Commute Blog
https://www.bike4more.com

50 Degrees, very little traffic.

there's a Malta that's not in Europe?

Coolish today (40sF). 60sF yesterday pm felt cooler than usual to me. My body must be reaching summer faster than the freaking weather.

My commute is always great... here is quick vid of the waves splasing up on the path when I am going from north chicago to downtown.

VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUNcWE7cI1k

I love commuting.

Last year I was almost knocked off my bike (actually, I did get knocked off but managed to jump back on!)by a wave while going around that bend further south.

The day you made that video, going home around the bend I hugged the wall and a giant wave crashed over. I was far enough up that the wave missed me but flooded the entire path up to my pedals. Learned my lesson from last time.

Its an adventure sometimes.

YUP... But you gotta love this city.

Crashed this morning, slid out on gravel while about to pass an oncoming cyclist. Wrist hurts. Bah.

Ah damn... sorry duder.

if it makes you feel any better I t-boned a car yesterday. Took a right when I was right next to the car. No blinker or brake light. I was in the bike lane too.

Try to shake it off buddy.

There seem to be many more commuters on the ARBT this week. Always good to see. But not always good to hear: I must have passed half a dozen riders with dry chains or rubbing deraillers.

70deg, clear skies, barely any wind, bike all tuned up, iPod charged up; oh man it's going to be a good day today.

So is that 3 riders down in the last two days? And LanceW, doesn't sound like you T-boned anything - sounds like you got right hooked instead...

Heal up fast, guys - and stay safe...

Thanks a lot for the tips on sore knees, or in this case one sore knee on the driveside.
Perhaps a new saddle will change my pedal stroke a bit?

Morning was cold. 47 F ! Whatever happened to Summer But otherwise a very pleasant commute. I was feeling strong, hammered at a good speed. Tried to consciously spin the legs instead of just hammering the down-strokes. Only gained like 5-6 minutes on my over all time, but what the heck ! I felt good about it Had a nice 3 course lunch at my Boss's farewell party (yea, he is leaving today). It is 75 degrees now, and feeling good about riding back home ! Lets see.

You listen to music while biking? I'm under the impression that our hearing is very very useful/crucial for avoiding cars etc... unless you ride a car-free route.

+1
I don't think it is the best idea, I need to have all of my senses engaged in order to be the most aware.
No tunes for me just the sounds of the environment.

It's getting warmer again! I had to ditch the jacket for a long-sleeve jersey today. I fixed my brakes last night so I can stop again.

There goes the excuse for biking past the office in the am.

Beautiful morning; over-dressed; lots of riders on the trail (yuck); extremely busy at work so finally reading this forum; leaving work in 10 minutes. Can't wait to get back on the trail! P.S. Love the video of lakeshore ride in Chicago.

My commute today was poopy! 40 mph winds--sustained--with gusts up to 55 and a brown sky. Half the time I was struggling in FIRST GEAR.

There's one in Upstate New York. I grew up a bit down the road from it.

My commute today was good. I rode through a snarly car jam in the morning and had a good quarter mile up Ridge from Granville (for those playing along in Chicago) all to myself. I was also early leaving the house, and there were fewer people getting into and out of cars, so while I didn't know the schedule of which blocks would be clear of parking, I did have better odds of not getting doored on my birthday.

Coming home was sad. I rode to the LBS (Uptown Bikes) to drop the new bike off for a 30-day checkup. Walking home was weird.

All these speeds are making me want a speedometer...
Nice ride home. Uneventful. Warn 23C. Not too bad winds.

Today was another wierd one! Went out to the bus stop to catch my connection ride to the trolley. As the bus rounded the corner there were already two bikes in the rack, with a friendly wave the bus drove by. This connection is important as it leaves me stranded 60 miles from home if I miss it.

I jumped on the bike and set out to the trolley station some 7 miles away. Much to my surprise I not only made the trolley, but I beat the bus.... Once on the trolley I was feeling pretty proud of my acomplishment till I suddenly noticed I had jumped on the wrong trolley (again)... With a quick departure I managed to get on the right trolley and made the connection with the train.

I elected to try a new route today (16 miles) from Fallbrook to Temecula. The route was totally hills. Not the fun short one's but the 7 miles of gradual grade that leaves to talking to road signs and fire hydrants.

Once in Temecula I came across some guys stealing gas which resulted in a call to 911, and a wait for the local cops....

All in a day!

Commute was great in the morning. I tried out a new route and I like it much better. I eliminated one big hill and the ride was so much smoother. The 7 mile commute to work only took 27 minutes.
Coming home was a little tougher. I had a slight head wind, about 15 mph. It was only in the mid 80s though. A lot more traffic though. It's also more uphill. It took 45 minutes. At one point in the ride there are three lanes. I'm in the far right lane, owning my lane. Some old jackass comes right up on my ass and lays on the horn and passes my by mere inches and then gives me the finger. Normally I have been just ignoring this kind of ignorant behavior. In this case though I was really pissed, so I returned the gesture. Then I caught up to him at the light. I pulled right up close next to his window, and I'm talking close. He was white as a ghost. He wasn't expecting that at all. He had his window down. I didn't say a word, but I stared right at him until the light turned green. He wouldn't even look me in the face.

Oh and on Tuesday a kid threw an empty soda can at me. I caught it after it bounced off of my face and I caught him at the light and politely tossed it right back into the bed of his truck. He couldn't have been more than 16 years old. I probably had 100lbs on the kid, and I could tell he was a little frightened.

I know that I ought to try and turn the other cheek, and I usually do. But on these two instances I was pretty mad and my anger got the better of me.

Not commuting tomorrow. We're going out of town. My daughter is turning 1 and we're having her birthday party in our home town (125 miles away) since all of our family lives there. I just want to get home quick so I can cash my check and beat the traffic out of town. I will definitely be resuming on Monday.

I have it on a medium-volume level in one ear. The other ear is uncovered. I can still hear every squeak and noise, but I like to hear some tunes in the background.

My route to work is fairly car-light, and yes I do pause it when I'm riding downtown or somewhere with heavy traffic/construction.

After 10 years of doing it on motorcycle and bicycle, it hasn't been a problem yet. Heck, I used to have to flip tape over on-route. lol

Just rounded out my first full week of commuting. It is a shade under 6 miles each way, and it really is pretty easy from a traffic standpoint. The ride to work in the morning is made somewhat difficult because for all intents and purposes i'm riding slightly uphill for the whole trip, but it is totally worth it because it is just enough of a slope to make the ride home easy and a ton of fun. and then there's the occasional d-bag driver to liven it up.

this morning, for example, I came to the fork in the road where i typically veer left. i signaled and had taken the lane quite well (if i do say so myself). That, however, didn't stop this little audi from zipping around me on my left then cutting back across to the right to veer the other direction. He not only almost took me down by clipping first my elbow on the way past and then my front wheel with his back bumper, he then just about hoppped the curb in the middle of the veer and nailed the car sitting at the stop sign.