lin_kieu

Well, I finally took the plunge and did my first ride in to work yesterday. I took a zig-zaggy way because the most direct route is along a main road, on which 4 cyclist have been hit this summer already ! I got kind of turned around a couple times, but mananged to get there in 35 min. Not too bad considering a car ride takes 20 min, and the fact that I got turned around a couple times.
Some of you may have read a thread in which I asked if a backpack, messenger bag, or panniers were the best way for me to take stuff to work in. Well, being broke at the moment, I decided on my Camelbak H.A.W.G. that I've had for a year. I left my work shoes there the night before, which were taking up the most space in my bag. I loaded up my H.A.W.G. with underwear, pants, shirt, apron, socks, deoderant, baby wipes and powder, a Powerbar, a tail light and a headlight.
I work at a restaurant on the dinner shifts, so didn't get out of work until 1:50 A.M. I must have been honked at, yelled at and jeered at about 15 times. Seems like the small brained come out at night. Anyone else ride regularly in the dark?

The Rob

I'm all geared to ride at night but have yet to do so. There simply hasn't been a reason.

I'm sorry to read that you meet such hostility. You'd be better served to stay on well-lit, well-traveled streets where the availability of witnesses is greater. Keep an eye out for serial offenders whose derision may escalate. As for the rest, ignore them and know that as long as you follow the rules of the road you have the law on your side.

-Rob

Chris L

I ride every night in the dark (it's winter here so it's usually dark by the time I get home). To be honest I don't find it any different to riding in the daylight. However, I do notice that on some days there are more tossers around than on others. Maybe your next night ride will be different.

aerobat

Congratulations on your first commute. That's great that it is only a few minutes longer than the car trip, and you'll probably whittle that down some as you refine your route.

Don't worry too much about the harassers, if you ignore them, and go about your business, they will too. Just remember the old saw about "small things amuse small minds", and laugh about it!

lin_kieu

I wasn't to bothered by the hecklers. It was Saturday night, so I passed it off to weekend courage i.e. alcohol. I'm sure it won't be that way every night. My goal right now is to make it to work in the same amount of time as it took my in a traffic fighting car.

Thanks for the encouraging words. I feel like I've joined a private club.

P.S. I've garduated from "Junior Member" to "Member"! Cheers!

surreal

i, too, work at a restaurant. i close every night, and typically bike home between 10pm and midnight.

i far prefer biking at night over daytime biking, due to reduced traffic and cooler temps(in the summer, leastways.) as for the hecklers, well, i get them at all hours from time to time.

perhaps the strangest was when a jeep cherokee full of 17/18 year olds slowly drove by me, so the girthiest of their number could exclaim "nice wheels, pervert!"

the incident left me scratching my head. nice wheels, indeed...that's obvious. but how did he know i was a pervert?

=)

-rob

MichaelW

When I was cycling on a slim budget, I used a pair of mil-surplus respirator/gas-mask bags, zip-tied to my rack. They acted as a very good pair of small panniers.

In addition to lights, use as much reflective stiff as you can at night: Scotchlight bits on yopur bags, pedals, clothes etc.

Richard D

Welcome to the club

Andy Dreisch

It's great that you took the first step. Keep it up !!

I ride at night on the way home from work during wintertime. I find riding at night to be different, but no better or worse than riding during the day.

I'm prepared at all times to do a night ride. You never know when you may be running late and have to ride home in the dark -- even in the summer.

IowaParamedic

Yeah! I am pervert and I never see you at the meetings....

JDP

Haha, that's too funny.

I'm new to the board and I just started cycle commuting last week. My work is about 10 miles from my house but really I cheat. I ride to the train station (mass transit) and ride to a station close to work. Then I just have to ride through the parking lot to get there. I believe I would get killed trying to ride the whole way unless I left way before rush hour. If I hit the train right it takes the same amount of time as driving to work.

Andy Dreisch

Believe me:[list=1][*]You'll soon master the traffic[*]You'll be wishing your commute was longer[*]You'll come to understand that parking lots are far more dangerous than roads[/list=1]Good luck !!!

JDP

Thanks. Maybe I'll take a longer route when it gets cooler. Temperatures will soon be over 100 degrees if the past is any indicator. The traffic here is really scary. Most of the streets are 6 lane with 40 mph speed limits. In some places people are doing 20 over and in others it is badly gridlocked. I might could do it if I leave early enough. I already have to leave by 6AM to be allowed on the train with my bike.

The Rob

Oof! Unfortunate turn of phrase there...

Congratulations from a an ex-Dallas area resident (Mesquite and Garland)!

-Rob

IowaParamedic

When I did my first commute, I thought that getting up at 5 am and leaving by 5:15 was just what I had to do to ride my bike in the morning. I thought I might be tired, but I really wanted the exercise.

I have found that I am more awake, because my heart has been circulating more blood than I am used to at that time of the morning. I am definately more awake than my coworkers are.

Chris L

Agreed on all three counts. My commute has somehow grown from 12km/day a few years ago to 47km/day now.

JDP

You know what I mean. I do have to remind myself to look both ways when crossing the tracks that early in the morning.

Andy Dreisch

Best thing that happened to me was that I moved far from work five years ago. At the time it seemed impossible: a 20-mile trek to work. But I first went with the wife and kids to school (valuable 30 mins there) and went from there. Gradually I built up to doing the entire trip. Now I do it regularly, and in the summer I do it constantly.

lin_kieu

Yeah, I'm sure my commute will grow with time. I was talking to my mom on the phone the other night and told her about commuting. She asked how long it was. It's about 5 mi. Nothing really. She thought I was crazy for doing it. Thing is, 5 miles is nothing. For someone who averages 50 miles on every ride, 5 miles is almost my warm up phase.

Don Johnson

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lin_kieu
[B]Yeah, I'm sure my commute will grow with time.



My total commute is about 35 miles one way, the last 11 of which I do on the bike. I'd do more but where I exit the car and get on the bike is the farthest away from work I am comfortable with due to safety concerns, not the distance. Originally my cycle commute started at 3 miles. It then grew to 6, then 9+. Presently, if I go directly from the place I park the car it's about 9.5mi. However, I now find myself going the long way to work or doing a circuit before I actually aim the bike at work and am always going up every hill in the area I can find. There's never enough time available to allow for sufficient time in the saddle. That work thing is always getting in the way!

The primary motivating factor for getting back on the bike was to reduce mass (body mass, although I have reduced Sunday services too). That I have done but what is the most fun now has to be tracking times, miles, heart rates, calories expended, etc., all of which is easy to do with some of the really neat electronic gadgets availbe to us nowadays. Some can get pretty expensive but they don't have to be in order to track progress.

All in all though, Andy was spot-on when he said you'll be wishing your commute was longer. I wish the first 25 miles of mine was safer to ride.

Keep the shiny side up!
Don Johnson