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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 07-19-17, 05:08 AM
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The commute home last night was interesting to me as I learned that the grocery store I stop at has a nice overhang to park my bike under. It looked like a storm was passing through as I went in the store so I locked my bike under the overhang and put a plastic bag on the seat. When I came out of the store my bike was dry and yet a street over from the store the roads were wet.

This mornings commute was pleasant. I saw a rabbit two different times and each one runs into the bush when they see me. As if I am the one going to harm them.
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Old 07-19-17, 05:45 AM
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First commute this week. Already 80 degrees.. going to be another hot one this afternoon!
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Old 07-19-17, 05:58 AM
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A cool and misty ride in to work this morning. Even stopped to take a couple of pics with my scratched up phone camera. For some reason, these lines were stuck in my head the whole way

Misty mornings, clouds in the sky
Without a warning
A wizard walks by

2750962.jpg
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Old 07-19-17, 06:50 AM
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@Amitoj - cool shot with the sun lighting up the fog.

On the way home yesterday I saw a snake on the MUP. He had his head up like was checking things out. When I approached he did a quick 180 and slithered into the grass.

Late last night somebody dropped a large glass pitcher and it shattered on the street. I got up early to go for a run, but decided to sweep it up first. It could have easily spread out and caused punctures for me and/or cars.

Nice ride in. At mile 9 I have a choice to go left or straight and still get to the start of a MUP that finishes the last two miles of my commute. I hadn't really tried to compare the distances before but yesterday I went straight at it was 15 miles even to my office. Today I went left and found that it is also 15 miles even. There's actually another option I could if I go left and then later take another turn. Maybe I'll try that soon.
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Old 07-19-17, 07:39 AM
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Humidity is higher than yesterday if that's possible. I tried the 'spit on the lens' trick learned from diving for fogging - it worked!
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Old 07-19-17, 08:11 AM
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They repaved a crumbling two-plus mile stretch of road on my morning commute. Last year, they repaved the little over a mile long road I ride right after it. So, in the past two years, the bumpiest, most brutal 3 or 4 miles of my route has been transformed into track-quality brand new asphalt. Needless to say, I am happy.
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Old 07-19-17, 08:26 AM
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Yesterday evening, I barely pushed for speed on the way home, but it ended up being really fast, and I did not have a tailwind for most of it. Raising the handlebars seems to have been a big gain for me. I don't really understand it, because I'm less aerodynamic. I guess it's because my back and shoulders are more comfortable. With the new position, I have to learn how to stand and pour the power on, because the handlebars are in an awkward place, right in front of my knees. I'll try lowering them a bit.

Ridewithgps sent me a notice saying I made my best time on the Greenway segment, which is 8.6 miles. I now rank #20 among all the people who have recorded their rides on that segment. I notice @greg3rd48 ranks #7, and @johnlink ranks #46 and @wilfried ranks #73. Maybe Greg was going for best time, but I wasn't, and I doubt the others were, too. It's a fun little ego boost to get these notices without my looking for my rank.
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Old 07-19-17, 10:09 AM
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Normally I ride the road bike on Tuesdays, but I had to rush to work earlier to make an 8 AM jobsite meeting, so I took the e-bike instead. I tried using a higher PAS level for hills instead of just the throttle, which actually made me faster overall AND took less battery. Win-win! I usually use PAS level 3 of 9 in the mornings, and 4 in the afternoons, bumping it up as needed for various hills, or throttle for larger hills. This time I just bumped it up to 6 and kept pedaling on the larger hills.

The crazy thing is that I made the 15.1 mile distance in exactly 51 minutes 59 seconds moving time in the morning, and 51 minutes 59 seconds in the afternoon as well! That's really weird!
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Old 07-19-17, 10:27 AM
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60F, nice and sunny. First day lack of errands allowed biking since last Thursday. Was getting antsy.
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Old 07-19-17, 06:42 PM
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On the way back home, some sort of insect flew into my mouth. I spat it out and I thought I was in the clear. Unfortunately, the realization that it was a bee dawned upon me when the said said insect lodged itself on my thigh and buried its stinger into my skin
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Old 07-20-17, 05:36 AM
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Another pleasant uneventful commute.
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Old 07-20-17, 06:22 AM
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A good ride in with a layover at the gym. Hot afternoons again this week. High of 95F today and possibly 97 for Friday and Saturday. Ugh. The worst part is when I first walk outside to go to the bike. Once I get on and start riding it isn't so bad.
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Old 07-20-17, 07:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Amitoj
On the way back home, some sort of insect flew into my mouth. I spat it out and I thought I was in the clear. Unfortunately, the realization that it was a bee dawned upon me when the said said insect lodged itself on my thigh and buried its stinger into my skin
Ouch! Really wanted to get the road bike out today but the thought of wearing a backpack in this heat gives me the willies.
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Old 07-20-17, 07:17 AM
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Had to ditch the bike today since I am picking up my first road bike later today. Excited!!

Originally Posted by arsprod
Ouch! Really wanted to get the road bike out today but the thought of wearing a backpack in this heat gives me the willies.
It was somewhere around 95 here yesterday. But I had some wind on my back to help me get through.
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Old 07-20-17, 08:53 AM
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it was thunderstorming pretty hard this morning in chicago.

i asked my wife if i could take the car. she said she needed it to run errands later on.

but instead of having me walk over to the bus stop in the storm, she offered to just drive me to work!

#sheisakeeper
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Old 07-20-17, 09:48 AM
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Survived the ride home last night, hottest day of the year (so far).


This morning I felt like I was doing intervals, but I was just concentrating on spinning the whole way in. I did hit four of my longest five traffic lights on green, so I may have to try that more often!
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Old 07-20-17, 10:58 AM
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60F, gray. No rain, but wet; should have gone for the fendered bike after all...
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Old 07-20-17, 01:59 PM
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Felt like humidity soup this AM. 77 degrees and 98% humidity. Everything drenched. And I was on my road bike and was extra slow. Over 20 minutes slower than my e-bike commute on Tuesday.
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Old 07-20-17, 02:08 PM
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Third day in a row I have asked a driver, politely but firmly, to stop texting and put the phone away.
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Old 07-21-17, 05:07 AM
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A very pleasant uneventful commute this Friday morning. TGIF!
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Old 07-21-17, 06:22 AM
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Originally Posted by essiemyra
A very pleasant uneventful commute this Friday morning. TGIF!
Ditto here.

Although I wish I had gotten more than 5 hours of sleep last night. Doesn't impact my commute though. It's the hours in between that become most inconvenient
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Old 07-21-17, 06:48 AM
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Happy Friday! A good week of commuting almost done. I meant to add some lube before leaving, but instead listened to a squeaky chain on the way to work.
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Old 07-21-17, 07:56 AM
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temp his morning: 77 (not terrible)

dew point this morning: 72 (uuuuuugggggggghhhhhhh............)
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Old 07-21-17, 08:30 AM
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I waited out morning thunderstorms, would up being pretty nice. Talking about heat index of 100F this afternoon with 300% humidity... summer!
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Old 07-21-17, 09:43 AM
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53F. Cool lenticular clouds this morning.
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