2026 How was your commute?
 

Tell us how your commute went. Did anything interesting happen? To work or back home or both.

No commuting for me this week. Our schools reopen on Monday, January 5. Students and teachers were frazzled by the time vacation was about to start. I've learned the value of empty-headed rest. Now I'm very apprehensive about returning. I'm learning the cycle of emotions as a teacher. Previously, I didn't understand why teachers do such idle things on vacation, and now I do.

Thanks for starting a new thread Tom.

I did my first bike commute of the year today as well; it was uneventful. I've been putting my other rides in Utility Cycling and the thread in the General Talk forum.

I took the Priority belt drive gravel bike. You may have heard of Priority, as they are NYC-based. I removed the Christmas light string from it and the poor thing is really due for a hose-down. On the other hand, being able to mostly neglect the drivetrain is why I bought it.
It's been on my list to get one of those pump-up garden sprayer bottles, but I just never seem to remember.

We're going to have temps getting back up into the 30s today, so it's going to be messy. I need to get the fender that goes with the Topeak MTX Beamrack and re-install my downtube-mounted front fender.

The last time I commuted to work was December 11, 3-1/2 weeks ago! I didn't feel a big urge to ride, but I knew it would be good for me. I couldn't think of any excuses not to ride, so I did. I reminded myself that I didn't have to push myself. In fact, I knew if I pushed myself I might get overheated, and my workplace can be overheated which makes it hard to cool down. I can't think of anything unusual that happened, and that probably means my memory is faulty as usual. I did see the father and daughter pair on their tandem as usual. We passed each other in opposite directions as we usually do on the Brooklyn Bridge. That gave me a smile.

Getting ready for work at home, I heard on the news that Nicholas Maduro is being detained in Brooklyn. My school building is next to one of the court buildings. I looked it up, and the detention center is a couple of miles away so I won't shout anything inappropriate towards any windows. Just kidding; I wouldn't do that, although I was tempted once when I realized I was downstairs from Jeffrey Epstein.

Today was my first commute of the year as well. I didn't ride last Friday, the 2nd as I had to leave work and drive to Denver around 3pm for an Improv gig. The company surprised us with a noon closing so I could have biked. So I made sure to take a longer ride on Saturday, to also scope out my upcoming 64th birthday ride.

This morning I picked the 16" 1989 Dahon Getaway 5 (+2). It was the first commute with the new folding rack. I still have "concepts of a plan" to be able ride this bike to the airport, pack it in a 29" airline compliant Samsonite Oyster suitcase, fly to Chicago and bike to my brother's 17 miles away. After my DIY proof-of-concept trailer put the suitcase a couple pounds over the 50lb limit, I decided to do away with it and just fasten the suitcase to a quick-release rear rack.

The rack was on sale for $39, and has two struts. It also came with side bars for panniers, but I removed those because without them it folds flat. It attaches with a quick-release clamp, and I used a wingnut on each strut. It goes on and off in a minute. The flat rack fits with the folded bike in the non-original carry bag.

As you can see from the photos the rack sits a little high. The struts are adjustable, and I could lower it, but where it clamps rests on the collar for the lower seat post giving it better support, and it puts the suitcase up out of heel-strike area. I have to get longer bolts than I have and then test it to make sure it can handle the weight. I usually fly with a back pack as my personal bag, and a carry on. So the carry on can either fit inside the suitcase, or strap on top, while I wear the back pack, or redistribute it inside the suite case. Don't know yet.

Then there's the issue of rear wheel strength. It did okay this morning with my heavier, all-contingency commute bag. I didn't feel the bag wagging the bike, but with the occasional odd, random gyrations of this bike I don;t know how I'd notice them anyways.

Sunny 43F-50F ride in...11.6mph avg. Max 23.6mph.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...64719927b8.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e6c2bca93f.jpg

Today was the first commute on my new Salsa Confluence "light assist" gravel bike. Got it with flat bars, Essa 8 drivetrain. Got rid of our second car, so the plan is to commute as much as possible this year.
I never felt like I should jump into these "How as your commute?" threads very often before, since I would only ride to work sporadically. But, now it's on.
95% humidity this morning, they say. At least it wasn't rain. Saw the usual nice assortment of birds along our river trail (Los Angeles - herons, geese, ducks, stilts, even a gull his morning), and some (for us) high water after the weekend's rain.

Welcome to the thread. I thought it was a bit silly at first, but there are a few regulars and we get to know each other. Kind of like meeting friends at a coffee shop every so often. We share little fun details of life that humanize it.
This will also be a way to hold yourself accountable, right? ;-)

Well, if you put it like that ... Yes, I will try to be a regular. Let's see how my aged body responds to going from 500 miles for the past three years, to something much higher.

Chinghis I have a lot of reasons for commuting by bike, and one of them just bubbled to the top that had not been on top: it's good for the brain. I struggle with ADHD, and it's frustrating. But cycling could help. It probably already helps. So after after not riding to work in 3-1/2 weeks, I rode today. I'm in NYC, and it's been unusually cold here (for here), but I did it anyway. It wasn't hard or easy, and it wasn't super enjoyable or annoying. And I'm glad I did it.

Smaug1 in the 2025 thread, you asked about the climate here. You would laugh. People here think 28º is cold. That's what we had today. I'm better than most people at tolerating low temperatures, and 28º is fine for me, especially now that it's been like this for a while and I'm acclimated to it. You mentioned heated socks. Sounds like a good idea, but I definitely don't need them. Sometimes we see 20º or less but not for long. I find I am perfectly comfortable riding with my hiking boots, and I always wear wool socks. My last remaining problem (which you've helped me with) is hands. I just got some battery hand warmers. They work but they only heat part of my hand when I put them in my gloves. Better than nothing but not amazing.

Jeremy, I'm really sorry about your mom and Alzheimer's. I have all too much experience with that. Both of my parents had dementia (Alzheimer's is a form of dementia) at the ends of their lives, and I'm terrified it will afflict me. But I am doing what I can to stave it off.

First commute of the year this morning. Somebody put a couple of incubators where I usually park my bike in the storage room.

Today should have been my first ride, due to yesterday rain. But I tried to do too many things this morning. Laundry, dishes, hot breakfast. I had a 7am meeting and it was 6:47 by the time I left the house. I took the truck.

When I opened the truck I found the center console open. Thieves? Sort of. My behavior kid went through it looking for candy and didn't bother to cover his tracks. Still not a criminal mastermind. He also hooked a kite string to the interior and threw the spool into the bushes. There may have been other sins but I didn't take the time to inspect for them.

When I got to work, the 7am meeting was not even on the calendar. It was a standing weekly prep meeting for a major review - that we completed in December. I guess it will be ok. I need to put the RV away today too. So the extra time here this morning I will spend on my lunch break.

It's unseasonably warm now, mid-upper 30s and was supposed to rain this morning, so I wasn't planning to bike commute. Looking out the window, it was just kind of wet. I either missed it or beat it. I did take the folding bike with the fenders though, just in case. I might make a stop for something for the grill on the way home from work. Maybe some pork chops and a fresh veggie...

Last night and this morning, my butt muscles were sore, and I thought maybe today should be a recovery day. But then I talked myself into riding again. I have rehearsal this evening, and that adds 10 miles, round trip to my 8 mile round trip commute. It's good for me. The weather is milder than yesterday, not that it was terribly cold. The sky was gray this morning, and it looked like rain, but there's no rain in the forecast.

My commute is a reverse commute going from Manhattan to Brooklyn. I've mentioned the father-daughter tandem team. They must be very regular. I was a couple of minutes later today than yesterday, so I passed that team (going into Manhattan) earlier on my ride. New today were two father-child teams on the bridge, using long tail cargo bikes. Nifty!

Well, the interesting thing that happened yesterday, and that I am sort of embarrassed by, is that I took a spill on the way home. NEVER RIDE ON SIDEWALKS: I decided to cut across the street to avoid a light, but didn't want to ride against traffic, and as I maneuvered around a light pole my handlebar caught on a chain-link fence, pitching me over into the gutter. Banged my head on a parked truck, and landed on my elbow. I guess that's proof that modern handlebars are much wider than on 90s MTBs.

I blame it on all the people, and my mother-in-law especially, who keep urging me to "be safe" now that they know how much I plan to ride.

A slower ride this morning, lots of moisture in SoCal. Thanks for the encouragement, noglider! I am in my mid-60s, so I have to start being aware of stuff like this, too.

Chinghis since it's so embarrassing, we don't really know how common it is. It's quite common. I have learned that half of all bike crashes are just falling without colliding with a bike or car. And it makes sense when you realize we're balancing on two wheels.

36 °F, cloudy and gloomy. Semi-wet roads, 9 mph wind. Seems like this will be the foreseeable future of my commuting.

Could be worse, could be better.

Probably time to look at the chain on the folder and see if it needs a wipe down and some more Boeshield T-9.

I made it through the day (Tuesday) on insufficient sleep, riding extra distance to get to my evening rehearsal. I got out at 9:30. It rained lightly on the way home. Upon arriving home, I hosed down the bike and oiled the chain. As with all rehearsal evenings, I got to bed late.

This morning, I woke up 66 minutes after my alarm. I am not skipping my shower two days in a row so I skimped on food preparation and grabbed whatever I could find to bring. I deliberately didn't pack coffee because I don't want to do that every day. I texted my co-teacher warning I might be late. She said "me too." We both made it on time. I'm halfway through the day, and my intestines are not happy but I'll make it through the day.

Lots of kids are sleeping in class. This is very not OK and also very common. Two of me confessed they were up playing games. I told them I have addictions, too. I asked them how they are going to solve their problems, leaving it open ended for them to solve. Life is hard, and we have to do hard things anyway.

First lap. Really feeling like I have not been on a bike in two months. Butt was already sore getting on for the return leg and knee is sore now that I've parked.

As you know, the sore butt is the process of it healing from the workout, so it will get better.

The knee might be a concern. When I had knee pain, my doctor told me to do leg lifts while on my back, lifting only a short distance. I never would have guessed that that's what I need. My knees give me difficulty descending stairs, so I should try that again. I was diagnosed with chondromalacia when I was 24. I'm about to turn 65, so I guess I've been doing well so far. The pain has never been severe as far as I can remember. My iphone tells me about my stairs climbing. It shows that I go up faster than I go down. I bet the high school students think I walk like an old man. Well, I am an old man.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2264:

This was my first commute of the new year. I had taken the last two weeks off so we could travel to visit my wife's family in Ohio. On Monday we drove home to South Dakota. My wife was sick and didn't want to make any meal stops, so we only stopped three times for gas/food to go. Made it home in 14.5 hours, which is pretty good time. Normally I expect about a 16 hour drive.

Knowing we would be driving all day on Monday, I took Tuesday off as well. So today was my first day back to work. The temp was a balmy 28°F, although the humidity was very high making it feel a little chillier. Still, that's very warm for South Dakota in January. November and early December came in with lots of snow and subzero temps, and now the last three weeks have been extremely mild.

There is still a bit of snow lingering here and there, but most of it has melted. There is also plenty of ice, but nothing I can't ride around with a little care. I took the road bike.

I had a dentist appointment scheduled this morning at 8 AM, so I rode there first. I had scheduled the appointment long before we made travel plans. Then an hour later I rode to a client's office where I discovered that somehow they didn't realize I was going to be gone for two weeks, even though I had been stating that fact since Thanksgiving in my weekly status updates. That tells me they don't read them.

Felt pretty strong during my ride to work, which I attribute to the two weeks of rest. Oddly enough, the fit of the bike felt weird, like the seat was too low and the reach to the handlebars was too short. Nothing changed on the bike, so I'm not sure why it felt that way.

It was windy Tuesday morning so I didn't ride because I had an all day video shoot and knew I would need my energy to set up and breakdown twice which actually ended up being four times because location issues. Yesterday was Wednesday and I usually don't bike on Wednesdays because I have to be up north after work.

It's supposed to snow today Significantly with possibly over 4 inches of snow and I don't want to be caught in the same situation as the last big snow where I fought five to 6 inches on the way home on a bike without fat tires. So I am voice typing this from the Recumbent exercise bike which is better than nothing. I am expecting a cycling weekend when temperatures return to the 50s.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2265:

Got up early and loaded my bike into my truck, then dropped the truck off at the repair shop. From there I rode 7 miles to our company office. At the end of the day I'll reverse the process. Bike commuting really takes a lot of the pain out of the logistics of vehicle repair.

The ride in to the office was pretty easy. Temp was 32°F, but still very humid which made it feel a bit chillier. Still, that's crazy warm for a South Dakota January morning. I had the wind pushing me from the shop to the office. I'm not looking forward to fighting the wind tonight on the way back to the shop.

The day after Christmas I was getting my truck ready to leave on our annual trip to Ohio by doing the usual maintenance stuff. I noticed the coolant reservoir was almost empty, which seemed odd, so I topped it off. When I changed the oil it seemed a little thin, but it wasn't milky. Then I noticed antifreeze dripping out of the tail pipe. Uh oh, that's not good. I decided I didn't want to risk driving that vehicle 2000+ miles, so my brother generously loaned me his truck for the trip. While I hate that my truck is having mechanical problems, I'm very thankful that I made the discovery in my garage and not on the side of the road in the middle of Illinois.

I'm strongly suspecting a failed head gasket. If the mechanic concurs with my diagnosis, that may be the death blow to this 22 year old Ford Expedition. Outside of this latest mechanical issue, the truck is still in very nice shape due to it not being driven much because I commute by bicycle. However, due to the age and miles it probably is only worth about $3k on a good day. So I'm not sure it's worth sinking $5k into a head gasket repair. Which means I may be vehicle shopping in the near future. Yuck. I just got done vehicle shopping for my wife 3 months ago.

If it were just me I probably wouldn't replace the truck and would just rely even more on my bicycle. My son is a musician and uses my truck to haul his large drum kit around. Also because he's a musician, he has no money for a vehicle of his own which means he needs my vehicle to get him to and from gigs. I can buy a used mini-van for about 35%-50% of what a used large SUV would cost, and the van would actually haul even more than the SUV. I'm leaning that direction, much to my son's protest. He doesn't want to drive a mini-van. I've told him that since I'm spending the money I get to decide what I buy. That doesn't mean he's going to like it, though.

Too bad about the truck but it has served for a long time. I agree strongly about the minivan. People don't want to be seen in one. Possibly, once your son uses it, he will change his perspective.

That's just what it's like here, but slightly warmer. We're fresh out of ice now. Now, it's just wet all the time, with the snow from the last month or so melting little by little.

I bet they read at least one of them when you didn't show up! ;)

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No bike commute for me today, as it's supposed to start raining around 3 and rain all evening. Plus, I need to pick up my daughter 20 miles away at 4:45 directly after work.

I took the cage to work and will take the opportunity to make the run up to the LBS over lunch to pick up some bar ends for the new single speed. While I'm there, I'm bringing the rear wheel from the single speed for a bit of help from the mechanics there. I'm working on replacing the freewheel with one that's one tooth larger to gear it down a bit. Can't get the old freewheel off, even though I bought the special socket for it. It seems to be a cheap freewheel that's on the hub, as the recessions where the socket goes in are kind of rounded, rather than sharp-edged. The socket just cams out as soon as I apply any torque to it. If I keep trying, I'm going to round things off. I will give the LBS a shot before I put an impact socket on the freewheel socket. I might've tried it last night, but I don't have the right size socket at home. 1-1/16" is too big and 15/16" and 23 mm are too small, so I'm guessing it's 1". I'll bring a 1" impact socket from work with me when I go up there.

It's things like this that remind me why Treks cost more money than cheap bikes. Sometimes, the overall package on a cheaper bike is attractive, but they just use these garbage components that ruin the experience as soon as a fellow needs to do any work on them.

Jeremy, the procedure is to secure the extractor onto the freewheel with the axle nut (or QR skewer). Screw it on fairly tight so the extractor doesn't mess up the edges of the freewheel. You need to turn the extractor hard with a 12" or longer wrench. Once you get it to budge, back off on the axle nut slightly to let you continue.