girljen

My daughter didn't get to bed until midnight, so neither did I. I woke up at 0500 (late!), stumbled through my morning routine in really clumsy double-time, and I was off.

The ride snapped me in to reality and reminded me that like it or not, I'm awake. It was a good ride; a little faster than I normally go.

jpdesjar

fast and quiet and somehow i ended up at work...

larryfeltonj

Good ride in. This is the first time I've done any substantial distance in over a week (I've had some sort of allergy/cold thing which has sapped my energy). I left a couple of hours early with a neighbor, and we rode over to Decatur (GA) before heading back downtown to work. It was comfortable temperature, and felt nice to be able to do the extra miles.

girljen

Sometimes those are the best commutes.

starla

Had to leave late and take a shorter route because I forgot to charge my headlight battery last night. I charged it for half an hour and it lasted through the 6 mile ride. It's good, though. I'll just take a long ride home.

jpdesjar

i do remember the ride in but nothing happened that stood out to me...the best commutes are the ones where you decide to try a new route at the last minute...i did that yesterday to incorporate a climb

caloso

I followed a fellow commuter for a few blocks this morning. He had a helmet, except that it wasn't on his head, it was strapped to his pannier. I was tempted to say something, but I held my tongue.

HardyWeinberg

nice ride in. Dropped 3.5 yr old downtown (2nd time this week, usually I only do pm retrieval), found ... another trailer where I usually leave ours in the staff room! Stacked mine up against some other strollers. So that's 3 trailers at this daycare sighted (including ours).

HardyWeinberg

Buncha people like that on the MUP I use.

TheLifeOfBryan

Came in early to help with an unusually busy day. First time needing to use a light on the way in. Other than that, great. Traffic light timing was better than average, too.

skepticsights

First day commuting (only really started riding last Friday, so I'm an uber-noob) and it was good. Not very heavy traffic and nice weather, and the ride is only a couple miles.

Wheel_Motion

OOOOOO, today has been great. Sun is out it's around 75*- 80* Went into town to get some chain lube and other bike stuff. Had the kid in the trailer, stop off at school to have lunch with mom and brother, then to the LBS and a nice up hill ride back. My kid fell asleep on the way back... Will try to get out for another ride later today....

Catgrrl70

Fun commute day yesterday, left work later than normal so I was smack in the middle of 5:00 rush hour. People were c.r.a.z.y.! Had a truck about 1/2 block in front of me decide that "hey, I do want that parking space a block behind me." So he threw it into reverse and backed up allllll they way, paying no attention to me at all. It's only a two way road with oncoming traffic so I had no where to go but stop, I have no doubt he didn't see me until I yelled "Heeeeeeeeyyyyyy!" I was right up against his truck too. He just yelled back at ME. Ijit. Where is a cop when you need one?

I also encountered some teen (they looked really, really young) guys "directing" traffic into the Cruise Ship terminal. They were not off-duty cops, just guys wearing orange vests. They were stopping through traffic and directing left turners across the lanes, even when they should have just directed the through traffic forward with right of way first. I watched this from a distance (a nice straight stretch of road) and when I got there, the guy directing looked at me, hesitated, and went ahead and directed a truck a head anyway. !!! I did not slow down and yelled that "You are NOT going to let him go!" Truck saw me and stopped (thank you very much). Guy looked shocked (!) shocked (!).

Rest of the ride was niiiiiiice and generally drivers were super. Today was very light traffic, very muggy, and too bad I had to go to work!

girljen

I got to go home early, yay!!
I stopped at the gas station and inflated my tires to Ludicrous PSI (when your teeth rattle just looking at a crack in the pavement), then started hammering home.

Once I got on the MUP, I realized...nobody knows I'm off early. I can take my time and enjoy the scenery. I hardly ever get to take the MUP anymore, since most of my commutes are in the dark. I slowed down, took it easy, really looked around at everything (and everyone, hi friendly people), and enjoyed a mellow ride home.

shuguru314

im in chicago so ive relied on public transportation for the last 2 years now...but i finally got a bike ( found it in the trash)
ive been riding it sparingly for the last month and today was my first real communte...

about 4.5 miles both ways...

then i "ran up" to the bank and back which was probably another mile and half total...

the mean streets can be rough i reckon, but i love my bike, it almost brings a bit of youthful resurgence back to my life...
i cant wait to continue my car-less lifestyle!

lns55

Rode home from work tonight afterdark. Warm and humid - one of those times when everything about the ride felt just right.

robinthehippie

I left early this morning to get coffee, then ended up adding five miles to my ride with a little loop on the MUP. It felt great to get some extra miles in, even though I have a lot of time commuting because I've been working so much then it's been the same route over and over.

It's amazing what a difference five miles can make... I spent my entire shift eating, trying to procure free food, and being hungry.

I had to ride through the sprinklers on the way home.

Also, shuguru314, good for you!

making

I am up this early on Saturday becasue, Friday AM I did not ride. I had to be to work on time because I picked up a class of students, it was raining and I had a blackburn 3.0 light and my other light (worthless) burned out last week. Anyway I cant see very well and was afraid I would bust my wheel in a chuck hole or something and be late. Soon as I got off work I headed for the LBS. I bought a Night rider light. I wanna go for a ride before daylight. Last night in my dark garage it looked 10x as bright as my blackburn. THis one seems easy to use and recharge, I just hope it last a while.

caloso

At work today. Not happy about it. Not happy about it at all.

Wheel_Motion

Up at 6:00 AM today, dog woke me up barking. So as I had to be at work today, I got up biked into work, then biked to the coffee shop and back to work, took a nice ride home for lunch. After lunch biked back to work and after work I will do some stuff around town and bike home... Plus today is most perfect with blue sky's and 80*

girljen

After a busy and noisy weekend, a quiet commute worked wonders. And the sky was the strangest color...kind of a translucent mix of yellow and purple! It was gorgeous. I love the crack of dawn.

making

I am about ready to give up. I busted another spoke this AM. Not headed for work but jsut a nice sunday morning ride. About 6 miles out another spoke snapped. I have a 2005 Grand Prix. I have ordered a new back wheel my LBS says will be very dependable, but I am losing confidence. It is very important I amke it to work in the AM. Are most of your rides really dependable? This is just so frustrating. I have a flat or bust a spoke a week. I have put about 650 miles on this bike this year becasue it is always broke.

girljen

The only problem I've ever had with my bike (K2 T-Nine Crosswind, inexpensive hybrid) was a single flat tire. My bike is more reliable than my truck! I think the new back wheel will help you out. Some kevlar tires (Marathon makes very good ones) will cut down on flats. They're a little costly up front, but totally worth it. Don't give up!

making

The LBS that I ordered my other wheel from dropped everything and fixed my old wheel. I am back on the road. I feel much better now. Sorry about the whinning. He promised to have my new wheel early in the week. I really like my new LBS.

zombizon

So I did my first couple of days commuting in 100+ temperatures and I have to say it wasn't all that bad. I made sure to stay hydrated all day before the ride, and made a point of draining both my water bottles during the ride. I rode more slowly than normal, just enjoyed the ride. Actually, I kind of enjoyed it. There was a sort of meditative quality about it.

So yeah, commuting in heat was one of the things that I was dreading. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Now I just have to face the wet weather in a couple of months.