mtessmer

Ahhh, great ride in this morning, sunny, a little cool (35F/1.6C ). I took a route that I haven't used in over a year and it was a nice change. I think I'll do a longer lunch cruise then usual and then take the long way home after work. It's only suppose to get up to 51F/10.5C ) but with the sun shining I don't mind.

ET_SoCal

Hey everyone, it's great to read about all of your commutes...

What's with all the flats latley? (well ,except ChrisL ), I had one yesterday comming in, at least it was one block from the door...

Also what happened to Spring? Few weeks ago I was riding in shorts & a long sleeve top, now it's back to base laters & full finger winter gloves ???
(OK, so I'm complaining about 42 degree calm temperatures out here.....)

WonkerJaw

Hey everybody!
I'm more or less new to BikeForum and I already think it's great. I have been training for the MS150 ride which is from Houston, TX to Austin, TX (182 miles)… and that lead me to BikeForum and all its great info… which lead me to the commuter thread… which lead me to TODAY! Today was my first commute ever! I must say it was great. I dress for the ride home this evening which made the ride this morning a bit brisk! The weather was great 61F and not a cloud in the sky. I have to admit I was late to work because I had to backtrack three times. Some of the road signs on my ride are misleading or gone! It took me an hour to complete my ten mile ride but I can shave that down to 45 minutes easy! Why because most of the ride to work is down hill. This afternoon will be a different story. My goal is to ride three days a week. I seriously need to tune my commuter!
Thanks to all for showing me a better way.

Newbie
a.k.a. WonkerJaw

nesdog

Yeah, got a bit cooler. It's all of that fog coming in from the beach areas. I hope it clears up now that Spring Break is about here!

You are in Simi? Do you ride over Rocky Peak to the Valley or just commute locally? I'm in Agoura Hills with planned commutes to West Hills.

Sheldon

ET_SoCal

Hey nesdog...
Actually I had a bit of fog two weeks ago, last week was a bit hazy but not bad.
This week has been much clearer (in the morning) but still cooler that it's been.
Yup, I'm in Simi; commute 6 miles from the East side to the West side every day

nesdog

My daughter attended a birthday party at the ice rink a week ago. I brought the bike with me and after dropping her off, I rode out to Moorpark. Had a lot of wind that day, big pain coming back!
From time to time I ride from AH out to the Library and back

Sheldon

Kodama

Mostly overcast today and about 50F and pretty much no wind. Supposed to clear up this afternoon and remain clear throught the weekend. Hope they are right for once Anyway still tired this week, maybe I haven't adjusted to the DST switch yet.

mjw16

WonkerJaw-congrats on the decision to commute. It took me several years to decide to do it but now I love it and there's no going back. A friend of mine whose been commuting for 8 years inspired me. You'll get your route worked out and devise a system that works best for you and soon discover that it's easier and more reliable than either public transportation or driving, not to mention the health benefits. I use it as training and figure to ride a conservative 3000 miles for the 10 months that I ride out of the year. Congrats again.

ollo_ollo

It was 39F & foggy at 6AM so I rode my Motobecane Grand Touring as it had a fresh charged battery. Once the fog burned off, we had a nice sunny day. I rode back on my Bianchi & tried a different route that was longer but had 1 mile on a 2 lane road with bike lane then about 4 miles of surfaced trail. Nice to not have to watch for auto traffic & the trail was so clean my sewups weren't likely to flat. Despite the beautiful day I had the trail all to myself. I may switch to this trail tomorrow morning & find out how much traffic there is early on. On my afternoon commute there were many other cyclists out & about. Don

GreenFix

It was about 28F and gorgeous here this morning. Great ride in this morning, although my pack is a little overstuffed (I just began a new class). I am getting a new messenger bag to replace the trusty backpack. We'll see how that goes. I know it has more space, but I have never ridden with one before. I'll post again, when I get my pack.

Kodama

Nice day today, clouds gone -- blue skies ahoy! A few degrees colder than yesterday but the direct sunshine more than made up for it. Alas the wind was back and I'm still feeling sluggish, but I sure enjoyed the ride.

An interesting note -- riding home last night, even though it was fully light, blue skies and warm, I took the trail. I usually move to road routes as the weather becomes "nice" which brings people flocking to the trail. When I'm feeling especially tired I'll take the trail and just cruise, usually below the trails 15mph "speed" limit. So yesterday I'm doing just that and I was passed by a group of roller bladers in a pace line. Man these guys were fast, I was at about 14-15mph when they passed and they made good time as they went by. This seems sort of insane to me considering that I didn't consider safe to exceed 15mph and I can bring the bike to a pretty fast stop. Also they have been known to ticket fast bikers on this trail, I wonder if they treat fast bladers the same?

Zin

No commute today due to work requirements. However, our youngest and I took our new tandem out for a 16 mile spin. We rode into town to check out the new "Skate Park" the city built. Then did a loop over the river to the west side of the town, south to the next bridge and back home. Was a great Father/son experience.

Jean Beetham Smith 

Half-finger gloves!! My cold hands finally said spring was here.

ollo_ollo

38F at 6AM clear with a big, fat half moon. Rode the Grand Jubile back from lunch it was so nice out. 74F on the way home...Looking forward to a great weekend. Its supposed to be 79 or 80F Easter Sunday. Don

WonkerJaw

mjw16
Thanks so much! I really want this to be a lifestyle change for me. I’m about to buy my first home. I hope that my new location will still allow me to ride to work. There are no trains where I live so I will have to check on bus schedules for part of my commute. And maybe I’ll end up still being 10-15 miles out from work.
Be safe,
W.J.

mjw16

Cold with steady rain this morning. To compound my misery, there was a pretty persisitant wind from the east to slow me down to a 14 mph average. In addition to that my apt's hot water was out so I couldn't even take my usual shower which helps me warm/wake up (just used extra body spray when I got in). All in all I still feel really good after having ridden this morning. On the plus side, the predicted afternoon rain should keep the tourist to a minimum (they really slow me down around the Tidal Basin).

PaulH

Rainy, but cold (46.9 F / 8.3 C) enough to be comfortable. I took my daughter to the White House Easter Egg roll, so I came in late. The cherry blossoms are mostly gone now.

Pau

brennser

yes, as others have noted, its a rainy grey day here in DC - I don't normally commute on Mondays but when I heard the Red Line (Metro) was closed in the direction I wanted to go I bundled up and braved the elements

was a messy, wet ride but at least I was on my own with my thoughts instead of fighting with hundreds of other commuters to get onto emergency shuttle buses

ollo_ollo

Back to more normal Northwest weather today, cloudy with sunbreaks, 65F: only saw 3 other commuters today.

Chris L

Not even a cloud in the sky here, but I have bigger issues to deal with right now. Nursing a calf injury and a mild illness this morning, decided to ride anyway. Glad I did, it's all starting to feel better now.

ridealot

Typical commute this morning, nice ride in, cool and clear. Supposed to get some rain today. I ordered a rain suit from Performance, Hoping to ride on the real rainy days too.

LSD

Hello strangers,

Yesterday's northeasterly winds blowing 15-20 mph: Groovy on my 7 mile soutbound commute along the lakeshore. Not so groovy on the way back: It took me almost a full minute to pass a rollerblader while crossing the bridge over the diversy harbor channel...then a runner passed me while climbing a gentle slope somewhere near montrose harbor...agh. The gusts kept snuffing out my momentum like it was a birthday candle--is this really due to my new pannier bags or is it my non-lycra attire? Bonus question: should I quit pretending my mountain bike is a mountain bike and just put smooth "street" tires on it?

streetdog

LSD,
The panniers shouldn't add that much resistance as they are some what in your wind 'shadow'. You should consider switching to a thinner smoother tire it will make a difference. What gear were you in when you were having so much trouble? If you are in a lower gear and peddaling at a higher cadence you can react and recover faster to sudden wind gusts. You don't need to wear lycra but should wear trim fitting clothing, a baggy jacket really adds a lot of surface area.

The NE winds have been a bear. I commute in from Oak Park and had it the face the whole way in. Just to get the benefit of a tailwind I rode up Damen to Hollywood and jumped on the lake path. It added 7 miles of riding but was worth the extra effort, it was like getting on the south bound express train.
Mark

Kodama

Fairly pleasant weather today, mostly overcast, mild temps and little to no wind. I'm still spent from a real active weekend even after taking Monday off from riding. Also seemed to have pulled a muscle or something in my right thigh, still stiff and sore today

vrkelley

Nada. I cycle in your neck of the woods from time to time. That speed limit only applies to bikes.
Guess it's best to just enjoy the commute itself. This morning's commute was wonderful. 50F and only a little wind!