Very long commute club: week 7
 

Speed week part two. Still haven't heard from some of our heavy hitters - like velogirl, cyclaholic, nor an offical TT result from Jur. And, of course others. You know who you are. I am still hoping to have a rain free day where I can get on my recumbent and see if i can top CigTech's current top scoring run.

Rain, rain, and more rain here in Vermont. They are talking about some "partly sunny" weather on Wednesday. Maybe that will be the day....

If you do break it Mars then you'll have it. I have not been able to top that run. Come with in 3/4 of a MPH average once. But just could not get it over that run.

Speacking of rain. Last week it rained on Tuesday and this week it is going to rain on Tuesday. I just glad it been on my days off. what's the odds of that happening two weeks in a row. Now next week I have Wensday and Thursday off. So if it keeps raining on Tuesday then I'm going to get wet next Tuesday. :lol:

Here is last week data. All this raceing stuff is getting my Average speeds up there.

It was unseasonably cold around here for May, but it was a gorgeous morning. I took a casual ride to start the week off. My wife did dinally arrive home on Friday after successfully completing BTWD. Required a few extra rest stops, but she did it -- and has the t-shirt to prove it.

Those of you with enough years behind you may remember the old cartoon with the coyote and the sheep dog walking into work together with lunchboxes in hand. Each goes to his respective station, puts the lunch box away, clocks in and when the whistle blows they jump into action. I was reminded of that cartoon this morning when I met a fox trotting down the trail. Evidently, he had just finished the graveyard shift and was heading back out to the 'burbs. He was just trotting along without a care in the world. Seems like a good way to start the week.

Should be a quiet week and if all goes as planned we are doing a little mini-tour this weekend. A rail-trail ride starting north of Baltimore to York, PA and back the next day. I'm looking forward to it so I hope it works as smoothly as it looks on paper.

How long does the commute have to be to be long?

I started last Wednesday-Saturday and did today too. 21+ miles each way, I'm averaging 10+ but less than 12. This is just great. I'm tired but smiling!

You belong in the "way too long" commuting club.
Mine is 30 in and 15 back (I use the bus).

I average around 14-15 mph.

Hi wonkemtel! The rule is: if YOU think your commute is very long, then you are in. :) Twenty one miles each waay would qualify anyone to be in VLC as far as I'm concerned.

Your commute will get easier, and faster, as your body gets used to it. Make sure you post your stories and experiences here because lots of people willl be interested.

How is the commute going wonkemtel? I'm gearing up for my 20-mile commute, after last year only having been able to do it one way/day. This year I'm hoping to do it both ways in one day. It helps that I'm in training for a 70km (50mile?) bike race next month!

I pulled off a 30-mile ride yesterday and it felt great. The indoor bike trainer made a HUGE difference in my conditioning leading into summer riding. I'm very impressed!

I'm a bit worried about being wiped after doing the both-way commute, but I should get used to it fairly quickly you say? What are others experiences?

I'm pretty tired. I should but dont eat in the morning, my sto,mack wo't sit at 430 in the morning. I'm going to be breaking stuff I think, we shall see. I wish I had a cell phone and I need to find someone to teach me to change a flat. I need to eat better at work too, but at least I'm tired 'authentically' which feels a lot better than stress tired. I also find myself druming and smiling involuntarily at work as I experience my post ride buzz. I am a bit upset that I had no desire to ride Sunday as it was a nice day but my body will adapt. I'm sore but not undouable. My speedometer magnet was out of wack on way home. I stopped on way home 8 blocks off course at a LBS owned by same guy as the one I go toadn they resituated it and I bought a 2nd tail light. Now I have to figure out how to sew a strap so I can put it on my Camelback blowfish. Today was good, I like the bunnies. Cold going in so I base layered under Jersey and rain coated and rainpants (don't have breathable additional layers yet, just rain pants and jacket 2 shorts and 2 jersey (1 orange 1 ANSI GREEN or whatever it's called.

I have to go in early again all week. I don't really like getting up at 4:30, but I have to admit the ride is nice. Felt good both ways today, so since we are doing a second week of speed week, I'll have to run my numbers. I have my 'puter set for autolap every mile and noticed that there is a stretch where I do pretty good both ways, so I will give it a try tomorrow. Do I get a handicap for riding with 30 pound panniers?

Hi wonkemtel, that is about 7 miles a day longer then I do. Welcome to the “I a crazy commuter club”. With in a couple of weeks you’ll be above 12 mph. And in a few months you be hitting 15 mph. You do need to eat everything that’s not moving though. I eat 7000 to 7500 cals a day. But I do a lot of heavy lefting at work too.

Xroader, I'll give you a 5 mph handicap, but if you have a tail wind then its 2.5 mph. I only carry small tool bag, 2 tubes, patch kit, 2 tail lights, headlight, 6VDC 6.5AHr battery, work shirt and 1 litter Dr Pepper. I only have about 5 lbs. in the handle bar bag.

Had a very nice ride home today until I was turning into the trailer park. this cop stop me and asked why I try to run from him. I told him that I was not trying to run from any one. He was sitting at a corner and I made the corner and took off like a bat out of hell. So he thought that I was running from him. When he got behind me I was hitting 27.4 mph. I told him that I was just on my way home and showed him my max speed and miles that I had ridden on the way home. He then just look at me and asked if I was crazy. I said “why yes”. He didn’t like the joke very much. Then told me that I need to slow down and wear a helmet. So I said Ok. And took of like a bat out of hell again

Holy crap!! :eek: All the more reason to get my commute happening both ways!!

My ride in today was tough. It was the first ride to work in 2 weeks. Got up at 3:30 and dilly dallied a bit too long and by the time I got on my bike it was almost 4. I knew it was a bad sign when about a mile in I thought to myself I need to get out of my big ring only to find out I was already in my small ring!

I took the first 10 miles pretty easy because my legs just were not very strong. Once I got to the trail I had moments of good energy where I was able to keep up a pretty good clip but over all I just didnt feel that I had that good a ride.

When I got to work I was suprised to see it only took me 1:40 to get in. Still much faster then my few bad rides.

I saw some new animals today. I think I saw a baby fox and I saw a possum for the first time. I think he was suprised to see me since he was just walking on the trail and didnt stop until I was right next to him and even then he just stopped and looked back at me. It was funny.

hopefully my ride home feels better.

I'm a bit under the weather. I'll be back on the bike tomorrow.

Wonkmetal -- I'll second the advice to eat more in the morning. Before I started bike commuting I skipped breakfast, but not now. I can't eat as much as Cigtech or I'd look like Jabba the Hut, but morning fuel is necessary. Try to make them high quality calories -- things like oatmeal, fruits, nuts, peanut butter, etc so that you get good nutritional value as well as energy. Keep up the riding and it does get easier and faster. You'll be amazed at how quickly the riding will get easier and you'll find your groove. Oh and a belated welcome to the club!

Riskus -- maybe it was something in the air in the DC area. Last night's ride was very slow for me. I just could not get going. It was very pleasant, just slow. There are just days when the engine doesn't work up to spec!

A cold but uneventful ride this morning. I can hardly wait to get my good rear wheel back. The old stock wheel I am using now seems squishy even when the tire is fully inflated. I think I am spoiled by the stiffer double walled rim I have been riding for most of the past year. Hopefully I will get it back soon -- even better maybe the rebuild will be covered under warranty. Have a good ride everybody.

velo - hope you feel better soon!

Well, I'm back on the bus 1/2 way - so that's 8-9 mi RT roughly for me using the folder. My main commuter I gotta fix the brake - it's abit messed up.

Also, what kind of extra maintenance do y'all do on your rides? I would think a 40-50 mile day every day would be a lot tougher on components. My bike seemed to get pretty dirty fast. Also I don't wanna spend my whole night cleaning & fixing stuff. Any ideas?

I think I might be on the fringe of a VLC at 9 miles each way (at least it's a pretty long commute, probably a few miles short of "very"). In any case, I time-trialed it on the way in with my single speed this morning. I could only do 2.76 miles due to traffic light locations, but here are my times:

2.76 miles, 7 minutes 29 seconds: 22.13 mph

We'll see how I do on the way home... I think that will be only 2.5 miles because the first light is long coming in but short going home, so I'll probably hit it and have to restart.

Nice run eaglevii. If 9 miles to you is very long then you are a Very Long commuter.

it definitely was cold in the dc area this morning.

riskus - roger on the cold, I had to go sit in the sauna (yeah, we have a nice gym) to warm up when I got to work. I wore my typical shorts, long sleeve tech undershirt and short sleeve jersey with no-finger gloves. I left home at 5:30 - I think it was in the low 40's. I really like the early morning ride though.

Velo- get well soon.

re: eating. I'll second (or third I guess) the good breakfast, I can't ride without a great big bowl of oatmeal first. The rest of the day I try to keep it to fruits, whole grain/peanut butter sandwiches and cliff bars. I would guess that I eat between 2,500 - 3,000 cals a day, but I still want to lose another 5-10 pounds so I am keeping it light.

re: maintenance. I am averaging 150 miles a week on my bike (new bike this spring, so I still have less than 1,000 on it) I find that I need to clean and lube the chain every week, and have to adjust the rear brake (it is a finicky disc brake) sometimes twice a week to keep it from squeaking. I'd also be interested in hearing what others do.

Stats for the day:

To Work: 2.76 miles, 7 minutes 29 seconds: 22.1 mph
To Home: 2.8 miles, 7 minutes 40 seconds: 21.9 mph

Average Speed: 22 mph

In my experience, riding more miles does not translate into all that much more maintenance - at least not in the summer. Keeping the chain lubed and clean is important and the tires at the right pressure. Other than that, I really don't do much maintenance at all.

Guys, I had the best tow runs on my recumbent for speed week! 23.6 mph going in against the wind. On the trip home, now with the wind, I kept an eye on the computer and never dropped below 21 mph and was up to 27 for about half the run. When I arrived at the end, though, my timer had malfunctioned!!! :cry: $#@&**$##@@@**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry I've been offline guys, good to see everyone fired up over speed week, I have had a bunch of stuff happen all at once including 2 sick kids, a damaged rim, and an issue with my Internet provider. I'll be off the air untill late next week when my new ADSL provider has me back up again.

Mars, the sorts of average speeds you do on that 'bent are just obscene!.... I'm thinking about (and saving for) a Velokraft VK2 with a carbon fibre tail fairing <droool> what do you think?

Cig, i'm coming after your record WITH GREAT VENGANCE AND FUUUUUURIOUS ANGER!!! ;) :p

Man that sucks Mars. I was looking forward to you TT on the Bent. Is the computer ok or do you need a new one? I have the Planet Bike Protege 8.0. I got it for $16.99. I like it a lot with the big screen and 4 lines of data. Here is a picture of it. The 9.0 tell you the temp that’s the only thing the 8.0 does not do.

It's yours for the taken Cyclaholic. Gald to see you ok and all. Thought you took fight for the Moon or something.

Went down and got a set of Michelin Dynamic tires. Did a very short test run and it looks like they are light and fast. In about a .12 mile I have the bike up to 22.6 mph in 5th gear. I have a 7-gear set on the back and don't use the 40-tooth ring up front. That’s about 3 mph fast then the old tires. I got some real biking shoes, I'm tired of coming off the pedals at high speed when I hit a bump. The slip on shoes just where not go for biking. I need to get a 6-speed gear set for the back. The Peugeot has an index shifter and does not like the 7 gears. It does have a release on the shifter so I can run it in friction mod. So with any luck I'll be seting the speed bar a little higher with all the new gear. :lol:

Oh, the guy at the LBS has a late 70's Peugeot PX-10 in ment shape. The guy that's selling it wants 350.00 for it. It well be on e-bay late next week. It is a very sharp bike and fast to.

Oh man! Those bikes make mine look like their from the stone age! The VK2 is one of the worlds great bikes!

Good to have you back online Cyclaholic. I can't beat CigTech on my roadie> I MIGHT have had him on the bent, but now I'll never know....