caloso

Totally FUBAR.

I got up early to take the long way in. About a mile from my house, I ran over some glass but thought I was okay. It wasn't until I was just about out of town that the tire went flat. Swapped out the tube and got the CO2 out. Psss...... Only about 30 lbs of pressure. Crap. Look in my bag for another cartridge. Nada. Okay, I'm only about a half mile from a Home Depot. So I walk over there and ask the first orange apron if they have an air compressor.

Blank look. Pause. "You mean one that works?"

Uh, yes. I have a flat and I'm out of air. I just need a little air.

Blank look again. "What? For your bike?"

Well, as it turns out, no they don't have any air compressors that are actually functioning, just floor models. What if I wanted to buy one and wanted a demonstration?

Uh, no. You'd just have to buy one and if it didn't work, you could bring it back. Okay so I'm not getting any help at Home Depot, not that I ever have before so what was I expecting?

As it turns out, there's a gas station around the corner and the dude doesn't even want to take any money for turning on the air pump. Nice guy. I don't have my presta-shrader shim but I McGuyver a good seal by wrapping the bad tube around the valve before putting the hose on. It's filling, it's fillilng! It's flatting! It's flatting. As it turns out the spare had a hole too, and the patch kit is in the other saddle bag. Sigh.

Damn. Oh, and there just went my bus.

So I call the Missus and she puts the kids in the van and drives out to get me and drops me at work. I am a very lucky, but very stupid and ill-prepared guy.

Itsjustb

Everyone, say it with me: But it's still better than commuting by car.

dalmore

caloso

Oh, absolutely.

vrkelley

Excellent ride in. Too bad the job is going to India. Gads this company is in for the ride of it's life

vrkelley

...their loss AND mine

GreenAnvil

* 57F, persistant rain and 10-20mph headwinds.... The cost of my rain-resistant wind/breaker ($50) and water resistant panniers ($50)
* making yourself visible to cagers... The cost of my safety vest ($20) and Cygolite Night Explorer ($130).
* Knowing that you just bagged another commute in spite of nasty conditions... Priceless!

GreenAnvil

jyossarian

Rained on the way home. Good thing I had the rain jacket. Unfortunately, I didn't have the rain pants. Ah who cares. The bike shoes are in the oven drying out and I'm still mostly dry.

MikeR

I pedal to a bus 'stop' (actually a pick up point for a chartered bus). I lock my bike to a pole and cover it with a bike tarp. Today it was raining and blowing. I locked and covered the bike, leaning it against the prevailing winds so it would not fall over. When I got back this evening I see that the winds had changed, knocked the bike over and blew the cover mostly off. The bike was soaked.

I have to find a better place to lock the bike up and I have to sew more velcro closures on the bottom of the cover so it does not act like a parachute.

rando

first commute on the new/old bike. nice. feels a little more unstable at first because of the thinner tires. but it is responsive and fast. I like it fine! it was about 78 degrees coming home. going to work I had a headwind the whole way.

nukemm

46F & misty/fog this morning on the way in. Humidity must have been very high, because I wasn't hardly working, and my shirt was soaked when I got to work. No big deal, I change clothes anyway. I hit 5 traffic lights this morning, and it took me just over 40 minutes to make my 7 mile commute. First time that I was slower than any trip in my car. The ride home was beautiful, but I was just a touch overdressed. I could have left my T-shirt on and been fine, but I threw on my warmups because I thought it would be colder. No big deal, I'm at home now (31 minutes today, almost 14MPH on the way home!) and am on my way into the shower with my beautiful wife...

ottawa_adam

Very windy and rainy. Fairly cold. It took me 26 minutes to bike 5.3 km. I had a strong headwind all the way home. I finally found the dryness threshold in my water-resistant wear. While I wasn't soaked, my under clothes were just a little damp. Good workout on the legs though!

tomg

WET (x2) !

GreenAnvil

56F, slight rain. Since I'm combining biking with a weight training program, the main thing for me is to do the commute, so I don't worry too much about speed; have been averaging about 14-15mph on a 9.5 mi one-way route, one challenging hill and some minor ones. I try to keep my HR between 120-145 bpm. When there's wind I switch to a lower gear and spin. I get to work reliably, fresh, and I know I've done my cardio for the day.

So, another morning commute in the bag. Took a shower and now I feel new!

GreenAnvil

mike12511

Typical ride in today although I seemed to cross paths with more school buses this morning and people walking. Mid-50's and cloudy and the wind was not bad. Supposed to be 70 this afternoon. Definitely staying darker later into the morning though.

thdave

First time I've come into work when it was so dark. I left about 6:50 am. Usually, the moon helps but not today. It was dark in the valley on the MUP. My light was adequate, although I went slower because of all the debris (leaves, twigs) on the MUP. Didn't want to ride over a big branch.

It took a lot of concentration. I think I'll travel the road next time I ride when it's that dark.

cooperwx

57F, fog/mist. It took forever to get the fenders on this morning, and I've decided I will leave them on pretty much all the time. Too much hassle.

Saw a big diesel pickup that had made too tight a turn, and its cargo trailer had rolled onto its side. Snarled traffic a bit but I breezed right through Got to work wet from the moisture in the air, but no sweat, man.

dalmore

One road on my commute is about 1/2 miles of totally unpaved road at the moment due to some sort of construction. I failed to consider what it wold be like after 36 hours of rain. The adult in me would have picked a different route. The kid in me was quite pleased to be playing in the mud!!

On the way home in the cage yesterday, I was leapfrogging a fellow bike commuter for about 6 miles. I've ridden "with" him on a couple of occassions so I was pleased to see that at his slower pace, he was still pacing the cagers on my commute!

* jack *

Almost hit from behind at a stop sign in a residential area.
It had just rained the day before, and the roads were still wet.
I slow down, come to a complete stop, look both ways, and then I hear tires skidding and sliding behind me.

It seemed like the driver either; 1) did not notice me or the stop sign - or 2) did not expect me to come to a stop at the 4-way intersection.
Either way, I consider myself 3) lucky.

jyossarian

Roads were wet and it was humid, but looks like the rain has passed for now. Most of the unpaved road is paved now, but there's a couple blocks where it's still chewed up. Had a guy in a Geo Metro pass close to me. When I passed him at the corner, I noticed he was eating his breakfast off a plate!

pinkrobe

I couldn't figure out why I couldn't see very well in the mornings, despite my HID headlight. Problem: orange lenses in my glasses. D'oh! I'll switch to yellow tomorrow. Other than that, it was a super-warm ride in, and the roads were dry.

ModoVincere

HUMID! Can't decide if I rode in or rowed in Like Dalmore said- 36 hours of rain. All the roads are still wet around here and the mud was too deep to go XC with slicks on the mtb. So the commute involved a lot of sitting behind cars and buses unitl the shoulder got wide enough to safely filter past a lot of standing auto's.

One kid who was waiting for his bus saw me doing about 20 mph between two cars. I was keeping up with traffic and taking the lane due to a very narrow bridge on McGinnis Ferry Rd. The kid starts screaming for me to go faster. I know I look like lance , but comeon, I'm going as fast as the traffic will let me go. Any faster and I'd of been in the back seat of the Acura in front of me.

Over all nice ride in today, especially after caging it for 2 days in a row.

ctoddrun

Commute this morning was beautiful! I also have a couple of stretches of new pavement - actually fresh concrete roadway. Turning a two-lane into 4-lane divided just oustide my neighborhood - the new lanes aren't open yet, but they're done (sans striping) and I can easily pass through the barricades. So now for 1/2 mile each direction I have NO traffic issues on this particular road. Getting spoiled!

Sunrise this morning was beautiful, new tires (Nasbar cheapy things with kevlar belt - 700x25) were great and felt fast compared to my old 28s.

I need to check out my headset, though - had it overhauled a month ago, and the steering is becoming a bit difficult and feels like it's too tight or the bearings are hosed. The wrench was all proud when I picked it up after the overhaul and he told me he was able to reuse the bearings. Please... I would gladly pay the extra $4 or whatever since I've already paid for you to crack the thing open and put it back together. Might have to stop there on the way home tonight...

Do tell - what are they? I bet you already posted that and I missed it...

ctoddrun

Hey! Some of us read this stuff at work!!!

Lossy

Quoted for humour.

I bought slicks for my Dew Deluxe last night. Ride very fast, and very smooth. Panaracers.

Got up this morning, front tire flat, bike goes in the car.

At least I can still ride home tonight.