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How was the commute today?

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How was the commute today?

Old 06-04-07, 10:58 AM
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My three-year old kids.
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Old 06-04-07, 11:06 AM
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It's rainy here in New York. I got cut off by a van on Central Park West and had to jam on the brakes and swerve, leading to me going over the handlebars. The van was turning, but then seemed to decide not to turn and pulled back into the lane. Got a bloody elbow, a bruise on the hip, and a sore neck, but I feel lucky for nothing worse.

I think I might bike in the park from now on, but I'm not sure if that's any better. Central Park West going south is often really bad.

I also feel stupid for not getting the driver's information. But oh well. I'll be really sore tomorrow morning.
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Old 06-04-07, 11:45 AM
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Damn, dude. Sorry to hear that. I guess it could've been worse.

Mine was primarily uneventful. It's definitely summer here, high 80's with equal parts humidity. Sweating it out. Gotta love it.

I said "primarily uneventful" largely due to the lady in a brand spankin' new Acura RL (or whatever) who tried to jump in front of me a few feet before a busy four-way stop. Needless to say, she ends up stopped in the middle of the road, clogging the intersection. Her windows were down and I found the situation rather amusing, so I asked her if she knew what she was doing was completely illegal. She ignored me and I gave her the "Aww, c'mon, I know you can hear me," with a goofy smile.

Without looking, she rolled up the windows and took a long drag off her ciggarette. She then zig-zagged through a rather annoyed assortment of cages at the four-way stop. I really wanted to ask her how she was going to drive with her car all fogged up. Never caught her, though. Shame, cus we certainly had some chemistry together.
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Old 06-04-07, 12:25 PM
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Ah Mondays...had a guy in a small suv try to pass me in a 25mph zone while I was going 27-28. I almost went in the other lane but there were cars coming. When the road changed to 2 lanes he took off. I caught up to him at the next red light and told him not to pass me while I was doing the speed limit. He promptly flipped the bird, I returned it and took off, what a JAM. Other than that it was a nice commute, sunny and very warm.
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Old 06-04-07, 06:16 PM
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New PB Today https://cycleblog.info/index.php?opti...id=30&Itemid=2 to read all about it
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Old 06-04-07, 06:32 PM
  #19556  
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Yay! First rainy day commute home...it was only 8.75 miles, and only from my carpool meeting place...but I got wet. I can't believe how much of a big deal I made about riding in the rain. It was actually alot of fun and took only a couple minutes longer than it usually does.

Here are links to some bike grime if you need proof LOL:

https://home.comcast.net/~mnkwrobes/RaleighDRGrime.JPG

https://home.comcast.net/~mnkwrobes/RaleighBag.JPG

https://home.comcast.net/~mnkwrobes/R...tTubeGrime.JPG

I think I'm going to go all the way tomorrow. It totally annoyed me today that IN THE CAR we had to wait 35 minutes for 2 trains. I kept saying to myself, "If I rode all the way...I could have been home by now!"

Also...I realized another phenomina...either that or the cycling gods were looking down upon me...every person I encountered in a car while on the bike in the rain gave me preference, whether at a stop sign, crossing a busy street or what have you. Are they all really saying to themselves, "Look at that crazy smuck on a bike, I think I'll give him break/cut him some slack" ?

One thing I do realize now...I need a helmet cover, fenders (man...the road grime on the legs is intense!) and something to keep the feet a little drier.
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Old 06-04-07, 07:18 PM
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Busy ride from work back to daycare downtown, reattach trailer, retrieve Thing 2, than toward home to retrieve Thing 1 from K. Made it, time to spare, whole thing, leaving work to getting home, took ~80 min, 9 miles of biking. 15-20 min tapping toes in hall of K, not sure I'd want to cut it much closer than that though.
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Old 06-04-07, 09:45 PM
  #19558  
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Drive wife to work, and left her with the car. Rode back to home town and biked around taking care of errands. In Pm took bike on bus part way back to her job area and biked the rest of the way. Then drove her home.
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Old 06-05-07, 05:57 AM
  #19559  
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Pleasant ride in. The "big heat" is forecasted to arrive by Thurs or Friday, so I will really relish these last few days of comfortable morning temps....It was ~65F this AM with humidity of perhaps 75-80%. Humid yes, but nothing like its going to be for the next ~3 months.

I did have a comical/interesting/scary sighting, though I'm sure the driver of the truck didn't find it too amusing; A PET milk truck passed me on Miami Blvd and I lost sight of him. About 2-3 minutes later I caught up to him after he had made a left turn onto Cornwallis Rd. His cargo door had flown open and a stack of 5-6 milk crates had spilled out onto the road. There was 20 or 30 plastic gallon bottles of milk scattered about-most of them broken open. He was out there hurriedly trying to pick up the milk crates and jugs before traffic stacked up behind the mess. I said "Sorry man" as I weaved my way through the carnage, but he did not reply or even look at me. I'm sure he was just a bit ticked off.

The scary reality of what had happened hit me after I had passed him.....if his door had flown open as he was passing me, I could have been killed or seriously injured....Something very similar happened to a husband and wife here, 6-8-10- years ago as they were walking down the side of the road. I think one of them died and the other was seriously injured. Thankfully that didn't happen, instead it was just a good chuckle for me and a bad start to the day for him.
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Old 06-05-07, 06:02 AM
  #19560  
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itty01 - glad it's no worse.

I came here to vent.

Three cars in a row this morning. 1) An aborted left cross from a woman in a full size van. She apparently noticed the nose wheelie I was doing and decided she should not go. 2) About 300 yards further up the road, a big black pickup truck like an 4-door extended cab contraption. BUZZZZZ with inches to spare. I saw him in my mirror so I was able to avoid the jerky reaction that usually accompanies a buzzing. The most annoying thing was that he drifted closer to me as got along side despite the fact that we were the only two vehicles heading east in the TWO eastbound lanes. 3) Not to be outdone was the lady in the burgundy SUV who right hooked me about 400 yards further up. She started past me and before her taillights were visible, I saw the vehicle's nose dipping down and I knew what was coming. Another nose wheelie for me. I had to turn right inside her path to avoid her rear quarter panel before I scrubbed enough speed to cross behind her without further drama. Thankfully the car behind her was also turning right but was paying enough attention to leave me room.

I decided it was time for a break at that point.
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Old 06-05-07, 06:21 AM
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Headwind. Low 60Fs. Overcast, but dry.

I saw a raccoon! Never seen one on a commute, much less in daylight. Hopefully it wasn't rabid. I saw it in some ferns next to the MUP, and a runner was coming the other way. I thought it was the runner's dog at first. It wasn't until I got next to it that it turned and I saw the tail. I scared the bejesus out of it. It tried to get away from me as fast as it could.
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Old 06-05-07, 06:25 AM
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I left this morning about an hour after a pretty heavy downpour. Much cooler too, mid-50's and humid. At about the 5 mile mark there was a little bit of drizzle. I should get a slight tailwind on the way home.
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Old 06-05-07, 06:38 AM
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Cooler than normal this morning. I was late, so I pushed it. New personal best time! (4.50miles in 15:21).
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Old 06-05-07, 07:10 AM
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Uneventful except for the guy who buzzed me and honked right as he was next to me. Fortunately my finger is on Auto-fire.

Ron, I try not to think about that kind of scenario, or I'd never get back on the bike. btw, the guy who buzzed me pulled into your campus after he passed me. I was tempted to track him down but decided he wasn't worth it.
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Old 06-05-07, 07:58 AM
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I rode the elephant rock century on Sunday without a pump. No flats.
After taking Monday off I rode into work this morning. Guess what, I flat 5 miles from work. Only took five minutes to change the tube out, then pinch flatted it, then patched, then changed it out, then pinch flatted it, then took my time, patched it, and finished up. I should really learn a bit of patience.
Anyhow, it was positively gorgeous. My goodness the weekend rides are making my commute seem god awfully short.
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Old 06-05-07, 08:17 AM
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Warm and humid this morning, so I was a little sweatier than usual. Regardless, everything clicked today - I was taking the lane, hitting green lights where I really needed them, and I caught all the scofflaws...
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Old 06-05-07, 09:06 AM
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Great! Nice and cool and drizzly. Tested out what I hope will be my steady route (trailer downtown, back to bike trail and up to work) once our schedules stabilize for good (by July). Not a test, I've done this many times, I just want to get on the steady schedule now.
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Old 06-05-07, 09:19 AM
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Nasty hot headwind on the way home yesterday, plus I was riding the Norco Tank. Ow. This morning I switched back to Sir Lancelot (Raleigh tourer) and was much happier. No wind, nice temperature, traffic was mostly sane.
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Old 06-05-07, 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Buglady
This morning I switched back to Sir Lancelot (Raleigh tourer) and was much happier. No wind, nice temperature, traffic was mostly sane.
Neither weather nor traffic dare impede Sir Lancelot.
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Old 06-05-07, 09:20 AM
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Ron, the guy who buzzed me pulled into your campus after he passed me. I was tempted to track him down but decided he wasn't worth it.[/QUOTE]

The Moore Drive Camppus? What kind of vehicle was it? Must not have been any of the kindly, good natured, scientists that work here. Maybe Sales or Marketing.
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Old 06-05-07, 09:23 AM
  #19571  
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Donned long sleeves today. A bit cool and some drizzle.

Hope your week is getting better, caloso.
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Old 06-05-07, 09:39 AM
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88*F/66% Hum. Feels like 98*F.

Commute was like butter. Melted butter, but still very tasty.
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Old 06-05-07, 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Big Ron
The Moore Drive Camppus? What kind of vehicle was it? Must not have been any of the kindly, good natured, scientists that work here. Maybe Sales or Marketing.
Yep, Moore Drive. He/she (didn't see the driver) was driving a Honda CR-V plastered with bumper stickers, though I couldn't tell if any said, "Share the Road".

A CR-V is too cheap for anyone in Sales; must have been Marketing.
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Old 06-05-07, 11:10 AM
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My ride in this mourning was nice until I got a flat about 1 mile from work. Swap tubes than later realised that I forgot to inspect the tire (daa) for glass. So now I'm patching two inertubes on my lunch break.
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Old 06-05-07, 11:15 AM
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Thanks, aaa. I'm just pissy because 99% of my riding these days is to a job that I'm not wild about.

Anyway, other than the destination this morning's ride was pretty nice. I made all the lights and made very good time despite spinning slowly to keep cool. I should get out of the office at a civilized hour today so I hope I'll be able to tack on a few miles on the way home.
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