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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 10-26-10 | 05:52 AM
  #6726  
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Belt drive!
 
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From: Burlington, Vermont

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Originally Posted by irclean
Hard to do this on the road, especially when dark/cold/wet, but an easy trick for detecting insidious bits of glass remaining inside the tire is to drag a cotton ball through the entire inside circumference. The cotton should snag on any offending bits left behind.
Hey that's a great idea!

Everything seems back to normal. No flats today. Very damp, and 54F. No wind. Shorts and short-sleeves. It's humid enough that I got pretty warm riding in. It's funny how 54 seems balmy compared with the high 30s / low 40s the last several days. Supposed to be a nice warm day today and tomorrow.
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Old 10-26-10 | 06:46 AM
  #6727  
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From: Southern Wisconsin US

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Briefly toyed with the idea of keeping my 3 week bike commute streak going through the inland hurricane type weather Today but I wimped out and drove 5 miles to carpool. Stayed warm and dry but I missed my bike commute...I kept watching for other bikers on the 20 mile ride to work but didn't see any. Once I got to work, I commiserated with another bike commuter who also chose to drive...We made the right choice but we're struggling with it. Doesn't look too good for the rest of the week....40+ mph winds are forecast for the next couple days...
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Old 10-26-10 | 08:10 AM
  #6728  
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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

I usually have a tailwind in the morning and a headwind in the evening. This morning it was a 10 mph headwind with gusts to 18, so it took about 10 minutes longer to get to work. But..... I should have a nice tailwind this afternoon.

This may be my last commute with rechargeable lights. I picked up my dynamo lights on the way home yesterday. They're all set electrically but I need to fab some little brackets to mount them. If I can get the metal to make brackets on my way home, I can probably make the brackets tonight or tomorrow.
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Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
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Old 10-26-10 | 08:40 AM
  #6729  
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From: Raleigh, NC

Bikes: Waterford RST-22, Bob Jackson World Tour, Ritchey Breakaway Cross, Soma Saga, De Bernardi SL, Specialized Sequoia

I left late for work today so I could get in my commute, plus I'm only about 25 miles shy of 3,000 commuting for the year. When I got up, the radar showed a big line of storms approaching from the SW, and it was pouring at the time I normally leave for work. Fortunately I can do some of my work from home, and have a lot of comp time built up, so I left about 90 minutes later than usual. It was nice riding to work in daylight for a change, and it was very warm (upper 60s) despite the wet roads. After weeks of very dry weather, the forecasters are calling for rain just about every day this week.
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Old 10-26-10 | 08:40 AM
  #6730  
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Originally Posted by irclean
Hard to do this on the road, especially when dark/cold/wet, but an easy trick for detecting insidious bits of glass remaining inside the tire is to drag a cotton ball through the entire inside circumference. The cotton should snag on any offending bits left behind.
That's a good trick, but didn't catch some of mine. Some little shards were so small and just wedged into tiny cracks in the tread. I think they were like sleeper cells or guerilla tactics... they just sat around and waited until they got pressed in a little deeper by something else on the road. Then they popped my tube and withdrew to the hidden spot in the tire. I could only find them by making sure I lined up my tires brand name mark w/ the valve stem, so I could match up hole in tube to approximate location on the tire.

Since the old tires were getting pretty worn, I got new tires a few weeks ago and have been very happlly riding flat-free since then.
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Old 10-26-10 | 08:42 AM
  #6731  
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From: Edmonton, AB
-5C/23F. Hands and toes got a little cold, despite putting on warmer gloves and socks. Sucks having to figure out how to dress for cold weather all over again. The streets were mainly dry; thankfully yesterday's snow didn't leave much ice on the road. Still, listening to the radio before I left home, I heard reports of several accidents.

There was a cop car with lights flashing parked on the MUT today, near a truck that had somehow crossed the MUT and went into the bushes on the other side backwards. This MUT runs parallel to a road, with maybe 10 feet separating them. If the truck had been going much faster, it could have slid down the bank into the river.
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Old 10-26-10 | 08:50 AM
  #6732  
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From: Burnaby BC, Canada

Bikes: Velosport Appalache 15

Yesterday was a windy and wet ride home! I even got to use my new bell on the MUP! Still not as effective as calling out "On your left!" but at least I'm legal now.

This morning the winds and rains had died down. It was an uneventful ride in to work on the long route. I'll probably swing by MEC on the way home tonight as my wife insists I replace my backpack with a pannier. She finally got tired of the smell!
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Old 10-26-10 | 08:59 AM
  #6733  
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From: Alexandria, VA

Bikes: Trek 830 Mountain Track Drop bar conversion

Good ride in this AM. Warm and humid for sure, but at least I had a tailwind! :-)

I recently got a new phone (LG Rumor Touch), which has built-in GPS, and I tried mapmytracks generic Java version to track my commute in. Sadly it stopped tracking after just 1.2 miles of a 7 mile commute. Hope I can get it working... The bit it did record yielded all the cool data one expects from a GPS tracker - speed, elevation, where I stopped, etc., so I was excided about that. Time to troubleshoot.

Looking forward to the return of cooler temps this weekend. It's the end of October. It shouldn't be anywhere near 80F in the daytime or 65 at night.
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Old 10-26-10 | 09:07 AM
  #6734  
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on a road near you...
 
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From: Metro Boston, MA
couldn't believe how warm it was this morning (60 before the sun came up). I've gotten so used to layering up these past two weeks that I had to strip of some layers before I left the driveway.

Only had to yell at one driver this morning who thought staying in his lane was optional.
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Old 10-26-10 | 09:09 AM
  #6735  
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From: Kentucky

Bikes: Nishiki Olympic (ret. 2010), Jamis Coda

Got up early to change the rear tube that had flatted. Breakfast, coffee. Then off on a nice day with a nice breeze.... a loud pop, a walk home and a drive to work where I dug a nail out of the tire that had gone in head first. Off to the LBS for a new tire.
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Old 10-26-10 | 09:11 AM
  #6736  
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From: Canada

Bikes: 2009 Trek 520

0C, windy and wet snow (hasn't started accumulating yet). Rode in slowly with my new studded tires (slowest average speed ever on this bike, 21km/h). I wanted to take it easy during the tire break-in, also trying not to overheat. I just needed a poly baselayer and a rain jacket to break the wind.

We are supposed to get 5cm of snow today, in the afternoon the wind is against me and is supposed to be 50km/h gusting to 70. I'll probably ride home, but I can always take the bus instead.

From the look of the forecast I could be back on slicks by the weekend.
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Old 10-26-10 | 09:18 AM
  #6737  
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From: south Puget Sound
40F and raining.

Time to be wearing tights, even if I keep lying to myself that it's not that cold, they do keep a lot of road spatter off my legs...
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Old 10-26-10 | 10:13 AM
  #6738  
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46F, calm, cool, brilliant blue sky. You could not ask for a more beautiful morning.
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Old 10-26-10 | 10:22 AM
  #6739  
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Road in with a nice 20 mph tailwind, I'm hoping the forcasts hold and the winds die down this afternoon.
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Old 10-26-10 | 10:44 AM
  #6740  
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Still raining. Staying at the in-laws' place this week which is >800ft up a hill. Just a little wheelslip last night going up the steep bits on my knobbies!
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Old 10-26-10 | 11:20 AM
  #6741  
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From: seattle, too many links

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Originally Posted by Timothy
Road in with a nice 20 mph tailwind, I'm hoping the forcasts hold and the winds die down this afternoon.
me 2!

much better then the ride home last night.
excited for tomorrow

bad news, saw on 12th right by the exit of the I-90 trail, a bike down, a limping biker, and a car pulled to the side.

i tried to go talk to them, but they were busy on their cell phones. hope everyone was OK.

his front wheel was bent
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Old 10-26-10 | 12:32 PM
  #6742  
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From: Atlanta, GA

Bikes: '95 Specialized Hard Rock, '03 (?) Fuji Finest

Yesterday thunderstorms in the morning robbed me of my commute. Also, wtf 70 F at 7am? That's just wrong. And muggy. Took me some time to figure out what to wear. Decided on jeans and a t-shirt and stuck shorts and my rain jacket in my pannier. It spit on me most of the way in with about a minute or so of rain while I was at a light. Almost pulled out my jacket, but would have been really hot in it. Looks like I'm going to be dodging rain the next couple of days. Rain is fine. Storms, not so much.
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Old 10-26-10 | 02:36 PM
  #6743  
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it cant rain all the time
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From: Hythe, Kent, England

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allmost ran down a child today when there football went into the road and he followed, not looking!
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Old 10-26-10 | 04:48 PM
  #6744  
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From: Canada

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Sigh, my commuting streak is at an end, 31 consecutive school days. I rode home against a 60 gusting to 80km/h windy, -1C, ice pellets and slush / snow on the roads. Same sort of wind tomorrow, only colder so I'm taking the bus. Average speed on the way back 14.5km/h, 64 minutes for 15.5km (exactly twice as long as my fastest time for the route). By the end the v-brakes were pretty gummed up with ice, so going fast wouldn't have been advisable anyway.

There was some drifting snow and ruts that got me wobbling pretty good along with a few 70km/h crosswind gusts. Other than some deep / wet dense snow, the studded tires were great. I took the MUP for a while to avoid cars, but the snow got very deep in a few areas so I gave up on it. Once I was back on the road the cars weren't bad for the most part. Except a few that insisted on following the ruts in the road even though they intersected my path in the curb lane.

On the plus side I seemed to nail the clothing selection for today. Other than my cheeks I wasn't cold at all, nor sweating much. I need to find a better balaclava.

My bike computer says I only burned 167 Cal, after all that work I can't even treat myself to icecream I should be back biking Thursday / Friday.
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Old 10-26-10 | 06:44 PM
  #6745  
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From: Brooklyn NY

Bikes: Kuota Kredo/Chorus, Trek 7000 commuter, Trek 8000 MTB and a few others

65 and sunny this morning, here in balmy NYC. The problem is that I was running too late to ride in. Took the subway instead. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.
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Old 10-26-10 | 07:42 PM
  #6746  
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From: California

Bikes: Trek 7.2 FX, Custom Vintage FG

45F, sunny. I started out a dressed a bit warm, first year commuting, I lived on campus last year. I think I'll do without the long sleeve shirt over my base layer. Supposed to be 40 tomorrow, I think I'll try a poly t-shirt on top rather than the long sleeve cotton.
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Old 10-26-10 | 11:58 PM
  #6747  
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From: Coupeville, WA

Bikes: 84 Raleigh Technium- 89 Shogun Mt. Bike-96 Miyata 914

Rode home in the dark. 45 degrees f, light breeze.
14 miles, mostly rural, very little traffic.
More deer than cars on this one. Oh the things you see when you don't have a shotgun.
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Old 10-27-10 | 12:00 AM
  #6748  
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From: YEG

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About to set out for home... the temps have been hovering around freezing and I expect a little ice on the bridge but after this the temperature is supposed to come back up to seasonal norms.
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Old 10-27-10 | 04:00 AM
  #6749  
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From: Nottinghamsire, Uk

Bikes: Reynolds Assault Carbon Road Bike

Commute home last night ... my New (1 week old) Garmin fell off the mount (not on properly) and a car ran over it ................ I am gutted

and I fell off....
and my lights failed....
and my front brake jammed

Last edited by RedPanther; 10-27-10 at 04:09 AM. Reason: fat fingers
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Old 10-27-10 | 04:45 AM
  #6750  
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From: Columbia, Maryland

Bikes: Trek 820 mtb, A no name red steel pipe bike, my commuter

Steady to heavy rain, but the temp is wonderful 62 F (16 C). I didn't mind being wet until I walked into the building, then I had a strong urge to walk out again as it feels better outside than it does in. This is the last warm day of the week, now we begin the seasonal slide down again.
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