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-   -   How was the commute today? (https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/7855-how-commute-today.html)

Elvish Legion 04-18-05 03:32 PM

Despite it threating for rain it was good, I was tempted to just not ride into school (all we did was go over how tomorrow will go....STUPID STANDARIZED TEST!) It was warm, little windy, but other wise GREAT

Elvish

ollo_ollo 04-18-05 05:18 PM

39F & cloudy at 6AM today, clearing with sunshine by lunchtime. I took a detour & got some extra miles. 59F & sunny with big white clouds at 4:00PM when I got home, forecast is for a sunny week. Don

sswartzl 04-18-05 05:27 PM

Well, I've been commuting for exactly one week, and it was great until this morning; now the bike's in the shop. While heading in before dawn this morning, I got to one section of road where a parking area for a small business kind of melts right into the road (no shoulder, curb, etc.). I had not realized that I was drifting a bit to the right. Where the parking area gets to the road, there's this one small area that has some shattered asphalt, and of course I slid in it and went down. I didn't even go down very hard, and partially caught myself. It wasn't nearly as spectacular as a crash this past winter, when I went down on some ice and slid 30 feet or so. It was, however, just right to bend my rear derailleur (or perhaps the hanger; I really have not developed any great bike-mechanical knowledge yet). It still worked, but all of my rear gears were off by 1 sprocket, and I couldn't downshift all the way or the derailleur got way too close to the spokes. The LBS was a bit backed up with work, given the time of year, and I'm hoping to be back in the saddle next week. O well.

Jean Beetham Smith 04-18-05 05:30 PM

Perfect. Absolutely, 100% perfect. I live for going to work.

Rogerinchrist 04-18-05 06:45 PM

An unbelievable 50F this am! Thundershower went through about two hours before I got up, well I got up for a while anyway and lost abit of sleep. Roads were wet but no rain on me. Near 80F for the ride home! Cross wind not a problem.

spidercyclist 04-18-05 09:54 PM

Great ride today !

ahpook 04-18-05 10:56 PM

gorgeous ride home. had good commuting company (my boss), good weather, and enough time to take a VLC-worthy route home: 20 miles, 10 of which were on a nice bike path past a lake (Vasona for the locals) with lots of peds, puppies, and other cyclists but blissfully, no cars.

Ed Holland 04-19-05 03:09 AM

I was surprised by a "beep-beep" from a car on the way home last night. When I looked, it turned out to be one of the guys from the bike shop on his way home!

Cheers,

Ed

luckysnafu 04-19-05 06:17 AM

Finally able to ride to work again after getting a new rear wheel. Ride this morning was nice, mid 50s and sunny :)

I am glad to join the many here who commute to work. I just started a couple of weeks ago.

vtjim 04-19-05 06:41 AM

High 30Fs. Sunny. Too sunny. We're very dry here in Vermont. Looks like rain tomorrow though.

Supposed to be very warm (70?) this afternoon, and I might actually get a tail wind! Joy.

tulip 04-19-05 07:10 AM

Fantastic. I took a new stealth route, a not-yet-official path that runs along some railroad tracks. Took 15 minutes off my regular time--all due to avoiding stop-and-go traffic (I'm not any faster yet, so I know it wasn't due to that).

jeff-o 04-19-05 07:10 AM

On my commute home yesterday, I was surprised again that the drivers gave me lots of room. Even when I took the left turn lane, no honks. Heh, unfortunately my bike didn't trigger the advanced green, so only I had time to make my left turn before oncoming traffic came barreling down. It probably won't be often that I'm the lead vehicle in the lane, but if I find that I am for 50% or more of my rides then I may cross as a ped. Oh yeah, and the weather was a nice sunny 21 degrees, totally perfect weather with little wind.

This morning's ride was warm enough that I got a little too hot in my fleece-lined windbreaker, but I kept it on because I didn't have anywhere to put it. No trouble from cars. There's a 30% chance of showers and a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon, I hope I miss it!

cicadashell 04-19-05 07:34 AM

my vicissitudinous life has kept me from riding to work since last tuesday or so, but today i was all over that road. beautiful! the folks who predict weather for a living believe, to a man, that it will reach 80 °F here today. more degrees of fahrenheit that strictly necessary in april, perhaps, but to celebrate i won't even think about watching for ice on the road. opa!

pj7 04-19-05 07:36 AM

I didn't plan on biking in this morning but my cat kept licking my nose and waking me up... stupid cat. Since I was up at 4:00 I showered and got my bike ready. The ride was great, high 40's to low 50's on my ride in, I could feel the temp rising on my hour commute, and no wind to curse at. More traffic than what I am used to but everyone gave me plenty of room, though a few were too overcautious.
Now I'm looking forward to the ride home. I didn't want to bike in because I have to be at my second an job exactly one hour after leaving here and my commute home is one hour so today I am racing against the clock so that I won't be late. If it works out I'll start commuting more than just 3 days a week as I've been too cautious in not wanting to be late for my second job.

lala 04-19-05 07:43 AM

Lovely ride--first time out on the new to me mountain bike, as the commuter is in need of repairs. It still needs adjusting-shorter stem, better seat. 37F/3C @ 6:30 am. Hoping to avoid the t-storm this afternoon. Temps should rise to 65F/18C, with the wind hopefully at my back.

balto charlie 04-19-05 07:56 AM

Beautiful morning ride, took the extra Patapsco Park loop run. I just check my bike journal and I haven't ridden in rain since 3-28. April has been very very good to us. We are getting very dry but I ain't complaining; as March was one wet month. I'm still drying out.

billh 04-19-05 08:22 AM

Uneventful . . . for once, thank God. I've taken to saluting vehicles for making the right move on the premise that most of the people who give me trouble are intolerant right wing wackos, of which Missouri has their fair share, and who therefore would respond well to a nice crisp military salute. Like if a car is approaching head on and looks like they are going to turn in front of me, I motion violently that I am going straight through the intersection, then after they stop and let me go, I reward them with a crisp salute. 9 times out of 10 they are driving some hulking SUV with a "W" or 2004 Bush/Cheney sticker. The bastards. I also try to wear a lot of American flag T-shirts. I think I get less hassle. Hippie anarchists are less likely to run over cyclists just for the fun-of-it, so no need to wear peace-sign or marijuana leaf shirts. Doh.

SaskCyclist 04-19-05 09:04 AM

Good Commute this am. Dropped a couple of newbies and picked up 4 minues on a 28minute commute. And I was even against the wind half way. Sunny and 2C makes for a good ride. The rowing club was out on Wascana Lake this morning. 6am morning rides are definitely my fav.

Rixtory 04-19-05 09:08 AM

Nice weather again - Back up into the low 40's so I am commuting again after a 2 week hiatus. Was zipping into a tunr and hit a small pile of sand left by a street sweeper and almost bought the farm. Wobbled back and forth a few times before making it out of the sandtrap. Gorgeous day - Not a cloud in the sky and everybody that was turning waved me through lights - Very curtesous today.

bcritch 04-19-05 09:44 AM

Today was my first commute. I come off an access road which runs parrell to an interstate and shares the same exit. Hook a left in a 5 lane intersection and pretty smooth from there, lots of small hills. All drivers were considerate. Was 4.6 miles to the MARTA station (the subway in ATL). MARTA allows bikes at all hours, even rush hour, on all buses and trains. I get off at Peachtree Center, right in downtown Atlanta and ride two blocks to the garage where I leave the bike and take the elevator to the office.

gaz 04-19-05 09:51 AM

Today was my first commute as well, going from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Took the Brooklyn Bridge, then up the East River bike paths to midtown. Beautiful morning, great temperature.

My biggest problem right now is the seat pain. I have to do some research about that.

caloso 04-19-05 09:52 AM

Wind and allergens. My eyes look like they did when I was still drinking. But I'm alert and at work on time.

bcritch 04-19-05 10:03 AM

gaz - I hear you about being saddle sore! I was after an 8 mile, recreational, ride on Saturday! People say, though, that saddle soreness will wear off with more riding. I bet the NY bicycle commute would be fun!

ahpook 04-19-05 10:22 AM

Right out the gate, on a street with 2 narrow lanes in either direction and no bike lane, some lady in a big beater Bronco was honking at me and yelling. I motioned for her to go around (which other people were able to do without a problem) but she was gunning it, riding up on me and yelling. As she passed she said something like "You bike like [redacted]!!" I am ashamed to admit that I lost my cool and rode up to her window at the light, which of course she powered closed and sped off, laughing at me. GRRR. Gotta remember: "Smile and wave. Smile and wave."

The rest of the ride was great :)

caloso 04-19-05 10:28 AM


Originally Posted by ahpook
As she passed she said something like "You bike like [redacted]!!"

Nothing like a little constructive criticism of your bike handling from a cager....

Tree Trunk 04-19-05 03:26 PM

Noticing a lot of newbies out on the road -- no helmets, for the most part. I saw two this morning. And there are a lot of people out there who look to be recreational cyclists who are now commuting. There is a lot more bike traffic out there. Could it be gas prices are finally starting to put more people out on bikes?

SpiderMike 04-19-05 03:31 PM

I have people at work asking me bike questions today. And last night some one mentioned how they were going to buy a Vespa. Then my buddy mentioned I ride my bike to work. She still looked at me like I was weird.

vtjim 04-19-05 08:10 PM

I had the best commute home this afternoon. Temps were in the low-to-mid 70s and I had a modest tail wind.

The rail trail was getting a lot of use, this being the first truly warm day of the year. That's okay. I've gotten good at timing things so I can pass peds and slower cyclists with a minimum of delay, while not being an a-hole about it.

I was dropping recreational cyclists left and right when I noticed something brunette and fit-looking ahead of me on a mountain bike and moving along at roughly my speed. I caught up to her and, maintaining a respectable distance, hung out behind her for a while. The scenery wasn't bad. A-hem. :o

But then a blonde woman on a road bike turned onto the trail ahead of us and took off like she was on a mission from Lance. She was clipped in and dressed for a proper ride. I decided to pass mountain bike woman and catch road bike woman instead.

She was a worthy Mind Racing adversary and made me work to catch her. I'm not sure if she even knew I was back there because I didn't see a mirror. She did push harder from time to time and I kept up. At one point we were cruising along at around 25MPH.

Eventually we got off the trail and into a residential neighborhood and she turned where I need to go straight to get home, so the fun was over. It was my fastest commute yet. I really need to find a group of riders with whom to commute... :rolleyes:

madhouse 04-19-05 08:30 PM

My ride in this morning kicked @$$!!! I had to ride with my backup light because I forgot to charge my main light... Other than that, there was a barely mentionalble head wind, 55F and I felt like I was using someone elses legs! I saw 4 deer... twice (I made a left and they had cut diagonally across the section.)

Rogerinchrist 04-19-05 08:33 PM


Originally Posted by caloso
Wind and allergens. My eyes look like they did when I was still drinking. But I'm alert and at work on time.

I try to blame my ex for my allergies, she always had them, I didn't 'til we divorced. Now I got 'em too. *as he sneezes & rubs red eyes*
Anyway.... 55F ! this am and calm. 75F sunny and steady side wind (20mph) comin' back.


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