Run with a super bright head light or flashlight like a SureFire. Turn-about is fair play. See how long a jerk can maintain 20 mph flying blind.

Great commute today. Finished up a project at work, left early and am taking tomorrow off for a long weekend. Took the Townie3 to work today, so took the long way home this afternoon through the St. Marks Nat'l Wildlife Refuge (68,000 acres). An unthinkable route on my road bike or roady hybrid, fun on the Townie. Adds about 4-5 more miles to my commute and takes a lot longer with no pavement, but there's no cars and very rarely any other humanoids at all.

Looking east:


Looking west:

Nearly hit a Kangaroo this morning. Canberra (Oz) people will know the glenloch interchange. Just got through the really fast/busy part where you have to concentrate and hang on. Had my head up in the air taking a drink only one hand on the handlebars - long way from the brakes - this grey kangaroo jumped out! Don't know who got a bigger fright - him or me! He made it safely into the bush and I managed to get around him. You don't see that too often on your everyday commute!

Part of my commute is through a somewhat busy rural street, really dark. A car coming from the opposite direction switched from high beams to low beams as other cars passed, then put the high beams as I was passing. I made sure (s)he knows I don't appreciate that with my lights, and my finger. Then I felt bad. Next time I will just cover my eyes with my hand (I hope ), the finger may still be extending.

BTW my ride was great. At the beginning of the week I switched from clipless to platform pedals with no clips and no straps: basic. Also gave up on mirrors. I really enjoy my back to basics commute .

good commutes today, cold, dry, sane traffic!
went to bcsj (bicycle coalition of south jersey) meeting tonight, lots of politically charged events in the forefront. if not already, become active participant in our road/trail usage!

Very cold commute today .I still a had a good ride to work & home. I hope the rest of the week warm up.
Have a good nite .

A pleasant ride home, as usual. Only problem is the temperature. My ride home starts with a big downhill (well, after some climbing to get out of the parking lot), and it's so cold I sometimes (including tonight) almost wish for my head/ear warmers. But then there's some minor inclines the rest of the way home, and with the commute being only three miles, I tend to hammer on any inclines. And so I end up feeling uncomfortably hot and sweaty.

22 F this morning, but little breeze. Roads are clear but there is about 6 inches of snow on the ground. Pretty ride, despite the clouds. Might be snow coming later today.

Excellent ride today, traffic was backed up on Comm.Ave so I was able to slip between the two travel lanes with no problem. Temps were a cool 19°F but I only felt it on my face and at the very tips of my toes. I was suprised to see three cyclist at the intersection of my street...I thought I'd have the roads all to myself .

I rode in this morning with my wife on the new route. We had to be pretty aggro, but it is significantly faster and cumulatively less dicey. It was damn cold compared to the rest of the week, but the sunrise warmed my face and soul...

Was very nearly snuffed out as I crusied through a big intersection's bike lane
Some caged woman, toddler safely strapped into a seat in the back, didn't find it necessary to stop before making her right on red... of course as I looked back to give her the eye she was snarling and mouthing, certainly something nasty,... a good thing to teach children I'm sure

Otherwise a lovely ride. upper 40's this :am crystal clear blue sky and FRIDAY!!!
Hittin' the trail tomorrow and a 30+ miler on the road Sunday. Woo-Hoo!

Hope everyone has a good weekend! Be Safe! Have Fun!

Great ride in this morning despite the brisk 19 degree weather. Rolled along 25 mph+ down Boulevard, keeping pace with the law abiding traffic --- felt great seeing as how my other rides in this week have been on the slow side.

A perfect ride this morning. After three days of 70F at 7:50 AM the fog came back in for a refreshing ride to work. It took about ten minutes to get to the office. Today I heard a car honk its horn. Not at me, at soething else, but it was the first car honk I've heard this year. I seemed so loud.

For the week I was 5 of 5 for bike commutes. For the year I am now 25 for 25.

I gave a bicycle to my son for his 29th birthday. He lives in Camarillo, and works on Pt. Magu in southern California. He wanted to begin commuting. I built him a red Klein, fitted with 9 spd Ultegra double components, and then sent it out to him. He took his first commute ride home from work yesterday which is 14 miles. He said the winds were calm, his ride was good, but at mile six he got a flat. I forgot to warn him concerning "snake-bites" (pinch flats). He fixed the flat with a spare tube, and used his bike pump to re-install air and was back on his way. He did real good for his first commute ride. He said his legs are burning pretty good now!

Cheers

Great rides this week, had to drive in Yesterday as I had an Eye Dr.'s Appointment. Going to get new riding sunglasses, i'm pretty well sold on these Rudy Project Ketyum with the Racing Red and Smoke Black lenses (red for morning/winter riding) and the RX Clip on adapter. Insurance is paying for half since they are perscription, so the wife has OK'ed the purchase.

Found new route that is about 30 miles (currently doing 17...), Going to switch over to that next week after I check it out this weekend. Really loving my new mavic rims I got from nashbar, 36 hole setup, all black, with black 105 hubs, got um for a hudred bucks for the set so I'm pretty pleased :-) I was looking into some wheelsmiths before I got the nashbar flier...hopefully these will be worth what I payed for them, I know they won't be wheelsmiths...but *shrugs* they were $99!

Wulfheir, you need to get on the wagon, or something :-) Theakston was not out of line...your "SUV" attitude is really lame dude.

Theakston, thanks for your post, I hadn't thought that I could be bliding runners with my lights, I'll be sure to "look aside" when I ride by with my strobing 10 LED helmet mounted light, I'm sure it gives the few joggers I've seen on my rides fits.

Lastly, I have a POSITIVE DRIVER INTERACTION EXPERIENCE story to share. On Wednesdays I ride from my work to my wifes work so we can then drive to dinner and a meeting at our church. It's a slightly sketchy ride as it crosses more busy intersections than I usually care to have in one ride, (3 major intersections) but...due to time constraints etc. that's the way I go. I'm normally super carefull and always on the lookout for drivers not seeing me. Well, not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES! in this one ride I had drivers not only see me, but slow down, and WAVE ME OUT, or through spots. At one stop light I was going to head straight when the light turned and a driver stopped next to me was going to be making a right turn...I usually wait till right turners have done their turning because I don't expect them to see me, and their always impatient, and then I ride across in the crosswalk (this part of town is REALLY not meant for cycling in, so I take more of a pedestrian role as far as positioning goes for my own safety) anyway, this guy rolls down his window, smiles and gives a little wave and says "Are you going straight?" I say "Yea" and he says "you go ahead when the light turns, i'll wait for ya"

It was so small, but in my mind so considerate and thoughtfull of him, i just wanted to give him a hug, but instead I said "thanks" and when the light turned, took off with him ecentually blocking the line of cars behind him till I got through, one car back up the line honked as they had to wait, i was very pleased...

OK, that's all, by far the longest post i've made on here ;-)

Nearly got right-hooked this morning. Since I was taking the lane, this driver really had to work at it, gunning around me and into the adjacent lane before swinging hard across my bow. I'm sure it was worth it, though, arriving at work a good 5 or 6 seconds earlier than if she'd dropped in behind me. Sheesh.

no doubt... I'm always amazed at drivers trying to get ahead of the cyclist (heck, of other drivers for that matter)... I like to smile and wave at those that RACE to the red light... I like to think (hope) bicycle commuting has made me a more patient, cautious driver.

I was actually cut off by a cyclist the other day he was riding the sidewalk then through the intersection where I had the right of way, green turning arrow. I was inches from having to jump the curb


Love to hear of stories where cyclists get some respect... thanks for sharing

Nice, uneventful commute in.

My return to commuting (after a month's layoff) has been marred by cold temperatures and the possibility of snow, however, I'm very happy to be back on the bike. Of course my complaints are largely insignificant, the weather is about average for this time of year, it's just that while I was off the bike we had unusually nice weather that I couldn't take advantage of. I seem to be recovering quickly and, fortunately, haven't fallen off my time too badly. Things felt a little akward at first, but I quickly got back into the swing of things. I'm noticing that my appetite is returning too. This week it was 3 days, next week I hope to make it all 5.

Have a great afternoon ride home everyone.

great commute today... came in at a decent speed in the morning, hit traffic at Metzerott and University again. mostly an uneventful ride in otherwise.

light traffic on the way back, since I got out at around 12:30. I was faster than usual, keeping up a pretty good speed/cadence... and there were no headwinds on the commute back today, for the first time this week. a driver blew a stop sign in front of me at one point, luckily I had not gotten up to speed yet. took a quick detour up and down the mostly deserted Paint Branch Trail about halfway through the ride back, that was a lot of fun. really pushed myself the rest of the way, especially going up the hill on Metzerott, and made it back faster than usual. I'm really tired now but it was a great commute back!

The snow kicked my hind end. It was a lot of fun on the flat bike paths, just a little more resistance than normal, but not too bad; reasonably good traction. But on the mile-long bridge I ride, the snowplows had tossed slush from the road onto the sidewalk/bike path which made for a slippery, crusty, tough-to-pedal-through mess. Top it all off and halfway across some dude passed me like I was sitting still. My excuse is that he had thinner tires...

Summary: good exercise, great temperature, pitiful fitness level in the rider. My wife rode 4 days this week; I only did 2. Must do better!

Any New Yorker's going home soon? What's the weather like there--sounds like a blizzard is on the way or already there.

Really appreciate the threads about the lights. I sometimes fell like I'm inadvertantly blinding people with my lights but i would rather they see me. I was wondering about this as the same guy on a dark Minnesota path who was mad at me for not having lights started in on me about how bright it was once I got one. I thought he was just lacking coffee but seeing the conversation go here I don't know what to think. I think the lights are safer even at the inconvenience of some walkers and drivers.

We finally had some new snow here in Minneapolis and it was a blast going home from work, slicing my way through the fresh powder. Reminded me of the bow of a conoe through a still lake.

great! another full week car-less (going to/from anyway)! this site has been inspirational!

Five days in a row of commuting. I got out of work early
tonight. It was cold out, but still a good ride to work and home. Have a good night.

Ahhh I'm beat. The commute was wonderful. Muscles taut, legs hammering locomotive-like, nostrils flaring and sucking in that LA air (yummy ) like a hood scoop. Encountered some unexpected and unknown hills, but I welcomed the burn. Today was noticeably cooler with a pleasant breeze; major bonus. All was dandy.

Something I wanted to include.....So after reading through a hefty chunk of this thread and eyeballing all the wonderful advice and suggestions I gave Mapquest a look-see and mapped out alternate routes(a suggestion supplied somewhere in this cavernous thread), beginning at my apartment and ending at the university--I still have to work out some routes for work as well.

Since I live in Los Angeles, traveling the heavier streets can be (especially feel) ominous as you see potential hazards quite often--not to mention nearly avoiding some. Snarls, honks and buzzes, woo-wee. Now I can't speak for other cities, obviously, but it can and does evolve into hairy situations over here... Cousin IT hairy. It seems many drivers (here) are quite careless, assuming that vehicles which are not motorized do not exist. Or if it is not motorized it has no place on the road. I guess I'll grow. Yet something I learned via commuting (and cherish greatly) is that there is always room for driving improvement; especially any precautions regarding cyclists, because i darn well know (further emphasized now) that one can never be too sure. So by pedaling through the world of a commuting cyclist I've gained a greater understanding of what s/he encounters--which I respect and admire infinitely. And so I plan to take this a. posteriori understanding and apply it when I am behind the wheel, among other things. Giving that extra inch of space for senor biker? You bet your knickers! Triple checking those rear mirrors for coming cyclists when turning at a light? Consider it a habit for here on out.

Anywho back to the alternate routes, I have to say--and many thanks to all the caring and knowledgeable people out there, your opinions are edifying, truly--that working out an alternate route has been beneficial and VERY comforting Thanks again!