Okay not technically today, but I just found this thread... On Saturday morning I did my first work commute. I usually have to work at 6:45am, but this time it was 9:00am, so it seemed like a great chance to give it a shot.

It figures that I'd head out in skimpy UnderArmour for the first cold morning of the year. In the summer I only really check precipiration forecasts, as I just assume the temperature is gonna be hot, so the details don't matter. And if I had known what the winds were gonna be like, I probably would have driven. At one point I was pedalling moderately hard in a high gear going down a slight grade; utterly ridiculous. It was a lot harder than my test run a few weeks prior, but I made it there at 8:55. Changed clothes and composed myself just in time to have students hit my desk at 9:00.

The ride home was much better, as it had warmed up and the wind wasn't quite so fierce. I explored a bit and found a route that doesn't involve our town's new elevated beltway, which is a very good thing. I'm still not quite ready to ride in every day, but I'm getting there...

Nice, cool morning for the ride in today. Passed another commuter at a light but he was gaining on my and almost caught up to me before I turned off. I don't normally see any other commuters, especially going the same way I am. Only three more commutes here in NC.

It sprinkled this morning. Seriously, the NOAA website says "trace" for precipitation. And yet two people asked me if I really rode my bike to work today. Sheesh.

Anyway, it's a great day to ride a bike: cool and calm with big fluffy clouds.

Left the house at 4:15am, nice and cool 57degrees. 8 miles one way/ 35 min. Wore my Showers Pass rain jacket and leg warmers. Felt comfortable. The ride home it was 77degrees, sleeveless jersey and shorts, and out ran a rain front, made it home just in time. Thanks be to God and a nice tailwind.

In my experience, "trace" usually means a ton of water coming down from the sky. Really... if I read "thundershowers", I'm not too worried, but whenever it says "trace", I expect to get seriously soaked.

Had a really pleasant ride today. :) Cool out, but not too cool. Built a tiny bit of MTB-ing into my commute today: some grass, cobble-stones, and gravel - and one curb hop. :D

Man tractors are fast. There is construction going on on wilson and i was trying to race one on my way back from school, we were even for while before it made a turn into a side street. A bit later a school bus full of children were cheering me on, or not, i wasnt sure so i didnt pay much attention :o

You go to York U by any chance? :)

lovely ride in today. late ride home tonight. no complaints.

Commute
 

I ride in and back 3x/wk. All rural country roads except for the last 1.5 mi. which has a wide bike lane most of the way and 2 traffic lights. 2 freeway on-ramps merge onto the road also which means I get to merge at 25-30 mph. Lots of fun seeing the surprised looks from the car-bound as I stake my claim on a little piece of roadway.
Fastest time to date - 10 mi.@ 27 and 1/2 mins. @ 95+ degrees and 60%RH. I treat my commute as a sprint so I stand up the hills and blast the descents. 860' elevation gain, lots of hills so it's a great workout. Last Friday - 68 degrees inbound - 29.5 mins. Outbound - 75 degrees, 30 mins. Beautiful scenery, challenging terrain and light traffic makes for a GREAT COMMUTE.
I bring my clothes and work in a backpack, take 15 min. to sponge bathe and it's all good!
I'm riding a 1986 Trek 400 Elance 12 spd..

Yesterday was a true "Pain Fest."
I did a 60 mile fast group ride on Saturday and then Monday I had the nerve to do a full 86 mile commute. The ride in was nice. I hurt a little going over the mountain, but nothing I couldn't deal with. On the way home, I hurt. I hurt real bad. Once I got to the steepest point (20% grade) of my climbing, I had to actually talk myself into pedalling. "Ten more turns. You can do it. OK, another ten and you'll be over the top." What I didn't notice was that someone in a car was following me. Once I got over the climb, I tucked in and zipped down the other side at close to 40mph. (mind you, I had all my gear with me in a backpack as well so I could really pick up some steam downhill). Once I got to the end at a stop sign I hear a car horn. A lady in a red wagon gave me a "thumbs up." I smiled and thanked her and headed on my merry way. I guess she watched me suffer all the way up the climb and back down.

No commute this morning. "The Donger needs sleep."

Your commute was 86 miles? What did you do -- ride to work, turn around and ride back home?

Someone give me some tips on how to get my "green light mojo" back. I've been catching every red light lately. Most of the lights on my route aren't too bad as they change pretty quick or you can make a right turn after slowing. However, there are two lights at big intersections that take 3-4 minutes to cycle through. Lately those two lights have been turning red right when I approach them, every day. It is driving me crazy. Today I left 5 minutes early but still got to work at the usual time because those two lights nabbed me again.

Pretty good morning commute. Bit of a headwind like yesterday. Mid-50s. I saw a few cyclists and herds of squirrels. Oh, and a cat.

Yesterday I had a weird experience with a 4 or 5 early-teens. They were standing around talking, not in my way at all. As I passed, one kid says to another kid, "Watch out." The other kid says, "I don't have to move. $(@* him!" :rolleyes: Snot-nosed little brat. I turned my head around, looked at him, and made an equally immature comment in return, which I won't repeat here. :o

No - it's 43 miles one way for me. I do it a couple times a week when I have the strength.

And as for green light mojo - I ain't got it. Last night traffic signals were turning red for no reason at all. I was cussing and fuming and a couple times people next to me had their windows down.

"WE CAN PUT A MAN INTO ORBIT, BUT A FREAKING TRAFFIC SIGNAL .... BLAH!!!!!"

My commute was 10 minutes longer than expected because I hit like a dozen lights on Franklin Blvd last night.

Nasty rainstorm down here in Fort Lauderdale this morning... by the time I was ready to go, no more rain !


I took my bad weather bike with fenders and fat knobby tires with platform pedals and sneakers for the commute to work .

5 easy miles, and my shoes were DRY the whole time ! WOW !!!!!!!!!


Here are 2 pics of the bike as-is.

http://www.velocide.com/images_old/2...oi_small_1.JPG

http://www.velocide.com/images_old/2...oi_small_2.JPG

It rained last night, and was misting this morning by the rio, so I wore my windbreaker. By the time I was three miles away from the rio however, the mist had stopped and I was getting warm. It was a nice ride.

It was awesome. I left the house when I actually planned, without waking the kids or the wife. My light was fully charged and my handlebars freshly wrapped. I swung by the parking garage and deposited my backpack in my bike locker before heading out on the ARBT for a little lactate threshold work. Managed to set a PR on my out-and-back time trial without totally burying myself, so that's a good sign.

On the way back into the garage, the city parking folks were handing out free coffee and donuts as part of their customer appreciation. And I was interviewed by the local tv station. I tried to talk up the benefits of bike commuting, especially to downtown Sacramento, where we have flat streets, mild weather, and a bike friendly grid.

wet! Also, when I plugged my light into the charger at work, it went into trickle mode, which implies the battery is dead, which it really shouldn't be. But a fun ride, anyway.

For some reason, there were a lot of really stinky cars out on the road today. Lots of exhaust in my lungs this morning.

The stupid cold from over two weeks ago still lingers on. Annoying. Nothing major, but some slight throat discomfort after a ride and a feeling of slight tiredness. Anyone know how to get rid of these stupid germs for good already?

I had something like that this summer, turned out to have morphed into pneumonia. Visit to doc for antibiotics was the solution (hold off on the antibiotics until you see an x-ray though). My hill-climbing greatly improved after that.

I woke up to find the bike splattered with wet cement from the construction crew that was renovating the apartment below mine. When they cleaned up, they must have hosed out their wheelbarrow and accidentally sent a spray in the direction of the bike rack. I was truly beyond pissed. I wiped it down the best I could and rode 4 miles to work. Nice morning, sunny, breezy. My coworkers teased me about going "baja-ing" and mud bogging. I sent an angry fax to my landlord (who had conveniently disabled the tenant complaint section of his website); awaiting reply.

Yes i do, i believe i mentioned it to you a year or so ago? It seems like the whole town is going there also, there are so many people :o

90% chance of rain later in the day when I left this morning. I rode the Fuji expecting to get soaked on the way home. It rained mid day. The ride in was warm.

early ride in today. rode in with my wife. met her on the ride home today, too. means my pace is a lot slower but it's quality time. feels like we're on vacation.

That's possible. I had the vague sense that I asked you that before. Sorry about the repetition. :o

Tell me about it. :)

Wasn't very good today. The weather had caught me off guard and unprepared bike wise. No fenders, and no back rack. On my way I was cut off by a guy in a van and since I am fairly new to clipless pedals I wasn't able to stop suddenly and get unclipped in time. I took a hard dive to the asphalt in the middle of traffic. Scraping up my hands and right knee. The worst was found out when I stopped and work and looked at my phone...the screen was white. My new blackberry 8100 that I have had less than a month. After all of this I got to put in an 8 hour work day and then bike back home.

Called the cell company and my insurance deductible on my phone would be $110...:(