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How was the commute today?

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Old 05-07-08 | 08:44 PM
  #24201  
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From: south jersey
WOW!!!
why did i see 0.0 (zero) other commuters? a perfect 22.0 mile ride!
sunny, temp 65 - 80 deg, low humidity, wind was a non-issue... i hope i still am planting seeds, hopefull to see some fruit shortly as gas prices climb past $4.00/gal.
my commute was wonderfull, thank you for asking!
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Old 05-07-08 | 09:27 PM
  #24202  
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From: Becket, MA
a great day but...

biked over to another location for work and on the way back to my office had a little disagreement with a driver.

Sorry but sometimes I've just got to say what's on my mind- like, "You got far." to a guy that just blew his horn for half a block to move people out of his way then cut in close behind me and whipped by me only to jam his brakes on at the light in 50 feet.

This complete ass had his window open. It was so nice to pull up right next to him and look him right in the eye. what an aggressive boob this jerk was. We exchanged some pleasantries.

fortunately, my ride home was incident free and quite nice along the river at night- lots of rabbits and hawks tonight. my allergy is totally kicked in- sneezing like a fiend and eyes tearing up.
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Old 05-07-08 | 11:24 PM
  #24203  
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Had a great ride in this morning and had a few hours of working outside before it started raining... there was some light rain on the way home and some good sized puddles but old English bikes thrive in this kind of weather and I stayed pretty dry.
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Old 05-08-08 | 02:34 AM
  #24204  
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From: Sydney, Australia

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

my commute home was a bit slow to start with - I was in a different part of the city, and had to get across the CBD to get to my normal route. I don't know the short-cuts and back alleys in that bit of town, so it was slow going through unusally heavy traffic.

Then a bit further on the police had closed loads of roads (around Pyrmont) - dozens of squad cars, redirected traffic, tape across the street and so on. Dont know what was occuring. They didn't seem to be stopping pedestrians or bikes though, so I was able to take my normal route, albeit a bit slower then usual. I guess this may have been part of the cause of the traffic hold-ups in the city.

All in all a rather frustrating ride home!
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Old 05-08-08 | 05:49 AM
  #24205  
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From: Highland Park, NJ, USA

Bikes: "Hildy", a Novara Randonee touring bike; a 16-speed Bike Friday Tikit; and a Specialized Stumpjumper frame-based built-up MTB, now serving as the kid-carrier, grocery-getter.

Bike/train commute this morning, with the bonus that rhm met me at the train station so I could try out his Downtube Mini. I've been looking to get a folding bike, and have narrowed it down to either a Dahon Curve SL or a Downtube Mini. Riding the Mini has made this a much harder choice.
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Old 05-08-08 | 05:56 AM
  #24206  
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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

It's starting to feel like summer coming on in NC. Warm and humid this morning with temp in the mid-60s. Wore a short-sleeve jersey with no arm-warmers for the first time in a while (for morning), but did wear my vest for visibility. I was very sweaty by the time I got to work, probably from the vest but I am reluctant to quit wearing it in mornings because the neon yellow stands out so well in traffic.
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Old 05-08-08 | 06:02 AM
  #24207  
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Good ride this morning, a little rain was falling from the sky so I wore my bright yellow cycling cape, I love wearing it because people can see me well and I feel like a super hero.
Spotted one other commuter and we exchanged friendly waves with me looking like big bird or something.
I wished it was raining a little harder but it felt good to be out in the warm wet air just the same.

 
Old 05-08-08 | 06:22 AM
  #24208  
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From: Burlington, Vermont

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Black clouds of tiny insects! All I can say is I'm glad I have riding glasses and wasn't pushing, so I could breath with my mouth closed. I took off my jersey at work and in the mirror I saw several of the bugs, dead, on my back! Yuck!

Nice ride though. 60F and broken clouds with a bit of a headwind. Things are greening up nicely. Only saw two cyclists, and they were heading the other way.
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Old 05-08-08 | 07:56 AM
  #24209  
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From: Edmonton, AB

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Last night i was caught in the rain without my rain gear... actually quite fun

This morning there was a hellacious wind, but as luck would have it, this was one of the few times it was at my back. I was cruzing at 50kph for some sections.
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Old 05-08-08 | 08:26 AM
  #24210  
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From: Minnesota

Bikes: Early 1980's Ishiwata 022 steel sport/touring, 1986 Vitus 979, 1988 DiamondBack Apex, 1997 Softride PowerWing 700, 2001 Trek OCLV 110

Beautiful morning - sunny, mid-40's and just a light breeze. The only bad thiing was I had my first flat of the year. Small shard of glass punctured on the shoulder of the tire probably just outside the kevlar belt.
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Old 05-08-08 | 08:28 AM
  #24211  
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From: Cowtown, AB

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

Rain turning to sleet turning to snow today. The temperature is supposed to fall from +6C to +1C over the course of the day. Oh, and I switched to 53x18 last night.
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Old 05-08-08 | 08:56 AM
  #24212  
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From: Michigan

Bikes: Windsor Fens, Giant Seek 0 (2014, Alfine 8 + discs)

On the way home Tuesday I saw FIVE other commuters (not roadies). I don't think I saw 5 commuters all of last year. Here in SE Michigan, land of the car, if you're not driving you're nobody, so I didn't think even $10/gal gas would put people on bikes, but apparently it will work for some people.

Great riding lately. Nice weather.

One bad note; this morning a coworker who I had gotten excited about bike commuting, and who went out and spent about 3x more than I did on a nice Trek, had a clip-out failure, fell over and sprained her knee. She's at the ER now getting MRIs. I don't think this will put her off cycling but it may take her out of the saddle for a few months.
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Old 05-08-08 | 09:38 AM
  #24213  
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From: south Puget Sound
sunny, windy, brisk <40F. I closed my pitzips, 1st time since its risen above the 20sF.
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Old 05-08-08 | 09:45 AM
  #24214  
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From: Monument, Colorado
Nice and dry, perfect weather, good ride! 50% chance of thunderstorms on the way home, we will see if my luck holds. Got soaked both ways yesterday, so it was nice to ride on dry pavement. Bike is a mess from riding in the soup yesterday, filthy, brakes squealing, it will require some attention this weekend.
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Old 05-08-08 | 10:42 AM
  #24215  
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From: Mid-Michigan

Bikes: '04 Cannondale F300, '92 Park Pre Rigid MTB

Chilly, I wish it'd friggin warm up here in Michigan. It was a nice ride in, light traffic, moderate wind in my face (which is fine since it should, in theory, be at my back on the way home).

I discovered another person commuting to work today. He had his bike in the locker room. Turns out he's started doing it about every other day, 20 mile round trip commute. He asked quite a few questions since he's still on basic gear (bike, no lights, no bright clothing, backpack, etc). I'm just glad to see someone else is riding in
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Old 05-08-08 | 10:52 AM
  #24216  
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From: Highland Park, NJ, USA

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Originally Posted by TJohn
Nice days lately but traffic in the afternoon's has been absolutely horrible!! So many cars. And what's up with people that slow down right behind you and don't pass even when there is no one coming the other way and plenty of room to pass in the first place??? Do you all just keep going as nothing is wrong or what LOL
I wave them around me when its safe for them to pass. Some of them give me a friendly short beep on the horn.
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Old 05-08-08 | 11:12 AM
  #24217  
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Seems to be a few more bike commuters out there lately. Unfortunately, most the new riders seem to be on the wrong side of the road or the sidewalk but I just can't work up the energy to yell at them. It's getting to be too much work to determine if I should yell "On the right!" "Por la derecha!" or "На права!"
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Old 05-08-08 | 02:16 PM
  #24218  
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From: Shelby Twp, MI

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Originally Posted by ItsJustMe
On the way home Tuesday I saw FIVE other commuters (not roadies). I don't think I saw 5 commuters all of last year. Here in SE Michigan, land of the car, if you're not driving you're nobody, so I didn't think even $10/gal gas would put people on bikes, but apparently it will work for some people.
I've noticed this too (Royal Oak area). Even caught a guy in a full blown suit recently. It's nice to see.

The weather around here's been schizophrenic lately to no surprise. Typical Michigan. Cold ride this morning with leg and arm warmers. Looks to be sunny and marginally warm for the commute home.

Had a very mild situation with a driver today, but it was my first. He got impatient and drove inches from my rear tire waiting to pass. I'm glad I got a mirror so I could keep a safe eye on him. He passed pretty close but no hostility or awkward back-and-forth. I gave him a good stare-down, though. TAKE THAT!
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Old 05-08-08 | 02:54 PM
  #24219  
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From: Denver, CO

Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker, Nishiki Century (frame only for now), Costco mountain bike

The ride in was beautiful, I felt like I could have ridden 100 miles.

I was really tired and had a long day, I was almost considering taking the bus, when a friend walked in sweaty, breathing hard and wearing a camellbak, he proudly announced that he had "Pulled a Robin" by
riding his bike. Skipped the bus and rode home, obviously.
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Old 05-08-08 | 02:56 PM
  #24220  
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From: south Puget Sound
Originally Posted by caloso
It's getting to be too much work to determine if I should yell "On the right!" "Por la derecha!" or "На права!"
Plus they're weaving until (and while) you catch them so you don't know if you're going on their left or right until you get there...
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Old 05-08-08 | 06:19 PM
  #24221  
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From: central ohio

Bikes: 96 gary fisher 'utopia' : 99 Softride 'Norwester'(for sale), 1972 Raleigh Twenty. Surly 1x1 converted to 1x8, 96 Turner Burner

Had to ride in the rain today. No big deal. I have the gear. Nice steady drizzle.
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Old 05-08-08 | 10:04 PM
  #24222  
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From: Becket, MA
The first real warm spring night brought out the Bostonians that have spent a winter closeted in homes and apartments not moving their bodies much more than a few feet to go from the sofa to the refrigerator. They all come out onto the bike path with their pasty, white, doughy bodies and run and walk and ride their bikes and roller blades that haven't seen the light of day in 9 months. They struggle along drifting from side to side on the path. It's a painful thing to witness. Suddenly the bike path is a paradigm of their own bodies- a long clogged artery. I felt like a dose of Lipitor dodging the wads of grease and fat that move slowly through their bloodstream.

In a month or two they'll all be brown as berries, fit as fiddles and ready to crawl back into their holes on the first cold rainy day in September.

But in the bike path's favor I found out I dodged a bullet by taking the bike path in this morning when a truck careened out of control on my streets route and took out about 10 cars eventually coming to a stop in a ball of flames.

All in all it was still a pretty good commute. Even though one of the joggers, who was hacking and wheezing as I approached, turned and hocked a good lunga right onto my arm as I passed. And those four college age women, doing their best "Lindsay Lohan just out of rehab impression", who walked side by side completely blocking the path refusing to move for anyone who tried to pass- well, what can I say...

spring is here, sky is blue, birds all sing, as if they knew...
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Old 05-08-08 | 10:09 PM
  #24223  
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T'was a really nice day if you forget the headwind in and the headwind out...

My Trek 7500 has more gears than any other bike I own (16) so with that and the drop bars making time into the wind is not a big deal.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice and I figure I'll saddle up one of the fixed gears since they haven't been getting enough lovin' of late.
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Old 05-08-08 | 10:32 PM
  #24224  
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From: melbourne

Bikes: gaint crx 2 2007

Very tired this week its tghe first week of my new job thus a 71km daily trip for me.

Finshed at 9 last night then back in for 9 this morning meant very little down time 350km so far and 1 more day to go totalling 420km in commutes alone this week wohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ill be losing my belly at this rate (i hope)
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Old 05-09-08 | 05:31 AM
  #24225  
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From: Highland Park, NJ, USA

Bikes: "Hildy", a Novara Randonee touring bike; a 16-speed Bike Friday Tikit; and a Specialized Stumpjumper frame-based built-up MTB, now serving as the kid-carrier, grocery-getter.

Just barely made the train. I sit down and pull my rain jacket open and the jacket tears alongside the velcro closure. (The thing is already held together by duct tape, so time for a new one.)
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