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How was the commute today? 2011 Edition.

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How was the commute today? 2011 Edition.

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Old 08-15-11 | 06:58 PM
  #3326  
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From: Albany, NY

Bikes: 1981 Schwinn Le Tour, 2010 Motobecane Sprint

Pouring rain, and probably the fastest I have ever done it. Over six miles I averaged 19.6 MPH!
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Old 08-15-11 | 07:11 PM
  #3327  
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From: Alexandria, VA
Cool ride home, got caught in the rains less than a mile from home. Actually felt cold-ish. Took refuge under an overpass with another cyclist.
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Old 08-16-11 | 04:28 AM
  #3328  
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From: Columbia, Maryland

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

A very nice morning at 67F (19C). There is a light breeze, just enough to vacate the exhaust taste in my mouth.
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Old 08-16-11 | 05:46 AM
  #3329  
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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

Absolutely beautiful commute this morning with temps in the mid-60s and low humidity. Our massive heat wave has retreated for the time being, and it feels like autumn (even tho the temps are pretty close to long-term averages). The best part for me is the lower humidity. It's nice getting to work with dry clothes for a change. Yesterday I rode at a slow pace to recover from long rides over the weekend, but my legs felt much better this morning so I picked up the pace.
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Old 08-16-11 | 05:48 AM
  #3330  
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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

Originally Posted by PhDestroyer
I feel lucky to be dating a guy who wants to go to work on a bike with me! I think we will have great success this fall going to school on bikes.
Your boyfriend is the lucky one!
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Old 08-16-11 | 05:57 AM
  #3331  
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From: Burlington, Vermont

Bikes: 2011 Trek Soho DLX

Moist. 58F/14C. It was a light drizzle. I didn't wear any rain gear. I got a bit damp but not soaked.

Saw bmike from these forums riding the other way. He was the only cyclist I came across.

Some dude was walking a cute puppy on the MUP. Puppies FTW!
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Old 08-16-11 | 06:03 AM
  #3332  
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Headwinds but a beautiful, cool morning.
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Old 08-16-11 | 06:08 AM
  #3333  
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From: Boy-z, Ideeeho

Bikes: The always reliable kuwie

48f Chilly, noticed a small cut in the side wall of my rear tire yesterday but didn't have any air leak and it didn't go all the way through, left with a full tire had to stop and pump it up twice, now at work and it's holding air I'm hoping it will make it home, as I didn't bring my wallet with today
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Old 08-16-11 | 06:11 AM
  #3334  
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From: Arkansas

Bikes: Specialized Sirrus, Specialized Roubaix Elite

72f and an amazing sky. I wish I would have remembered my camera.
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Old 08-16-11 | 06:33 AM
  #3335  
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From: Greenwood Indiana

Bikes: Surly Crosscheck

Nice ride. actually nearly perfect. Maybe I should just quit riding now, it cant get anybetter than this. Just kidding.
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Old 08-16-11 | 06:43 AM
  #3336  
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Originally Posted by making
Nice ride. actually nearly perfect. Maybe I should just quit riding now, it cant get anybetter than this. Just kidding.
You have reached the mystic pinnacle of commuting, if you go any further it can be deadly.
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Old 08-16-11 | 07:15 AM
  #3337  
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From: Twin Cites, MN USA

Bikes: 1987 Trek Elance 400 T

Beautiful morning here in MN. First time ever I got a flat on the way in (They usually happen on the way home for whatever reason). I had a car & then a cyclist stop to see if I needed help (didn't, but thanks for asking) so I was thinking Minnesota nice is in full effect today. Wrong. After my long stretch of MUP & I start interacting with cars again I was nearly hit twice within five minutes time. Neither were really close calls because I was paying attention & was able to evade.

TWC said that there's 30% chance of T-storms this evening, but to me that means that there's 70% chance that there won't be.
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Old 08-16-11 | 08:25 AM
  #3338  
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From: Alexandria, VA

Bikes: Trek 830 Mountain Track Drop bar conversion

Originally Posted by dcb23
Headwinds but a beautiful, cool morning.
Totally agree. By the time I was rolling in, NWS reports 18 mph headwind gusting to 25. Still a nice ride.

Coping with my funky seatpost is a bit of a pain in the arse (almost literally). Keep checking the tracking info on my new seatpost. It still says Thursday arrival. I'll have tools and grease with me to install the new post before I leave work that day!
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Old 08-16-11 | 09:31 AM
  #3339  
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From: Edmonton, AB
Could have been better, could have been worse. A chilly 7C (45F) this morning - I'm not used to that anymore! But no wind, so that's nice. The morning sun is nearing that dangerous zone during my commute time where it's low in the sky and blinding while riding east, which is 70% of my travel in the mornings. If it's blinding for me, it's blinding for the drivers behind me.

Trashed my front derailleur this morning. Chain slipped out the bottom when pedaling backwards (to get my foot in position at a stop sign); didn't notice, and when I pedaled forward, the chain bent the outside plate up. This isn't the first time this has happened (stupid me for not addressing the root problem!) and the metal was fatigued from being bent a few times, and putting it back into position today resulted in the outside plate breaking off. I think I can still shift to the big ring if I need to (I usually don't), but I would need to nudge the chain with my foot to get it back in the small ring. Bummer!
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Old 08-16-11 | 09:40 AM
  #3340  
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From: south Puget Sound
50F and sunny, nice!
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Old 08-16-11 | 09:46 AM
  #3341  
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From: PNW - Victoria, BC

Bikes: 2002 Litespeed Vortex - 2007 Trek Madone 5.9 - 2004 Redline Conquest Pro - Specialized S-Works Festina Team Model - 93 Cannondale M 800 Beast of the East

50 Degrees, which seems really cool for August, but otherwise sunny calm & beautiful. There was a cruise ship at the terminal which is unusual in the morning, more common on the way home. Touristy zone was still very quiet.... won't be later today however.
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Old 08-16-11 | 09:54 AM
  #3342  
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From: Billings, MT

Bikes: 2007 LHT--made more awesome by my Wald Basket!

beautiful weather! Nice ride on the MUP. Cars were nice to let me cross the street w/o too much hassle. I can tell that I've been riding more because I got up to almost 20mph on part of the trip and hardly felt winded.
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Old 08-16-11 | 10:53 AM
  #3343  
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From: Falls City, OR

Bikes: 2012 Salsa Fargo 2, Rocky Mountain Fusion, circa '93

It's pretty dark now when I leave the house at 5:05 a.m.; a bad time for my Cygolite's charger to die on me. Another is on the way. I'm using my spare headlight and my Blackburn Flea for now. It wasn't too bad with the moon out, then as I was cresting the ridge the sun was lighting up the eastern horizon behind the Cascade mountains. I don't know what got into me: for the first time I started standing up and sprinting up some of the hills. Then I remembered I still have to get home tonight. Oh well it will be good training, whether I get a Surley LHT or a Salsa Fargo for me next bike, neither has as low of a granny gear as my Rocky Mountain so I'll need more muscle.
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Old 08-16-11 | 06:26 PM
  #3344  
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From: East Coast of Central Florida

Bikes: Trek 1000, Ironhorse 4.2, Trek 800

So, today's commute was, at one point awesome and at another point, interesting. One picture is of the sunrise over the intercoastal waterway. One of the roads I ride on is along the waterway. The other picture came from my ride home. I didn't leave work at my normal time because it was POURING outside. I mean, the rain was falling sideways and was so heavy you could not see 10 feet in front of you. Anyway, as I was crossing this bridge, these two guys flagged me down and asked if I had a phone. They said they had been in an accident and needed to call 911. As it turns out, during the deluge, they drove off the road and into the water. They entered the water on the east side of the bridge and the current took their van under the bridge and to the west side of the bridge where it came to rest. I called 911 for them, the sheriff's deputy showed up, and I took off for home. All in all, I would say it was certainly an interesting day!


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Last edited by iteachpe; 08-16-11 at 07:12 PM. Reason: adding trackie and correcting punctuation
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Old 08-17-11 | 04:07 AM
  #3345  
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From: Greenwood Indiana

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I left early this morning so I decided to look for a short cut to avoid construction on my way home. Uh, didnt find a short cut, but did find a few nice, pleasant extra miles. Right in inner city a family of racoons crossed the street right in front of me. Just a nice ride.
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Old 08-17-11 | 04:29 AM
  #3346  
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From: Columbia, Maryland

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

Another nice day, with just the right amount of warmth, 66f (19C). I wish the majority of the days of the year were like this.
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Old 08-17-11 | 05:56 AM
  #3347  
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Originally Posted by iteachpe
They said they had been in an accident and needed to call 911. As it turns out, during the deluge, they drove off the road and into the water.
Well now there's something you don't see every day.

There were several wild turkeys wandering around my front yard as I was packing up to leave. I was indoors, watching them. They ran around behind the house when I came out.

Temp was 58F/14C, sunny, no wind. Some dude rolled out on a MTB in front of me and managed to maintain about 16MPH so I rode with him. I thought something was chasing me but it never materialized after I slowed up for the MTBer. Phantom commuter racer!
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Old 08-17-11 | 06:00 AM
  #3348  
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From: Henderson/Las Vegas NV

Bikes: Giant Defy 2

Started in with the headlights on yesterday morning. First for that this year. Still 80 degrees. I can live with that but it will be another month before the ride home falls under 100 degrees. But again, the ride home is downhill all the way.
I'll be buying a stronger light this weekend, along with a battery charger for my office.
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Old 08-17-11 | 06:08 AM
  #3349  
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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

Another awesome commute in Raleigh, NC. We are having ideal weather for cycling this week -- low humidity, morning temps in the 60s, afternoon highs in the 80s. Can't ask for much better than that. I rode my retro commuter Italian racing bike with the bullhorns today and went fast. It's my most fun bike to ride, but not so good when it's raining or if I need to carry a lot of gear.
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Old 08-17-11 | 07:13 AM
  #3350  
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From: Leesburg, VA
First commute this week. Weather was perfect, almost a little cool in the mid-60's. Felt good to be back on the bike again.
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