Very long commute club: week 7
 

So, what do the very long commuters ride? Here is mine, a HP Velotechnik Speedmachine lowracer recumbent. I call her Ilsa, she wolf of the SS. She is a great bike, pleasure to ride and very fast. what do you ride? Pic please- especially you Tibike

Mars it looks like we posted within a minute of each other. Couldn't have done better if we had tried. I believe Tibike is off on his masochists' tour of the US. We'll have to wait for his return to see pics of his 9 pound bike with the helium filled wheels.

I ride a quite unimpressive Fuji Supreme hybrid. I don't have a pic now, but I'll see if I can update one tonight. I've added rack, fenders, treking handlebars, water bottle holders, etc. to make it a functional commuter. My bike now looks a lot like the new Fuji Crosstowns which come equipped as a pretty workable commuter right off the LBS floor.

In the not too distant future hopefully I will be riding a 1983 Fuji Touring Series IV that I have cleaned up and rehabbed to bring things up to date. All I need is some time to put it all together.

Well, very often I ride Toro...

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b.../FrednToro.jpg

I had to check out Lake Coter and one way to get there is a 15 kilometer ride on horseback (one way). This is me on the way back looking a little worse for wear...

But if you mean my bike... Here is my old F900 Cannondale - lots of miles on her. (or I guess you would say kilometers since that is what we use here) This photo was taken along a river that I pass on the way.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...keAndRiver.jpg

99% of the time I commute on my trusty old friend the Surly Long Haul Trucker which you can see here performing towing duties.

When the mood takes me I'll commute on my single-speed which as you can see is a real glamor!:p she is made of the salvaged components of four separate dumpster-rescued bikes plus a donated front wheel (Shimano WH-R550) and a really nice new back wheel (velocity rim, DT spokes, Surly flip flop hub) which is not in this picture.

When I feel like a fast blast, the weather is real nice, I'm sure I won't be coming home after dark, and I have enough gear at work so I don't have to carry much then I'll commute on my Cannondale CAAD9 Optimo1 roadie, full of yummy Dura-Ace goodness :D

Marylandnewbie, was it you that asked about my new homebrew CREE XR-E LED headlight a little while back? I just recently finished setting it up on the bike. It's as bright as my 20 watt halogen, draws 650ma from the battery for about 5 hours runtime with my 3.2Ah SLA battery which weighs just 1.2kg (2.6lb) which is only half the weight of my old setup (7.2Ah, 20watt halogen, 3 hours runtime) I'll post some pics if you like.

Haha, I think you are right Maryland> thanks for covering my back on the thread! I think a lot of people would be interested in your lights. Can you post a couple of close ups of them for us?

Yes, please do

Cyclaholic - yep it was me who inquired about your lights. As you can already see we are all light addicts here. Your description sounds darn impressive -- a lot of light with a respectably low weight. I'm anxious to see the pics.

I found a pic of my bike. This pic predates the switch to trekking bars, but everything else is in place.
Attachment 47095

I guess everyone is out riding and skiping BF this week.

I had a smooth and uneventful commute. After 4 or 5 days of riding with my son to school I suffered some withdrawal this morning not having to carry his backpack and whatever else.

Crtree -- I'm glad I don't have to clean the drive train on Toro -- not to mention retensioning the spokes;)

Yep, did 150 miles today. Day off from work so went for a fun ride. I'll have to get a new picture of my bike and post it later. Did 152.4 miles in 7 hours and 45 min. Left at 7:00 am and just got back. Now I tired and am going to take a long nap.

Very impressive feat CigTech. I've done a couple of centuries in that sort of time, but I'm no match for your speed!

Nice days when I don't have to carry anything
http://www.chipcom.net/bikes/bianchi_r.jpg

Nice or questionable days when I gotta carry stuff
http://www.chipcom.net/bikes/fuji.jpg

Rain days
http://www.chipcom.net/bikes/bianchi_x.jpg

Hey crtreedude are there any crocs in that river? Beautiful pics by the way.

In this river - not this far up stream but once you hit the Rio Frio - there are Caimans. Think crocs with an attitude. I have heard of them 7 meters long and they are maneaters.

The pictures do not do it justice here - it is unbelievably beautiful.

Cigtech your the man!

I've seen them on the way to quepos. There is a bridge above the river and I looked down and I thought I saw a bunch of big brown logs in the water..... until they started moving!!

Talk about riding on autopilot. This morning I'm riding along and realize too late that I have missed the turn I take on the MUP detour. So I go around the block and get back on the detour. Thank goodness this bike riding thing doesn't require any thinking.

I caught just a little rain in last night's T-storms, but the winds were whipping all sorts of crap in my eyes. I'd feel like an idiot, but I was really wishing I had brought my winter goggles with me. Instead I ride along blinking, winking and tearful like I've just lost my best friend -- no wonder non-bikers think we're weird.

I suppose its too early to ask if anyone is getting any cool bike toys for Father's Day, but let's hear about them anyway.

OK guys, because you asked for it.....

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...61#post4645061

enjoy :D

Cyclo -- great thread on the homebrew lights. I'm thinking I need to do some LED tinkering later this summer to get ready for the winter commute. There are also more good ideas and tech help over on the candlepowerforums.net. Here is a link to their bike light threads:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...72#post1755372

It was actually cool enough and slightly rainy this morning to justify a raincoat. Just another uneventful ride, but this was one of those days when I was just dragging the whole time. Some days are just like that.

does anyone know how tibikes race is going?

There was nothing new on the blogsite that TIbike pointed us to last week. His friend's blog has an update through 6/11 and it seems they are battling severe heat and the typical mechanical issues, but so far he wasn't reporting any disasters. I think maybe TIbike was riding with them on that day, but I'm not certain of TiBike's secret identity. Anyway, I guess no news is good news! I still can't believe people are nuts enough to ride back to back randonees for recreation.

My humble little commute will be markled by clear skies and temps in the comfortable upper 70s. Otherwise it seems silly to report while Tibike is doing something like the PacTour.