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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 09-13-18 | 09:42 AM
  #1701  
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Drove today; hung around the house too long to do my 12 mile route, did not want to do the 6-7 miler
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Old 09-13-18 | 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by mgw4jc
[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] - love the pic. An especially nice capture of the kid looking back at you.
I didn't even see her when I shot it. I didn't see her in the picture on my camera. I only saw her when I posted the picture here. Anyway, I see a fair amount of parent-child pairs traveling this way. It's a classy way to go, in my view.

Today was the first day in quite a while I didn't ride to work. I got wet and dirty last night in the rain, and I'm going to a play after work tonight, so I took the subway, and it wasn't bad. I didn't feel like riding yesterday morning, either, but I made myself, promising I would enjoy it, and I did enjoy it and didn't regret it.
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Old 09-13-18 | 11:59 AM
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I took yesterday off the bike due to the storms late in the day. Resumes the ride in today with only a light spritz when I went through Wood-ridge, NJ. Was cool but still pretty humid. Looking for warmer and less humid for the ride home. Will see if the weather cooperates a bit. My rear tire has a small slice from a rock a while ago. I just got a slow leak in my tube this morning that I had to change which I think was due to that. So will need to replace the tire sooner than I had thought.
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Old 09-13-18 | 01:55 PM
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[MENTION=25132]ptempel[/MENTION], the experts say put your new tire on the front and move the old one to the back.
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Old 09-13-18 | 07:12 PM
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That's just willfully adding work
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Old 09-13-18 | 07:32 PM
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If Sheldon Brown recommends it (that the new tire goes in the front), then that's what I do. [MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] is correct.
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Old 09-14-18 | 06:26 AM
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Pretty good temp today, hardly or no wind! I will say after pulling my boy's bike every night pulling the hills and flying on the hills are getting easier! 1 mile each way, and a hill in between.

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Old 09-14-18 | 06:32 AM
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I always rotate my bike tires when I get the oil changed my car.

Hurricane Florence assisted ride this morning with about a 15mph tailwind. A couple of Strava segment PRs and/or 2nd and 3rd fastest for me. One 7th place overall segment. This afternoon's ride home will be a beating with a 22mph headwind predicted. This weekend is looking to have 6-10 inches of rain by Monday. We probably won't get out much.
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Old 09-14-18 | 07:14 AM
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Originally Posted by kellichou
If Sheldon Brown recommends it (that the new tire goes in the front), then that's what I do. [MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] is correct.
I do a different version of rotating. I wait until my rear tire is 2/3-3/4 worn, then I swap them. That way they wear out about the same time and I can order a replacement pair together and save on shipping.

I know Sheldon's idea is to keep the good rubber on the front wheel. However, the tread on a bicycle tire is little more than decoration. Sheldon himself admits that due to the narrow width even a bicycle slick won't hydroplane unless you're going 100+ mph. My method has worked for me for years without issue.
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Old 09-14-18 | 07:34 AM
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Cool when I got out the door, but heating up fast. Seems like a lot of the back-to-school traffic has settled down after the first few weeks, and Friday traffic is especially light (and therefore nice).

My two cents on the tire rotating: I do it when I have extra time (e.g., fixed the flat on the road with a spare tube and had time to swap/change both tires at home), and don't when I'm rushed. When they never get swapped, the front lasts me about 3 rear tires. Still, it's nice to have extra rubber on the front. Even though the tread doesn't do much, the extra thickness seems to keep the tire from getting pierced or sliced, and rear flats are easier to handle than front. Ya ever have a front flat flying down a nice hill and you're riding the metal rim before you can stop? Not fun.
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Old 09-14-18 | 07:44 AM
  #1711  
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Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
That's just willfully adding work
^ that! I don't care what Sheldon says
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Old 09-14-18 | 08:20 AM
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Willfully adding work is communing with the bike. It's soul work.

I reported yesterday that the wind was surprisingly steady. Today, it was surprisingly shifty and gusty. Halfway through my ride there is a triple flagpole with three flags. The flags showed that I was up against a mild headwind. They were lying.

Temperature is in the low 70s, but because of the extreme humidity, everyone here is sweating profusely.
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Old 09-14-18 | 08:26 AM
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Originally Posted by noglider
[MENTION=25132]ptempel[/MENTION], the experts say put your new tire on the front and move the old one to the back.
Heh. Everytime I think about that my lazy self says "just replace the tire." But, yes its a good idea to rotate front to back to guarantee that the front gets the best tire.

I rode in again today. It was similar to yesterday with a very light rain early in the ride then stopping before I reached Leonia and Ft Lee. Should be rain free on the way home according to the forecast. Happy Friday all!

Last edited by ptempel; 09-14-18 at 08:30 AM.
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Old 09-14-18 | 08:51 AM
  #1714  
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OK now I'll be honest. I don't think I've ever rotated from front to back and then put a new tire in the front. I do think it's a good idea, but honestly, I've never had a front blowout. The risk of it is extremely low, but the point of the practice is that while the risk is low, the consequence can be serious. But I'm considering how so many lives have been saved by fire codes, not because all of the risks they mitigate are big but because their consequences are so dire.
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Old 09-14-18 | 09:08 AM
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I just swapped the tires on my road bike, front to back and back to front, but not for the reasons above. I had a 700x25 in the back that didn't have much clearance between the seat stays and would rub slightly. I swapped it with the 23 in the front. I only bought the 25 because that was all the shop had and I was going to start a 100 mile ride after the old tire was gashed.

For my commuter, I've gotten 3 flats in the last 2 weeks, mostly riding through the same wet roads as Tom does in NYC so I bought a new pair of tires and will replace both.
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Old 09-14-18 | 09:22 AM
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Originally Posted by noglider
OK now I'll be honest. I don't think I've ever rotated from front to back and then put a new tire in the front. I do think it's a good idea, but honestly, I've never had a front blowout. The risk of it is extremely low, but the point of the practice is that while the risk is low, the consequence can be serious. But I'm considering how so many lives have been saved by fire codes, not because all of the risks they mitigate are big but because their consequences are so dire.
I lean to the first part of this. And honestly, if I hit something that causes a flat at 25mph, it probably won't matter if that tire has 50 miles or 1,000 miles on it.
Oh, in case it wasn't obvious, I was joking about rotating when changing my oil.
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Old 09-14-18 | 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by zacster
For my commuter, I've gotten 3 flats in the last 2 weeks, mostly riding through the same wet roads as Tom does in NYC so I bought a new pair of tires and will replace both.
Really? I can't remember the last flat I've had in Manhattan.
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Old 09-14-18 | 10:03 AM
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54F, wet. Finally got my phone out to take a picture of this guy I've been seeing a lot lately. Those are actual brake lights not just tail lights.

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Old 09-14-18 | 04:03 PM
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Originally Posted by noglider
Really? I can't remember the last flat I've had in Manhattan.
These tires were getting pretty worn out. In the rain the debris sticks to your tires and has more of a chance to work itself in.
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Old 09-17-18 | 08:06 AM
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Originally Posted by HardyWeinberg
54F, wet. Finally got my phone out to take a picture of this guy I've been seeing a lot lately. Those are actual brake lights not just tail lights.
Looks like an XM radio setup too with some serious speakers mounted on the rack. Quite involved!
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Old 09-17-18 | 08:14 AM
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The Florence storm system ended up not being a major factor where I live. There were some trees down and some debris on the road, but that's about it. We received rain from about 10am Saturday through about 9pm last night. Maybe 5 inches total. But it just came in a light, steady manner, never heavy or fast enough to back up the drainage or creeks at all. The winds were not all that strong either. Maybe a few gusts here and there, but pretty light for the most part.

My ride home on Friday had some headwinds, but not too bad. Same thing coming in this morning, some headwinds. Humid and the streets were damp, but no puddles or standing water to worry about.
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Old 09-17-18 | 08:28 AM
  #1722  
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Tail light not working, I stopped to play with the wires... no luck. So I put an emergency headlight in back, better than nothing. I was wearing plenty of reflective gear, so I figured that's good enough.

But that was enough delay that I missed my train, had to catch the local 20 minutes later. So, an extra 20 minutes of sleeping on the train, total 40 minutes late....

Only when I got to work I realized I'd forgot my wallet, without which I can't get into the building before the doorman arrives, and he was arriving just when I got there. So, though it seemed I'd wasted a bunch of time, I wouldn't have been able to get in to my office if I'd been on schedule.
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Old 09-17-18 | 09:09 AM
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Cut the century down to only 90 miles Saturday, and with the heat and humidity, that was plenty. Yay: longest ride I've done in about 3 years. Boo: still didn't crack the century mark.

This morning was nice and cool, with a spritz the first couple miles. I headed south leaving the house, and cleared the sprinkles pretty quickly. Light winds, light traffic, nice ride.
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Old 09-17-18 | 09:38 AM
  #1724  
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Originally Posted by mgw4jc
Looks like an XM radio setup too with some serious speakers mounted on the rack. Quite involved!
I think he had a roll cage earlier in the summer but seems to have cut that back.
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Old 09-17-18 | 09:39 AM
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Today, 46F and foggy.
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