2014!! How was your commute today?
11-05-14, 08:09 AM
#3201
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Wowzer, it's getting dark early now! I knew it would change once DST ended, but didn't remember it getting dark so early by now. It's essentially dark by 5:30 pm and we still have another 6 weeks until the shortest day of the year. I'm just glad that I replaced my main headlight a few weeks ago.
11-05-14, 09:01 AM
#3202
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Overcast but warmer today: 55F. Just a short sleeve shirt for the ride in.
11-05-14, 12:06 PM
#3203
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Rode in a light drizzle this morning but it stopped around my halfway point. Too cold for short sleeves in the morning, too hot for long sleeves in the evening. :shrug:
11-05-14, 12:09 PM
#3204
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Awesome. Just a really beautiful morning. Still getting my layering sorted out, though. I've been doing this for awhile but it still seems like every fall I have to do a little trial and error to get it right.
11-05-14, 12:20 PM
#3205
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I had a nice commute this morning. There were a few rain drops but not anything to worry about. My son dug out an old hot wheels coloring book and sat behind me reading it like a newspaper. That kid get nice treatment. Chauffeured to school while reading his paper.
I am still struggling with what to wear also. My first half of the commute is slower with my son with lots of stop signs and lights, so I don't warm up. But if I wear another layer I am way too hot on the last half and I am way to lazy to do the obvious and stop to remove a layer.
I am still struggling with what to wear also. My first half of the commute is slower with my son with lots of stop signs and lights, so I don't warm up. But if I wear another layer I am way too hot on the last half and I am way to lazy to do the obvious and stop to remove a layer.
11-05-14, 12:21 PM
#3206
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I opted for my road bike today, which was perhaps not the wisest of choices, since the rain yesterday didn't completely dry, and at just below freezing, there was a thin layer of ice on some sections of road, and more so on the trails. Wooden bridge decks were particularly treacherous. Still managed to keep the rubber side down, and this afternoon will be much nicer. Passed a guy on a MUP rocking studded tires (could tell by the bacon-frying sound they make on pavement). It won't be long before I mount the studded tires on my all-weather bike, then ride twice before giving up for the winter.
11-06-14, 07:37 AM
#3208
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Cool, 1C/34F, but dry roads although it started out with a tiny bit of drizzle in the air, it looked and felt like snow pellets that had melted. The drizzle disappeared within 15-20 minutes and I completely forgot about them until I started writing this.
11-06-14, 07:57 AM
#3209
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One of the things that intrigues me about commuting is the randomness of traffic patterns. For some reason, traffic was much heavier on my route yesterday, both riding to work in morning and home in the afternoon. I left about the same times as usual and followed my typical route. On one neighborhood street, where I usually encounter few cars, I got stuck behind a long line of them at a 4-way stop. On another neighborhood street, traffic was backed up for several hundred yards in the left lane for cars turning left at a signal, but there was not a single car in the right lane. Fortunately I always take the right lane at that light so I breezed right by all the cars.
11-06-14, 08:38 AM
#3210
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Rode through a light rain this morning. It was a bit cold at first, but I warmed up by the end of the ride. My waterproof jacket did its job.
Probably riding to the monthly bike advocacy group meeting tonight. If it's still raining, I might drive for safety reasons (visibility stinks around here with wet roads).
Probably riding to the monthly bike advocacy group meeting tonight. If it's still raining, I might drive for safety reasons (visibility stinks around here with wet roads).
11-06-14, 08:55 AM
#3211
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14 miles home in the rain. Stopped to explore an old abandoned house. Had to turn my headlight on the last few miles. Love the rain gear I purchased this year. What is it about riding in the rain that is so much fun? Not that I would want to ride in the rain everyday.
11-06-14, 09:06 AM
#3212
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Warmer again today: 61F. Light rain before I left and a bit more this morning, but the commute was dry. Some head winds though.
11-06-14, 09:14 AM
#3213
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well poo I overslept this morning, alarm went off at 5 AM but the next thing I knew it was 6:25! I'm currently on my 16th straight week of commuting without missing a day (or a round trip, as it were) so I drove to work with the bike on the car, will ride home and then back tomorrow morning. That will be over 1,000 commuting miles since the last time I missed a commute back in mid-July.
Tuesday's ride home was nice, with a slight detour to vote. I walked up in there helmet still on and everything. I'm sure some people thought I looked weird.
What was weird is that I had a tail wind most of the way home, but then right before I turned into my neighborhood the wind suddenly shifted from the south to the northwest. Sucked because it really slowed me down while coming down a hill, before the slight uphill into the neighborhood.
Wednesday I always drive to work, and a good thing too because we had non-stop rain for nearly 18 hours straight yesterday.
A little cooler today and tomorrow than it was on Tuesday, planning to use a long sleeve jersey this time instead of short sleeve with arm warmers like I've been doing. I also brought in tomorrow's clothes and left the trunk bag at home, as I wanted to go "lightweight" on the bike for a change.
Tuesday's ride home was nice, with a slight detour to vote. I walked up in there helmet still on and everything. I'm sure some people thought I looked weird.
What was weird is that I had a tail wind most of the way home, but then right before I turned into my neighborhood the wind suddenly shifted from the south to the northwest. Sucked because it really slowed me down while coming down a hill, before the slight uphill into the neighborhood.Wednesday I always drive to work, and a good thing too because we had non-stop rain for nearly 18 hours straight yesterday.
A little cooler today and tomorrow than it was on Tuesday, planning to use a long sleeve jersey this time instead of short sleeve with arm warmers like I've been doing. I also brought in tomorrow's clothes and left the trunk bag at home, as I wanted to go "lightweight" on the bike for a change.
11-06-14, 11:13 AM
#3214
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only one day this week
Another beautiful day, with morning temps in the upper 30s and afternoon high supposed to reach about 70. First afternoon commute in the dark in quite a while yesterday, and I don't like it. Traffic is much heavier on my commute route in the afternoons, and once daylight savings ends I am riding in the dark most of the way home among lots of cars and trucks. I was lit up like a Christmas tree, however, with 3 taillights and 2 headlights.
Got my first look at my new commuter-touring frame, which I ordered through my local bike shop. It's a Soma Saga in British Racing green. I'm going to have it built up with parts from two different bikes, changing my "stable" around. My current touring bike, a Bob Jackson, will become my main commuter, and I'll be swapping the triple crankset and derailleurs from it to the Saga, as well as the 36-spoke wheels. The BJ will be rebuilt with a compact double crank and derailleurs from my current main commuter, a Gunnar Crosshairs, which I plan to sell. My reasons for switching is the Bob Jackson does not not have enough clearance for the larger tires and fenders I want for touring. However, the BJ is a great bike and will make a great commuter -- which is what I originally got it for -- and it fits me much better than the Gunnar. The Gunnar has to go because I don't have the garage space, or parts, for another bike.
Got my first look at my new commuter-touring frame, which I ordered through my local bike shop. It's a Soma Saga in British Racing green. I'm going to have it built up with parts from two different bikes, changing my "stable" around. My current touring bike, a Bob Jackson, will become my main commuter, and I'll be swapping the triple crankset and derailleurs from it to the Saga, as well as the 36-spoke wheels. The BJ will be rebuilt with a compact double crank and derailleurs from my current main commuter, a Gunnar Crosshairs, which I plan to sell. My reasons for switching is the Bob Jackson does not not have enough clearance for the larger tires and fenders I want for touring. However, the BJ is a great bike and will make a great commuter -- which is what I originally got it for -- and it fits me much better than the Gunnar. The Gunnar has to go because I don't have the garage space, or parts, for another bike.
Wowzer, it's getting dark early now! I knew it would change once DST ended, but didn't remember it getting dark so early by now. It's essentially dark by 5:30 pm and we still have another 6 weeks until the shortest day of the year. I'm just glad that I replaced my main headlight a few weeks ago.
11-06-14, 11:21 AM
#3215
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The difference is typically little traffic when it's dark in the morning, vs. lots of traffic when it's dark in the evening. However it's nice to have light in the morning once again, when it's usually colder. Cold and dark is just depressing. I have good lights and take a route that's not terribly congested, so it's not that bad for me in the evening.
11-06-14, 01:20 PM
#3216
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I hit a trifecta of cold, windy and rain this morning, the ride home could easily be better.
11-06-14, 01:51 PM
#3217
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This morning I was drafted by a fellow commuter who did it the right way: he caught up to me at a light, asked if I minded if he sat in behind me, and I said yes, no problem. I was doing long steady tempo intervals this morning so it worked out perfectly.
11-06-14, 05:07 PM
#3218
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I was off monday, but rode with the kids to their schools. After dropping off thing2, thing1 (age 6) and I rode over the burrard street bridge in a monsoon. As we were riding down the bridge ~20km/hr a bus went by through a very large puddle and launched a heap of water upon both of us. As he looked back, I expected him to be crying, but he smiled and said "THAT WAS AWESOME!"
Yup, he has a disease...just like me.
Yup, he has a disease...just like me.
11-06-14, 07:58 PM
#3219
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Definitely made the right choice this evening with the long-sleeve jersey for temps in the upper 50's. Had a stiff 15-20 MPH headwind the whole way which kind of sucked, but I also rode sans trunk bag, so I felt lighter and actually got home 5-8 minutes faster than other afternoon commutes where there was not as much of a headwind.
11-06-14, 08:25 PM
#3220
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I had a nice ride this morning. It was the inaugural ride for my new bike so I was taking it easy as I got used to using drop bars again. The only sore point was some jerk off who decided that stopping at red lights wasn't a thing for him to do. He almost hit me by turning right on a red without looking. The only thing that I remember thinking was, "Great, the first ride on this bike and it gets smashed." Fortunately, I managed to dodge him. The ride home was very nice with no incidents.
Temperature-wise you just can't beat Southern California. It was in the low 50's on the way in and the mid 70's on the way back, virtually no wind.
Temperature-wise you just can't beat Southern California. It was in the low 50's on the way in and the mid 70's on the way back, virtually no wind.
11-06-14, 08:46 PM
#3221
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Steady, light rain in Beantown on the glide home tonight, I've been grooving on the silence of the new belt-drive wheels. I was pretty beat from too little rest last night, so it felt pretty dreamy, quietly passing all the cars and headlights mired in Mass. Ave. traffic. My old rain pants are worn out, time to shop!
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Work is the curse of the drinking classes - Oscar Wilde
11-06-14, 09:25 PM
#3222
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Horrible! Dire wind warnings prompted me to drive today. It turns out they were somewhat overblown, and instead of a 40 minute ride home through a warm breeze, I endured a 60 minute rage inducing highway crawl. Bad call.
11-06-14, 09:30 PM
#3223
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I'm appalled at the negative effects city driving has on my blood pressure these days, I guess we become spoiled.
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Work is the curse of the drinking classes - Oscar Wilde
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11-07-14, 06:51 AM
#3224
Senior Member
Kinda cold today, -3/27F, with a fair breeze, 22kmh/13mph, from the NE so it didn't really help me much. Frozen puddles near the side of the road that I avoided with ease. Comfortably dressed, arms comfortably cool, top of back and head a bit sweaty, legs warm, fingers started to get cold in the first 20min or so but then warmed up and were nice, face comfortably cool, toes cold (gotta figure that one out, always the weak point for me). I put on some calf-length merino Smartwool socks which are probably medium weight and that wasn't enough. I have some heavier weight wool socks that I could try but at some point, I'm going to run out of space inside the shoes. I'll have to play with this a bit I guess.
11-07-14, 08:13 AM
#3225
Senior Member
Nice, cool ride: 45F. I almost bit it on the MUP though. I was riding no-handed as I warmed my fingers up a bit in my armpits. There were leaves on the path, but a couple of broken pieces of a branch surprised me. They were maybe 2 inches in diameter. I somehow managed to thread the needle between them and grab the handlebars before anything happened. They were laying perpendicular to me so I probably would have just bumped over them, but I'm glad I didn't find out.