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How was your commute today?

3M views 28K replies 753 participants last post by  cyclingdutchman 
#1 ·
Well how was it?

Mine was good... hadn't been able to ride at all for the 10 days leading up to today, so it was a bit harder to get into the groove.

Forgot my battery pack for my big light, so I had to ride the last 5 miles on pothole ridden bikelanes with a little flasher.

Got honked at when I was as far right as I could be without getting doored.

All in all, it was a good commute... I ride alongside two different freeways (on a bike path) and get to see the traffic backed up for miles... People feverishly trying to type out their morning emails on their blackberry or looking ragged from sitting in traffic. Then I break away from the bike path and the traffic, and it all looks like a rat race in my rearview mirror.
 
#3,281 ·
digital.aaron said:
Not content with my wind-sucking performance this morning, I decided to go out on my lunch hour for a ride. Had errands to run and racked up another 4 miles. I'm at 6 on the day with another 2 to go on the way home this afternoon.

I need to get a new saddle, though. The one I picked up yesterday was almost as bad as the one it replaced. Debating if I need one of those super wide "comfort" seats. I like the idea of squishy gel for my sensitive backside, but it really kills the look of the bike. :(
If you are gonna ride alot..

You need a saddle that fits your sit bones, and does not press on your perinium.

The saddle also needs to be hard, no gel etc.
 
#3,282 ·
jeffscott said:
If you are gonna ride alot..

You need a saddle that fits your sit bones, and does not press on your perinium.

The saddle also needs to be hard, no gel etc.
Thanks jeffscott. My current seat doesn't press on my perinium, so that's a plus right there. And without getting into too much personal detail, we'll just say that my rear is not in the best of shape these days. Sitting directly on hard surfaces is uncomfortable on a good day, and nearly impossible on a bad day. Thankfully the bad days are few and far between these days.

Compared to a lot of riders here, the amount I'll be riding would not be considered "a lot". Generally less than 6 miles round-trip on ride days. With that said, might a chamois be helpful for some cushioning and rubbing-prevention? I'm never used one before, but I'm open to the prospect. Anything to make my rides more comfortable.

Heck, if anything I'll switch to a rigid fork and just ride out of the saddle all the time. ;)
 
#3,284 ·
digital.aaron said:
Thanks jeffscott. My current seat doesn't press on my perinium, so that's a plus right there. And without getting into too much personal detail, we'll just say that my rear is not in the best of shape these days. Sitting directly on hard surfaces is uncomfortable on a good day, and nearly impossible on a bad day. Thankfully the bad days are few and far between these days. The precise cause of the pain will lead to the solution

Compared to a lot of riders here, the amount I'll be riding would not be considered "a lot". Generally less than 6 miles round-trip on ride days.That is enough to harden up any ass if it is 3 plus times a week With that said, might a chamois be helpful for some cushioning and rubbing-prevention? I'm never used one before, but I'm open to the prospect. Anything to make my rides more comfortable.

Heck, if anything I'll switch to a rigid fork and just ride out of the saddle all the time. ;)
Yes a chamois works really well...basically it stays with your sit bones, as you move around on the saddle...so the padding is always in the right place.

I have ridden plus 450 km out of the saddle at any one time commuting....not hard but you need a really high gear and some technique.
 
#3,286 · (Edited)
In a non-ass related note, I found a great route I'm going to take on my way home today. Instead of riding along a busy arterial road during rush hour, I'm going to ride a couple blocks over, through one of the multi-block nature parks in the area. I think that alone will make up for the soreness I'll be experiencing later.

EDIT:

This is what I rode home through:
 
#3,287 ·
Still rainy (continued yuck until Monday, of course). I haven`t gotten rained on or attacked by geese on my way in or back this week though, so the rides have been good, but a batch of non ride related annoyances tried to ruin my day yesterday- dead watch battery, burned my hand (minor), broke the hinge on my sunglasses. Going after work today to check on a CL bike, so that should perk me up :D

E610, you need rain gear or goose gear?
 
#3,288 ·
digital.aaron said:
EDIT:

This is what I rode home through:
Damn! Nice!

Saddles issues can be a bear to solve- try all the "other than replace" suggestions mentioned above and on that other thread (cream, chammois, adjustments) and give it some time. If you find that you really do need a different saddle, a trick I used that might help is to dig through the take-off boxes (stuff that comes with new bikes and gets swapped out upon purchase by the customers) at your LBS. Mine used to charge like $15 per saddle. I`d try one for a week or so, then if I didn`t like it they`d usually let me trade it straight across for another to try until I found one that worked for me. if you have a CoOp or some other kind of bike junkyard around, that could be a very handy place to look for saddles too- at full retail prices, experimenting can get expensive in a hurry.

EDIT: Oh, Portland! You should have no problem finding any kind of bike shop you want around there! And how about some pics of your Stumpy on the picture sticky?
 
#3,290 ·
Congrats martinsillo!

rodar y rodar said:
...if you have a CoOp or some other kind of bike junkyard around, that could be a very handy place to look for saddles too- at full retail prices, experimenting can get expensive in a hurry.
WTB and...Terry (I think) have saddle trial programs, that let you test a bunch of different ones without buying. Or finding a store with a no-questions-asked return policy works too. MEC is good for that in Canada. Not sure if REI does the same thing in the States?
 
#3,292 ·
Oh yes, I can get quite crabby if I can't ride, even when it's because of something else I want to do that requires a car.

Rainiest ride so far this week. I left home with my sense of humour and a pair of socks with fishies on them. Some oif the puddles extended across the entire lane.

I hit the same milestone last night, Martin - congrats!
 
#3,293 ·
rodar y rodar said:
Damn! Nice!
<snip>
EDIT: Oh, Portland! You should have no problem finding any kind of bike shop you want around there! And how about some pics of your Stumpy on the picture sticky?
Yeah, there are two bike shops within 2 miles of the office. One is a Performance Bike shop, and the other is Bike Gallery (pretty popular Portland LBS chain). I bought a WTB Speed V from Perfomance the other day, and they guy said if I didn't like it I could bring it back and get a different one, as long as I didn't mess up the one I bought. However, I think I'll give the Speed V a bit more time before I switch it out.

I have a pic from yesterday morning I could put up, but I'm planning some mod work to the bike, so I may end up with multiple shots.

Also, my Stumpy isn't really configured for commuting yet, heh. I definitely need at least a rack (or some panniers). Going to work in the morning was ok, if a bit cold. The ride home was uncomfortable because I had to shed moth jacket layers and only had my should bag to stuff them into. Overstuffed non-bike shoulder bag on a bik = uncomfortable.

But damn that nature park trail was a nice ride. :D

I didn't ride in this morning. I wasn't that sore, but I got a bad leg cramp last night/ this morning, and my calf was still in a bit of pain when I got out of bed this morning. And now that I'm at work and sitting down, I can feel the soreness around my sit bones. I may try to ride in tomorrow, though. Need to keep my motivation up or I'll end up totally slacking off.
 
#3,295 ·
This mornings commute rocked my socks.

It's Bike To Work Day here in Sacramento and the bike Gods are smiling. Rain? Nope. Wind? Nope. Since it was so nice out, I decided to try out a modification to my normal route that I suspected would shorten the length, and also remove a couple of slow turns. I was right - seven-tenths of a mile and six minutes lopped off the ride! Awesome! Unfortunately it's not feasible for the ride home, but it's a nice move for the morning route.

Once on the MUT it was smooth sailing. I commute opposite the direction of most people so I rarely see people traveling my direction, but due to BTWD there were A LOT more people out and about. Looking forward to the ride home.
 
#3,297 ·
Rode some extra home, 11 mi total. In Montpelier the annual Corporate Cup running/walking race was going on, so I stopped there when I got off the bus to cheer on some people I knew. From there I rode home, also stopping for a tour of the cemetery. This is not the famous cemetery in town with wild monuments like a racecar, a couple in bed (not that kind of in bed), etc., but still interesting. I love the old names, like 1 woman named "Relief", gotta be a story there. My Dinotte taillight didn't work, wondering if the rain got to it this morning, but we'll see when it is all dry and has fresh batteries in it. Some pix @ the cemetery & about 1.5 mi from home on my hill, just before it turns to dirt.
 

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#3,298 ·
The commute home was interesting. I left on time-ish, at 4:10. That's good, but I like to leave by 4 so I can shower before retrieving the baby from day care. Along the way I ran in to a friend, who was riding home from work also (his girlfriend rode out to meet him and ride back). She's training for a cross-country ride starting in a few weeks so her pace was fairly low (13-ish mph) so I said I had to take off to make sure I was home in time. They said bye and I took off.

For about a quarter mile.

Then I noticed my bike was "squishy" - ah, a flat rear. A quick change out, and I was back on my way. My buddy let his girlfriend ride on since she said she knew he didn't like riding at her pace and he'd catch her anyway. Once I got my tire sorted, he and I traded pulls for a bit to get me back on pace, which we did well. I was in the door by about 5:40, a quick clothes change, hair dry and a hat, and bam I had the baby at 5:55. Five minutes early :cool:
 
#3,299 ·
nachomc said:
.... Once I got my tire sorted, he and I traded pulls for a bit to get me back on pace, which we did well. I was in the door by about 5:40, a quick clothes change, hair dry and a hat, and bam I had the baby at 5:55. Five minutes early :cool:
A quick scan suggested the vision of a 9 month pregnant person's ride ending in childbirth! A reread & fixed that, but that was some mind-blowing visualization! :D

Gave a new meaning to cycling to lose weight, though. ;)
 
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