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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 05-24-11 | 03:01 PM
  #2126  
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From: Burlington, Vermont

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Even faster than yesterday, round trip. I was hoping to beat any rain, and I did.

I was crossing a bridge on the MUP and a full-kit roadie was standing there finishing a drink of water. He looks at me coming, and proceeds to mount up and pull out right in front of me. I mumbled, "You're gonna regret doing that", and the Silly Commuter Racing commenced. He was in his drops, probably 80-90RPM cadence. Low 20sMPH for a lot of it. I hung with him for the next ~1.25 miles until I got to my street. I dinged my bell as I peeled off, just say say good bye.

Trek Soho DLX: Sleeper Commuter.
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Old 05-24-11 | 04:37 PM
  #2127  
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From: Atlanta

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Georgia heat is on! Supose to be even hotter tomorrow.

At least the Humidity has not been so bad. Been a couple nice days of riding Riding the hot rod with the GP4000's that replaced the Maxxis Detonators (that did). WOW these tires rock!

I have to drive down to Warner Robbins tomorrow and pick up some equipment. It is suppose to hit 98f Uggggg
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Old 05-24-11 | 04:43 PM
  #2128  
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From: Albany, NY

Bikes: 1981 Schwinn Le Tour, 2010 Motobecane Sprint



17.6 mph average on my way in! Sweet!
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Old 05-24-11 | 05:09 PM
  #2129  
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Yelled at a fellow cycle commuter this morning. She reached into her handlebar basket to pull out her phone and take a call, wobbling all over the place. I yelled at her "both hands on the bars!"

Sorry, I've been racing a lot lately and gotten into the habit of calling out sketchy moves.
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Old 05-24-11 | 05:16 PM
  #2130  
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Originally Posted by vtjim
Even faster than yesterday, round trip. I was hoping to beat any rain, and I did.

I was crossing a bridge on the MUP and a full-kit roadie was standing there finishing a drink of water. He looks at me coming, and proceeds to mount up and pull out right in front of me. I mumbled, "You're gonna regret doing that", and the Silly Commuter Racing commenced. He was in his drops, probably 80-90RPM cadence. Low 20sMPH for a lot of it. I hung with him for the next ~1.25 miles until I got to my street. I dinged my bell as I peeled off, just say say good bye.

Trek Soho DLX: Sleeper Commuter.
This little twig of a guy on a road bike came up behind me on what I consider to be a pretty gentle climb with no warning but did at least give me a wide berth as I was on my commuter with the bags loaded and had a pair of wheels on the rear rack.

Thought he was going to rocket away from me but I ended up passing him on the way up... I was spinning and he was standing and did not seem to understand what all those round pointy things and the shifty thing was for.

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Old 05-24-11 | 05:59 PM
  #2131  
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From: Maryland

Bikes: rockhopper, delta V, cannondale H300, Marin Mill Valley

In my neighborhood, a bus driver waved to me. People know me on the streets. Because of my trailer I'm sort of a local character I guess. A lady who sometimes sits on her porch waved at me too. She used to holler "Good morning!" to get my attention, but now she knows I will look for her, so today she just waved. Everyone who got to work on time got wet. I left behind schedule, quite late and missed the rain.

I saw the sun painted on the street in Mt. Rainier. This wasn't there last week. I went a different way yesterday and hadn't seen it before.



The real sun was shining most of the day and on the way home. It got kinda hot. We're not used to it yet and a lot of guys were complaining. It's early in the year to get close to 90ºF.
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Old 05-24-11 | 06:02 PM
  #2132  
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From: Thibodaux, LA

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I saw no less than 5 people out cycling today... none had helmets, cycling gear, or anything. Imagine that. I usually see 0 people cycling, so I'm happy.
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Old 05-24-11 | 07:10 PM
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From: Albany, NY

Bikes: 1981 Schwinn Le Tour, 2010 Motobecane Sprint

Aaaannnndddd it looks like I have to drive for the rest of the week. Sprained my foot. Considering I sprained my foot well before I posted that 17.6 MPH average speed earlier I don't see it hurting my riding, but you know how Doctor's orders are...

Kind of a shame really, that commute was suburban and was a number similar to my overall averages when I would start from my urban apartment and ride towards the country for workouts a few months ago on my "fast" bike.
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Old 05-24-11 | 08:02 PM
  #2134  
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thats too bad

17.6mph avg is really great for a commute!
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Old 05-24-11 | 09:43 PM
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From: Albany, NY

Bikes: 1981 Schwinn Le Tour, 2010 Motobecane Sprint

I have bar end shifters, so I kinda habitually use the drops. I peaked at 24.8! I was passing cars! I am very proud of this morning's commute.

I actually left work early because my injured foot was going numb and rode to an urgent care facility to get it checked out! I got some weird looks from the woman at the desk when I explained my week old injury... With my helmet slung over my arm. She was amazed I rode the eight miles there on a sprained foot(I didn't mention the other 50+ miles I had ridden since the accident)
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Old 05-24-11 | 09:59 PM
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the commute home was interesting. i was in a hurry to get home because PB closes at 8 and i had to get home get home by at least 7:30 so i can get my car and go. so i was really pushing it coming home. i came up to a red light and saw that there were no cars so i decided to just go. well a motorcycle cop saw me and quickly pulled me over. i was like great. not only am i gonna miss going to PB but i am gonna have to pay a fine.

officer asks me where i am going in a hurry. so i told him i am just going home from work. he was really cool. he just tells me don't do that again and keep up the good work commuting on a bicycle and let me go. i was relieved. now i won't run any more red lights again.

also made it to PB and picked up a pair of shoes and pedals for my road bike.
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Old 05-25-11 | 04:39 AM
  #2137  
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From: Columbia, Maryland

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

Just another good ride in. I passed a police car, parked on the sidewalk, with no lights on, on a dark street. With the low profile on the dome lights, I was somewhat cautious, as there are too many crazy people around with guns. Once I saw the dome lights, I just blew past. I guess they were looking for speeders. The temps are still warm 66F (19 C), and no real rain.
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Old 05-25-11 | 06:05 AM
  #2138  
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From: Burlington, Vermont

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52F / 11C with a light tailwind this morning. Very comfortable. Passed one regular commuter & we exchanged hellos. Caught another one just as he left the MUP. Also saw a stunning blonde out for a run. Really a beautiful young woman. Can't complain.
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Old 05-25-11 | 06:33 AM
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From: Reading, PA

Bikes: Iron Horse XT 2100 (1997?)

Good commute. Perfect temp (low 60s). Pushed it hard and beat a few personal bests. I realized a few days ago that I was taking it too easy on my commutes. I'm riding to exercise so I need to start pushing it more. Feeling good.
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Old 05-25-11 | 07:08 AM
  #2140  
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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

Temps in the mid-60s this morning felt cool after several days in the 70s. The afternoon heat is starting to take its toll, however, and I was dragging on the ride home yesterday with our first week of 90-degree temps. Takes me a while to acclimate to the heat and humidity but hopefully I'll be good to go by next week.
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Old 05-25-11 | 07:16 AM
  #2141  
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Made good time this morning on the ride in. 20 miles in a little over 1:08. With temps in the high 60's, the air was warm for the morning commute in I don't know how long, so I guess that made things move faster.
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Old 05-25-11 | 07:20 AM
  #2142  
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From: Louisville Kentucky

Bikes: Bacchetta Agio, 80s Raleigh Record single-speed, Surly Big Dummy

My knee was bothering me this morning, so I opted for a geared bike rather than the single-speed.

The ride was slowish and pleasant.
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Old 05-25-11 | 07:34 AM
  #2143  
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There was this strange, glowing, warming orb in the sky today, instead of the past three week's worth of clouds and rain. News reports say this is some celestial object, name passed down in legend, called "The Sun."
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Old 05-25-11 | 07:57 AM
  #2144  
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Beautiful ride this morning, ~60F and sunny with some clouds, little wind. I haven't been at this long but this was my fastest commute in to work. I even saw two others riding.
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Old 05-25-11 | 08:20 AM
  #2145  
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Originally Posted by aprevo15
the commute home was interesting. i was in a hurry to get home because PB closes at 8 and i had to get home get home by at least 7:30 so i can get my car and go. so i was really pushing it coming home. i came up to a red light and saw that there were no cars so i decided to just go. well a motorcycle cop saw me and quickly pulled me over. i was like great. not only am i gonna miss going to PB but i am gonna have to pay a fine.

officer asks me where i am going in a hurry. so i told him i am just going home from work. he was really cool. he just tells me don't do that again and keep up the good work commuting on a bicycle and let me go. i was relieved. now i won't run any more red lights again.

also made it to PB and picked up a pair of shoes and pedals for my road bike.
....and PB would be........? (All I know that to be is Planet Bike)

Gorgeous ride this morning. Crisp 45F with the sun barely poking over the mountains for the second half of the ride. Good thing my commute is East-West in the mornings.

The past couple of weeks I've seen the same homeless guy along the transit corridor in downtown, and have greeted him with a genuine "good morning". Seems like a nice enough guy, and a unique character to boot. He has a full white beard and wears blankets and tapestries, with numerous things draped around his neck - he's like a king. Anyway, this morning when I greeted him, I could see from his cheekbones that he was smiling (beneath the white beard), and he reached a hand up to give the horn hanging from his neck a honk.

It's going to be stunning for the ride home - sunshine and ideal temps.
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Old 05-25-11 | 09:34 AM
  #2146  
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Originally Posted by canyoneagle
....and PB would be........? (All I know that to be is Planet Bike)
performance bike.

crazy commute this morning. a dog chasing me and couple of cars cutting me off making a right turn. today felt like the paper route days.
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Old 05-25-11 | 09:40 AM
  #2147  
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Bikes: Vassago Moosknuckle Ti 29+ XTR, 90's Merckx Corsa-01 9sp Record, PROJECT: 1954 Frejus SuperCorsa

Originally Posted by aprevo15
performance bike.
Ahh - cool.
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Old 05-25-11 | 09:53 AM
  #2148  
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in the morning i seem to average 12mph going to work while going home in the evening i average 16mph. just not a morning person i guess lol.
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Old 05-25-11 | 09:54 AM
  #2149  
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From: Vandalia OH

Bikes: 2011 Cannondale Quick 5, 2014 Raleigh Revenio 2.0

First leg of expanded commute is over. 16.48 miles total which was no massive strain. This isn't "full distance" from my house but from where I will meet up with a co-worker that wants to do some form of commuting here and there. The only issue was when my water bottle came out of the holder right as I was going to lean on a post waiting to cross a road. I leaned left to get it fully intending to put my left foot on the ground. However, as I continued to lean I realized my foot was in the recently installed toe cage and that there was a very good chance I was going to fall. As I continued to achieve a horizontal position I tried many things to get my foot out of the toe cage. None of them worked. I fell from the sidewalk into the street and then my foot slipped gently from the toe cage as if coated with butter. I got up quickly to avoid being killed by a vehicle and then took a quick inventory of the various scrapes I got from "the fall". One on the elbow, one on the outside of my calf. The other was on the inside of my other leg when it dug into the gear. I got back on my bike and continued onward.

At work I told a few people and we had a good laugh. They all agreed they wished they had witnessed it.

The ride back is going to be interesting but I suspect the worst will be that I will be extra tired tonight and tomorrow.
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Old 05-25-11 | 10:01 AM
  #2150  
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