A little chilly today 35f, but no wind and clear skies. Sure beats the rain from earlier this week. Saw another commuter, riding a MTB w/ panniers on the sidewalk. First one I've seen in months.

Gonna have to work on my DIY battery pack. Every time I ride through Mundelein the top pops off. Today the battery popped up about 6" but luckily fell back into the box. The little bungees just aren't up to Mundelein streets.

For the last two winters I put on my Nashbars in Dec, and rode through mid Mar. Rolling resistance is lots higher, but I didn't see any problem, and haven't noticed any wear. Granted I didn't ride as often, maybe about 400 total, but they work really well on the iced over patches on my route.

Wulfheir -

First day bike commuting in a month and first commute on the winter bike, a 1990ish era Mongoose ATB; now sporting 21 speeds and Nashbar inverted tread 26x1.5" tires. Weather was 32F, little-to-no precipitation. My usual "shortcut" route (22 miles) was closed, so took the next best thing, no cyclecomputer on this bike yet, felt like 30miles but the GPS map program at work said 25. Took 2 hours Best/mode/worst times on the standard route with the road bike with 27x1.25" tires are 66/75/90 minutes, I hope I'm just out of practice and it isn't the fatter tires slowing me down that much or else what am I in for when the studded tires go on?!

I'm ready for the cold to come on. I don't know, it just feels a little weird having it be almost 70 degrees at 7 in the morning at the end of October. Ultimately a nice ride in though. It rained all night, and I kept waking up thinking "damn" but by the time I got up, it shut off and blue sky was coming through.

I absolutely hear ya on the shoulders. I dislocated my left shoulder at the start of June, which wouldn't have been so bad, but then I did it AGAIN just over a month later on July 4th. And now here it is, almost 4 months later, and I'm still in almost constant pain (fortunately it didn't impede my biking for more than a week or so). The worst is trying to pull off a sweaty biking jersey -- not only is it really painful, but I'm doing it in a locker-room filled with muscleheads who must be amused watching me struggle and twist while groaning and ARGH-ing.

I do hereby declare 39 degrees to be the perfect fall inbound commuting weather. It got me comfortably into some of my winter weight gear, but wasn't too cool so that I couldn't stick with leg warmers below and vent out a little core heat that built up after a climb or big effort up top. Plus, I got to wear my fleece helmet liner which I just like anyway.

I almost got taken out today. Here's the letter I wrote:

"Good Morning! I was travelling northbound on 7 St. S.W. this morning at around 8:05 a.m., and the driver of one of your shuttles [silver minivan with the Big 4 logo on the side] displayed a rather cavalier attitude towards the rules of the road.

As I said, I was travelling north on 7 St. S.W., approaching 14 Ave. S.W. with one sedan ahead of me. I noted the silver minivan was waiting at the stop sign to turn left onto 7 St. from 14 Ave. [it was facing west]. As the sedan ahead of me reached the intersection, the minivan lurched forward into the intersection, forcing the car to brake, then swerve into the oncoming lane. I braked as well, but then continued forward. Much to my surprise, the minivan lurched forward again, this time at me. I had to swerve to avoid an impact, and the minivan stopped about 1/3 of the way through the intersection. As I went by the front of the minivan, I got a good look at the driver - around 50, grey hair and full moustache/beard, round glasses. He had a kind of blank look on his face, but the passenger sitting beside him appeared quite startled, especially after I mouthed some obscenities and gave him the finger.

I would appreciate it if you could inform the driver of the minivan that he did not have the right-of-way at the intersection of 7 St. and 14 Ave. S.W. It is not a 4-way stop, and by law, he must yield to traffic travelling along 7 St. Perhaps he needs to stop drinking decaf or get an extra couple of hours sleep. Whatever the cause, endangering the safety of the public and Big 4's customers is not good for your company's public image. With the rash of vehicle-related injuries and fatalities occuring over the past week, I hope that your drivers would exhibit a bit more caution.

Thanks for your time."

genel... thanks for your reply. I'm thinking Nokian 700c Hakkapeliita W106 35mm studded tires for my GF Kaitai 29".

pinkrobe... I'm not advocating it but I wonder if cagers would have more respect for bikers if we carried weapons visibly like the police...

GreenAnvil

cold. started out with a temp of 34. road and trail were pretty dry, impressive considering how much rain we've had lately. had a real problem keeping up my speed, too.

Was prepared for the heavy rains that the TV-weather doomsayers predicted. But it was barely a mist, but enough that it scared off all the peds and fair-weather bikers. Arrived at work feeling great, and I've been walking on air for the past 3 hours. I'm a week shy of commuting full-time for a solid year, and it STILL feels this great? Amazing.

Last night was my job to pick up the kids at daycare in the minivan and then we swung back through downtown to pick up my wife. We were driving through midtown and pacing a guy in the bike lane on a Peugeot fixie. Looked to be about my age, and he had the commuter package with the blinkies and lights and helmet.

My wife looks at him for a second and says, "Oh, that reminds me. Make sure to call Personnel in the morning and ask how much it would be to get supplemental disability insurance."

"Yes, Dear."

Excellent! That just about nails my life, although I'm judging from your wife's casual attitude that you've been commuting for at least a couple of years. Long enough, anyway, for her to realize that you're not quitting any time soon....

Brief moment of glory on the way in to work when I hauled a$$ under a freeway overpass that's being built. It's the hairiest part of my commute--the shoulder disappears, the travel lanes narrow, trucks barrel through at 50+ mph, and the road is strewn with construction debris and gravel. I always wait for packs of cars to pass before I go through. As I pedaled through today, I looked down at my computer and was clocking 21 mph! As a newbie and a clydesdale (riding a 30-pound cow) I was pretty proud...

Otherwise uneventful. Got a bunch of extra lighting so I feel a little safer as the darkness starts squeezing in on the commuting hours.

Good letter, pinkrobe. Don't even have to mention you were on a bike. Pretty irrelevant to the case anyway. I do hope they spank the driver.

Gorgeous day today. Funny thing, Thing 2's daycare was closed today, so I had her while waiting for spouse to return from her am gig. Got out the trailer to bring Thing 2 along for the bike ride to Thing 1's kindergarten. When she came out and saw my bike and his bike, she immediately went to pull her tricycle off the porch. I had to take it away from her to put her into the trailer for the ride to school. She was OK w/ that but wanted to go herself.

It was raining all day and then it stopped just as I was getting ready to leave the office. 41F with a 14mpg WNW wind that made it feel like 35F. It didn't rain the whole way home, so I'm thankful. The sun peeked through the clouds at times creating very dramatic landscapes... I was treated to some nice sights... wished I had my 35mm camera with me, but I'm glad I was there to enjoy those moments.

GreenAnvil

Whiney sarcastic letters don't usually get you anywhere. Complaints should be factual with a suggestion for improvement. If I received something like that, I would hit the delete key or gash it right away.

Bummer what happened to ya tho.

IMHO.

really nice! weather was good, took it easy and coasted much of the way. gotta love these thin wheels. stopped by the LBS that sold the bike to me and bought some spare tubes. they said, "How's that Univega treating you"?
Great! It's my Commuter."
I was dropped by two people on mountain bikes, wait, no, one was a bmx. lol

It did list the facts quite well though. It even had suggestions for improvement, even though I don't think one should be obliged to provide suggestions. It's bloody obvious: educate your bleeping drivers.

(It also helps to give more details in your reply so that it's clear what post you are replying to.)

freaking amazing... after playing some basketball on campus to end the day, i rode home in t-shirt and some jeans... on a fall evening. only in los angeles.... thank heavens.

What, you actually think that they would pay attention to my letter anyway? The only way to get Big 4 to acknowledge that their driver is a moron would be to catch the guy on video, go to the press and do a surprise interrogation of the president of the company. Writing a very factual and informative letter tinged with sarcasm was a way for me to vent my displeasure beyond the confines of bikeforums. I purposely avoided mentioning I was on a bike because we're marginalized out here in the land of the F-150. In the slim hope that somebody would ask the bearded wonder to pay attention to the rules of the road, writing an attention-getting letter was better, IMHO, than something bland. It got your attention, eh?

My schedule is finally easing up a bit enough for me to sit and read through bike forums again. I've been riding pretty much every day and it has maintained my sanity and blood pressure as I've worked in two locations for the last 5 weeks averaging 14 hour days with only a couple of days off.

Things I've been thinking about on my daily commutes as of late-


#1- Folding bikes rock if you think you might need to grab a ride home in a friend's car. (- dalmore)
#2- When busy and stressed don't stress on the bike commute. Go real easy. Be happy you're riding at all no matter the pace or the distance.
#3- Folding bikes can move right along- this I knew but I'd forgotten.
#4- Nothing beats the feel of a good solid non-folding commuting bike for stability and all round speed and comfort.
#5- Biking as part of a commute can be very satisfying even if I don't get to do the round trip.

Rode in the rain yesterday. All urban streets ride. This commute route would have been a nightmare in a car. It was pleasure on the bike, a little slick in the rain, but a pleasure to not be stuck in the traffic.

congrats Wulfheir- but does this mean you won't ride for the rest of the year? will more riding mean getting ahead of yourself chronologically?

This is my 5th week of commuting. I've ramped it up a bit, now I'm going 4 days a week on the bike after going 3 days the past month. It's been great, the bike has held up well, when I'm engaged in traffic I'm more assertive and following the rules to a T, and most importantly spending lots of time here and learning a lot. Thanks.

But real life is starting to creep in.

I almost got the classic right-hook today by some numpty. The driver thought he could turn in but he wisely stopped midstream as I passed him with a few feet of room. Hearing the horns of other drivers, berating this guy (or were hurrying me up?), was sweet music to my ears. Whatever, I didn't get the worse of this situation.

But on Tuesday night I almost collided head on with a kid riding his BMX bike real low while listening to his tunes. That's one. Two, he was going the wrong way in the bike lane. Three, he had no lights on whatsoever. He literally jumped out of the shadows and I didn't see this kid until I saw the whites of his eyes. Thankfully we didn't evade each other in the same direction or else it would've been messy. Sweet Jesus, I didn't think my heart could beat that hard and so fast.

I'm seriously considering doing a pro wrestling-style Clothesline manuever on the next person I encounter going the wrong way. I don't care if the person is elderly, carrying a baby, or if she's frickin' Shakira. They're getting the Ric Flair treatment.

Ok I'm kidding, but I can dream can't I?

Great Sunday commute to some overtime

total 45.6km
Av SP 24.99 km/h
Max Speed 67.8km/h

nice sunny day, not to warm a real pleasure

Had fun on these weekend commute. Lo-traffic, hi-fun.

I left late, so I really punched it on the way in, arrived all sweaty and sniffly. Three minutes late.

But the person with whom I was supposed to work today showed up five minutes late, so I pretended I've been there on time, heh heh.