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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 05-04-17 | 09:52 AM
  #1076  
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I rode home late last night. I stayed at work too late, stupidly. Sometimes I get in a funk and just can't get myself up to go home. One irrational reason was that the ride home loomed over me as a big effort. But once I got going, it was fun and easy. Unusually, I had a tailwind, and it was powerful. I must have been going at the same speed as the wind, because there was absolutely no wind noise in my ears. I really should get some of those funny ear fairings, because that noise wears on me.

I rode in again today, the third day in a row, which is unusual for me. I'm glad I did it. I had a headwind as usual, but it wasn't as bad as usual. I took it easy this morning.

These evening, I have a meeting near home, and I'll need to hustle to make it on time.

The USS Intrepid museum is on my route.

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Old 05-04-17 | 10:08 AM
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56F, very clammy (would have thought muggy but not yet). Fog.
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Old 05-04-17 | 10:19 AM
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Yesterday afternoon on the Paramount: Crushed it!

This morning on the 3-speed: another grim slog to daycare. Fortunately the last one since I bought some mini-V brakes to get the kid seat to mount on my commuter.

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Old 05-04-17 | 11:05 AM
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My first commute today. I rode in with a friend and we had a good ride. Very foggy, mist on my glasses made it tough to see after a while. Got a flat in the rear tire again. Discovered that the rear tire is disintegrating on the inside and the wires belts are poking through and causing my flat troubles. Looks like I'll be buying some new tires at lunch today. 20.5 miles.

Saw a black iPhone on the side of the road. Didn't feel like stopping for it.

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Old 05-04-17 | 01:30 PM
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By the by this has been a big week for me. I've used all four of my bikes, each in the manner it was intended. The commuter bike for one ride Monday, the MTB saw dirt Tuesday, the C&V went fast Wednesday, the city bike delivered the kid to daycare Thursday. I've ridden all four working days (three total round trips plus daycare excursion). I did forty miles for the week and made it into the 200's for the year. I'm proud of it! Time to rest up for the Great Scott Road Ride this Sunday.
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Old 05-05-17 | 05:31 AM
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This has been the wettest week of commutes I've had in my three years of commuting. Out of the nine rides, four of them have been quite wet. I expect the tenth one to be more of the same.

On the positive side people at work think I'm some kind of superhero for doing it.
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Old 05-05-17 | 05:49 AM
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Originally Posted by mcours2006
This has been the wettest week of commutes I've had in my three years of commuting. Out of the nine rides, four of them have been quite wet. I expect the tenth one to be more of the same.
Going to join you on the rainy weather today. Was ~54F and a light spritz this morning. I left an hour early to beat the heavy rain. But it will be full on rain later this afternoon. Its all good since its on the way home. So I can get wet as I want and the wife don't care.

Originally Posted by mcours2006
On the positive side people at work think I'm some kind of superhero for doing it.
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Old 05-05-17 | 06:06 AM
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Perfect.. nice clear morning in the upper 40's. Switched to the Trek, the Shimano freewheel is giving up after 5k and two bikes. Ordered a new one, chain for both and brake pads for one.. parts lasted 4-5k so think that's pretty good!
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Old 05-05-17 | 06:15 AM
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... and it's still raining, something like 60 hours straight
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Old 05-05-17 | 06:24 AM
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Originally Posted by wphamilton
Today marks 3000 bike commutes to and from my current job location, counting each way as a commute. 26,000 miles. Although those are not a huge numbers in the scheme of things, I started this job at near 50 and looking back it seems like a long road.
CONGRATS wp! That is quite the milestone. I only have record of the past 3 years, but have commuted sporadically for 20+ years if I can count biking to college classes.

Originally Posted by Tundra_Man
3 miles from work I had my first goose incident of the year. Two of them mounted a group attack and came at me simultaneously. One flapped up in my face while the other one nipped my finger. Thankfully I came through unscathed. My finger stung for a few minutes, but I was wearing gloves and there's no broken skin. It's always surprisingly frightening when you're being blitzed by a large bird.
That does sound frightening. I would probably try head down (helmet as a shield) and powering through I guess. Or else going around somehow.

There was an early morning shower going through at the same time I wanted to leave and go to the gym. I could have waited it out and skipped the gym, but it was such a small system that I just went for it. I had light rain for about 2 miles and about half a mile of heavier, but not a deluge. Then it lightened up again and I mostly dried out by the time I got there. And then the sun came out for the rest of my ride to work. Worked out just fine.
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Old 05-05-17 | 07:33 AM
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Today was a near carbon-copy of yesterday: 45F, sunny and a light breeze (although yesterday was eerily calm.) I decided I need to take advantage of mornings like this so for the second day in a row I headed out the door early and turned the 4 mile commute to the client's office into 19 miles.

Yesterday on my extended morning commute I managed to average 16.9 mph. Today I decided to see if I could beat that, and I averaged 17.2 mph. Pretty quick for a slow guy like me.
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Old 05-05-17 | 08:52 AM
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Yesterday's evening commute was hard. As often happens, the wind turned around in midday, and I went from a stiff headwind in the morning to a stiff headwind in the evening. Humidity went up, and air pressure dropped, making it unpleasant, especially since I wasn't well dressed.

To add insult to injury, I came upon huge numbers of police barriers and police officers. They had shut down the multi use path along the river that is my route, and they had shut down part of the highway alongside that. I realized it was because President Trump was on his way into town in a helicopter, and the heliport is on the river at 30th St. I had to slowly snake through crowds of pedestrians and snarled traffic that resulted from the shutdown. There might have been thousands of officers stationed there. It's a rather dramatic scene, and I wasn't happy to find myself there.
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Old 05-05-17 | 11:04 AM
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Originally Posted by noglider
To add insult to injury, I came upon huge numbers of police barriers and police officers. They had shut down the multi use path along the river that is my route, and they had shut down part of the highway alongside that. I realized it was because President Trump was on his way into town in a helicopter, and the heliport is on the river at 30th St. I had to slowly snake through crowds of pedestrians and snarled traffic that resulted from the shutdown. There might have been thousands of officers stationed there. It's a rather dramatic scene, and I wasn't happy to find myself there.
Ugh, on all levels.
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Old 05-05-17 | 11:47 AM
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+1 Ugh is right. ...Must... ...resist... ...political... ...commentary...
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Old 05-06-17 | 07:34 AM
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This has been by far the wettest week of commuting I've ever had, and the ride home yesterday was bloody awful. Heavy rain, standing water and all kinds of puddles, and I don't remember where all the potholes are, made for a very stressful ride. Plus everything I wore was soaking wet. I wonder if motorist are thinking, that poor man on the bike, when they pass me.
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Old 05-06-17 | 09:17 AM
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Originally Posted by mgw4jc
CONGRATS wp! That is quite the milestone. I only have record of the past 3 years, but have commuted sporadically for 20+ years if I can count biking to college classes.
Thanks. To be honest I think I'm bragging more about working in the same place for that long. I don't track mile much, but I started off logging daily commutes on a Clean Air website in 2010 and it just got to be a habit.
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Old 05-08-17 | 04:53 AM
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A very uneventful nice commute this morning with the temp at 48f degrees and partly cloudy skies.
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Old 05-08-17 | 06:17 AM
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Originally Posted by wphamilton
Thanks. To be honest I think I'm bragging more about working in the same place for that long. I don't track mile much, but I started off logging daily commutes on a Clean Air website in 2010 and it just got to be a habit.
July 1st is my ten year work anniversary.. that seems like long time to me. Guess I'm turning into my father.
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Old 05-08-17 | 06:18 AM
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63 degrees with a mild wind.. perfect! Not as tired as I thought I would be after paddling around 4 hours over the weekend.
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Old 05-08-17 | 06:39 AM
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A bit cooler at 45F this morning. I left at about 6:10am to go to the gym on the way to work. I can't believe how light it is outside at that time. About one mile into my ride I saw another cyclist which is rare for that early. He looked to be out on a training ride with his matching "kit" as it were.

A nice morning ride though. Temps are forecast to warm up to 71, so should be a nice ride home.
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Old 05-08-17 | 08:06 AM
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Why is it that 35F in May feels much colder than 35F in January? On the brighter side it's dry (for now), no wind, and sunny
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Old 05-08-17 | 10:24 AM
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The forecast called for cloudy, but that was wrong. It is quite sunny but also very windy. It is pleasantly cool. I've come to notice that I won't pedal beyond a certain level of effort if my clothes are uncomfortable, so today, I brought a change of clothes and wore cycling clothes into work. Cycling clothes are expensive, but they really do a great job of preventing me from getting either cold or hot.
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Old 05-08-17 | 11:04 AM
  #1098  
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Originally Posted by arsprod
Why is it that 35F in May feels much colder than 35F in January? On the brighter side it's dry (for now), no wind, and sunny
+1! It wasn't anywhere that cold here, but it was still hard to get out of bed and hard to get out of the house. Wisps of fog rolling across the road, but a more or less clear sky.
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Old 05-08-17 | 12:40 PM
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45F, sunny
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Old 05-09-17 | 04:49 AM
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A very nice uneventful commute this am with the temp at 35f degrees this lovely May morning.
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