AlTheKiller

Got my sks "well, you're gonna get wet, but you won't get the 'skunk stripe' on your back" race blade fenders on in time for some spring shower commutes today. But I lucked out, not a drop of rain on the way there or back, just a few hours of hard showers while at work. And in the last hour before getting out the roads practically dried up.

GriddleCakes

Hey y'all. I haven't posted in a while; the last "how was your commute" thread that I participated in was the 2011 version. Since then my commute has gone from 2 miles to 7, which is awesome, and this past December I put together a dedicated winter bike, a Surly Pugsley, which is also awesome, if not awesomer. As per Murphy's Law, the winter I built a fat bike has turned out to be one of the mildest winters on record, with as much rain as snow falling (and then immediately freezing) on Anchorage. Weird winter all around North America, eh Polar vortex sufferers?

And now Spring is trying to... spring, with daytime temps up to 40°F and clear sunny skies slowly melting the winter's worth of ice. Of course it still drops to 10°F or so every night, so the thaw is slow, and the morning ride is slick, so I foresee studded tires in my future for many more weeks to come. Because, while there's a lot of dry pavement around, there's also this:


And this:


And this; look at that sissy boy walking around the flow. Saddle up and ride the ice dragon bro! You've nothing to fear except gravity and broken bones:


Seriously though, get some studs, because I rode over this just fine, and then almost ate it when I stopped and put a foot down to snap a pic:


Water in the tunnel? Huh, it looks like choppy ice to me. I rode over this yesterday and this morning and nothing happened other than a four inch wide rooster tail (god I want fenders):


Yeah, so I'm just gonna ride through like usual and SWEET JESUS JONES!


Okay, so only I made it about two bike lengths in before I broke through, nearly tipped all the way over into the drink, then splashed out on foot, pushing the bike. Turns out that chopped ice surface is only a couple of inches thick, under which is about 6 inches of water. After making my way through, I pushed the bike back into tunnel for a pic. Can't complain too much, though, as I had waterproof boots, and got a free rim wash out of the deal. Gotta love breakup season.

gbcb

Should have posted this here. I'm still buzzing https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...e-2-years.html

essiemyra

The commute in was very nice, though I am not sure about the guy that slid across the road and hit the guardrail in his car behind me. The temp was 28f degrees with the sun starting to come up.

dcb23

Amazing pics! That ice positively scares me...I went down three times this Winter.

44F / 7C here in DC with no wind to speak of.

mgw4jc

An incredible ride in this morning. A steady 20mph wind pushed me up every hill no matter which direction I was going. All vehicles passed safely and slowly. Every intersection was clear for me to turn or cross as I needed with no wait. I didn't break a sweat and I didn't get cold. Happy April 1st everyone!

jrickards

Although there were a few rides in March, today, I'm starting my daily commuting by bike. After reading a discussion yesterday about slick vs textured tires and how textured may be better on rougher and grit covered roads, I decided to forego my Kona Sutra and ride in on my 29er with knobby tires. There was some frozen melt water on the roads, no where near like GriddleCake's post above, so I had to move into the lane to avoid a potential fall on the road. It was mild this morning, 1C/34F, but forecast for showers later today and -5C/24F overnight so I'll have to be careful on the roads tomorrow morning in case of frozen meltwater/rain.

RidingMatthew

great ride for the most part this morning... I was riding down a road that has a bike lane unfortuanately a lady was driving down the hill behind me and did not pass just stayed right in my rear view mirror spot. as the hill was flattening out then she tried to pass at the same time the bike lane has a stupid concrete curb in the middle of it with a car coming the other direction. All she had to do was pass me earlier on the hill or put her brakes on.

She really made me mad. I really miss the greenway. they are doing construction and normally i would be on the greenway for this part of the ride.

RidingMatthew

Good one. i was jealous for a second.

Ky_Rider

Wife dropped me off at work this morning. I get to pedal home today! First commute in a couple of weeks. My legs are still sore from the race Saturday so I'm going to take it easy and enjoy the summer like temps this afternoon.

DogBoy

Wind. How may I thank you for showing me that just because I'm going downhill doesn't mean I can coast. 30 mph headwind + gradual downhill = hard. Most of my ride is protected, but I have one area by a 4 lane highway that opens up and WOW! Oh, and yes, HTFU. Working on it.

spivonious

Fantastic ride in today. Lots of people out walking. I had three people shout from the sidewalk, "I bet you've been waiting for this weather!"

Our local League of American Bicyclists chapter has their annual meeting tomorrow. I'm a new member, so I'm scoping out how to get there via bicycle.

e0richt

great ride this morning, bit of a wind but nothing too bad. Could have used some ear covers still but otherwise great.

no motor?

Awesome ride in today with a killer tailwind. It's going to brutal riding home when the wind is supposed to be even stronger.

dramiscram

Another windy day, mild -4° celcius.

I forgot my underwear this morning, I do this every 3-4 months so I'm good for a while...

arsprod 

Lol, me too (every few months not today) and I finally realized, leave a pair of socks and underwear at work - duh! Roads were wet from rain last night but clear and 53F. A wicked headwind and I never thought I'd say this, but after this winter I'll take the headwind

KJL

First commute of the spring and forgot the most important thing is preparation. Cutting holes in socks to make shoe covers at 6am is no fun. 25f and 25 mph winds at my back made a record time in - I live in the country and 18 miles away from town. Will be suffering against the wind tonight. Underwear... yep forgot mine too! Forecast says 5" snow later this week - I call BS!

PatrickGSR94

First commute since week before last, and first one doing the full round trip in one day in 3 whole weeks!

Weather is looking up! Upper 50's this morning with only a light head wind. Mid-70's this afternoon with a light tail wind. Awesome!

A funny thing happened this morning. There's a house/farm I go by with several turkeys inside the fence. I could hear them gobbling as I came around the corner. As I passed by I made a "gobble gobble" sound and one of them did it right back to me. I did it again and they did it back to me again! I was talking with the turkeys.

joeyduck

My first post.

My commute was okay. It is a 7 mile ride, that takes me about twenty five minutes. I felt fast today, but my cycle computer stopped working.

Then I rode over a manhole cover (not an unusual occurrence) but this time my coffee cup flies out of my cage. Goes bouncing and skittering flinging coffee everywhere. Not a chance to stop, two lanes of traffic all of us going at about 25 mph. Never has this happened in 10,000 km. And I was really looking forward to that cup today, more than usual.

Meh, it happens. The ride was great, sunny, about 40°F.

spivonious

^ too bad about the coffee. Welcome to the forum!

timvan_78

sunny 10degC/50degF. The fair-weather commuters are coming out: this morning I scanned the MUP in front of me and saw no less than 10 commuters.

Took this picture on the way in: blossoms, sunrise, False Creek, snow-capped Mt. Seymour in the background behind the city. Beauty day, eh!

dramiscram

Welcome on Bike Forum! You'll see that the commuting sub-forum is the best!

AlTheKiller

Got lucky again today. Pouring rain when I woke up at the girl friend's house, by the time I rode to work it was sunny though. Shortly after I got to work it turned into a deluge, and started massively hailing (a shop down the street made a hail/snow man.

Then it cleared out enough for me to take our shop vehicle to get some Thai food.

gbcb

Managed to shave 10 minutes off the commute this morning with a better route -- down to just over 30 mins. Day two after a 2+ year break! (Actually more like 3 years since I've commuted regularly -- blame an inflexible job followed by health problems). A bit sore, but that's to be expected.

essiemyra

It was a very nice ride to work today, the temp was a cool 26f when I left the house with starry skies. I will be moving soon and that will take four miles off of my commute. I will have to add those back in on the way home.