Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Commuting
Reload this Page >

How was the commute today?

Search
Notices
Commuting Bicycle commuting is easier than you think, before you know it, you'll be hooked. Learn the tips, hints, equipment, safety requirements for safely riding your bike to work.

How was the commute today?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 11-04-08, 08:49 AM
  #28401  
Creamy pack filling
 
stevemtbr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Nine Mile Falls, WA
Posts: 710

Bikes: Trek 8000, Co-Motion tandem, Co-motion Espresso, Yeti Cross, 9Zero7 Fat Bike

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Left work as the sun was setting and didn't need the lights until I hit the deep woods. Temps were in the low 40's, great riding weather. Saw a 5 point buck on the trail but I did loose my main light half way throuigh the ride. It's a 15W Nite rider that had the 5 D cell batteries. I've had it since 96 or 97. One of the contacts inside snapped off. When I get bored I'll see if I can fix it. My helmut light is a Princeton Corona that I just got and it works very well. I might just buy one of those for the handle bar light.
stevemtbr is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 09:02 AM
  #28402  
Senior Member
 
Pig_Chaser's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Edmonton, AB
Posts: 1,143

Bikes: '07 Giant OCR3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
brrr, -3 in the city, -10 at my destination. Funny thing is i was colder in the city
Pig_Chaser is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 10:22 AM
  #28403  
DNPAIMFB
 
pinkrobe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Cowtown, AB
Posts: 4,655

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

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
'Twas a bit brisk this morning, but with the time change there's a hint more warmth when I ride in. New batteries in the PBSF, lights on all the way, got to work early.
pinkrobe is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 10:30 AM
  #28404  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Dover, NH USA
Posts: 244

Bikes: 1986 Bridgestone 500, 1981 Motobecane Super Mirage

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Have been commuting less lately, but had to take advantage of a balmy 40* morning [and a high into the 60s today]. Biked to the polls first, which added five miles to the morning ride. Was a toasty 50* by the time I got to the office. Can't complain about that!
LordBass is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 10:30 AM
  #28405  
Member
 
x10dedl1fe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Bay Area, California
Posts: 43

Bikes: 1996 Cannondale Criterium, 2008 Bianchi Via Nirone Ultegra/105

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Cold this morning in the Bay Area with temps of 50F/55F and partly cloudy, however the sun is ripping through the clouds as I speak. Just VOTED! Now getting ready to ride to work!! In the market for a winter/rain shell.
x10dedl1fe is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 11:46 AM
  #28406  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: NOWHERE
Posts: 612

Bikes: noyb

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
One of the main roads I take to/from work is going underwater. There is no other convenient route. Seriously considering the bus if rain continues. Cannot see roadway/bikelane/shoulder/centerline/obstacles/grates...not fun stuff. And that was the good side of the road. However, the bus would truly suck. I'll judge situation on Thursday.
Catgrrl70 is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 11:54 AM
  #28407  
jpdesjar
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Mentioned: Post(s)
Tagged: Thread(s)
Quoted: Post(s)
Originally Posted by Catgrrl70
One of the main roads I take to/from work is going underwater. There is no other convenient route. Seriously considering the bus if rain continues. Cannot see roadway/bikelane/shoulder/centerline/obstacles/grates...not fun stuff. And that was the good side of the road. However, the bus would truly suck. I'll judge situation on Thursday.
bummer about all that rain...i hope it dries up for you soon, if riding the bus is like riding the bus here in portland than you will always have some interesting stories to tell
 
Old 11-04-08, 12:08 PM
  #28408  
Drops small screws
 
noteon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC Metro Area
Posts: 2,604

Bikes: Soma Grand Randonneur, modified Xootr Swift, Trek 1000SL with broken brifter from running it into a hotel porte-cochère

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 4 Times in 3 Posts
I'm still registered to vote at my old address, so I rode 19 miles into Queens, voted, ate, and then rode 13 miles to Wall Street to my day job.

Maybe not the most picturesque commute I've ever had, but one of the more important ones.
__________________
RIDE: Short fiction about bicycles • RUSA #5538
noteon is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 12:28 PM
  #28409  
my legs are carbon
 
thebeatcatcher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Indianapolis
Posts: 159
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Got bit of a late start b/c I went to vote, which took about 45min and my ride was therefore not dark at all.

Lovin the daylight savings, we get the most benefit in IN being on the west end of EST, well at least for the times I'm riding b/c I still make it home before dark.

Now is a really good time to be riding in the midwest. It's a chance to get adjusted to colder temperatures in the morning, and recently we've been rewarded with 70F temps on the way home.


Originally Posted by Doohickie
Another gorgeous morning, and I got a chance to educate a young man on how NOT to do the right hook maneuver.

I pass a high school on the commute, and a kid pulled into the parking lot inches in front of me (and that was with me braking HARD). I followed him to his parking spot and chewed him a new one. I started out a-spittin' and a-sputterin' because I was so mad, but in the end, I said, "Hey, you just can't do that to a bicyclist. Worst case for you, you have a dent in your car. Worst case for me, I'm dead. You could have killed me. Do you want to live with something like that?"
I teach high school, and this year on Ride to Work Day they are getting a lesson on bicycle rules and safety. I'm thinking I might ride my bike into the room, all Fred like. State standards or not (I'll relate a little bit of it to physics or something). I only have 110 students, but I've got to try and do something!

Last edited by thebeatcatcher; 11-04-08 at 01:16 PM.
thebeatcatcher is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 12:34 PM
  #28410  
You gonna eat that?
 
Doohickie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Posts: 14,715

Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 164 Post(s)
Liked 67 Times in 44 Posts
The kid was very apologetic. My own 18-year-old son may have done the same thing, and certainly would have reacted the same way. I'm sure he's a good kid and harbor no ill will toward him, but inexperienced drivers still make mistakes due to the lack of experience. The key is that they learn from them.
__________________
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.


Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
Doohickie is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 03:38 PM
  #28411  
GATC
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: south Puget Sound
Posts: 8,728
Mentioned: 29 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 464 Post(s)
Liked 49 Times in 27 Posts
Didn't come in until noonish, gorgeous sunny day. MUP not visible beneath leaves, no idea where pavement started/ended. Picked up a piece of glass, noticed funny feeling toward end of ride, and rear tire just bottomed out after a bit here in the office. Found that piece of glass, patched hole in tube, hopefully all OK for the rest of the day.
HardyWeinberg is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 03:53 PM
  #28412  
Senior Member
 
caloso's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
Posts: 40,865

Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur

Mentioned: 68 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2952 Post(s)
Liked 3,106 Times in 1,417 Posts
Rode to meet my buddy for our semi-regular training ride (now it's just base miles and chatting), then to work. Left at 11:40 to vote, swung by the house to have a quick lunch with Mrs. Caloso, and then back to the office.
caloso is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 04:10 PM
  #28413  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 52
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I am new to this site and this is my first post. I've been bike commuting for a few years now and try to use cars as little as possible. Just recently I got a new job that was much farther away than I've ever had to commute before, 60 km round trip (I think that's like 37 miles, I live in Canada so don't really deal in miles). I'm in my fifth week commuting now and everything has been going pretty good so far besides one flat tire and a snapped chain. I pretty much decided to join this forum to get some extra motivation on the rainy/snowy days when I don't really feel like riding. As for my commute today, it was pretty standard. Cloudy but no rain which was nice. I got to work a little faster than usual because I took the highway for part of the way (you can take a trail the whole way if you want, but some of it isn't paved). Anyways, hope everyone has good ride home today.
Brett77 is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 05:03 PM
  #28414  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 58
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Nice enough going in (temps in the high 40s, no wind), but nasty coming home (cold, steady rain).
Texasfietser is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 07:21 PM
  #28415  
Belt drive!
 
vtjim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Burlington, Vermont
Posts: 2,614

Bikes: 2011 Trek Soho DLX

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Nice ride home. 50sF (nice for VT) with a tailwind. Reeled in a guy and then eyeballed a woman friend of mine out walking her pug so I stopped and we chatted for a bit. Then I reeled the guy in again. I felt pretty quick, which was nice. Lately I've felt slow.
vtjim is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 07:43 PM
  #28416  
Recovering mentalist
 
Randochap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: On the Edge
Posts: 2,810

Bikes: Too many

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Good going Brett77. That's a pretty good commute, especially as the weather gets colder.

My commute is much shorter. I actually wish it were longer.
Randochap is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 08:43 PM
  #28417  
Gray Haired Commuter
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Corpus Christi, Tx
Posts: 333
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I was really glad to be on the bike this morning. Traffic to the gate (Corpus Christi Naval Air Station) was backed up almost a mile (.9 based on mapmyrun.com). Gee, do I like cruising in 70F weather on a bike, or spending 25 minutes in stop-and-go traffic? Hmmmmmm.
dclaryjr is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 09:15 PM
  #28418  
Senior Member
 
Pig_Chaser's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Edmonton, AB
Posts: 1,143

Bikes: '07 Giant OCR3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Brett77
I am new to this site and this is my first post. I've been bike commuting for a few years now and try to use cars as little as possible. Just recently I got a new job that was much farther away than I've ever had to commute before, 60 km round trip (I think that's like 37 miles, I live in Canada so don't really deal in miles). I'm in my fifth week commuting now and everything has been going pretty good so far besides one flat tire and a snapped chain. I pretty much decided to join this forum to get some extra motivation on the rainy/snowy days when I don't really feel like riding. As for my commute today, it was pretty standard. Cloudy but no rain which was nice. I got to work a little faster than usual because I took the highway for part of the way (you can take a trail the whole way if you want, but some of it isn't paved). Anyways, hope everyone has good ride home today.
Welcome to the forums Brett. 60km RT is getting pretty long alright, how many days a week are you doing it?
Pig_Chaser is offline  
Old 11-04-08, 09:53 PM
  #28419  
Senior Member
 
777arty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Detroit
Posts: 61

Bikes: kona smoke, POS Heinz 57

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
went to vote. no problem. good ride, in and out, quick.

on the way to work... ugh. feeling sore form yesterday's crash. no problem, i was slow, but used the time to enjoy the good weather we're having here in MI.

on the way home in the dark (experimenting with a new route for DST) i was flying. everything clicked. legs did their thing, lungs pumpin' fine. it was awesome.

'still need to work on the headlight. i thought 120 lumen was good enough. wrong. (pro'lly going P7... ?)

oh, and i was buzzed by a white ford dualie (sp?). way too close, with those mirrors. i picked up the pace to catch him at the red, but just missed 'em. *******. (okay, i feel better now. )

P.S. EDIT
heh, and i just learned of the auto asterisks for //bad// words here at BF... sry, i didn't think //bass tard// was bad. (i was trying to keep it clean.)

all good.

Last edited by 777arty; 11-04-08 at 10:02 PM.
777arty is offline  
Old 11-05-08, 06:19 AM
  #28420  
RustyTainte
 
substructure's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: 28012
Posts: 12,340

Bikes: zilch

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I've been fighting something. A cold or whatever. But today was the only day I could commute with everything going on. I was in the rain for half of the 43 miles into work. And my energy just sucked.

Hopefully I can feel better on the way home. I'll be fighting a stinking headwind. Cripes.

Oh ... but not to sound all grumpy. Halfway in, the roads dried up and the air seemed cool and pleasant. I just wish I felt better to enjoy it.
substructure is offline  
Old 11-05-08, 07:41 AM
  #28421  
Fat Guy Rolling
 
dcrowell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Louisville Kentucky
Posts: 2,434

Bikes: Bacchetta Agio, 80s Raleigh Record single-speed, Surly Big Dummy

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I only did a partial commute this morning. I was up too late drinking beer last night, and felt dried out this morning. Blech.

When I got to the bridge, traffic was backed up, and since I was not on my recumbent I rode the sidewalk across the bridge.... will BF forgive me?
dcrowell is offline  
Old 11-05-08, 07:48 AM
  #28422  
Senior Member
 
Thomas Brock's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Jacksonville, NC
Posts: 189

Bikes: 2007 Trek 7.3FX

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Ride in was slow, as I was up too late.

But, it was a good ride.
Thomas Brock is offline  
Old 11-05-08, 07:51 AM
  #28423  
Belt drive!
 
vtjim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Burlington, Vermont
Posts: 2,614

Bikes: 2011 Trek Soho DLX

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Also up too late. Slow. Feeling a bit rough. Temps in the upper 40s. Light headwind.
vtjim is offline  
Old 11-05-08, 08:04 AM
  #28424  
jpdesjar
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Mentioned: Post(s)
Tagged: Thread(s)
Quoted: Post(s)
warmish ride in and i wanted to just keep riding past my office...i had to dry off using paper towels today because i forgot to bring my towel down to the locker room with me so i dried quickly using paper towels and then dressed and ran upstairs to grab my real towel, by the time i got back to the locker room i had pretty much air dried...it was pretty funny actually
 
Old 11-05-08, 08:20 AM
  #28425  
Senior Member
 
SouthFLpix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 1,230

Bikes: 2007 Giant Cypress DX, Windsor Tourist 2011

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 24 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I was at an election party last night and had quite a few drinks. As a result, I woke up 40 minutes late (had to skip breakfast) and feeling pretty dehydrated. I had a huge temptation to take the car, but I toughed it out and rode the bike. I feel fine now, if a bit dehydrated and hungry. Can't wait for lunch.
SouthFLpix is offline  


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.