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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 04-07-11 | 02:20 PM
  #1351  
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From: Santa Fe, NM

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Originally Posted by daijoubu2k8
Switching to a sleep cycle alarm clock seems to have really helped me with those early morning commutes. It might be something to try. They monitor your motion while you sleep and wake you when you are in your lightest sleep phase.
I'll check those out for sure!
I've also thought about the "zen" alarm clocks that start very quietly and slowly build (pleasant chime) in volume until the person turns it off. Far less harrowing than my current "shake your ass out of bed" heart attack of an alarm.
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Old 04-07-11 | 04:48 PM
  #1352  
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Originally Posted by riconey
After reading some of the threads on this site and getting ready I made my first commute today. I spent a couple weeks preparing. Did not want to ride my road bike in to work so I started looking for a MTB or Hybrid. I was lucky enough to find a barely used '96 Specialized Rockhopper on Craigslist that was quite reasonable. Tune-up, new Hybrid tires, lights and I am on my way.

It was about 40º and cloudy when I came in. What a great ride. I have not ridden in the dark since I was a kid, I really appreciated taking my time in selecting lights. It was no issue at all. The commute is about 17 miles one way through mostly rural areas. The route is all back roads and side streets. We have shower facilities at work and a very nice set up for locking up bikes. Makes me wonder why I never did this before.

I also posted this on the Introductions thread
Welcome! I started in September and I haven't stopped since, I love it.

Today was very nice on the ride in and back...I was up xtra early and got the benefit of those empty city streets. Not so in the evening on the ride home.
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Old 04-07-11 | 04:53 PM
  #1353  
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From: Two Rivers, WI
I caught a loose hound dog running around and called the number on the tag. Lady Bird was reunited with her owners about 5 minutes later.
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Old 04-07-11 | 07:03 PM
  #1354  
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Originally Posted by bengreen79
I caught a loose hound dog running around and called the number on the tag. Lady Bird was reunited with her owners about 5 minutes later.
Nice... we're like superheroes out there saving dogs and making sure crashed cyclists don't become road kill.

Saw the lady who crashed this morning as she was riding home past my house and she stopped to thank me for stopping this am and said she was feeling fine and said her shoulder will probably will be bruised tomorrow.

I told her that she crashes well in that she did spread her weight out pretty evenly, kept her arms close, and did not appear to hit her head... these kinds of falls can result in broken arms and fingers and concussions.

Was just nice to see her booking it down the road at her usual speedy pace.
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Old 04-07-11 | 07:04 PM
  #1355  
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From: seattle, too many links

Bikes: fixed gear recumbent trike

the ride in was pretty normal... wet, bit windy...
but the ride home, something strange... it was dry.. and there was bright light coming from the sky... and the sky was blue, not grey...

i wonder if its the sign of the end times?!
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Old 04-07-11 | 07:47 PM
  #1356  
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Originally Posted by jdgesus
but the ride home, something strange... it was dry.. and there was bright light coming from the sky... and the sky was blue, not grey...
It was creepy
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Old 04-08-11 | 05:58 AM
  #1357  
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From: Thibodaux, LA

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Anybody know how many calories mosquitoes are? I think I ate a couple dozen on the way in. Juicy warm front made the temps jump up 20 degrees, and the bugs were out in force. I think I still have one in my throat.

Otherwise, I had the "fastest" commute to date, averaged 15.3 MPH, which is a record for me. At one point I was pushing 23MPH, I thought the world was gonna end. I beat a red light, flew over a bump in the pavement at 20 and actually caught air. It was killer!
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Old 04-08-11 | 07:00 AM
  #1358  
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From: Boy-z, Ideeeho

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29f Not enjoying the cold
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Old 04-08-11 | 07:55 AM
  #1359  
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Another in a string of very mellow rides in. Somewhere around 45, light nmist, and the green canopy is sprouting everywhere. Today I took the opportunity to look around a bit, to take in the views that fly by.

Sixty Fiver, I meant to give you a thumbs up for your good deed the other day with that fallen cyclist.
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Old 04-08-11 | 08:19 AM
  #1360  
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-2C for the ride this morning. I've been seeing a lot more cyclists this week. I just passed 1200km of riding for the year. Now that it is warming up I'll be doing a lot more non-commute rides.

Yesterday was +3C in the afternoon so I went for an afternoon ride in shorts and my clipless mountain shoes to check out the condition of the MUP. The MUP was almost entirely clear, but since the park and creek still have a lot of snow its colder in there than on the streets. There is a lot of water running across the MUP, so it is probably extremely icy in the mornings. Two mountain bikers on the MUP without fenders had huge wet streaks up their back.

I've been rearranging snow in the yard to help it melt faster. Yesterday I moved a bunch to the back fence and accidentally created a dam in the drainage grade. So I got to play backyard hydrologist and carve out a drainage channel. As a bonus the high flow rate of water carried a bunch of leaves under the fence into the neighbours yard .
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Old 04-08-11 | 10:57 AM
  #1361  
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From: Falls City, OR

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It was about 32 F. when I left the house, which I love compared to my usual rain. Dry with stars. I passed a skunk again, this is the third time. I wonder if it's the same one. He tried to race me but I powered by, thinking that he probably can't spray whilst running.
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Old 04-08-11 | 12:44 PM
  #1362  
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From: NOWHERE

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My sunshin-ey ride home today may be thwarted by a necessity to bus part way there. However, the part bus jaunt itself may be thwarted by potential opening day baseball game traffic and a large construction project jamming up all traffic including the bus I need. So in the end, I may have a 100% sunshin-ey ride all the way home after all.

This morning there was a sedan (yes, a car) parked on the lower West Seattle bridge sidewalk/path with the flashers flashing, right before the gate area on the west side of the bridge. It was facing eastbound. I have never seen a car there in my 10+ years of commuting. And I wonder how it got there...the driver either had to have come up West Marginal way to the barricaded turn-about at the top and driven onto the sidewalk/path and followed it up...or from the Spokane St. roadway eastbound, somehow driven over the rather large curb, through the bark area and then onto the sidewalk/path. It's not easy to do this here! Someone must have been really trying to find a new route!

Last edited by Catgrrl70; 04-08-11 at 12:49 PM.
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Old 04-08-11 | 01:23 PM
  #1363  
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From: Tahoe

Bikes: Motobecane Single Speed, Trek Mountain Track Xtracycle

ok, this morning it was a very frigid 12F, Clear and cold. wore sweats, vest, jacket, uggs and rain pants over sweats just for warmth. looking forward to the bay area and a balmy 60F
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Old 04-08-11 | 05:55 PM
  #1364  
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From: Seattle

Bikes: Surly crosscheck ssfg, Custom vintage french racing bike, Bruce Gordon Rock & Road

Beautiful sunny day out, so I'll definitely take the long way home, turning my 8 mile commute into a 22 mile one!
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Old 04-08-11 | 07:08 PM
  #1365  
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From: Monson, MA

Bikes: Catrike Trail Recumbent trike

Originally planning to commute Wednesday and yesterday and have today as my drive/rest day, but I ended up driving Wednesday. If I didn't drive, I would have never made it on time, especially with the headwinds @ ~18mph, because by the time I got going, it was too late to ride

Yesterday, the commutes went well. I'm gonna find a new route for Tuesday and Thursday mornings, which are my early days. The problem with the current route is trying to turn left onto a busy 4 lane road from a side road that doesn't have a traffic light: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie...20.67,,0,16.74. It's not an issue MWF because I leave later and the traffic is much lighter. It probably took almost 5 mins to pull out yesterday because traffic was so heavy. On State St there was an accident that had just happened blocking the right lane at one of the intersections. That delayed things a little bit. Tried a different route home to see how it was. There were quite a few issues with it, so I probably won't be taking it regularly.

Great commutes today. This morning it was sunny and 44F with no winds. Tried another different route this afternoon at 53F and sunny with winds from the S @ 3mph. I think this might be my new route home and I may also take it Tues and Thurs to see how well it goes. I made an adjustment to the boom position and re-greased the jockey wheels yesterday on the RD, and lubed the chain before I left today and it all paid off. I could climb much better and the hills seemed easier. Also had the fastest average speeds this semester both this morning (16.0mph) and this afternoon (13.6mph). The weird thing is, the route this afternoon had 59 ft more climbing than my original route, but it was quicker.
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Old 04-08-11 | 07:25 PM
  #1366  
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From: Alexandria, VA
wet cold headwind filled ride home...but for some reason I still enjoyed it.
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Old 04-08-11 | 11:08 PM
  #1367  
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From: Thailand

Bikes: Kona Sutra

Summer come late this year in Thailand, but very hot as always.(Suggestion : Do not ride between 11.00-14.00, it's too hot)

Now i'm trying to put Pletscher kickstands into my Kona Sutra(08), uneasy but i think i made it the best i could.



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Old 04-09-11 | 07:24 AM
  #1368  
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From: Eagan, MN

Bikes: Steel Bianchi, 29 inch Redline Monocog, a Carbon something someday

Warming up in MN. Trying some new routes for the commute. Distance seems to be staying about the same. I do appreciate the newer routes without the dedictaed bike lane. Going to try to grab a cheap rainsuit or something as the forecast for early in the week is looking like it could be wet. No sense in going it without at least some effort to stay dry. Ride on.
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Old 04-09-11 | 04:59 PM
  #1369  
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From: Canada

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I went into the university to study today, so its a commute day for me.

The weather is nice and I really want my touring bike back. I should have taken the LBS up on their offer Tuesday to pull a derailleur off a bike on the floor. I phoned today and despite having the bike since the 30th, they still haven't got the part in. When they told me Tuesday the parts had been ordered, they were probably lying. I'd rather have them admit they forgot to order the part than lie about it.
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Old 04-11-11 | 04:47 AM
  #1370  
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From: Columbia, Maryland

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

It was a very ride today at 55 F ( 12 C). I must have left a bit earlier, as a regular rider who I don't see often passed in the opposite direction. I remember him, as he has a very bright headlamp. The afternoons are supposed to be in the lower 60s F (upper teens C), so shorts all week. I love it.
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Old 04-11-11 | 05:33 AM
  #1371  
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From: Alexandria, VA
Great ride in, temps near 60,slight headwind and a damp morning air. Birds out and more green. And lots of runners, everywhere. Plus a few bikes I have not yet seen.
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Old 04-11-11 | 06:02 AM
  #1372  
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From: Raleigh, NC

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Warm morning, about 60 F, but with stiff headwind most of the way to work. My legs were very tired after riding 260 miles last week, including 193 over the weekend for Cycle NC. I was tempted to drive, but I need my car at work tomorrow and didn't want to miss two bike commuting days this week. So, I took it slow and easy.
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Old 04-11-11 | 06:21 AM
  #1373  
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Pouring rain this morning, with thunderstorms in the vicinity. Temps around 50F/10C. Prevailing headwind was being overruled by a thunderstorm cell, so for about half the ride I had a nice wind at my back and was cruising along almost silently at close to 25MPH. I love it when that happens. When I left the MUP, it was nearly dark. I lit up all the blinkies and pushed hard to the office before the skies really opened up.

The MUP is practically clear of snow. Only two parts where there's some snow on the pavement but nothing edge-to-edge.
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Old 04-11-11 | 06:50 AM
  #1374  
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From: Boy-z, Ideeeho

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45f Nice morning, slow though as yesterday I went for my first run in who knows how long and I guess I got a lot of muscles I haven't used in a while
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Old 04-11-11 | 07:55 AM
  #1375  
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From: Canada

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+1C this morning. Its my 6th day in a row riding and I must have literally walked 100km in the past week, so my legs are getting a bit sore. I put the other slick on my mountain bike yesterday. I forgot how quiet the commute can be without knobby studded tires. While putting the front wheel back on I noticed that the clear protective film was still on the Trek emblem. 16 years and I had never noticed.

The past few days I've been wearing my cycling shorts under my wind pants in the morning. Today I wore my summer clipless shoes instead of the winter boots. The ride home is supposed to be a sunny +12C.

My body isn't liking all the time I've been spending on the mountain bike. My hands are getting more numb the more I ride. And the gear spacing on the 7 speed cassette is too large for me to stay near my ideal cadence. I could feel the IT band on my right leg getting sore. Last summer that kept me off the bike for a while.
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