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How was the commute today?

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How was the commute today?

Old 02-08-06 | 08:04 AM
  #11676  
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From: Marlborough, MA

Bikes: Felt F85 (2007), Fuji Regis (1980's)

Pretty cold ride in this morning, mid 20's. Probably the coldest commute for me so far this winter. I dropped my waterbottle at one point since it slipped out of my gloved hand. Luckily it bounced to the side of the road and I was able to stop and get it. Other than that I took it easy and just enjoyed the morning.
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Old 02-08-06 | 08:16 AM
  #11677  
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From: Beantown

Bikes: 2011 Tsunami, 2004 Fuji Team Issue and More!!!

Great Ride this morning, clear, cold (24F-Relatively speaking) and fast! I Made great time today, heck I wished I had another mile or two to go. The Security Guard at the Main Lobby told me "I had the best car of all because it keeps me in shape" That guy rocks!!! . Got the usual gocking at my shoe covers on the elevator, but instead of sparking the usual "It's cold outside" conversation, the guy asked me what they were. I proceeded to clue him in .
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Old 02-08-06 | 08:41 AM
  #11678  
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From: Madison WI

Bikes: Kona Dew Deluxe 559 conversion

Cold ride in today ~15F with a 15mph northerly headwind for most of the 19 mile commute on my stokemonkey converted bike. Not my favorite weather, but it beats the car.
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Old 02-08-06 | 08:56 AM
  #11679  
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From: In the 212

Bikes: Haro Vector, IRO Rob Roy, Bianchi Veloce

Fast ride in, but seemed to take forever. Must be cuz my legs are still tired. Took about a minute less than I usually do so I felt good about that. I'll have a nice long weekend and I won't have my bike w/ me so I'll be able to rest my legs up, but I'm already dreading that much time off my ride.

Had a co-worker pass me in the hallway and smugly say, "Didn't ride in today, huh?" I told him I rode in and later showed him my helmet as proof. Then I called him a big wuss cuz he thinks it's cold out. It's only 31F out so why would he think that's cold? Some people just don't understand that you can stay out all day in that weather if you're dressed properly and working up a sweat.
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Old 02-08-06 | 09:58 AM
  #11680  
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From: Colorado Springs, CO

Bikes: Cannondale t-700 [commuter], Cannondale MT-800 [Tandem so the Lil Misses can keep up], GT I drive Team [My tricked out Racer MTB]

Great ride in... 29F and clear as a bell. Another one of those beautiful Colorado days is in the works. Riding your bike keeps you in touch with the outdoors, and with the world in general. I love riding my bike.

Last night I told my girlfriend that I love her more than I love my bike. She took that as a great compliment.
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Old 02-08-06 | 10:14 AM
  #11681  
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Hot! At 7:48 AM when I left home it was 70F. A bit of a head wind for the ride and it took around 10 minutes to get to the office.
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Old 02-08-06 | 10:53 AM
  #11682  
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From: San Diego, CA

Bikes: '06 Cervelo R3, '05 Specialized Allez

Choosing not to commute today. Need to look nice today, cycling shoes still stuck at work (from the fire alarm incident yesterday), and tired since I stayed up until 2:30 talking with a friend who really needed to talk. Individually, not problems, but decided to just take a day off from cycling.
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Old 02-08-06 | 11:46 AM
  #11683  
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From: Beantown

Bikes: 2011 Tsunami, 2004 Fuji Team Issue and More!!!

Originally Posted by jschen
Individually, not problems, but decided to just take a day off from cycling.
We won't hold it against you, just don't let it happen again
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Old 02-08-06 | 11:55 AM
  #11684  
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From: minneapolis

Bikes: fat, long, single & fast

Lovely ride in this morning. Man, these temps aren't so bad if you can postpone departure until sunrise. It was my coldest bike commute yet, in the low teens. My wife's been riding all week, so I felt like quite the loser for driving mon & tues...
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Old 02-08-06 | 01:22 PM
  #11685  
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From: Sacramento, California, USA

Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur

I didn't commute this morning either. I got out at 5:45 for a great dawn workout ride and instead of cycling, I hitched a ride in the minivan with Mrs. Caloso and the Wonder Twins. She takes them to daycare on way to work and they go by my office so it was nice to spend an extra 20 minutes with them all.
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Old 02-08-06 | 01:59 PM
  #11686  
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From: Albuquerque, NM

Bikes: 1992 Trek 3 tube carbon 2200

Great ride in today (again) whole week has been pleasant so far. I've decided to do the BicycleTourColorado this year, so i'm going to alter my route soon to ride further. I want to work up to 40 miles a day (doing 17 right now) with longer rides on the weekends. I'm also enjoying my winter gear that my wife bought me for Christmas still, new neoprene velcro booties, a neoprene under helmet hat (highly recomend) it's toasty, pearl izumi AmFIB Tights, and a new nike fleace pullover to wear under my shell, it really is true that there is no bad weather, just bad clothes, i feel invencible! :-)

side note, saw some car pull off the road into a parking lot (cyclist was riding on the sidewalk because there is NO room on the road there, and one would be insane to ride on the road there) lady had to slow down so cyclist could get out of the way (rider was an older woman moving slowly) and when she had to slow she blasted her horn at the lady and yelled! Rider was so startled she looked back, loosing her balance and crashed. I was driving out of the parking lot and saw it all happen, i rolled down my window and honking flipped off the lady in the car and was tempted to do a U turn and go chew her out and tell her a thing or two about respecting cyclists as well as her elders...but thought better of it.
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Old 02-08-06 | 02:11 PM
  #11687  
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From: Beantown

Bikes: 2011 Tsunami, 2004 Fuji Team Issue and More!!!

Originally Posted by NM-NewRoadie
I've decided to do the BicycleTourColorado this year, so i'm
UGH!!! I'm sooo jealous!!! I wanted to do that this year, but wifey and I couldn't see eye to eye on the cost ($2500~$3000 I estimated). Trying to be a fair husband sucks .

Last edited by FormerBMX'er; 02-08-06 at 02:42 PM.
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Old 02-08-06 | 02:20 PM
  #11688  
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From: Cowtown, AB

Bikes: Titus El Guapo, Misfit diSSent, Cervelo Soloist Carbon, Wabi Lightning, et al.

Pretty good compared to last night. I don't need my light at all in the morning now, unless I'm heading in to work early.
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Old 02-08-06 | 04:14 PM
  #11689  
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From: Colorado Springs, CO

Bikes: Cannondale t-700 [commuter], Cannondale MT-800 [Tandem so the Lil Misses can keep up], GT I drive Team [My tricked out Racer MTB]

Originally Posted by NM-NewRoadie
I've decided to do the BicycleTourColorado this year...
Are you talking about the Ride The Rockies tour in June? My employer is a Major sponsor of that one and I may be able to get a free ride... I'm hopeful anyways. I think riding a few miles to work every day is more than enough conditioning, it's only 20,000 feet of climbing
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Old 02-08-06 | 06:03 PM
  #11690  
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Bikes: 1998 Specialized Hardrock Classic, 1999 Gary Fisher Marlin, Surly Karate Monkey

Got another one hooked. Met this guy who was just starting to bicycle to work for the first time. He asked me if the station was safe to be parked at. I said, sure! Been bike commuting for almost 10 years, ain't ever gonna quit. Just make sure you have a kryptonite U lock and a long steel cable to wrap around the back wheel, through the front, and then into the lock, and you'll be secure. Lost 2 sets of wheels when I didn't bother to lock em up back then. That was 400 bucks I paid for them in Boston, and I went looking around the campus for the joker to bumrush the F#$K with my hammer. That was back in my bad bad temper days. Anyone notice how cycling really takes the stress and the edge off of you?

Anyway, the guy is hooked. Hehehehe. One less g0dd@m Car!

So! Anyone else spreadin the love? =D
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Old 02-08-06 | 06:04 PM
  #11691  
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From: south jersey
nice! rides to/from work today were great, no real compaints or issues, just glad i did it (still wonder why others here don't)!
to ischen:
i miss using clipless also. for me, moving between bikes this winter (mb, commutor, and tourer) i am riding w/ just peddles (no straps, cleats, clips). it still gets me at stop lights to uplift right foot to get ready to go when lite changed or the placement of feet when riding (like you listed). it's all good for me, peddles make a difference to shoes used; i still prefer clipless !!
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Old 02-08-06 | 07:17 PM
  #11692  
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From: Boring, Oregon (near Portland)

Bikes: Trek 7000 Multitrack

Don't paint us old farts with too broad a brush. I'm 63 and bike 16 miles one way to work and back every day, rain or shine, cold or not, and we all face ungracious drivers young and old. Even pedestrians can be rude. Riding on a trail early one morning last week, I encountered a thirtyish couple, the male member of which yelled, "Why don't you shine that ****ing light somewhere else instead of in my eyes?" I replied, "Where, off the road?" By that time I was passing them, he was still shouting obscenities, and I opened my mouth to yell something equally crude, but changed my mind and called, "God bless you, Sir!" over my shoulder. He was still swearing in the distance as I went on down the trail.
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Old 02-08-06 | 09:52 PM
  #11693  
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From: In the 212

Bikes: Haro Vector, IRO Rob Roy, Bianchi Veloce

Commute home was about normal. But enough about that. Forthwith is a chronology of my night. It's not worth starting a new thread so I'll just vent here. Feel free to skip to the next post.

5:25-5:40 PM: Lucked out and found a parking spot that's good all day tomorrow. Lucky me, I get to go look for another spot tomorrow night for Friday.

5:50-6:10 PM: Pick up my new mtb fork and Kool Stop Salmon brake pads. I talk w/ a guy looking to buy a new mtb. He's eyeing a hardtail to replace his FS. I tell him I'm going from a hardtail back to a rigid mtb. Afterwards, I pick up beef & mushrooms in oyster sauce for dinner.

6:15-6:40 PM: Eat dinner and watch TV.

6:40-6:53 PM: Start taking my handlebars and old fork off. Dry fit my new fork and realize the existing headset won't fit. I have 7 minutes to make it to the LBS to get a replacement. I grab the new fork and run to the bike shop. I get there with 1 minute to spare. I then wait 10 mins. while the guy closes out the register before getting the headset.

7:15-10:15 PM: Install the new fork, re-attach the fenders, replaced the brake pads and re-attach the brakes, futz w/ the headset, re-attach the stem and handlebars, adjust the front brakes, replace the rear pads, notice the rear brake spring tension screw is stripped, futz w/ that, give up, bend the spring tension lever to compensate, clean my hands, put the tools away and collapse on the couch.

I hate working on my bike in the hallway.
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Old 02-08-06 | 11:57 PM
  #11694  
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Cold.
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Old 02-09-06 | 05:45 AM
  #11695  
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From: Michigan

Bikes: Windsor Fens, Giant Seek 0 (2014, Alfine 8 + discs)

Cold. -1*F at mid-ride. I guess I need to figure out something for my toes. I do have some neoprene booties I could try out. Right now I'm just wearing one pair of wool socks inside of some Shimano mountain shoes. I'm fine in that most of the time but when it gets down to below zero, I need to do some toe wiggling to keep the blood flowing.

My fingers are very cold for the first 5 minutes but once I crank up the first hill, the blood drops into my fingers and they warm right up. Doesn't work for the toes for whatever reason.
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Old 02-09-06 | 06:43 AM
  #11696  
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Chilly, not the same riding in a winter coat. 10 degrees this morning but at least it was not snowing. Forcasted for the ride home. Wife called me nuts this morning. would not have missed it though, good ride.
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Old 02-09-06 | 06:52 AM
  #11697  
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From: Somewhere in time
A balmy 34F sleet and some dufus almost ran me over. I still wouldn't trade it for sitting in a car.
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Old 02-09-06 | 07:28 AM
  #11698  
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I forgot to add my computer somehow reset itself to metric so I spent half the ride trying to do math while riding, a bad combination.
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Old 02-09-06 | 07:48 AM
  #11699  
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From: UMASS, Amherst/ Swick, MA

Bikes: 07 Specialized Langster Comp,06 Kona King Zing, 06 Specialized Rockhopper Pro Disc; 03 LOOK KG461;(destroyed by suv); 85 Panasonic Team America; 73 Peugeot U0-8; 94 Balance Super B BMX; 04 Diamondback Outlook MTB, Diamondback DBR DH

Originally Posted by spidercyclist
Cold.
ditto
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Old 02-09-06 | 08:04 AM
  #11700  
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From: Marlborough, MA

Bikes: Felt F85 (2007), Fuji Regis (1980's)

Not as cold this morning and I made pretty good time. Nothing exciting happened but I did leave early and beat everybody else to work.
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