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Commuting Bicycle commuting is easier than you think, before you know it, you'll be hooked. Learn the tips, hints, equipment, safety requirements for safely riding your bike to work.

How was the commute today? Continued.

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Old 03-08-10 | 07:57 AM
  #3926  
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From: Louisville, KY

Bikes: 1994 Specialized Allez; 1997 GT Legacy ('Swift'); 2008 Schwinn Avenue ('Traveller')

It doesn't get better than this morning, for me. Around 3 C/37-38 F, sunny, no wind, and a freshly-tuned bike (well, fairly fresh, anyway -- tuned it up this weeked). I wore shorts because Weather.com predicted it would be around 43, but I still wasn't cold. Probably looked kind of silly wearing shorts, a sweater, and gloves (my hands get cold easily), but then, I don't ride my bike to look cool
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Old 03-08-10 | 08:13 AM
  #3927  
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From: Queens, New York
Absolutelyfreakingawesome!!!! Upper 40s, sunny. I could feel the warmth of the sun. I left earlier did a detour through Brooklyn to get a couple of extra miles in, then stopped at a park to relax and bask in the sun while looking at cagers sitting in the traffic on the bridge. Such a wonderful feeling! Why would I want to be on a train or bus?

Adam
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Old 03-08-10 | 09:19 AM
  #3928  
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From: Boston, MA
51 degrees! First time on skinny tires this year, got to work 10 minutes quicker.
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Old 03-08-10 | 09:35 AM
  #3929  
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From: Michigan

Bikes: Windsor Fens, Giant Seek 0 (2014, Alfine 8 + discs)

First ride of the year with the studs off. 20*F this morning but it's supposed to be 50*F this afternoon! The ride was about 5 minutes faster than normal. Could have been better than that but I'm a bit sick today.
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Old 03-08-10 | 09:41 AM
  #3930  
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From: Alexandria, VA

Bikes: Trek 830 Mountain Track Drop bar conversion

Warmest morning commute in quite some time! Looking forward to the 60ish degree temps for the ride home. I just wish the wind would take a break for a while. 15 with stronger gusts this morning - right in my face. I'm just tired of the windsock at the airport looking like this

0=====>--,
| . . . . . . . . . \
|
|
|

with it blowing as a headwind. Oh well, beats 95 degree afternoons, so I shouldn't complain too much!

Rode almost 50 miles yesterday morning (WABA's Half Vasa ride, plus riding to and from Alexandria), so the 7 miles to work this morning seemed soooo short! :-)
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Old 03-08-10 | 09:51 AM
  #3931  
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From: Glasgow, Scotland

Bikes: Cube Nature 2009

After a week of feeling under the weather and a 24 head cold on Saturday, I woke up feeling fresh and ready to go this morning. I had even decided to do the 'Long' commute. It was cold, crisp and dry and by the time I hit the cycle path on the River Clyde the morning glow of dawn was on it's way to illuminate a nearly cloudless sky........

It was at this point that my freehub died and I had to run two miles to the nearest station just so I could get to work on time.

Ordered the new freehub for the DMR Revolver but it'll be effectively three days at least before I'm back on it

Hmph

Hint:
1. If you think the ratchet pawls in your hub sound a lot quieter of late then take note.
2. If you think that the 'mini skips' on the rear cassette are due to you running a worn chain and cassette then reconsider.

1+2 = Dodgy Freehub (possibly)
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Old 03-08-10 | 10:20 AM
  #3932  
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From: Alexandria, VA

Bikes: Trek 830 Mountain Track Drop bar conversion

Originally Posted by Surfindixon
After a week of feeling under the weather and a 24 head cold on Saturday, I woke up feeling fresh and ready to go this morning.
I hate those 24 head colds. I go through so much shampoo when I get one of those things! ;-)

Sorry, couldn't resist.

On a serious note, sorry to hear about your mechanicals and thanks for the heads up on the dodgy freehub warning signs. Duely noted in the recesses of my mind.

Cheers!
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Old 03-08-10 | 10:46 AM
  #3933  
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From: 52°57'N 6°21'E

Bikes: Giant OCR

Originally Posted by FreddyV
This morning basically sucked. Zero winds and still I have a hard time getting myself to work. Might be caused that I had to leave at 5:30AM, may be because I still need to adjust my derailleurs a bit, may be because my body just isn't in tip top shape after not riding for one and a half week.
Much better this afternoon. It took me 10 minutes less to do my commute than it took me this morning. Feeling a lot better. Maybe it's because I had some serious energy food today, it wouldn't surprise me.
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Old 03-08-10 | 11:17 AM
  #3934  
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From: Denver

Bikes: 06 Jamis Quest, 09 Surly LHT, Cannondale mtn. bike

Random thoughts.
Some weeks are just impossible to ride to work. I've got something screwing up my schedule almost every day this week. It's OK because I've ridden most days since December.
Debating when to take off my studded tires. We get late snowstorms here but they're usually not too icy. Still... going to keep them on for a bit longer to see what develops. Damned things have only been necessary on about 5-7 days. Not much snow and ice here this winter.
Can't wait for daylight savings. It arrives a week later this year. I know many of you ride early morning and probably aren't looking forward to it. But me, I'm so f&%#ing sick of riding home in the dark.
Some time in January I stopped visiting Bike Forums, but now I'm back. Kind of felt like I was getting too obsessed with all things winter biking. So I kept riding but not thinking about it so much. Really, it's just getting to and from work, and at some point you've got things all set up and you just go.
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Old 03-08-10 | 11:18 AM
  #3935  
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From: Boise, ID.
This was a good morning. Rained last night so there was moisture in the air and a slight headwind. Still managed to take the MUP route of 10 miles in about 45 minutes. Was a bit cold, should have added a second layer up top.
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Old 03-08-10 | 11:40 AM
  #3936  
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From: south Puget Sound
Dentist appt. Just for the heck of it, from the dentist's I took the direct route, straight up a mile long hill, rather than double back a mile and a half to the MUP. This was the 1st time facing that hill on my fixie and it was no big deal. Whew. Merging across the 2 lanes to 4 lanes split at the top while not coasting took some attention.
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Old 03-08-10 | 02:29 PM
  #3937  
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From: south Puget Sound
Climb's never as big as you remember it, I guess the actual climbing part was just half a mile. The other half mile before the merge was pretty flat.
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Old 03-08-10 | 03:01 PM
  #3938  
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From: Burlington, Vermont

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Originally Posted by Surfindixon
1. If you think the ratchet pawls in your hub sound a lot quieter of late then take note.
2. If you think that the 'mini skips' on the rear cassette are due to you running a worn chain and cassette then reconsider.

1+2 = Dodgy Freehub (possibly)
Yep. I had mine replaced about 2 months ago. Came to a point where it would just spin freely when it got cold (single digits / teens, F).

I love all these spring weather ride reports. Everybody's in a good mood. Up near 50 for my ride home. I'll probably go with shorts.
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Old 03-08-10 | 03:06 PM
  #3939  
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From: Ontario
Amazing!!! First ride of the season on skinny tires (front one studded), after a winter on Nokain Extremes. I passed a 'commute acquaintance', whom I usually pass relatively slowly (I'd guess my 25 km/h vs. about 20 km/h for him). Today, I absolutely flew past him. Very cool demonstration of how much of a difference those studs made. Of course, he caught up to me at a light, and we chatted a bit about my helmet mirror
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Old 03-08-10 | 03:10 PM
  #3940  
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From: Antioch, IL

Bikes: Giant Defy Advanced 0, Rivendell- Sam Hillborne, Montague folding bike.

Very foggy this morning, not too cold though lower 30's or so. I was pretty lit up and wore a safety vest. About 1 car in ten was running dark.

Bike just setting in hallway and employee comes in to my office to say the tire was hissing. Broken valve stem. What a mess. CHanging a tube after two months of winter sludge, and the knobby studs. At least it didn't happen an hour later when I'll be on the road.
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Old 03-08-10 | 03:42 PM
  #3941  
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From: Glasgow, Scotland

Bikes: Cube Nature 2009

Originally Posted by vtjim
Yep. I had mine replaced about 2 months ago. Came to a point where it would just spin freely when it got cold
Strange you should mention that. It was 4 deg c (don't do F I'm afraid) and it was spinning freely. Checked prior to making my way home (running\train thing again) at the end of work and a lot warmer and the freehub was solid. Not to be trusted though. You don't want to be traversing a junction when the ratchet goes.....ooooohhhh scary!
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Old 03-08-10 | 03:50 PM
  #3942  
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From: Monson, MA

Bikes: Catrike Trail Recumbent trike

Felt great on the commute home. 53F with winds from the WNW @ 19mph giving me some nice tail winds. The only problem i had is for some reason my bicycle didn't wanna go in the lowest gear because it kept slipping coming up the last steep hill on the road to my house. I ended up having to put it in the next gear up and i had no more issues; just had to push a bit harder to make the climb.
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Old 03-08-10 | 07:55 PM
  #3943  
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Gorgeous morning, about 3 degrees C out and sunny. Laughed at by some girls in a car while waiting for a light.... then later slipped up on a trackstand and banged my knee on the bracket for my light, now doing the limp of shame for the rest of the day (didn't put my foot down though!). Just popped two advil for the ride home to calm down the knee - looks like weather is cooperating though, which is nice when nothing else is
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Old 03-08-10 | 11:40 PM
  #3944  
Ridin for the sweat
 
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From: College Point

Bikes: Giordano Libero

The winter freeze is over, did my first commute Monday Morning around 4;40am, didn't see any bikers on the Brooklyn Bridge, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, since i haven't really done any riding, so I thought the Bridge was going to kill me, it was a nice temp around 45 degrees or so, had on my gloves and sweat wicking hat, so i was just fine... I basically had the west side bike path all to myself up to West 57 street, only saw like 3 other bikers, 2 when i got on the bike path and 1 when I was about to get off the path. Getting off work at 2pm, well then they are skaters and more bikers on the path.
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Old 03-09-10 | 02:17 AM
  #3945  
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From: 52°57'N 6°21'E

Bikes: Giant OCR

March 9. It was a mere 23F outside which pretty much cooled off my toes right to the bone. As the people at the 41 would say: I was suffering. I couldn't get my speed over 18mph without any apparent reason. While hopping under the shower at work the toes felt like they were about to break off. Painful. Very.
Though yesterday it's been snowing and raining, the day temperature of 41F have cleaned up and dried the roads pretty nicely making the commute it a bit more pleasant than it was yesterday morning, when I came in with sand and salt sprayed all over my legs.
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Old 03-09-10 | 05:10 AM
  #3946  
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From: Winchester, VA

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Nice ride in today, compared to the commute home yesterday, which I'm not even going into. Supposed to be 60 degrees again today, lets hope that it doesn't have the icy cold breeze to go with it like yesterday evening.
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Old 03-09-10 | 07:19 AM
  #3947  
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From: Burlington, Vermont

Bikes: 2011 Trek Soho DLX

Decent tailwind. Sunny, blue sky. ~32F/ZeroC. Saw two women riding the other way.
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Old 03-09-10 | 07:31 AM
  #3948  
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From: Overland Park, KS

Bikes: 1999 Giant TCR 2T 2009 Giant Cypress DX 2015 Giant Anyroad 1

Warmer than it has been, around 50°. Rain overnight so the streets were quite wet. Reminds me that I really should put fenders on my bike.

Fought a brisk head wind which kept my average speed a bit lower. Still haven't seen any other commuters since I resumed riding after the disappearance of the ice and snow.
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Old 03-09-10 | 08:04 AM
  #3949  
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From: NJ, NYC, LI

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Nice ride this morning, but for one thing. It was so warm I didn't wear my fleece; rolled it up and put it under the velcro flap of my messenger bag. At 55th street I noticed it was gone. I wasn't going to go down 8th Ave against traffic looking for it, so I rode over to 9th Ave and rode all the way back down to Penn Station, even walked down to the train platform to see if I'd dropped it there. Nope. Then rode back up 8th Ave, careful to change lanes in all the same places. Found it in the middle of the bike path at 53rd street. Grrr, I should have ridden against traffic!

I was amazed at how many pennies and nickles I saw today. Dozens of pennies, literally, and a couple of nickles. No paper money, though.
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Old 03-09-10 | 08:20 AM
  #3950  
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From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty

Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS

A first: with temps in the mid-50s, this was the first morning this year I rode to work in shorts. I got rolling a little early- not quite 5:30 like last time, but close- and the roads are much, much quieter at that hour. I think that will be my target from now on- to leave at about 5:30.

I saw a recumbent rider early in the ride.
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