Sailguy

Nice commute, did my hilly route again. I am looking for some other ways to add miles now. There probably is going to be rain on the ride home tonight. Otherwise it was quite a nice ride. as a bonus, there was lots of hot water in the shower at work today!

John C. Ratliff

Well, today was one of those days, both at work and commuting. Going to work went well, and I stopped by a coffee shop to meet with some people from my church, then went on to work. I had several unplanned events at work, and worked late because there's a lot to do and my wife wasn't due home from her work until about 8:00 PM.

Well, at 7:00 PM I went out to get my bicycle (the ol' Schwinn LeTour) out of its bike locker, and as I took it out there was a weird noise. The tire didn't seem right, and I couldn't figure it out at first. I loaded the panniers onto the bike, then noticed that the front tire had apparently blown out (exploded) while I was working. This was no flat to fix, as the tire sidewall was gone.

I decided that I had the time, and since home was "only" 3.5 miles away, I could jog home. Luckily, I had a pair of running shoes at work, and so changed into them and jogged home in about 45 minutes (I'm not too fast).

Tomorrow I will recover the bicycle and see what the damage really is (it was dark when I went out).

John

chewa

Trip home last night was fine, but when I went out to the garage this morning I noticed I had a flat rear tyre (the one with the Slime tape in). I hesitated as I couldn't really face starting the day by changing the tube and thought about taking the bus, but then remembered my other bike on the trainer and swapped over the back wheel. The gearing was different but it got me here.

Not a breath of wind, light drizzle, but a superb ride in.

Now if I can just get home without a puncture.

2 Punctures so far this year.

Chris L

Relatively pleasant day today with that cooling southerly wind. Also noticed that the days are starting to get shorter. Just another 6 or 7 weeks of summer left to endure!

caloso

Last night I got Lance (my Trek 5200 rocket) all ready for a long training ride before work this morning. I fell asleep mapping out a cool new route in my head.

Then I oversnoozed and when I saw the sprinkles I decided to take Ray (my Novara workhorse) instead. Only had time for a short detour. Maybe I can sneak out for a long lunch if the weather holds.

pinerider

Been a poor week for commuting for me, stayed home Monday with a touch of the flu, Tuesday bussed due to too cold for me to ride (-20 C or -4 F), this morning 3" of snow overnight + slicks on bike makes for poor riding as does -10 C temperature and 50kph winds for -25 C windchill. I guess it's still winter here for a while longer!

Jean Beetham Smith 

Cool morning, 12F/-11C, part way to work I hit snow squalls. I did finally figure out how to keep my camera warm enough to use, easy to get to, but not sweat sodden. I stow it in my pogies. Once I get them scaled down, I'll post some snowy New England pictures. Coming home tonight was very windy, but it was feeble daylight at 5:15pm! Spring is coming, I can feel it.

Chris L

Nice day outside, but today the commute is non-existent.

RHNiles

It was very nice this morning, temp in the low 20's calm, even the motorists seemed to be on the laid back side today. Maybe it was because I took the bent' to work today and people think that I am handicapped and give me more room to get around.
The ride home was wonderful because of the three kids playing basketball. As I went by they stopped their game and yelled and gave me the :thumbup: . It always seems to be the kids that are the most vocal when you ride by on a bent'. I guess the older generation seems to think that they need to be more reserved in their comments. All in all it was a very good day! high in the mid 30's and very sunny.

Rick

nemo

today is my "saturday" so no commute however teh weather was so nice for mid feb. I had to go riding I rode 4 miles into a stiff head wind before turning around and rocketing backLOL

caloso

Rainy and cold on the way home. On the dicey portion of the commute near my house (where I'm forced to take the lane) a guy in a crappy Taurus sat on my wheel for about a quarter mile and then honked his horn and scared the **** out of me. Like I don't know you're there, loser! Pass me safely or back off! Sheesh.

Tomorrow will be better. I keep repeating to myself. Tomorrow will be better.

chewa

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Puncture on the way home, last of my intact tubes to replace it and I couldn't risk coming in on the bike this morning because I have no whole tubes and no patches in my kit.

Visit to bike shop this am I think.


Why is there so much crap on the cyclepath???

Ed Holland

Chewa, I wish I could answer your question. I used to take a route that led me through central Oxford and that resulted lots of punctures. I wish they'd stop selling bottled drinks in the pubs and bars, 'cos there's glass everywhere

Cold this morning... and set to get worse over the next couple of days!

Zaphod

Great morning... 50 deg F, light headwind, but then I had the honking old lady who thought I ought not be in one lane of a four lane 40 mph road? The stop light caught her so that I could yell that I had just as much right to the road. She was a bit frightened... Hope she doesn't run me over tomorrow?

And I'm very happy with my new topeak QR beam rack. Nice to have the backpack gone...

Paul L.

Rain in the desert! Got thoroughly coated in sand and other bits of road gunk. Also received my first flat from a glass shard. It was embedded in my tire so well I almost didn't catch it before reinflating the new tube (since it was wet I didn't think I'd bother with a patch). Security guard at the Circle K asked me what I was doing, so I said "Fixing a tire", He asked "what's wrong with it?" Hmmmmm, I suppose I could have said something smart like "the rubber got wet" or something like that but since he seemed to be nice enough to let me change my tire in a nice dry place, I just said "It's flat". I guess I could have said "Heres your sign!". Anyway, he was trying to get rid of loiterers. I don't think changing a tube is loitering and apparently neither did he as he didn't run me off.

caloso

I love that!

Off and on rain and mist here in NorCal. Rode in very conservatively. Considered driving in but changed my mind when I thought of all the forumites who commute in Real Winter Conditions.

Sailguy

No rain, just wet roads and muck. I will definately have to clean my bike again this weekend. My chainstays are brown now, no longer purple. I too seem to remain motivated because of the hard core guys up in the north east. What's a little water and mud in 50 degree weather when others ride in the sub zero range over ice.

Nice ride tho. I felt like I had a steady groove. Not powerful or fast, and not tired either.

PaulH

I'ts been kind of strange for the last week in the DC area. My normal route has been blocked by a lunar landscape of jagged ice chunks, so I had been following an alternate route that adds about a mile and a half to my total commute. A few days ago, I felt adventurous and returned to my normal route. There is one steep, icy hill that I still have not managed to climb all the way, along with a couple of remaining ice piles, but I only have to walk the bike a total of fifty feet or so -- a good tradeoff for 1 1/2 miles saved.

Paul

Jean Beetham Smith 

Beautiful, clear, cold (4F/-15C) day. I guess the one perk cold weather brings is that more motorists notice me, and some of them respect me for riding in this weather. This morning the captain of a 18-wheeler stopped in the intersection, blocking a path for me, gave me a couple beeps and an arm pump. Later, as I turned off the highway onto a sideroad a driver rolled down his window, leaned out clapping and yelling "Bravo". I also had to pull over for 2 different emergency vehicles, that is rare on my route.

uncronopio

This morning I commuted by car. The car that was ahead of me stopped because there was a large truck leaving a building. The driver of the car suddenly thought that the truck would hit her car and decided to go back without checking her rear vision mirror. End result: she crashed with me, nothing happend to my car and she got a 40 cm wide dent on the rear bumper. The accident got me thinking: what would have happened if I have been ridding my bike?

nathank

beautiful ride! -15C and only a little wind. (actually one of the local thermometers shows -17C). today was the first day that i wasn't totaly drenched in sweat at the end of my ride in a while. i kept my other windproof jersey zipped up! my nose was chilled the first few minutes but then i got used to it and my hands were pretty cold the last 10 mintes or so.

but wow! what a great commute today --- i took the train/subway the last 2 days - Wed b/c i had to do something directly after work and Thur b/c i did a HUGE leg workout at the gym Thur so need a leg-rest day, so today was my first time on the bike since Tuesday! oh, i missed my morning commute!

the streets are mostly clear b/c of all the salt... but the bike paths are pretty much solid ice with gravel on top -- onyl a few slick spots and all in all quite fine - you just have to ride a little more slowly.

-Nathan

chewa

Why is Scottish ice so slippy. icy today so bus for me. Still 6 commutes this week, about 80 miles.

mtessmer

Hey, thanks for your sensativity to us crazies up here in the frozen northland.
--Mark in Minneapolis

Paul L.

First week I commuted everyday by bicycle! I racked up 111 miles (The 1000 mile challenge before the end of March in the general bicycling forum is the motivation I must confess). I have also now done my first full commute in rain. The brand new bike doesn't look so new anymore. It amazes me the gunk that splashes up (and to think we breathe that during dust storms!). It was a beautiful ride in this morning with the clouds moving across the sky and a break in the rain long enough for me to get to work! As no one has asked me not to cut across the high school campus of westwood high in the last week, I have determined it will now be a permenant part of my commute!

Garlic

Had one of those days where you have to talk yourself into riding. Once I got started, I was happy that I did. Ride home was great. About 60 degrees at midnight. Rain is mostly gone.