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!

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

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. :notamused:

Also, shuguru314, good for you!

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.

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

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*

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

zombizon - Dude! You win! Heat can either be a serious drag, or just another element to your ride. It all depends on attitude.

My ride home this afternoon was awesome. The commute started with me turning down a ride from my partner. It was raining, and he offered to put my bike in the back of his truck. I said no, and hit the MUP. The weather was beautiful. It was warm, it was cloudy, and the rain was coming down just hard enough to make its presence known. I decided to skip the rain gear, since I knew I would only be pleasantly cool (instead of soaking wet) by the time I got home. I just wish the rain and the wind would have been at my back.

Ride today was good. I set off a little earlier than usual, so I was on the subway 10 minutes before I usually am (multimode commuter). Nice and hazy this morning, but comfortable (around 23). Saw the strangest thing I've ever seen commuting this morning - two motor scooters carrying (no joke!) a whole pig carcass each! Eww. And I thought the guy I saw last year toting a refrigerator on the back of a motor scooter was strange...

This afternoon was a little warmer (28) with high humidity so I was really sweaty by the time I came home. But all together, a good day. As a teacher, I've been off for the last two months, so it's nice to get back into the swing of things.

I know I mention this for just about every morning commute, but I love the early morning. The sky looks so cool when the sun is just thinking about coming up. On top of that, the weather was gorgeous, and I had tons of energy. There's not much to report, but that's a good thing...just a fast ride under a pretty sky, lots of crickets and birds, and hardly any traffic.

I fully concur with the early morning sentiment. It was those early morning rides that made me fall in love with bike commuting. So many moments of joy (sorry for the cheeseiness of that statement) that wouldn't have happened if I had been passing those miles in a car.

My commute was terrible! (Yes, I'll have some cheese with my whine thank you!) In spite of the knowledge shared by the elders of this forum, I took the bait and bought a cheap schwinn Letour roadbike. I wanted a cheap commuter and found this on craigs list. Good grief! Those things should be outlawed. Give me my mtb anytime.
I rode my regular 21 mile commute that I do each weekend and I thought I was gonna die. I'm taking that bike back to the seller and GIVE it back to him if need be. He did say he would be willing to work with me if I didn't like the bike for a few days. He is a seller on craigs list and has a small wearhouse full of bikes.
Ernest

I just got back from tech training in the States and was really interested in seeing how my goodies I bought would work out. I purchased the Topeak Explorer disc rear rack and two Detours toocan grocery style bags to on my Kona Blast. The bags made it easy to transport my uniform, boots, and lunch for the week; it was a snap picking up groceries after work from the commisary.

Well, I finally did it - two rides into work in the same week. Really tired. Not sure why I made it home in almost the same time as I made it in, even though I felt bad, bad, bad on the way home. Kinda nice to leave the computer at work for the long week and not have to haul it home.

Traffic in was busier than normal, even though I left at the same time. Weird - wonder what it's going to be like once school's back in.

If I can figure out how to do this w/o being ravenous for two days following the ride, I'd do it more!

I've been negligent in properly maintaining my bike... I think both wheels are slowly going out of true, probably need to overhaul and repack hubs. Some worrying noises on the ride in today :(

First ride in a week. A busted spoke and rains from TS Fay kept me off the road last week. The ride in today was very nice though ~60F, low humidity and no cager encounters

I never have any problems. Are you maybe just a bigger dude riding on a weak wheelset?

Sounds like your LBS thinks a new wheel is gonna help, which likely it will.

My ride in was a bit ridiculous this morning. I got sucked into one of those "I ride a fast bike so obviously I'm racing everyone when I'm on the road" races. Some doofus kept passing me and then slowing down, then speeding up again when I tried to pass him. At one point I was passing him and he almost cut into me going around another cyclist on his right. I decided at this point I'd take the bait and full on make it a race so I said to him "dude, you need to check before pulling out if you're going to be riding so damn slow" and started mashing the pedals. Dude was quick too, I kept slowly pulling away from him the rest of the ride but he never got really far behind.

I did get to work five minutes earlier than normal though, haha ;)

The ride home yesterday was hot and sunny and slow. It was pleasant, though.

The ride in this morning was chilly! It was only about 45 degrees out! After talking to my brother last night about cadence and gearing and other stuff that I'm just now figuring out, I decided to switch to the big chain ring and slow down my cadence a little. I ended up going really fast and feeling good.

First commute after vacation. :mad:
Really nice weather. :thumb:

Saw 2 or 3 cyclists going the other way. Passed a woman on a cool cherry red comfort bike with fenders and a basket.

Suicidal squirrels are back. Be careful out there.

Today was my first commute to work on a bicycle. It wasn't bad, the roads I take are pretty bike-friendly (large shoulder, or bike lane). However, it's incredibly uncomfortable changing into business attire while still hot and sweaty.

Tough commute, a bit nauseous. Spicy curry for dinner, then an early morning 20 mile commute don't mix apparently.

Who knew???