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2017! The how was your commute thread!

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2017! The how was your commute thread!

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Old 10-18-17 | 07:19 AM
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Nicest morning we've had so far this week at 50F. Easy ride in today.

I raked up and compacted 10 bags of leaves last night after work and before it got dark. I'm paying for it this morning as my allergies are running wild. I average between 40-50 bags every fall so I'm about 1/4 way done.
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Old 10-18-17 | 09:04 AM
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Got shot at by an Airsoft gun while riding though the hood. FML.
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Old 10-18-17 | 09:10 AM
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Originally Posted by mgw4jc
North Carolina is as cold as Canada! 42F here this morning.
No surprise. I'm in Canada and I don't think I've had a morning below 50F yet.

Speaking of Canada, I drove this AM due to kid duties, but it gave me a chance to blast Tragically Hip full volume in the car--Canada's house band! Gord Downie, 53, died last night due to brain cancer--a huge part of Canadian culture and so many memories.
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Old 10-18-17 | 09:12 AM
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Originally Posted by mgw4jc
North Carolina is as cold as Canada! 42F here this morning. I'm still sticking with shorts though - trying to delay breaking out the tights...
Almost that in Atlanta also this morning. I just put on my office slacks since my legs won't sweat, and a long sleeve cycling jersey, which I'm sure looks strange but works for me in this weather.
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Old 10-18-17 | 09:15 AM
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46F, rain, 2nd straight day of regular glasses, not sunglasses. I am calling it, it is winter now.

Also unusual load of jerks in trucks/cars this morning all in the last mile or so today.
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Old 10-18-17 | 09:51 AM
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From: Memphis TN area

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Took the day off yesterday for a morning Dr appointment, then hit some trails afterwards since the Dr office is right by said trails. I stashed my rigid gravel grinder bike in the back of my car while I was in there, and then took off from the parking lot. I rode some popular trails through wooded areas, but since it was a weekday morning there was almost no one else out there. I was glad, because I SUCK at trail riding LOL. Had to get off and walk and/or stop a BUNCH of times.

E-bike ride to work this morning, nothing much happened except someone passing me to get in front at a red light only ~100 feet from the intersection. Just gotta get in front! It was 46°F, and I was dressed appropriately, pretty much, except for having half-finger gloves. My hands were freezing.
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Old 10-18-17 | 10:26 AM
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Originally Posted by jrickards
Wow, that's surprising.

I wore shorts too (but long wool ski socks that end just below my knees). I think my count of days before wearing tights is fewer than yours.
You guys are nuts - wore pants and still felt cold at 42F!
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Old 10-18-17 | 11:47 AM
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I had a tail wind this morning. Yay!

Yesterday and today, I wore normal clothes instead of cycling clothes. I've decided I prefer cycling clothes when it's warm. I have to decide about cold. I guess I define cold as below 55º or so. I get sweaty around the hips and waist, which isn't super annoying, I guess.
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Old 10-18-17 | 12:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Bridrider
Got shot at by an Airsoft gun while riding though the hood. FML.
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Old 10-18-17 | 01:37 PM
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Originally Posted by noglider
I had a tail wind this morning. Yay!

Yesterday and today, I wore normal clothes instead of cycling clothes. I've decided I prefer cycling clothes when it's warm. I have to decide about cold. I guess I define cold as below 55º or so. I get sweaty around the hips and waist, which isn't super annoying, I guess.
Did you still change at your destination when you wore normal clothes? I don't think I would want to spend the day in the clothes I cycled in if I got sweaty at all. But then again I skip the shower at home, and shower when I get to work instead. On my e-bike I don't wear cycling clothes, but I still wear more athletic type of clothing. It just looks "more normal" than cycling clothing.
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Old 10-18-17 | 01:42 PM
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[MENTION=301784]PatrickGSR94[/MENTION], no, I didn't change. I sweat less than most people, for some reason. I don't mind drying off in my clothes. I did rinse my face and head, though they weren't all that sweaty. I'm wearing a wool t shirt under my dress shirt.
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Old 10-18-17 | 01:55 PM
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Supposedly warmer this morning, but I still had on warm LS jersey and knee warmers. Wished I'd gone for the full finger gloves, too.


Re: cold temps, some years ago a flight attendant mentioned her (puddlehopper) airline's baggage handlers had a competition going. Nashua, NH handlers wore shorts deeper into winter than Birmingham, AL or Fort Walton, FL. Made me shiver just thinking about it!
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Old 10-18-17 | 04:44 PM
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My wife's car gakked. It had the bike rack on it since she picked our daughter up from school yesterday (with her bike) for a dentist's appt. I biked over to where the car was, put the bike on the rack, called AAA, got a ride to the garage, dropped the car, and rode home. Whew.
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Old 10-19-17 | 04:13 AM
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Great.

Lots of auto, bus, foot and bike traffic though. Auto traffic was at a standstill, which is nice to weave in and out of along with the peds.

08.30 seems to be when everyone is walking/riding to school, to the university and off the island for work.
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Old 10-19-17 | 05:04 AM
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A very nice commute in this morning with the temp at 40 f degrees and clear dark skies. I was able to take the longer route this am. I am thinking about keeping this route for my winter route, I am not sure yet.
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Old 10-19-17 | 05:08 AM
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Ugh, came down to get my bike from the garage only to discover a flat rear tire. Took metro in while wearing my gear :0
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Old 10-19-17 | 06:32 AM
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Shorts again at 40F! That's probably as low as I'll go. And only doing it now knowing it will warm up to 70+ this afternoon. My fingers got pretty cold even with lightweight fleece gloves.

I've had the goal of hitting 6,000 commuting miles this year. On Monday I saw I have about 1,270 to go. While there are 11 weeks remaining, one week will be short for Thanksgiving and I'm hoping to take the week after Christmas off entirely. It's going to be tight and I started adding a couple of miles here and there to bump it up. I hit 140 last week (normal is more like 130-135) and am on track to hit that again this week.
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Old 10-19-17 | 06:50 AM
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I've been meaning to share some recent pictures I have taken, not while biking, but on walks at lunch time. If you're into Instagram, I post there occasionally: https://www.instagram.com/mgw4jc/





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Old 10-19-17 | 07:34 AM
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37°F this morning (yes, I wore shorts )

I had originally intended to get up early and tack on an extra 10 miles just for fun. At 6:15 my wife poked me and asked, "weren't you wanting to get up at 5:30?" Yes. Yes I was. Oops. So I took the direct 9.5 mile to today's work location and didn't ride any extra.

After I had gotten there and showered and dressed, I found out that two other co-workers had ridden. One rides fairly regularly, so that wasn't a big surprise. But for the other guy it was his very first time bicycle commuting. It also happened to be a new company record (sad that only 3 riders is a new record, but oh well...) so we decided to go back outside and snap a photo.
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Old 10-19-17 | 08:29 AM
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A little warmer today at 48F. I've noticed a new commuter who's riding an e-assist bike. It looks like a nondescript city bike and the guy wears street clothes. If one didn't see the big red disk on the rear wheel and the fact he's going about 18mph one wouldn't know it was anything other than a normal bike. Anyway... this morning he zoomed by me followed by one of the regular commuters who rides a tricked out TT bike and is always wearing matching jersey, tights, shoes, matching the bike, etc. and he was working hard to keep up with the city bike. Cracked me up and seemed oddly poetic. Maybe you had to be there?!
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Old 10-19-17 | 08:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Tundra_Man
37°F this morning (yes, I wore shorts )

I had originally intended to get up early and tack on an extra 10 miles just for fun. At 6:15 my wife poked me and asked, "weren't you wanting to get up at 5:30?" Yes. Yes I was. Oops. So I took the direct 9.5 mile to today's work location and didn't ride any extra.

After I had gotten there and showered and dressed, I found out that two other co-workers had ridden. One rides fairly regularly, so that wasn't a big surprise. But for the other guy it was his very first time bicycle commuting. It also happened to be a new company record (sad that only 3 riders is a new record, but oh well...) so we decided to go back outside and snap a photo.
Glad to hear that the cyclecommute "madness" is catching on at your workplace. I run into a person on my route that also works at Mount Sinai but in a different hospital. It's nice to see the commuting peeps on the ride once in a while. The director calls me "superman" and another co-worker says "I don't know how you do it." So no new commuters here, yet. But there are two doctors that I see once in a while that also cyclecommute.

Was a nice ride in today at ~52F. I usually get away with knee covers and baselayer under the jersey in this weather. Should go up to 70F or a little more like yesterday later on. I wouldn't do shorts only in much less than 50'sF. I also think that @jrickards and @mgw4jc are bit crazy. Or maybe they just forgot to put on their tights? Having said that, I saw a runner in Central Park on Tuesday wearing nothing but shorts and underwear. It was 45F that morning and I was wearing my tights and long sleeve jersey. I think THAT DUDE is nuts...
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Old 10-19-17 | 09:02 AM
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I came up on a couple of road bikes on my way home, and the second guy, drafting closely, was too squirrelly for me to hang behind so I decided to pass. Going around, I heard someone say something and laugh - ok, I look anything but "serious" in casual wear on a dutch-like single speed, but if you laugh ... and can't even hold a wheel at 20, that's gotta be embarrassing.
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Old 10-19-17 | 09:16 AM
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Yesterday was a nice commute for me.
I had decided that this week would probably be my last commute week for this year. Didnt realize that my wife was intended to cut it even shorter! Indian festival today, so I am supposed to get home early, and stay awake late. Which also means I wont be able to get up on time on Friday either.
And starting next week, I have training sessions that will require me to stay late at work.
So, I guess that's it for me for commuting this year.

Although, I'd say ~1700 miles of commuting over a total of 50 days in my first year of commuting is not a bad start.
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Old 10-19-17 | 09:30 AM
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50F. Actually missed any rain. But it was wet as all get out, standing water everywhere. It is back to raining now.
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Old 10-19-17 | 09:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Tundra_Man
37°F this morning (yes, I wore shorts )

I had originally intended to get up early and tack on an extra 10 miles just for fun. At 6:15 my wife poked me and asked, "weren't you wanting to get up at 5:30?" Yes. Yes I was. Oops. So I took the direct 9.5 mile to today's work location and didn't ride any extra.
This is me, seems like once a week at least. I set 3 alarms and sleep through all of them sometimes.

Uneventful ride this morning on the road bike, although super slow. 79 minutes moving time to go 15 miles. Bleh. 46°F, carbon copy of yesterday almost. Bike shorts and thin running tights, plus base layer, jersey and wind shell. And LONG FINGER gloves this time! Whew, no freezing hands like yesterday.

At some point when it gets cold enough I'll probably quit commuting on the road bike entirely and switch to the e-bike exclusively. And at that point it'll be time for my road bike's first complete tear-down to the bare frame, full cleaning and servicing and then back together with new bar tape, cables and housing. I can't wait to get to tinkering!
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