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How was the commute today?

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Old 10-24-07 | 09:57 AM
  #21651  
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Joined: Dec 2006
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From: Woodstock, GA

Bikes: 2006 Specialized Langster Comp, 2005 Schwinn DBX Super Sport, 2004 Trek 5900 Superlight

Depressing. Last night coming home, my borrowed HID flooded with water and failed, my taillight started to flood and was malfunctioning and I broke another spoke on a wheel that I just had a spoke replaced earlier that day. We got about 2 inches of rain during my commute home and another 1/2" this morning on the way in. The wife and I got all my lights fixed last night and this morning I notice water around the button area of the Niterider HID. I guess I'll have to wrap them in plastic wrap???
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Old 10-24-07 | 10:09 AM
  #21652  
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From: SoCal
I forgot to bring a shirt to change into. Fortunately I'm wearing a t-shirt and not a jersey.
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Old 10-24-07 | 10:22 AM
  #21653  
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Riding For My Life
 
Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Perham, Maine

Bikes: Trek1000

Thanks jyossarian, I feel generally better today, but I have even more sore places now. Upon examining my helmet I discovered I did hit my head hard enough to break the helmet. It's no wonder then that I felt kind of light headed and not myself yesterday. Today is better. I hope my LBS can get my bike back together quickly. I don't want to miss too many days outside. Keep an eye out for loose dogs!
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Old 10-24-07 | 01:39 PM
  #21654  
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Toronto, ON
WHY would people pass me on the right to immediately make a left turn? How perverted is that?
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Old 10-24-07 | 02:08 PM
  #21655  
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From: SoCal
Originally Posted by vtjim
Ride home: Soaking wet! Wow. Wettest this year. Guess I rode through a squall line or something. Deluge of rain, falling horizontally with a howling headwind.
Send the rain to SoCal. We could use it to help in slowing down all the wildfires.
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Old 10-24-07 | 02:42 PM
  #21656  
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I nailed a car today on the way home
It turned across my path
Left a nice dent on the rear Quater (knee) and left some paint on her car
At the red light I was cruising up the inside and the light went green
And she turned
I saw no Indactor but the good thing was Her priority was me
The police tell me its her fault
so atleast I wont be up for the damage
O'
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Old 10-24-07 | 02:58 PM
  #21657  
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Ride 365
 
Joined: Nov 2004
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From: NYC/UpperDutchess, NY

Bikes: '06 Cannondale Six 13 Pro 2, '05 Specialized Allez Elite, '04 Jamis Satellite, 90's Raleigh M-45 single speed conversion, 80's Fuji Team single speed conversion, 70's Schwinn World Sport

Riding to work on the ss mtn conversion. I stop at a light.

A homeless guy starts yelling at me. "HEY! HEY! HEEEEEY!!!!" uh oh, I think. He's going to hit me up for $$

"Is that a fixed gear?" he says...

?!?! "Uh... no... It's a singlespeed conversion on a freewheel. See? You can coast..."

"Oh, that's cool. My ride is over there..." He points to an old road bike covered with bags and bags of stuff, cans, bottles, stuff.

"Ah, nice..."

"So hey man, you got any change?" He asks. I didn't.

"No sorry, I don't."

"Ok.... Have a good ride..."

"Yeah, you too."
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Old 10-24-07 | 08:27 PM
  #21658  
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----
 
Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Becket, MA
a little bit of rain on the ride home.

not even enough to put on my rain gear, which I was smart enough to bring with me today.

The Red Sox are playing in that same rain. It looks like it's not stopping them either.
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Old 10-24-07 | 09:35 PM
  #21659  
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Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Sydney, Australia

Bikes: 80's peugeot. Somewhat knackered. Lovely new Salsa Casseroll singlespeed.

There's been a lot going on in here! To all those people who have variously been rear-ended, have hit cars, broken spokes and had dog trouble - well, my commiserations and get well soon!

nmanhipot, I had to wrap my rear light as water kept getting in, no matter what I did. I ended up putting it in a clear plastic bag, pulled tight with an elastic band holding the bag on behind. It doesn't look pretty, but it works. Good job too, as it was raining on the way home last night, and still wet this morning. I've booked the bike into the LBS for a service tomorrow, so if it's still raining they're going to get a pretty grubby machine to work on!
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Old 10-24-07 | 10:23 PM
  #21660  
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newbie
 
Joined: Oct 2007
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From: Vancouver BC

Bikes: lemond poprad 2006, old tomassa road bike

I was lame car person today and yesterday. Tomorrow I will ride!
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Old 10-24-07 | 11:25 PM
  #21661  
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member
 
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From: Brooklyn

Bikes: '05 Fuji Silhouette, '06 Specialized Tarmac Comp, '06 Bianchi Pista

Had my first rain commute tonight where I stepped out when it was already raining. After the downpour last week I went and bought some neoprene Endura booties which helped tremendously. Felt great to ride in the rain not having soaked feet.
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Old 10-25-07 | 03:07 AM
  #21662  
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I was riding home late tonight from a midterm review session and towards the end I decided to mix it up and take a shortcut. The road I took is narrow and lined with parked cars, but quiet.

As I am approaching the intersection where the road ends, I see a methhead-looking guy on a s***** full suspension bike turn right onto the street I am on, followed by a car. As I am about to pass the guy on the bike, he swerves in front of me and keeps chugging along, forcing me to slam on my brake and cut narrowly between him and the car. I guess he felt insecure being in front of a car or something, but come on- there was just enough room for me to get past the car and the parked cars.

I yelled out "watch the **** out man, you almost crashed into me!" and went on my way. The tweaker proceeded to turn around and try to catch up to me while calling me all sorts of names not fit to print, but I guess I was too fast for him, so he stopped on the corner and shouted "Come back ******! I'll f*** you up!" I was really, really tempted to turn around and do some DIY dentistry on the guy with my u-lock, but I thought better of it. Ruined the rest of my ride home though.
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Old 10-25-07 | 05:24 AM
  #21663  
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Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Kitchener, Ontario
Beautiful morning er night as it's still dark at 6:30am. Full moon was out, the stars were shining and most cars kept well away from me.
(3°C) Time to buy some winter boots.

I realized yesterday that it takes a lot more effort to ride from work in 24 minutes vs 30. That six minutes is the difference between relaxing and coasting a lot and coming home winded and soaked with sweat. Needless to say, after my epiphany I will be doing a lot more relaxed riding
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Old 10-25-07 | 05:54 AM
  #21664  
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From: Charlottesville, Virginia

Bikes: Trek 830 mountain bike

Left a little early this morning cause I thought I might catch part of a rainshower, I was right. My first time riding in the rain. I actually got here in a shorter amount of time, but I needed the extra time to shower/blow dry my hair. Didn't get soaked, but pretty wet. Saw a guy coming in from the garage where I park my bike who said he was also a cyclist and told me I should ride the MS 150 next year. Never even thought about riding that far, but it was good to meet another rider.

Now it looks like the apocalypse outside. I hope it doesn't pour on the way home. I can't imagine afternoon traffic plus terrible weather, ha.
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Old 10-25-07 | 05:57 AM
  #21665  
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Joined: May 2007
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From: Raleigh, NC

Bikes: Waterford RST-22, Bob Jackson World Tour, Ritchey Breakaway Cross, Soma Saga, De Bernardi SL, Specialized Sequoia

Looks like this will be the first week I haven't bike commuted since April. I've been averaging 3-4 days per week riding but events conspired against me this week. First, I had to take Monday off for a colonoscopy, and the doctor recommended no vigorous activity, or operating equipment afterwards. Tuesday and Wednesday I had to travel out of town for a meeting. Meanwhile it finally started raining in NC after months and months of drought. It rained all day yesterday with more of the same expected today and tomorrow. I hate riding in the rain and don't have the right rain gear, fenders, etc., so I'll be driving until it dries out. I had ridden 16 out of the past 20 work days until this week. Call me a wuss, but I don't like biking in the rain.
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Old 10-25-07 | 06:43 AM
  #21666  
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Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Sydney, Australia

Bikes: 80's peugeot. Somewhat knackered. Lovely new Salsa Casseroll singlespeed.

Seems like there's rain everywhere! The ride home tonight was wet, but luckily I missed the real downpour / thunderstorms which came after I got in.

I've been taking it easy lately as my knee has been twinging slightly since I did a longish ride at the weekend. It's my own fault; I know my cleat needed adjusting because it wasn't quite right (I had taken it off and replaced it), but did 75km without bothering to sort it out. It always amazes me how a few millimetres can make a difference to how the pedals feel, even with cleats which supposedly have 8 deg of float.
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Old 10-25-07 | 06:58 AM
  #21667  
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From: Burlington, Vermont

Bikes: 2011 Trek Soho DLX

Originally Posted by pirate
I was really, really tempted to turn around and do some DIY dentistry on the guy with my u-lock, but I thought better of it.
I always thought it was funnier & more deflating just to outrun the person. "You want a piece? Catch me! Oh, you can't? Too bad!"

Niiiiiice ride this morning. Low 30s. Light-to-nonexistent tailwind. Sunrise making the sky sort of orange. I heard a really weird noise in the sky while I was riding through woods, then once I got next to Lake Champlain and could see up, I saw a hot air balloon. Cool! Passed one woman on a bike, and saw two other riders going the other way. I wonder how cold it'll get before I'm the only one out there again.
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Old 10-25-07 | 07:10 AM
  #21668  
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Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Calgary

Bikes: '04 Kona Fire Mountain

Snowed last night. No accumulation on roads, some slippery spots but that was it. Chilly zero degrees.
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Old 10-25-07 | 07:39 AM
  #21669  
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From: In the 212

Bikes: Haro Vector, IRO Rob Roy, Bianchi Veloce

Wet roads make barely tolerable drivers into barely human drivers. It was hardly drizzling and yet drivers felt it was their duty to block intersections, accelerate into stopped traffic and weave all over the place w/o regard for themselves or others. I had one guy forcibly share my lane, then speed up and cut me off just so he could stop to make a right. I passed him on the left and yelled in his open window, "Watch where you're goin'!!!" and then squeezed through two extremely tight spots between various moving buses and trucks to emphasize my annoyance. And when I say tight, they were really tight. That's how annoyed I was.
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Old 10-25-07 | 09:06 AM
  #21670  
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From: Cowtown, AB

Bikes: Titus El Guapo, Misfit diSSent, Cervelo Soloist Carbon, Wabi Lightning, et al.

It snowed last night. As Wulfheir said, there was no accumulation on the roads. My handlebars and tires had a nice coating of crusty ice/snow that wouldn't brush off. I rode through a couple off puddles, which helped get the ice off the tires. The disc brakes worked exactly the same as always, even though they had some ice in them - this bodes well for the winter months ahead.

There were only a couple of JAMs on the way in. A Mercedes minivan was scooting through traffic like a... JAM. He cut me off just as we were coming into downtown, but never made it more than 1 lane and a couple of car lengths away from me. I still caught and passed him by the time I got to my building. ******bag!
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Old 10-25-07 | 09:49 AM
  #21671  
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Bikes: ANT Club Racer, 2004 Trek 520

About two miles from work, I wound up drafting behind a schoolbus. The kid sitting in the back looked over, saw me and made a funny face. I stuck my tongue at him. He did the ear waggle thing and then turned around and yelled something at his friends. Suddenly a whole cluster of anklebiters were running up to the back window, clapping and making V signs with their fingers, while I made faces, did brief stints of riding hands free or reached down and strobed my headlights at them.

That was fun.
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Old 10-25-07 | 09:53 AM
  #21672  
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Joined: May 2007
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From: Brooklyn, NY

Bikes: Calfee Tetra Pro, Independent Fabrication Crown Jewel (steel), Pake Fixed/SS, Dahon Helios SL, Trek 8900

Originally Posted by jyossarian
I had one guy forcibly share my lane, then speed up and cut me off just so he could stop to make a right.
Ride safe dude. I would have emptied my bottle of Air Zound in this kind of occasions. They usually stop after a couple of blast. If they don't, well, you will see me pumping up the Zound with my frame pump around the corner at the next light I also have my front and rear light on blinking mode during the day. The majority of drivers give me noticeable more room than without lights.
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Old 10-25-07 | 10:43 AM
  #21673  
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Neat - w/ ice on the side
 
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From: Big Ring. Little Cog.

Bikes: 2005 Dahon Speed TR, 2006 Dahon Mu SL, 2000 GT XiZang, 1999ish Rock Lobster, 2007 Dean Animas CTI

Originally Posted by owenh
I nailed a car today on the way home
It turned across my path
Left a nice dent on the rear Quater (knee) and left some paint on her car
At the red light I was cruising up the inside and the light went green
And she turned
I saw no Indactor but the good thing was Her priority was me
The police tell me its her fault
so atleast I wont be up for the damage
O'
You are ok right, O?
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Old 10-25-07 | 10:45 AM
  #21674  
GATC
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: south Puget Sound
schedule crunch led to driving today. Still put 2 yr old into trailer and biked w/ her and 6 yr old on his own bike to his school before switching her to car to get to her daycare. Will do the reverse at retrieval time.
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Old 10-25-07 | 11:14 AM
  #21675  
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Viking Warrior
 
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 224
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From: Bristol, CT

Bikes: 60's SpaceLiner, 60's Ross Futura, 60's Sears spyder, 70's Zebrakenko, 98 Ross Chimera Hybrid, 90's Schwinn Frontier, and ThunderHorse, my trusty mountain steed, also my gf's 64 Schwinn ladies cruiser and her purple lowrider are at my disposal.

On my ride back to the office after having lunch at home I was hammering and once I reached the crest of a modest incline downtown I tried to shift up to fly down the other side. I am riding my 70's Zebrakenko Storm (nicknamed "Kaminari" or "Storm of the Gods" in Japanese, thanks to the help of a friend living in Japan). The FD is a bit touchy sometimes and today I overshot it and threw my chain, my pedals suddenly spinning freely beneath me. I was right by a bus stop hub downtown full of people, so to save face, instead of stopping to fix it I just quickly readjusted my posture after a slight wobble and coasted the next two blocks downhill to my office. I then walked into the office with the chain still hanging limply from the frame.
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