mtessmer

Had a great bike commute to and from work. It was 48F this morning, unheard of around these parts this time of year. I only worked a half a day today for working half a day last Saturday. Good thing, it started raining heavy this afternoon. The wind has been a little bit much this week, but hey, that's what has been bringing warm temps.

making

kinda windy on the way home. Funny how the wind blew directly into my face the whole way home. Ok, there were some breaks but my thighs are actually tired when I got home. At several points I quit pedaling and my bike just blew to a stop. Still a better commute than tommorow, I have to drive the jeep. Have to go places during work.

Big_e

The ride to work was dark as usual. the weather is just right, not too cold or hot. It was dark and rainy in the afternoon but by the time I rode home, it was sunny again. This week I'm riding my Next street cruiser.
Ernest

HardyWeinberg

Warm going home. Probably 45F. Stuffed my coat in the pannier, single-glove and sock-ed it rather than doubling up.

BA Commuter

It was cold this morning, but it was a sunny 45' on the way home and the best part: it's not dark when I get home!

I'm patiently waiting for real spring temps!

caloso

Chilly. 39F but beautiful blue skies and hardly a whisper of wind. Looks like the breeze has picked up for the afternoon ride home.

HeyitsDave

My commute was perfect! Nice weather. Got to work on time and safe. Way more enjoyable than by auto.

MIKEnDC

A bit strange this morning. Out of sync, I was runnning about 10-15 minutes later than usual, and when I pulled out onto the main drag, the cars were a bit more numerous, and seemed a bit more malevolent than usual--probably just me, but what the heck--so I peeled off onto my alternate route which is more direct but slower.

This variant takes me through an intersection which actually crosses US 1 in College Park rather than under it as my usual way does. The route is slower because I almost always catch that light. This morning there was a car already there which had tripped the sensor so by punping it a little I was able to ride right through. It is a slight jog to the left (though it may look straight on a map), and then down a steep, short hill and over an old one-lane bridge (when I'm feeling sporty I can easily catch a little air there ). It then runs through a flat park area (ball fields and the old equestrian ring which hasn't seen any hooves in it in years). Normally this is a quiet stretch where if I see anything, it's a cop hangin' out, or (more often) deer, racoons or foxes looking surprised at me.

This morning, however, as I was rolling along I heard a loud commmand on my left. Looking over, I saw a squad of black guys, wearing black (and this is in pre-dawn dark, remember), and responding in unison, "Something-or-other, something-or-other , Sir!"

I have no idea what they were about--could've been anything from a militant terrorist cell to a U of MD ROTC group getting harangued after some early AM PT on the nearby MUP. Sure surprised me, though. In hundreds of trips that way I'd never seen that before.

fletchh

It was an uneventful ride this morning, other than 20 F (-6 C). I was in full winter dress, even though it did not feel like a wintry 20 degrees. It is still dark, and should be lightening up in a couple weeks.

FredOak

Needed to drive today as I have to take daughter to Dentist...so what happens...I get hit...TWICE!!

Both at red lights, first guy was doing something in the seat next to him, I saw it coming and had no where to bail, he pops up at last minute and screeches to just tap me.

2 minutes later I'm at a red light and a freaking taxi hits me from behind (didn't see this one coming), he hit me pretty good, no damage, some old guy with a 3 people as fares. I see they are flipping out. Old guy gets out, I just tell him, no damage just pay attention out there!

I know, I know, should have gotten info, police report, etc,etc. At that point I wasn't pressing my luck anymore and just wanted to get to the safety of my office.

Taking the bike the rest of the week!!!

neilfein

I meant to catch an early train today, to get in an hour ahead of my normal time to get ahead on some work. I just had a new tire put on, brakes tightened, and a new chain installed at the shop.

The bike feels a little rough as ride away from the house, and several blocks later the chain breaks and falls onto the street. I pull over and start looking for it, and see it on the street. As I'm walking towards it, a car pulls up to a red light and stops right on top of it.

It's 6am, it's dark, and there's nobody else around. I walk over and try to wave the car back. The driver is having none of this; she looks confused and ignores me. I walk around to her window, meaning to explain. She won't roll down the window, and looks steadfastly ahead of her, looking scared. With a start, I realize she thinks I'm trying to carjack her or rob her or something. I back off, amused but sad.

When the light turns, she pulls off I retrieve the chain and walk home the few blocks. I hope she looked in her rear-view mirror and saw I was simply retrieving something off the street.

I'm wondering how many would-be carjackers or muggers wear multiple blinkies, helmet lights, and bright yellow safety jackets.

tarwheel 

There's a good chance of rain this afternoon but I rode anyway. Nice ride into work despite the stiff NE wind. Hopefully the rain will hold off until tonight or just be light sprinkles. I don't want to get caught in any more downpours after catching a cold following two very cold, wet rides a couple of weeks ago.

jpdesjar

the tailwind pushed me along on the ride home yesterday which is always nice...the commute this morning was sunny and still windy but more mellow...it's nice to not have to wear long underwear these days

Aeneas

On the ride home yesterday, I had issues with my seat moving on the post, tilting back. I had to stop 3 times to readjust, but since i had left with earlier than usual, I had enough sunlight to stop, make adjustments and move on.
This morning's ride felt great! After the windy ride in yesterday, the long straight, slightly uphill stretch that usually has an unpleasant headwind, but was a real bear yesterday, basically flew by. The endorphins have me feeling pretty good this morning... time to be productive.

Dafne

Hello everybody!!

I am a brand new rider who, after having a bad experience with a second-hand bike, has decided to give it another try and get a new bike.

My budget is the following: £ 250/300

Use: I basically need the bike to commute, so I'll be using it on roads. However, there are quite a few hills in and around Brighton, for this reason I ended up by considering an Hybrid bike.

Basically I am pondering pros and cons of the following bikes:

- Specialized Sirrus 09
- Specialized Centrum Elite 08

Any piece of advice is more than welcome!!
So, please feel free to let me know which one you would get and why or suggest other options, if you have any.

Thanks a lot! Cheers!

Riccardo

HardyWeinberg

42F, sprinkly

bhop

Was going pretty good until some guy decided I wasn't making it to the red light ahead fast enough, honks a long honk and peels out around me extra close. It scared the crap outta me since I wasn't expecting it. I had my camera strapped on and snapped a pic of his car, but no plate (new cars in cali have no plates till they come in the mail) so as I was riding by (since he was stopped behind some other cars) I snapped a pic of him. Mostly just an instinct.. or so I can remember him. After the light turns green, he pulls up next to me "Why'd you take my picture bro?" "Because you tried to run me off the road" he says something else indecipherable and peels out... the rest of the ride was pretty good. I think that's the first honk i've had since last year though, so that's not too bad I guess.

daredevil

Couldn't use the helmet light today, snow was too heavy.

Heather H

Looks like I'm going to wimp out and bus home tonight. Storm coming our way with 2.8" hail, don't want to get caught in that on the way home!

buzzman

welcome to the world of bike commuting! This thread is for people to post what kind of day they had commuting by bike. I'm not sure you'll get too many responses to your question in this thread. You are, however, in the right forum- the commuter forum. You might want to repost your question as a separate thread or in the "sticky thread" titled "Advice for New Commuters". ( both of those bikes sound pretty good to me but hopefully someone will have more first hand experience with them than I).

My ride was quick and fun on the road in today and I had to travel around to a few different locations during the day so got a few extra miles in and then had a nice bike path ride home in the dark.

MIKEnDC

Awfully nice ride this morning: 40F/4C and about the lightest showers one can imagine for part of the way. As out of sync as I was yesterday, all was harmonious today--it just felt absolutely tip-top!

bkrownd

I learned a new trick that the kids play around here tonight. The typical mini-monster trucks people drive around here have oversized knobby tires that stick out about a foot on each side of the truck. Since they're way outside of the wheel-wells they spray water everywhere when it's wet. This juvenile delinquent in his jacked up toyota swerves up behind me in the bike lane laying on his horn for a while so I know he p0wnz me and all that. Then he does a slow pass about a foot on my left so his big tires have plenty of time to spray me real good with water before he takes off. These guys are so creative! Dang, wish I was that smart...

FredOak

50*F..whahoo...roads were wet from rain last nigh but no rain coming in, but I'm suppose to get soaked going home but temp should stay up there, in which case rain won't bother me.

mjw16

Not bad, low's 50's and light rain, the kind of rain I don't mind too much. At least it wasn't the soaking or pouring rain that may affect my ride home. I kind of like watching the rain bounce into my headlight while I stay relatively dry. In addition, legs felt good and I found the right gear for the majority of the ride. Rear brake kept coming apart on yesterday's ride home, but I think I fixed that. Also, leaving early today, the little fella gets his 1 year checkup today, definitely want to be there for that.

Pig_Chaser

I was off the bike for just over a week due to come kinda cold. I'm actually still recovering but enough is enough. I swapped saddles on my bikes, and oh what a difference that made! The legs actually felt really good for that amount of time off.