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2018! The ?How was your commute?? thread!

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2018! The “How was your commute?” thread!

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Old 06-05-18 | 07:51 AM
  #1126  
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I know it's a beautiful day, an ideal day for riding to work, but I've been stiff from not walking enough, so I took the subway and got out one stop short of my workplace stop so I could walk a bit.
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Old 06-05-18 | 09:23 AM
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My fixed gear is back in business, so I rode that today. Cool on my bare arms this morning.
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Old 06-05-18 | 10:03 AM
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From: south Puget Sound
52F, 24 mile route in. Partly sunny.

Also, yesterday evening, my fork got gummed w/ flower petals from the trail that had been dampened by afternoon rain. Had to scoop them out, then hose the whole frame and brakes down when I got home.

Last edited by HardyWeinberg; 06-05-18 at 10:57 AM.
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Old 06-06-18 | 07:40 AM
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From: Mooresville, NC (Charlotte suburb)

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Little bit of a tail wind to assist the ride home last night. Enjoyed that and the 79 degrees.

Cool and comfortable this morning. Good ride!
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Old 06-06-18 | 09:06 AM
  #1130  
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From: south Puget Sound
54F, hazy
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Old 06-06-18 | 09:28 AM
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Pleasant high 50s today. Happy to note that I could average 17.5mph on my cyclocross bike as well!
But this is my second and last day of commuting for the week. Last week also I could bike commute for two days only, but it was a short week too.
This week, I need to rest for the next three days to prepare for my first ever 400K ride, the NER Boston - Portland - Boston. Just thinking about it is making me nervous.
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Old 06-06-18 | 09:47 AM
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Maybe my day of rest yesterday did me good. Or maybe it's because I finally started stretching. I felt very strong on the way into work today. I used higher gears than usual.
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Old 06-06-18 | 11:14 AM
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Beautiful morning, a bit on the cool side, but I wore long sleeves so I was okay.

Originally Posted by Amitoj
This week, I need to rest for the next three days to prepare for my first ever 400K ride, the NER Boston - Portland - Boston. Just thinking about it is making me nervous.
Good luck! A 400 is tough. How long is your commute? If it's not too long, you might consider commuting on Friday. Someone (don't remember who) on these forums recommended doing a short ride the day before a very long ride. My own experience has shown this to be good advice. As usual, YMMV.
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Old 06-06-18 | 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by groovestew
Good luck! A 400 is tough. How long is your commute? If it's not too long, you might consider commuting on Friday. Someone (don't remember who) on these forums recommended doing a short ride the day before a very long ride. My own experience has shown this to be good advice. As usual, YMMV.
Thanks!
My commute is 17.5 miles one way. It might be too much, given that I would like to check into the hotel early on Friday. The ride starts at 4AM Saturday.
I can treat the first leg of 35 miles as a warm up
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Old 06-06-18 | 03:56 PM
  #1135  
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The other night I had an appointment on the Upper West Side, followed by another on the Upper East. So I decided to nip into Central Park and do half a loop to get to the other side. I had my Unique with the fenders (rain was predicted), reflectors, clip pedals minus the straps, big and comfy seat, plus my backpack with work clothes, lock, etc... Had a really good time blasting around with all the serious riders trying to get a workout. It's nowhere near being on my way home, but I think I will incorporate a lap or two into my commute when time permits.
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Old 06-07-18 | 06:37 AM
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A nice morning for the ride in. Lately I've only managed 2 - 3 days of riding per week. It looks like I'll get 4 days this week. This is good..

I never get breakfast out, but this morning I didn't have time to eat before leaving, so a Chick-fil-A biscuit was calling my name.
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Old 06-07-18 | 09:13 AM
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Gray, feels like rain but that is not supposed to come until tomorrow; on the other hand, my phone also thinks it's 9F out ('feels like -2') but if I had to guess I would put it more like somewhere in the 50s, so who knows...
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Old 06-07-18 | 09:42 AM
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I felt strong yesterday, and I do again today. I wish I felt as strong on Sunday on that big ride I took. It was my weakest day in a long time.
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Old 06-07-18 | 11:10 AM
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Two things today.

It’s my first bike commute in a month. Between the simultaneous crises of my wife’s broken foot and trying to sell our house to move to a nicer suburb, bikes have been relegated... most of them to storage.

Second, I forgot when I pedaled away this morning that I took my laptop home last night. My wife’s bringing it at lunchtime. My employer has recently done away with all desktop computers, even in conference rooms, so there’s no spare place for me to log in. I called the IT department to see if I could get my phone onto the WiFi and webmail, the hold time was too long to bother with. It’s a layoff/retirement/moving day, which we’ve been having every six weeks. The company is mostly moving to Huntsville and few went along. So there’s lots of people doing their goodbye lap and it’s killed the time.

The ride itself was MTB, sunny and warming up with a light headwind. Lovely!
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Old 06-07-18 | 11:15 AM
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Photo test. Hey, it works now!
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Old 06-07-18 | 01:51 PM
  #1141  
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didn't get to switch my tires back to commuting tires and did not feel up to riding Monday even though it was pretty. I rode 63 miles on the New River trail State park in Virginia and my hands and arms were sore from the vibration. I need some fatter tires for gravel riding. All in all I am glad I did the ride but it was uphill and one of the toughest I have done in a while.

I have commuted Tues - Thursday and the weather in the morning has been a bit chilly finally broke down and put the vest on till about halfway to work and stuffed in my pannier. I rode 20 miles on my way to work!
Going to watch the local baseball team tonight with a group of friends.
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Old 06-07-18 | 04:05 PM
  #1142  
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Originally Posted by noglider
I felt strong yesterday, and I do again today. I wish I felt as strong on Sunday on that big ride I took. It was my weakest day in a long time.
Sorry to hear that about the weekend ride.
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Old 06-08-18 | 06:56 AM
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The mornings have been great all week. Mid to upper 60s and sunny.
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Old 06-08-18 | 07:11 AM
  #1144  
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Consecutive commute number 545: complete miscalculation.

Left the house, the sun was shining. Temp was 73. Beautiful.

Headed northwest towards the downtown area. Saw some pretty menacing clouds in the distance. But they looked far enough away that they wouldn't be a factor.

About a mile from the house the wind gusts started and it looked like those clouds were getting closer. Hopefully I could make it the remaining three miles downtown before anything started.

About the halfway point it started to sprinkle. Rats. Well, with any luck it wouldn't get any heavier.

About a mile from downtown it started to come down pretty hard. There were a couple riders taking shelter under a viaduct, but by that point I was wet and only 1/2 mile from the client's office so I decided to just wave and keep riding.

A block from the client's office and it was starting to let up. I ran into a fellow commuter I know and she took a selfie with us both caught in the unexpected rain storm.

I'm now typing this soaking wet with no change of clothes with me as it was supposed to be a nice day.

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Old 06-08-18 | 07:44 AM
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Rain held off and was able to commute today. The school I go by is done for summer so traffic in that area was cut down by 2/3 easily. Makes it way more calm to ride through.
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Old 06-08-18 | 08:23 AM
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Last night, I worked late and it was dark on the way home. I got whacked in the eye by a low hanging tree branch I didn't see. That's what I assume it was, but I really don't know. It hurt, and opening my eye was hard for a minute. I had this negative fantasy that someone was hanging from a tree and punched me. I don't even know how it got me, as I wear glasses when on the bike. I got home, and there was blood on my brow and eyelid. It washed up fine, and the cuts were only to my brow and not deep at all. I'm fine now.

A few nights ago, on the way home, there were a few teenagers on the path on bikes, trying to make trouble, zigzagging left and right and taking up the whole path. One of them headed straight for me and made a menacing face. I just kept my line and smiled. It was a game of chicken, and he ended up swerving to avoid a collision, so I guess that means I won. He could have scared someone. Lucky I have good nerves in situations like that. I've been through a lot on the bike, so things that shake people up don't faze me much.

This morning, I rode to the post office to send out the box o' crap that we play with in the C&V section. It weighed 25 pounds and didn't quite fit on my front rack. Upon making a turn onto a street, the box o' crap fell off my rack but stayed attached by bungie cords. I stopped and reattached it and rode slowly and carefully.
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Old 06-08-18 | 10:20 AM
  #1147  
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60F, gray, just beat the first raindrops in
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Old 06-11-18 | 07:05 AM
  #1148  
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Cool photo [MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION]. Bummer about getting wet though. Wet jeans always take a long time to dry it seems.

A warmer morning at about 73F and pretty humid.
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Old 06-11-18 | 07:47 AM
  #1149  
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60F this morning, so I could wear anything. I wore a polo shirt and my new Dockers stretchy cotton trousers. The pants are a little hot but not terrible. Unusual for me, I took a pace that was neither fast nor slow. It was a pleasant but uneventful ride. Oops, I brought my office shoes home on Friday and forgot to bring them back. Now I have to wear my SPD bike shoes all day. Clop clop.
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Old 06-11-18 | 08:40 AM
  #1150  
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After a week of working out of town I'm back to the grind on a very wet and rainy Monday. Great to be back on the bike!
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