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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 10-27-10 | 05:58 AM
  #6751  
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Belt drive!
 
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From: Burlington, Vermont

Bikes: 2011 Trek Soho DLX

65F / 18C! Very humid though, with damp pavement and oodles of wet leaves on the MUP. It's pretty dark now. Official sunrise happens a good 20 minutes after I leave, and with the overcast skies, it's even darker.

The afternoon pedestrians have all got to be re-trained. They come out of the woodwork when it gets warm. It's like springtime. They walk abreast across the entire MUP and aren't sure how to behave with bicycles flying past. Today I'm taking roads home.
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Old 10-27-10 | 06:14 AM
  #6752  
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From: Southwestern Ontario

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Originally Posted by RedPanther
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
That sucks! Hope you have a better commute next time.
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Old 10-27-10 | 08:06 AM
  #6753  
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From: Monson, MA

Bikes: Catrike Trail Recumbent trike

Great commute this morning in the rain at 64F with winds from the S @ 15mph. I'm no longer house sitting, so I'm back to me 19 mile commute one-way. A lot of street flooding and down leaves, especially on North Branch Pkwy. They still have yet to pave Chapin/East St, which should have been done weeks ago. Went over 3,000 cycling miles for the year today on the way in
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Old 10-27-10 | 08:44 AM
  #6754  
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From: Boy-z, Ideeeho

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Chilly 36f BUT NO RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 10-27-10 | 08:54 AM
  #6755  
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From: south Puget Sound
40F, foggy, nice break from the downpour

edit: and the socks I've left in the office since Monday am have finally dried out! Last night they were only as damp as the socks I wore in yesterday morning.

Last edited by HardyWeinberg; 10-27-10 at 09:18 AM.
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Old 10-27-10 | 08:55 AM
  #6756  
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From: Edmonton, AB
-6C/21F, breeze from the north. Fatigue and a slight headwind conspired against me this morning resulting in a slower ride in. Chilly too. I might have to break out the balaclava.
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Old 10-27-10 | 08:57 AM
  #6757  
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From: Kitchener, ON

Bikes: 2010 Trek Allant

10C, some headwind at first, but then it turned into tailwind. Tried a slightly different route, but I'll stick with my original one. Got a compliment on my bike from another commuter.
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Old 10-27-10 | 09:18 AM
  #6758  
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Warm and muggy... uncomfortably so. Looking forward to the return of cooler temps in a couple days. 80*F w/ high humidity at the end of October is for the birds. It's fall. It should be cool and crisp, not warm and muggy...

Other than that the commute was good. The rain had tapered off by the time I left so I avoided the downpours of the earlier morning.
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Old 10-27-10 | 10:53 AM
  #6759  
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From: Burnaby BC, Canada

Bikes: Velosport Appalache 15

Yesterday I found out that it's shorter to ride from Burnaby to MEC in North Vancouver then home than it is to go to the MEC in Vancouver, and the North Van MEC has a better selection of bike parts! Picked up the new pannier that my wife financed and loved it! It felt great to get that load off my back and have functional vents on the rain jacket again! The new mudflaps I put on worked great and kept all the crud off my bottom bracket and downtube so shifting should be better in the bad weather.

Had to drive in today. There's just no way to make it to my sons daycare in time to pick him up if I have to stop at home to swap vehicles... I guess I need to start putting time on the drainer again in the evenings. Sufferfest, here I come!
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Old 10-27-10 | 10:57 AM
  #6760  
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From: California

Bikes: Trek 7.2 FX, Custom Vintage FG

I was too warm yesterday, too cold today. I need more leg layers, they felt like lead weights ha, meanwhile my core was starting to sweat a bit.
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Old 10-27-10 | 12:00 PM
  #6761  
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From: Southwestern Ontario

Bikes: Schwinn hybrid, Raleigh MTB

Originally Posted by daijoubu2k8
Yesterday I found out that it's shorter to ride from Burnaby to MEC in North Vancouver then home than it is to go to the MEC in Vancouver, and the North Van MEC has a better selection of bike parts...
Jealous here. It's 138 km (~86 miles) to the nearest MEC for me.
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Old 10-27-10 | 01:34 PM
  #6762  
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Originally Posted by RedPanther
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
How horrible. Could you hear the garmin crunch as it got run over?
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Old 10-27-10 | 01:35 PM
  #6763  
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Not raining this morning, although still rather moist. Took the longer route and passed what I assume was a burst water main gushing about 40ft into the air.
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Old 10-27-10 | 01:43 PM
  #6764  
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From: seattle, too many links

Bikes: fixed gear recumbent trike

lovely lovely lovely today.

sunny, and cool. (still a bit wet)
took the longggg way in (about 20m)
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Old 10-27-10 | 03:31 PM
  #6765  
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From: Boy-z, Ideeeho

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Perfect ride home 53f and a very strong tail wind kept over 30mph on last mile stretch home
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Old 10-27-10 | 04:36 PM
  #6766  
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From: NOWHERE

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Beautiful morning although it was still dark when I rode in. No wind, no rain, little traffic. The flooding on my route had subsided a bit too. There's dark clouds rapidly approaching however and the sun is disappearing again. Hopefully it'll remain dry until later this evening as I have no raingear with me today.

Yesterday I used the newly installed air circulation dryer my employer installed in the bike area. My booties and gloves were dry in one hour. No more damp clothing to put on in the afternoons! Likely will be using it A LOT this winter.
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Old 10-27-10 | 06:13 PM
  #6767  
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From: Monson, MA

Bikes: Catrike Trail Recumbent trike

A few issues on the ride home and ended up getting a ride the rest of the way home. 66F and rain with winds from the S @ 10mph. Going up the North Branch Pkwy, I accidently hit my cadence cyclocomputer and it came out of the bracket. I saw it bounce down the road in my mirror. I did a u-turn when it was clear and stopped to rescue it. Unfortunately it was too late and now it's toast. Also, I was turning left at a light and had to really fight it taking the turn. I looked down at my right tire and it was completely flat. I pulled to the right up a road to a housing complex to repair it. I pulled out the damaged tube and grabbed the spare, which an older tube. I pumped it up to see if it would hold air, but unfortunately it also had a hole. I had a bad feeling it might have had one and was going to repair it before I needed it, but my time ran out. I attempted to patch up the damaged tube, but the rain didn't help. I had called my friends just telling them the situation and that I might need a ride. They assumed worst case and showed up while I was pumping up the tire after putting the patched tube in. As we were loading it into her mom's truck, I heard a hissing sound from my failed patch job. Now I have a few tubes to properly patch and get a new cyclocomputer. I should have made sure that spare was all set weeks ago. That's one mistake I'll never make again.

This is the broke cyclocomputer and the nail that caused the flat:
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
IMG_5915..jpg (91.3 KB, 12 views)
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Old 10-27-10 | 08:20 PM
  #6768  
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From: Alexandria, VA
Originally Posted by EKW in DC
Good ride in this AM. Warm and humid for sure, but at least I had a tailwind! :-)
I get the opposite winds! Headwind this am in the rain but warm. And I now fully appreciate fenders, I was a mess.
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Old 10-27-10 | 10:46 PM
  #6769  
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Hi...I'm pretty new at bike commuting having only taken it up at the beginning of September. So far so good, until the dreaded first snow fall and single digits below zero Celsius (I guess that would be in the mid-to-high 20s Farenheit) since Monday.

So, I'm still learning about layering clothes and not putting on too much nor too little. My commute is just under 16km (10mi) each way on mostly flat city streets.

On the way home from the office, I came across a man on a unicycle, no helmet, face red because of the cold - exchanged "hello's" and he asked: "What's with the training wheel?" I replied back, "good one!" But I really should have said, "You're missing the front end of your bike "

At least, I could say, I've cycled in freezing temperatures - not bad for a whimpy-lazy-couch-potato since quitting running half-marathons 6 years ago.

ricky
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Old 10-28-10 | 05:13 AM
  #6770  
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From: Thibodaux, LA

Bikes: '10 Surly LHT, Rat-rod Klunker, '82 Peugeot PH12 Centennial

Originally Posted by bike4allseasons
At least, I could say, I've cycled in freezing temperatures - not bad for a whimpy-lazy-couch-potato since quitting running half-marathons 6 years ago.
Keep with it... it's not as bad as people make it out to be. I used to ride in freezing temps, but that was years ago, I haven't done it since I started commuting this summer. I'm looking forward to the challenge myself.

This morning, there's lightning going nuts outside, thundering constantly. Hate to wuss out, but I'm not sure I want to ride through a full-on thunderstorm just yet.

I got caught in the rain yesterday on the way home, it wasn't too bad (wasn't cold, though, that helped)
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Old 10-28-10 | 05:26 AM
  #6771  
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From: Columbia, Maryland

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

It was a good ride in warm temps 60 F ( 15 C). It will be cooling off the next couple of days and I will forever be wanting the warm weather, although, the chances for warmer weather are getting slimmer, as we head into November.
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Old 10-28-10 | 06:29 AM
  #6772  
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From: Fairfax, VA commuting to Washington DC

Bikes: 2010 Kona Dew Drop (the daily driver),'07 Specialized Roubaix (the sports car), '99 ish Kona NuNu MTB (the SUV), Schwinn High Plains (circa 1992?) (the beater)

First day back on the bike after its break-in period tuneup. Shifting much improved; brake feel much improved. Couldn't figure out why my panniers felt so light -- til I realized I left my lunch at home (in the fridge -- guess it will be tomorrow's lunch).

Today I wore shorts and short sleeved T, and still felt warm because of the extreme humidity - I was still sweating 20 minutes after I arrived! I can't wait for the cooler temps.

Lots of puddles and branches down on the MUP portions of my route. Does anyone else get nervous crossing wet, fallen leaves? I slid a bike hard once, and I don't think I've ever fully recovered (it was over 25 years ago!).

Last edited by CptjohnC; 10-28-10 at 10:13 AM. Reason: fix stoopid sentence structure
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Old 10-28-10 | 06:37 AM
  #6773  
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Belt drive!
 
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From: Burlington, Vermont

Bikes: 2011 Trek Soho DLX

Another warm morning at 53F. ( to you southerners) I had a headwind to deal with but it wasn't too bad. Been wearing short sleeves this week, but not tomorrow, I fear. I felt slow. Up too late last night.

A cute young woman said hi to me.
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Old 10-28-10 | 06:49 AM
  #6774  
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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

Originally Posted by vtjim
Another warm morning at 53F. ( to you southerners) I had a headwind to deal with but it wasn't too bad.
Pretty much describes my commute in Texas, and you're right, that is a little cool to us down here! Actually, last year I was riding that in shorts and a t-shirt too, but for some reason I'm getting chilled more easily this year. Maybe it's just the change from much warmer temps and I'll get acclimated. Today was also the first day of commuting with my new dyno light setup. It's great to not have to worry about charging the battery the night before. The headlight, a B&M Lumotec Fly IQ, is a little over-enginneered though- the beam has a very well defined edge, which gives an appearance of tunnel vision and isn't as good for illuminating street signs. The old light had more of a "halo" outside the main beam which helped peripheral vision. Still.... it's nice having new stuff.
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Old 10-28-10 | 06:49 AM
  #6775  
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From: Queens, New York
It was a worm, humid and rainy ride home yesterday, but we we rewarded with this:




And a highlight from this morning, sorry some ghosting visible, it's an HDR image and I moved the iPhone when shooting:


Last edited by AdamDZ; 10-28-10 at 07:06 AM.
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