I left the house at about 4:40 this morning and finished my 6 mile ride at about 5:25. I was riding my Trek 7200 with a set of Arkel Dolphin panniers mounted on the back with a change of clothes, flat tire kit, lunch, pistol, magazines and ammo in a case (I work in a "secure" facility and must be armed as part of the job), so I was loaded pretty heavy. To top it off I am about 230 lbs with a 40" waist (though my tailor says its 46"!). I had a battle ahead of me. And the best part, I am basically starting at one end of a bowl and riding to the other so it is brake, brake, brake for the first half of the ride and then I have to go uphill for about a mile. I was panting pretty good by the top of that hill.

All in all, I enjoyed the ride and am looking forward to the ride home where it is not pitch black outside. I will be looking for a better lighting system for sure. I am happy with my taillight, it was about 20 bucks and is bright as all hell when it is flashing. The headlight though I'm not so psyched about. It is a Cats Eye (sp?) model that uses 4 AA batteries. It seemed nice and bright in my hallway but provided almost no usefull illumination beyond about 15 feet when riding. I'm open to any suggestions regarding lights.

thats awesome, give it a month and you will be flying up that hill without any effort.

on the light thing the plannet bike blaze 2 watt is pretty nice and only $45-$50 or you can go really nice and check out a few others like the night rider minewt which is around $100 and my favorite the light and motion stella for around $200. Super bright, about 4-5 hours battery life on high and lightweight

Thanks for the encouragement! Regarding lights, I've heard some bad things about the wiring/batteries on the nightrider lights which is too bad because I checked them out at a shop and liked them a lot. I will check out the stella if I can find it.

Yay! Congrats!
It will get easier. It will take a while, but it will get easier.

Congrats on your first commute. Like nubcake says, it will get easier and better every day. You will learn a lot about your own body's biorythms by bicycling every day. Some days, you will feel like Superman. Other days, you will be convinced that there is an extra 50 lbs on the bike somewhere and the distance somehow doubled.

Bikeforums.net has a forum on lights that you might want to check out. If your rig allows it, a good 12 watt generator light might be a good choice - especially if you have a long downhill run on your commute.

Girljen, nice icon! I've got three fuzzies myself.

Congrats! I distinctly remember letting out a whoop after my first commute.

As far as the lighting thing goes, I ride the same time of day as you. Check out this thread for some good effective lighting.

https://www.bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/462469-ultrafire-wf-606a-cree-q5-wc-230-lumen-led-flashlight.html

Congrats on getting started! Definetely invest in some quality lighting, you'll enjoy your commute even more. Anybody at work look at you like you're crazy??

wickedcold,

Hey congrats to a fellow Trek 7200 (my commuter too).

I'm looking for a set of panniers how did the Arkel Dolphin 's work out.

I'm about 15 lbs lighter then you, but have been doing the commute for a couple months now. You will be amazed after 2 weeks, you will find yourself dialing up the gear choice, and one day you'll go...wait a minute I use to have a hard time here...and realize you just pedaled right through it.

Then the real fun begins, when you start to get anxious if you can't ride for a day or two and it just feels so good when you get back on.

Congratulations! There really is nothing quite like your first commute by bike.

The Arkel Dolphins are absolutely awesome. They didn't move a millimeter. Easy to open and get at everything, and the best part is you get 2 in a set! No pockets or anything except for the mesh pocket on the outside so if you are looking for something "gadgety" with zipper pockets and stuff look elsewhere. My wife has the Arkel Bug backpack/pannier and loves it.

How did you sleep last night. I remember how much of a restless night I had on my first commute.

Oh man... I don't think I got to sleep until about 11:00! 4.5 hours of sleep... fun fun!

By the way, I ordered some lights. I ordered the Light and Motion Stella 180L, as well as a Light and Motion Vega for my helmet. Both from Nashbar. They've got a 20% off coupon code for anything over $200, so the whole thing came to about $329.

Well. You'll sleep tonight. Congrats on taking the first step. It's the biggest.

So much for research on the lighting front, eh?

Not that those are bad choices mind you.

Hey, I was at this weight 4 months ago and I've lost 40 so far - another 7 pounds and I'll make my goal, at least the weightwatchers goal set by my doctor. As you keep working on biking, you'll loose more weight, assuming you don't eat more than you are burning off.

It will get easier to go up hills - when I first started out this year. The main hill I ride up going home from work I used to have to stop at least once if not twice and I was doing 6.5 to 7.0 mph up it. Now I don't stop and I can sometimes do 10mph if not a bit more.

Michael

Congrats on the big first step.

What's with the times though? If I got on a bike at that time of the morning I know I'd wake up in a hospital ward from falling asleep in the saddle and crashing.....

One note about lighting. The function that most of them are designed for primarily is to be seen by cars. This is why many of them do not illuminate the road that well.

Congrats on the commute, and that is a pretty impressive load of stuff you are carrying.

The pant's size vs measured size is true for everyone. The store sold pants are no longer accurate to waist size (they have a smaller number for the same size waist) and every decent tailor will give you a bigger number than your jeans do.

[QUOTE=daredevil;7425503]So much for research on the lighting front, eh?

Not that those are bad choices mind you.[/QUOTE

I actually had been researching a little bit for some time now for lights. After about an hour or so with google I was comfortable ordering the Stella. Also I'm less worried about getting the "best" one than I am about getting one FAST. The only decent light to be found around here in stores is the Nightrider which I will not buy after seeing many reports of bad wiring.

dont hate on impulsiveness...its what makes life worth living

I think youll love the lights, if their enough for serious mountain biking they will handle road riding just fine