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How was the commute today?

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How was the commute today?

Old 04-14-09 | 09:37 AM
  #30951  
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drummingpariah - what was your tire doing?
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Old 04-14-09 | 10:08 AM
  #30952  
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38F and grey. Drier than yesterday but less sunny. Patches of downpour going home last night! My 7 yr old just matter of factly dried his seat off last night and hopped on to go home, previously he's been wailing if I ever let him see evidence that his seat has ever not been perfectly dry.
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Old 04-14-09 | 11:30 AM
  #30953  
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I pulled up next to another bike commuter this morning - the first other one I've seen since moving. I said to her, "I don't see many cyclists this early." The light turned, and she mumbled "Gotta get to work."

Bicycle commuters sure are an unfriendly bunch...
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Old 04-14-09 | 11:33 AM
  #30954  
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no, just a typical woman avoiding a typical man
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Old 04-14-09 | 11:46 AM
  #30955  
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From: NRH, TX

Bikes: Leader 717R

Beautiful out there this morning. Got a late start but it was wonderful. Light 7 mph tailwind and a sunny 58. I was enjoying it so much I locked up my brakes twice. Once a car was pulling out in front of me from the left (but to their credit, they came to a complete stop well in time). I should have been watching. The second time was all my fault. I'm drilling it up a hill, head down. Almost didn't see the garbage truck in front of me until too late.
Ahhh, it was a good ride.
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Old 04-14-09 | 12:25 PM
  #30956  
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From: Berkeley, CA
Originally Posted by rumrunn6
drummingpariah - what was your tire doing?
It's the Formula single-speed freewheel hub, actually. It's "springy" for lack of a better word. It seemed like it was pedaling forward fine (I only went to the end of my driveway), but pedaling backwards "springs" and bounces back into forward motion. Didn't seem like a good idea to keep riding until I could take a proper look at it, I'm hoping it's something simple though. Any ideas?
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Old 04-14-09 | 08:39 PM
  #30957  
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From: Becket, MA
a fine commute in this morning but a totally weird ride home.

In my years of riding along the Charles River I've spotted two bodies in the river, pulled a guy out who'd jumped from a railroad bridge (attempted suicide) and broken his leg and found a woman lying unconscious across the path still clipped into the pedals on her brand new bike.

Tonight, it was late- 10pm or so, and as I come around a corner and am about to cross a road that intersects with a bridge I see a disheveled man in a white shirt, torn open, bloody and looking like he's about to jump. I stop and get him talking, he's drunk and crying and incoherent. Then he wanders into the road and stands there looking like he's about to get hit. I finally get him out of the road and talking to me. I lure him away from the bridge by promising to help him look for the cell phone, keys and wallet, which he says he has tossed away in a nearby parking lot. What I really wanted to do was call the cops but I didn't want him to freak if I did and jump in the river.

We go together to get his phone and we find it in pieces but on the way I get him to give me a number to call to get someone to come pick him up. I call it and no one answers but then he tells me it was his girlfriend's # and she has a restraining order out on him!

That did it. I got him looking around the building for his phone and I took off like a shot and called the cops. But, whew, it was creepy and scary. Hopefully, the upside of this is that I might have kept someone from doing themselves in but I hope this guy hadn't just done something horrible. This creeped me out.
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Old 04-14-09 | 09:41 PM
  #30958  
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Weather was great. Had a funny incident when I picked my daughter up from daycare. As I was getting my daughter's helmet on her, a little boy leaving asked "You going to ride that bike?" Upon responding yes, the kid looked at his dad, pointed at me, and said "Why can't..." The kid's dad, shut the door and glared at me.
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Old 04-15-09 | 05:47 AM
  #30959  
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Great ride in. Quiet and dark as usual. I rode my Columbia Tourist today. Stopped at the donut shop for my sausage rolls.
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Old 04-15-09 | 06:15 AM
  #30960  
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From: Columbia, Maryland

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

A light, but steady rain, then harder as I got into my ride. I had to take my riding glasses off to see in the dark. The temp was 40 F ( 4 C) so that was not bad. Everything got wet, but nothing got cold. The bottom of my paniers are getting wet and transferring the wetness to my clothes. I'll have to find a water repellent spray of some sort. Hopefully, one that does not emit toxins everywhere.
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Old 04-15-09 | 06:49 AM
  #30961  
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From: south Puget Sound
gorgeous warm (50F!) sunny ride home last night. Current bike parking is on the back deck, noticed a rear wheel flat while glancing out the window. Slow leak apparently.
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Old 04-15-09 | 06:52 AM
  #30962  
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Originally Posted by buzzman
a fine commute in this morning but a totally weird ride home.


That's some crazy stuff, but very cool of you to handle it. Maybe one day the guy's life will be straightened out and he'll think about that guy on the bicycle who helped him out.

My commute was far less interesting. Low 30sF. No wind. Another sunny morning. I was cruising along at a reasonable pace. Passed one guy on an MTB. Saw a couple of riders going the other way. That's about it.
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Old 04-15-09 | 07:10 AM
  #30963  
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fletchh: pack your stuff in plastic bags, either large ziplock or grocery bags-problem solved.

Commute wasn't bad, I've recently been more consicouse of upping my calories and it's paying off, I had decent energy today. The temp was near 50 and the light drizzle is, actually, kinda nice. It's like a moisturizing facial (or something) on the way in, my skin feels nice and smooooth. It feels good to breath too. Didn't see another cyclist, only a couple of joggers. Hopefully we're getting to the tail end of all this rain.
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Old 04-15-09 | 07:29 AM
  #30964  
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From: Antioch, IL

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Nice day today temps mid 40f, tail wind and overcast. Forcast is for sun later. Finally, a break from two days of rain. (Wimped out, 20-30 headwinds, 35f, and rain no longer seems fun).

Downtown Mndelein, I ride in the middle of right lane, in the 100 yards or so before lane ends. Traffic is heavy and some jerk in a beater gets right behind me and lays on the horn. He's trying to pass a couple of cars on their right. Jerk. Otherwise, nice pleasant ride.
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Old 04-15-09 | 07:39 AM
  #30965  
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bright and sunny
no wind

my legs were a little tired because i put in some extra miles last night...i always feel faster at night
i am thinking about putting my brake back on soon, just need to adjust them and lube the pivot points a bit...want to save the knees
 
Old 04-15-09 | 07:54 AM
  #30966  
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Rainy and the trains were all late. I talked to a woman who had a singlespeed Strida. My seatpost started slipping at the end of the commute.
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Old 04-15-09 | 08:03 AM
  #30967  
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Originally Posted by neilfein
Rainy and the trains were all late. I talked to a woman who had a singlespeed Strida. My seatpost started slipping at the end of the commute.
those stridas are neat
i hate sliding posts...tighten that thing up good
 
Old 04-15-09 | 08:11 AM
  #30968  
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Morning commute was a tad brisk at -7C, but really nice. I was just about to enter my data from the ride only to find that all the data that is resettable, was reset. Which is very odd, must've been a power glitch because that's like a 4 step process to reset EVERYTHING.
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Old 04-15-09 | 09:02 AM
  #30969  
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Plus 4 C this morning and no wind. Kept ending ahead of a fairly new BMW M3 by filtering down side streets rather then sticking to the main roads then meeting up at a red light. Boy did he take it personal and just about drove into the back of a city bus after blasting away when the light turned green. I know we should aviod this personality type but it can be fun sometimes.
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Old 04-15-09 | 09:10 AM
  #30970  
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From: Snohomish, WA

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Thick fog and 37F as I took off this morning. A little hairy for the first few miles, hopeing the cars would notice my obnoxious lights, till the sun poked up and brightened things up. I got absolutely DUSTED by a fellow bike commuter about half way through. Man, some day I dream about being able to maintain a pace like that! All in all a great ride, and the weather should be glorious for the ride home.
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Old 04-15-09 | 09:30 AM
  #30971  
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It was cool yesterday, I wore jeans. Seemed a little cooler this morning so I put on jeans. By the time I started riding it had warmed up probably 5-10 degrees and by the time I got to work I was a sweaty mess. Bleh.
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Old 04-15-09 | 09:38 AM
  #30972  
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From: south Puget Sound
Gorgeous sunny morning. 42F (up 12F from when I got the paper!)
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Old 04-15-09 | 01:30 PM
  #30973  
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Nice ride in this morning 60ish and sunny. Should be a good ride home too, but it's supposed to rain tomorrow and Friday, so I may be bussing instead of riding
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Old 04-15-09 | 01:36 PM
  #30974  
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Bikes: 2009 Randonee, 2014 Bike Friday NWT

Unbelievably gorgeous day to ride. Loving my new Randonee, but haven't quite hit on the right arrangement of bags and/or panniers. My commute is ride-->subway-->ride. As I put on my helmet to leave the subway a guy told me, "I love a woman in uniform!"

Then he asked me if I worked for a courier service. That pleased me: I must look like I belong on the bike (instead of in the loony bin, which is what I think I look like).

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Old 04-15-09 | 01:51 PM
  #30975  
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Another brutal NW wind.
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