I disagree. There's no more real cyclist than one who rides to work.

Good legs today. No, check that. Great legs today. I was testing out my new TT position on the bike trail this morning and I was flying. A la chingada as my grampa might say. [I know that the ARBT is technically a MUP, and that I was breaking the 15mph speed limit, and it's a frickin' zoo on the weekends, but it's pretty safe to go all out on weekday mornings. No walkers or rollerbladers were harmed.]

cold today, 30F. No hail at least. Just sorta spun my way in, pretty low avg speed.

First commute on my new bike. I love her. She's a beauty. Treated myself to a new trip computer too but it's not picking up the signal from the wireless transmitter. However, I can tell you that it was 18.5 degrees centigrade when I set off in the evening so it is definitely spring! And to top it off I saw the first Swallows of spring - or were they House Martins? Not sure - they were too high up.

Late start out, so more cars to contend with. Timing off on a couple of blocks, so red lights. Idiot college kid riding in front of me, so looked good to the cute teachers in front of the school.

Conditions were near perfect. 69F, little to no wind, slightly overcast. Rode in high gear more than ever before. Starting my 4th week and the hills keep getting easier. I'm hooked.

The ride to work was brutal. I left the house late. When a driver leaves the house late, he or she can just push the gas pedal down a little farther and watch out for cops. When a cyclist leaves the house late, there's physical punishment involved! My legs were screaming at me!

The ride home was brutal, too. OMG headwinds. Good thing today is my Friday.

Still sick. Still no riding. Still :-(

bgreen - don't assume a higher gear is better. Pedalling faster in a lower gear is also an option. Kinder to the knees, and it might be more efficient - and certainly gives a good cardio workout! I started spinning faster in lower gears about 6 months ago, and gradually increased my speed and stamina. Eventually I just gave up on changing gears altogether, as I could go as fast as I needed in one gear and still climb the hills. Then I bought a singlespeed bike! Lots of fun!

Crashed coming home. Pushing too hard, there's a dumb bit where the bike path enters a train station, yet there's no way to get from the path to the carpark without going through dirt and up and over a kerb. Took a stupid line that didn't make sense, caught the kerb at a shallow angle and sprawled onto the ground. No major damage, but a couple of nasty scrapes to elbow and knee. Jumped straight back on and pedalled before the pain could catch up with me :)

Steve

stevage - ouch!

Living through your commuting stories again today. :( Knee feels better today. :) I don't think I'll need to take more than a week off. Yesterday, I wasn't so sure.

Low 50sF and hazy this morning. Mild headwind. No gloves. Shorts. Long-sleeve black jersey underneath red cotton Canadiens (5-0!) shirt. ;) Reeled in a young woman on an MTB. Stayed behind her for a while, but not stalker-close.

Squirrel bolted out from leaves. Hit my foot. Ran between my wheels. Lucky squirrel.

58F this morning. A little wet on the pavement but no rain at all. Yesterday on the way home I got caught in a 5 minute downpour and very strong headwinds. Tstorms were moving into the area so I guess I got lucky.

1st commute
 

Hey all, finally did my first commute this morning. I've been waiting for a day when my morning schedule was light and the low temps were out of the 30's...just so happened to be earth day. I have a shower at work and a locker so 20 minutes after getting here I was at my desk, a bit phased, but still good to go.
Some details...ride is 20 miles each way from my girlfriends house (it would be 30 from mine, a bit too much). I left at 6:00am, was at work by 7:40am with a 10 minute break halfway through. Roads are mostly 45 MPH somewhat rural (for NJ) roads that are heavily commuted on; North brunswick to Branchburg for those who'd like to look. Other than an ice cream headache for about the first 40 minutes it wasn't too bad. I'm really looking forward to the ride home, mid 60's and a lot more downhill :D
My plan is to do this twice a week, anymore and things just don't work logistically. The bike is an '83 Miyata 610 small frame with nitto northroad bars (upright) and a Brooks B17. I have a PB superflash, a Fenix L2D and a nice army surplus medic bag as my trunk bag, there are pics maybe 10 pages back on the commuter bike pics thread. Ok, hope everyones doing fine!

50F, tailwind, and sunny. I hate to say it, but that's as darned close to a perfect commute as I can get. Took the 8 mile route instead of the 3 mile route. Been smiling ever since.

50F, slight breeze, and cloudy. I have been working from home for a while, so this is my first real commute in several days... I had forgotten how heavy all my junk is. (I was riding, but without full panniers.)
Wasn't in a rush, so I took my time a little more than usual. More pleasant for me that way.

Cotton T-shirt and slacks.

This and last week has just been great days for the commute into work. Sunny, but not hot. Light breeze and hardly any traffic. Coming home at 11:30 is nice too, warm enough for a tshirt and more downhill.

Great ride in today--the roads were slick enough to provide a little less resistance (or maybe it's in my head) without being dangerous.

Waiting to see if the forecasted showers will appear. They never really did yesterday.

It started snowing last Friday and hasn't stopped. We're almost 20C below our normal daytime highs, and there is no sun. :cry: The roads on half my commute are covered in snow, and somehow it's remaining unconsolidated. In other sections there is glare ice, in others, bare dry pavement. It's supposed to warm up on the weekend...

Last night as I was leaving the office I thought I lost my keys. Dumped out my bag: no keys. Went through every desk drawer: no keys. Went through my locker: no keys. Had to call my wife to come get me and started to fret about how I was going to get my bike out of the bike locker.

The bike locker!!!

Which is where my keys laid, right on top, where I left them. D'oh!

God, I'm lucky. I had stored not one, but two bikes in there--my road racer and my TT machine. (Yes, I know that neither is the optimal commute bike, but May is going to be a heavy race month and I need to make every mile count.) So relieved.

Damp-to-wet. Also, round-trip. Work pc still dead, so home to work on the domestic machine instead.

Nice ride into LODO this morning. The 16.9 miles flew by! Sure is nice having a route to the office that only has 2 grade crossings until I get off the green-way near Mile High Stadium. Temp was 37F to start. A bit chilly, but warmed quickly as I got out into the sun.

It was 0F yesterday during my commute home. Felt great.

Al

Nice easy rides both ways. Perfect weather for it and a lovely sunset on the ride home. Took my dodgy trip computer back to the shop - they couldn't get it working so I swapped it for a different model. Hit 28mph on the way home. Quite surprised - I didn't know you could do that! Everyone's in a good mood - getting more nods from the increasing numbers of other cyclists on the roads and the car drivers seem to be nicer too.

Was almost mowed down at a stop sign by an inattentive driver. We avoided collision in time; she was pretty apologetic.

The commute really seems shorter now that the weather has warmed up (and I switched to slicks, finally). :)

Another day another ride, weather was nice, just wish I was feeling better. Otherwise it was a good day and a good ride for the bit I did ride.

Happy Earth Day!
glad i was a part of it by commuting.
great day, 60 deg F, with 14 mph wind from nnw. traffic flowed, 2 buzz-byes, no real issue :-) .
catching the free bus tomorrow though.
peddle softly! happy Earth Day, x2!
tomg

Was off on holiday last week, so today is my first commute since Thurs 4/10. Had spokes pull through the rim on my rear Mavic MA3 rim that day. I wasn't stranded but had a very slow ride home, especially given the head wind coupled with the rim rubbing on frame. It was probably the 5th time that's happened to me in the last 3-4 years-annoying enough that I've given up on the MA3, even though it would have been a warranty repair. The newly installed $140 Mavix CXP33 rim behaved itself on the way in this AM....hoping it lasts me at least a couple of years. The CXP33 was recommended by several folks on bikeforums clydesdale group

Monday my pace was really off, which I chalked up to riding 7 days in a row. Then I realized I was coming down with a cold. Sneezed and coughed all afternoon and evening, so I took the day off work (and riding) on Tuesday to recuperate. Sat around the house all day blowing my nose and watching crap on TV. I was planning to ride this morning, but just didn't have it in me. My cold feels better, but my legs felt very tired and weak, and I decided it was better to take another day off than get sicker.

it was raining when I left last night, but stopped about 3/4 of the way home. Good ride, no one was crazy-go-nuts

very drizzly ride in this morning, but it was a good ride in. Should be dry by quitting time today.

Got in my first commute to work in '08 today. Beautiful morning. I haven't been awake this early in some time. :)

I don't know what the temp was this morning, but humidity is back. Or rather, it's here. We've had almost no humidity since I started back in October, but I know that'll be changing. Considering shorts for future commutes...

On the ride home yesterday, I got rained on pretty thoroughly for the last mile. Didn't bother putting on a jacket or anything, considering I was just a few minutes from home, but I arrived pretty wet.