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How was the commute today?

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How was the commute today?

Old 02-08-07, 02:54 PM
  #17726  
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Originally Posted by vrkelley
...now that spring is coming.
Jinx.
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Old 02-08-07, 03:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Itsjustb
hairlessbill, people tell me I like the color yellow (I have a yellow bike, and wear a yellow jersey and black-and-yellow socks). Based on those pics, you must REALLY like yellow!
I guess it looks that way. My Chrome bag is also a full yellow but really I bought it because it was available. Also my Ducati was originally yellow. Okay, maybe I DO really like yellow! Hmmm, yellow shoes....
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Old 02-08-07, 08:22 PM
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Bloody cold today. Big time headwinds and windchill. Fabbed up some handguards from 14 ga aluminium ala dirt bike brush gaurds that worked reasonably well. Just too cold for fingered gloves no matter how thick. Need to dig out/find the inner gloves for my lobster claw miits.
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Old 02-08-07, 10:27 PM
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sleet, i can still feel it pelting my face like pin pricks. first time I've come across that.
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Old 02-09-07, 12:01 AM
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heh. i had a rheumatologist's appointment on tuesday, so i bought me a floor pump with built-in pressure gauge afterwards. finally got to find out what kind of pressure i've been riding on with those snow studs. barely 20 psi . . . well, i thought the commute was feeling like an unreasonable amount of work these past weeks. going round corners is fun with the tires at their recommended dry-road pressure; you get this zzzziiiipppp sound-effect as the leaning angle brings the studs into contact with the road again.

kind of fighting off the side-effects of a new/extra medication, but hopefully it'll move the benchmark back up in the long run. right now i feel mostly preoccupied with a barfing motif.
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Old 02-09-07, 12:08 AM
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I'm so used to the colder temps. 20F is feeling distinctly warm.

Yesterday managed to run an errand at lunch time in downtown Boston in such short time that I can guarantee that no other mode of transport would have been as efficient. Nothing short of miraculous that I accomplished what I needed in such short shrift.

I really love riding along the frozen Charles River on the way in and home (at night). I'm so tempted to just head out onto it on my studded snow tires and ride into Boston that way- this is, of course, a ludicrous idea since there are sections of the river that are barely frozen over and some areas that have no ice at all but.... the idea that I could, hmmmm......

saw a rat tonight- again. fantastic rides these days, though.
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Old 02-09-07, 06:41 AM
  #17732  
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Beautiful sdawn this morning - Look east this morning - it's worth it.
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Old 02-09-07, 07:56 AM
  #17733  
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Whoo, 19F and 'realfeel' of 10 this morning. Nice and crisp. I usually pass a number of commuters going the other way (into DC) but only saw one this morning. My commuter is a Kona Jake. I probably could have gotten away with a road bike with fatter tires, but the knobbies sure come in handy on packed snow days like this.
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Old 02-09-07, 07:58 AM
  #17734  
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First bicycle tracks end-to-end on the MUP today. Some peds with dogs had been out in the snow before me in a couple of sections but otherwise I had a nice untouched ribbon of powder all to myself. Temperature in the single F digits.

Got into the city and the roads were so mucked up with wet, sloppy, salty snow that I opted to ride on the sidewalk for the 3 blocks between the MUP and my office. I dismounted and walked around a pedestrian. Good for me.
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Old 02-09-07, 09:18 AM
  #17735  
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Today went okay, though i my legs were tiring out faster than usual (probably since this is only my 3rd time doing my bike commute and i did it yesterday too).

Oh, and my right knee started to get a slight twinge of pain... Probably from my cleats so i adjusted those when i got into work. My road shoes have been adjusted to perfection (i've done 64 miles with no knee pain), but since i use MTB shoes for riding to work they don't have many miles on them so i haven't really been able to tell if they're adjusted well or not. We'll see how things feel on the ride home and over the weekend.
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Old 02-09-07, 09:22 AM
  #17736  
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Totally wonderful today - probably about 65 F - clear, not a lot of humidity. Dry road. It was paradise. No cows or chickens either!
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Old 02-09-07, 09:24 AM
  #17737  
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Originally Posted by Psydotek
Today went okay, though i my legs were tiring out faster than usual (probably since this is only my 3rd time doing my bike commute and i did it yesterday too).

Oh, and my right knee started to get a slight twinge of pain... Probably from my cleats so i adjusted those when i got into work. My road shoes have been adjusted to perfection (i've done 64 miles with no knee pain), but since i use MTB shoes for riding to work they don't have many miles on them so i haven't really been able to tell if they're adjusted well or not. We'll see how things feel on the ride home and over the weekend.

Knee issues were an issue for me when I first started commuting. Some proper stretches, and down shifting on hills instead of just mashing up them dealt with it nicely, as well as the occasional icing when I get home when they still hurt.
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Old 02-09-07, 09:29 AM
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32f, dampish, foggy ride in. Very fun.

I am glad i went to fatter (1.75inch) tires. there is a lot of sand leftover on the shoulders from the ice a while back. No way skinnies would make it through safely.

There was a body covered by a sheet on I-35, they had it closed down. Looked like some poor fool tried to run across the highway & got nailed.
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Old 02-09-07, 09:50 AM
  #17739  
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Originally Posted by squegeeboo
Knee issues were an issue for me when I first started commuting. Some proper stretches, and down shifting on hills instead of just mashing up them dealt with it nicely, as well as the occasional icing when I get home when they still hurt.
Yeah, i didn't get to stretch much before heading out. I spin going uphill though. Fortunately the the majority of the route home is comprised of a big 4 mile downhill run (which i had to climb this morning).
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Old 02-09-07, 10:56 AM
  #17740  
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Thoroughly damp but at least the rain had stopped by the time I hit the road. Generally fine ride though. No other bikes sighted, a 1st for this last week or so.
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Old 02-09-07, 11:04 AM
  #17741  
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Well the fog is mostly gone but it was cloudy and I left an hour early which meant lights on. Pretty quiet that early. Had two foxes run in front of me and then chase each other around a field. Good stuff.
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Old 02-09-07, 12:29 PM
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Unbelievable! I'm still sick! The ride in today was gruesome. Even with the spikes, the bike was almost impossible to handle, with the front and rear ends going wherever the hell they wanted to. We're in 4-6" of that awful snow/sand mixture overtop of black ice on most roads. I'm going to shovel my route through Mount Royal on Sunday afternoon...

edit: On the way home I almost got taken out by some **** in a truck. First he gives me a toot of the horn to let me know I should be riding in the snowbank instead of on the road, then he passes me with inches to spare, and he obviously has 6' on the other side to use up. I gave him the finger, which was less effective due to me wearing mittens instead of gloves. &%^$#@%#&^!!!!!!!

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Old 02-09-07, 12:52 PM
  #17743  
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Cold and short, but nice. I am picking up one of our boys at a play date after work, so I parked the car at his friends house and biked from there. The arboretum is right between their house and my work so I took a bit of the scenic route. One of the roads in the arboretum was a sheet of ice. The nokians handled it beautifully. Will probably go back there the same way.
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Old 02-09-07, 05:30 PM
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street ride in and the MUP home. lost my balaclava so had to buy a new one but I like the new one better.

I am just plodding along on the bike these days. slow and steady into the wind on the way home.

Glad to be riding pretty much every day through this January and February in New England. The cold is manageable but it's the lack of snow that's made it doable- I'm sure I've jinxed it now.
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Old 02-10-07, 12:02 AM
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Good hard rain riding in on the MTB. My Redline 925 finally came in today. This evening I set it up to commute tomorrow. Once I get it set up how I like it I'll flip the wheel and try riding fixed. I envy caloso and his no foot commute. Someday...
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Old 02-10-07, 01:49 AM
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Originally Posted by buzzman
I'm so used to the colder temps. 20F is feeling distinctly warm.

Yesterday managed to run an errand at lunch time in downtown Boston in such short time that I can guarantee that no other mode of transport would have been as efficient. Nothing short of miraculous that I accomplished what I needed in such short shrift.

I really love riding along the frozen Charles River on the way in and home (at night). I'm so tempted to just head out onto it on my studded snow tires and ride into Boston that way- this is, of course, a ludicrous idea since there are sections of the river that are barely frozen over and some areas that have no ice at all but.... the idea that I could, hmmmm......

saw a rat tonight- again. fantastic rides these days, though.
That's probably how Superman feels sometimes, but don't get carried away..
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Old 02-10-07, 01:55 AM
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The ride in to work yesterday afternoon was a fairly uneventful yet joyful ride. Since it hasn't snowed in a week and the roads are dry I came in on my skinny tired commuter.
Now, at 3:00AM, just 3 hours before I get off work I see we have about an inch of snow on the ground. NOT looking forward to my morning commute home on this bike but I'll make the best of it!
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Old 02-10-07, 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by heywood
That's probably how Superman feels sometimes, but don't get carried away..

Yeah, I feel like Superman but I'm moving like Elmer Fudd.
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Old 02-10-07, 02:51 PM
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Flat tyre.!!! Road bike at house down south!!. (It was raining anyway). Started up fireblade and drove. Nice for a change.
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Old 02-11-07, 12:36 AM
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Nice ride in the pouring rain both ways. Rode single speed on the new 925, will try fixed Monday or Tuesday. The moustache bars look odd, but feel natural to me.
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