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Another day, another trip in.
Didnt eat well this morning prior to riding in so just didnt have the strength to push it as hard as I did yesterday :( Time: 54mins. :( And felt knackered just had no strength or stamina. Pedals felt like lead, but I was determined not to change down for the hills (stayed in 21st gear [no idea what ratio as not counted the teeth yet :D] for the 11miles in) just got out of my seat and pumped up there, but by the time I crested the last hill my legs were wobbly and couldnt support my weight when standing up anymore :| So just cruised on in then still in 21st but slowed it down to recover a bit. Gonna get some food down me during work now and hopefully get into a state that I can deal with the 1.5 mile stretches of climbs on the way home as at the moment I just feel drained. Weather is nice but not blazing hot, its no longer a dry heat but a wet muggy heat so I feel constantly sticky and ming. Hopefully will improve for the trip back home :) |
I taught an Effective Cycling (Bike Ed) class yesterday. Had trouble shifting in the rear all the way there. Stopped 3 times to adjust the barrel adjuster at the rear derailleur -- 1/4 turn CW, then 1/4 CCW, :eek:.
While demonstrating how the derailleurs work and explaining gearing and when to shift, the cable snapped at the shifter. Holy crap!! Naturally I didn't have a derailleur cable in my panniers (who does??) so got to do the road riding part of the class riding my beloved commuter as a single speed. Actually I had 3 speeds but found that the 52x12 and 42x12 made pulling away from a stop sign somewhat difficult -- and forget climbing. So did the entire ride in the 30x12 gear. Talk about some serious cross-chaining! :eek: After the class I headed over to the bike shop. All Mike had was a Dura-Ace cable. I guess the new cable is now the best component on my commuter. ;) That's two tough lessons I've learned this week. 1. Check for tire wear every few months or 500 miles. 2. When the shifting gets weird it's time to replace the cables. Seems life keeps me too busy to do the things I know I should do to the bike. :o |
It is perfect outside right now. I almost kept riding past work. *sigh*
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Got my errands done before it became too hot. Hollered at a dumb......as he passed me with an inch and a half to spare while laying on his horn. He came to a stop and slurred something about kicking my a$$ for riding a bike on the road, then squealed his tires in an act of redneck bravado. I've got to work on my temper when I have to deal with such idiots, although I did not really cuss at him, just yelled out "HEY, What the HELL?"
Other than that fool, I had a fine ride, and am glad I run across early hominids driving cars only once in a great while. Damn, I'm still angry at him (really just at myself for being upset by such), time to get something to drink and enjoy the A.C. --A |
What a great ride in this morning! Very few cagers to deal with, it being a holiday (sort of). Made up for the fact that I have to be at work today.
Anybody else have to/get to commute in today? |
I made my first workday commute by bike today.
I started out at 7am and the 18 miles took me 90 minutes. It is seriously hot, but it's much nicer on a bike that in my knackered old car with no air conditioning. I saw quite a few fellow commuters, all of who said hello. I can't wait for the ride home. |
Hazy, hot and humid ride in this morning. Left late and took it easy since it is Monday and I was tired. Saw a couple of other cyclists out and a guy who was walking gave me a wave. Not much traffic out which was nice since lots of people took off for the holiday tomorrow (not me, I will be here). I am determined to ride at least 200-250 miles this month since I didn't even hit 150 last month. Gonna be a nasty ride home, temps in the mid 90s will feel like the low 100s
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Perfect again... still wanted to just keep riding... *sigh*
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Originally Posted by cooperwx
What a great ride in this morning! Anybody else have to/get to commute in today?
Off tomorrow, gonna ride the road rig for some 30 or so miles...
Originally Posted by mhifoe
I made my first workday commute by bike today.... I can't wait for the ride home.
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aww man - I rode thru a wad of hot, melted chewing gum... it's all over my tires, under the fork, brake bridge... :mad:
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Originally Posted by * jack *
aww man - I rode thru a wad of hot, melted chewing gum... it's all over my tires, under the fork, brake bridge... :mad:
but seriously, I hate that too. Grooooss! :( |
Great ride both ways, I hope tomorrow is as nice. Just wish I had put on sunscreen for the Vacaville Gran Prix. Bad burns.
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I have finally done it. I sold my house and moved closer to work 7 Kilometers one way now instead of the 64 kilometers one way and have started commuting. It might have cost me 1/4 of a million dollars but it feels damn fine riding to work. Although in the four days so far it has rained on all except one way this afternoon. However I was prepared after reading this website and have not gotten seriously wet or cold yet.Although I did work overtime yesterday and the light situation was a bit tricky by the time I got home.I need to always carry a small light as an emergency light for overtime situations. I hope to go car lite so that I use the bike for the overwhelming majority of all my journeys in town.My goal is to ride to work every day unless I am sick with something (one thing I know I will not get sick of and that is riding)
I have purchased a second hand GT from the LBS and intend to make it my main commute.Mountain bike with slicks and rack for panniers with mudguards(I will post pic when setup). It will give me a bike to ride to the shops too, as if it gets pinched it will not be as painfull as having one of my good bikes pinched. Thanks for the inspiration guys and happy commuting. |
What a GREAT morning for a ride. Temps in the upper 70s and the sun rising was beautiful. Hardly any traffic out which was so nice, had the whole road to myself most of the time :) Saw an older fellow riding a bike along the sidewalk on my way in. I am one of the few working today in the area based on the minimal amount of people out this morning. It's nice to have the whole office to myself to get some stuff done though. Gonna be a nice hot ride home again, temps in the mid 90s this afternoon.
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Not as warm as last week, but still very nice. I even made it to work early...
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Warm and humid this morning, with water on the roads from last night's rain. Not enough water to spray up and get me wet, but just enough to reduce the road friction and get me to work just a little bit faster than usual. Nice.
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July fourth-- independence day here in the states-- lots of people off work--not much traffic, though. a few more peds than usual. passed a homeless guy with a full shopping cart who was talking to someone I couldn't see. cloudy and humid today (for AZ, that is)... took it easy... good ride in. pretty uneventful. but that's a good thing.
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Well the traffic is back this morning for sure. Had to wait at a stop sign about a minute to turn onto another street since there was so much traffic. Still hot and muggy as can be here, it was 78 degrees with 77% humidity when I left my apartment this morning. Yesterday morning I got caught in some sprinklers on the golf course but it was nice to get some spray and cool down. Might get some storms this afternoon or rain which wouldn't be bad to get rid of the sun and coo me off.
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Nice ride in this morning, quiet and (relatively) cool. I guess yesterday's storms brough in a cold front and cooled things down (thankfully). I took the long way in (using the Memorial Bridge instead of the 14th St.) and checked out all the debris from last night's fireworks on the Mall. In addition to all the trash, I saw: chairs, tents, even grills-some still with hot dogs and sausages on them, what a mess. I also managed to hit two big @$$ pot holes that I've never seen before, I think I may have knocked my rr wheel out of true on the 2nd one. I guess we'll have some on/off rain today but temps will be cooler, in the low to mid 80's.
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Nice commute. Fair weather, light traffic.
Took a slight detour to feed a friend's cats this a.m. - good to have a change in scenery and to add an extra mile or so to my ride in. p.s. this is what I was riding yesterday: http://static.flickr.com/49/181707659_3b30a4bcf8.jpg |
I was so tired this morning, I couldn't be bothered to catch a known scofflaw this morning. SIgh. I did get this entertaining e-mail from a friend of mine who just started commuting recently. Here's an excerpt:
So...I have been riding my bike faithfully 4 days a week to work (unless its pissing outside to the point where biking might be painful/cold from the drops of hell). Now....last I mentioned that I got up the "HILL"....but it was not graceful. Well it's almost been two months....and I am still not graceful. Much better though (down to 1 *** a day...except Fridays when I work at Brewsters...it's a social thing :(. Anyway....I could not understand for the life of me why ppl were sitting on their bikes passing me. I mean....At one point I have no other choice but to do the standing leg grind. Then ZOOM another F*er sitting passing me. Well...I am going home the other day and I am going up the 3 tier field (after the big hill....I lack juice to get up this field) and the fact that it is so steep at some points that I usually giv'er a good run and then stall halfway up the hill....get-off and walker the rest of the way. WELL....the other day.....I'm groovin and sweatin and stall halfway up the hill....and then *swoosh* some biker I almost killed cause he wasnt expecting me to stall (and I had my mp3 player on and didn't hear him). So I did the "I'm Sorry!"'s and being the nice guy he was...says; "Gear down. You will just cruise up the hill" I give him the "look". The look consists of a blank stare that washes over my face and then the scrunch of pessimistic eyebrows and nose flare as a sarcastic remark floods through my head and says "Uh....do you not see I am on my LOWEST gear.....duh guy". "Um.....okay?" (he can see the panic in my eyes) "Turn that one upwards....you will get another set of gears." (refering to my right gear switch) "Um.....okay?" And off he goes. Well....BY GOLLY! Did you know that if you actually turn that right gear....You have MORE gears. LOWER gears!!!!!!! So my legs are spinning like a gerbal on a wheel and I'm givin'er up the next two tiers...........SITTING!!!!!! I get to the top and "guy" is far ahead of me...but I still extended my appreciation with a big "THANK YOU!!!!" down the neighbourhool street. That's a lot of typing to tell you how dumb I am. So...basically I have been peddling up this hard ass hill on a middle gear and basically nearly giving myself a mild hear attack. Just kidding...it's not that bad....I actually might prefer it.....burns the F out my legs...and shapes the butt! |
I worked the 4th and got out at 11:45 PM. My commute home was like riding through downtown Baghdad with the bombs bursting in air. It was cool and scary at the same time.
A lady in a SUV leaving a big party almost hit me. Then when she saw she missed, she threw it in reverse and tried to get me again....TWICE!! Why did she get mad at me when it was her own damn fault we almost crashed? She started yelling at me, and I got worried because her drunk friends at the party were all watching. then one drunk yelled at her, "how come you're trying to kill ******* on the street? Leave the poor ******* alone!" I sped off and made it home in near record time. |
torrential downpour the entire ride. The traffic was light though and there were plently of open spots to lock up my bike..
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Originally Posted by pinkrobe
I did get this entertaining e-mail from a friend of mine who just started commuting recently. Here's an excerpt:
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I'm a staunch supporter of toe clips and street shoes on commuter bikes. Yet after my tour this past weekend, I put my SPDs and Sidis on my commute bike and had a blast this morning. I'll be going back to toe clips this weekend, but for the next few days clipless is fun.
Nothing to comment on the commute. Hopefully I'll get to try out my new raincoat on the ride home tonight. |
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