New commuter, saying hello
 

Hey all, fairly new to the forum so wanted to say hi. Just started commuting by bike a couple months ago, I'm pretty lucky to have an easy ride in (weather not withstanding). A mostly flat, 6.2 miles ride each way lets me relax before and after work. Started out aiming to just bike in once or twice a week but realized it's way more fun than driving so now I'm usually biking 3 or 4 days.

Since I've noticed other new guys sharing their roadie stories I suppose I should share mine as well. I'm leaving work from my 3rd or 4th time commuting by bike and I come to the red light leaving our industrial complex. After stopping another biker pulls up next to me at the light on a road bike, at the time I was riding my MTB because it's all I owned. After chatting for a few minutes about our routes home, the light turns green. I tell him "go ahead, you're probably going to smoke me", since he appears to have been riding a while and has a road bike. He simply smiles and says "Yep" and pedals through the intersection with me following. I pedaled as hard as I could, not really having a good reason to think I could outrun this guy. After a couple hundred yards I realized something, I was right, he smoked me. I don't think he was even trying. The moral of the story is I was not (and probably still am not) very fast on a mountain bike with nobby tires on pavement. It did help convince me to buy a cyclocross bike, a Cannondale CAADX which I really enjoy riding to work and is much faster.

Welcome! I just started commuting on a MTB last year, and bought a road bike this year. A better bike helps a bit, but better legs help more :)

I need to figure out how to upgrade mine.

;)

Take them to your nearest LBS and they should have demos you can try. Ask to take a pair out for a spin. If they feel better than your old legs they might offer a consignment deal on your old legs if you buy the new ones. That what I did oh wait. Mine are still haggered. Nevermind. :)

Welcome Formula4speed! Good to have you in the club. I had a similar story - started riding to work (about 5 miles to the subway station, then another 3 miles from the station to work), about 4 years ago. The first time I cycled home from the subway, I had to stop in the park and lay down in the grass for a half hour because I was so gassed! It does get easier, and contrary to what Lance says, sometimes, it is about the bike. Upgraded from a hybrid to a Specialized Tricross Comp about 2 years ago, and boy, what a difference. The difference in speed and comfort is really quite amazing.

Another funny story. I work at a large university in Southern California, and like you, had stopped to chat with a fellow rider on the bike lane on the way home from work one afternoon. Turns out he worked at the same university, just on a different campus in another part of the city. Now, we meet up about once a week, (schedules permitting), and bike door to door to our respective offices, (about 22 miles one way). We call it "The Thursday Morning, No Excuses - Take No Prisoners" ride - care to take a guess at how frequently we're able to pull that one off?!!

Hello :thumb:

Welcome!

Welcome aboard.

Some of you guys are lucky to be in a place with other bike commuters. I live in a semi-urban area right next to a city of about 130,000. I've been riding in this area since moving in, about 23 years ago now. I am the only one who has been out there year after year. I do see other bikes, of course. But I don't see the same ones out there repeatedly. I think there's a commuter on a road bike around here. I think he's on this forum, though I haven't seen him around in a while.

It would be nice to have someone around who I can 'identify' with.

In any case, do have fun. Good luck out there and keep us posted.

welcome...

It might just be because the weather hasn't fully warmed up yet, but I rarely see the same person out twice. I have gotten my girlfriend to ride in with me a few times now (we work together) and she enjoys the ride when it's warm enough for her. Hopefully I'll see more cyclists out there now that spring seems to have really arrived, I live in Delaware near the UD so it's pretty bike friendly, even the governor put 13 million dollars aside in the budget to expand/improve the walking and biking conditions.

>>>>After a couple hundred yards I realized something, I was right, he smoked me.<<<<

I had just the opposite happen today as I rode my mountain bike home from work. After crossing a major turnpike, I suddenly met up with a guy on a road bike, all decked out in colorful spandex gear. I figured that if this was the first time I'd become aware of him, he must have sped like heck out of nowhere in the few minutes it took me to get across the road. Unwilling to try to pace with this guy after a hard day at work, I waved him to pass me, but he shook his head as if to say "Nah, don't worry about it." Next thing I know, I turn back and the guy is about half a mile behind me, pedaling his butt off and getting nowhere fast.

I think it's about legs, but also about technique and, mostly, about the mood you're in when you're on the bike. If there hadn't been a great song coming over the speaker on my handlebar at the time, I might have easily been the one left in the dirt!

Welcome new guy and a great choice for a fast commuter. But you know the drill, if there are no pictures, it didn't happen.

Welcome to the forum, formula4speed. I just started commuting, too. It is so much fun, isn't it? Sounds like a nice bike you got. Post a pic please so we can drool.