with clear skies. Have the car in the shop for timing belt service. So need to do a full ride in from home for a few days, I suspect.
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Old 07-12-16 | 08:35 AM
  #1773  
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From: Columbia, SC

Bikes: 2014 Cannondale Synapse Carbon 4 Rival; 2014 Cannondale Trail 7 29; 1972 Schwinn Suburban, 1996 Proflex 756, 1987(?) Peugeot, Dahon Speed P8; 1979 Raleigh Competition GS; 1995 Stumpjumper M2 FS, 1978 Raleigh Sports, Schwinn Prologue

No commute this morning...group road ride tonight. But the ride home yesterday was very blah. A balmy 97 degrees American, humid, lots of headwind. There were storms mostly all around but they seemed to part and miss our area completely. I was happy to get home. I just couldn't get comfortable in effort or cadence. Also, by the time I had a mile or so left all my water was hot! That was unpleasant. I think I'm mostly adjusted to the near triple digits by now, but it still doesn't make it enjoyable
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Old 07-13-16 | 05:16 AM
  #1774  
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A very nice commute in today. I found a way to miss the small hill and still see the gardens. This ride is just 1/2 mile short of 10 miles.
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Old 07-13-16 | 05:46 AM
  #1775  
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Very hot and humid this morning.
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