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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.
 
#3,361 ·
Newf, no sense avoiding your brakes. Just think of the "problem" as an audible brake light so that everybody behind you will know you`re stopping. Helps to keep you from getting rear ended.
I've definitely tried to look on the bright side, and for commuting there are some benefits. The problem is that it's totally ruining my fun rides. It's tough to go for a relaxing ride in the wilderness when my front hub is honking so loudly that it sounds like there's an irate cabbie trapped in there.
 
#3,362 ·
ComuterBoy- again !?! Wasn`t it just summer vacation a couple weeks ago?
That was Spring Vacation...not to be confused with Thanksgiving Vacation, Christmas Vacation, or the occasional 4 day weekend. This is Summer Vacation, and I've earned it :cool:
 
#3,364 ·
Jseko, I dunno what`s with your luck. Salmon collision, falling nails (at least it missed), now a crash and burn over the tracks. I take back what I said about buying a lottery ticket when the box of nails missed you.
I live in a dense urban area...what can I say. People everywhere. 800k people in 49 sq miles is a lot. Not sure why I crashed to be honest. I've gone over the tracks in a similar fashion dozens of times before, and the rail was not wet. Maybe something slick was on the track this time.

Not sure what you mean by salmon collision...I did inadvertently sneak up on a skunk a while back. We each tried to get away from each other as quick as possible. I consider myself lucky I didn't get stinkified.
 
#3,365 ·
Jseko, hope you are feeling OK, I imagine other bumps/bruises were noticed today besides the abrasions. Tracks are tricky, perhaps oil from cars or trains had accummulated. The only suggestions I have are staying upright (I mean not leaning into a corner as opposed to not falling down :p), crossing at as much a right angle as possible, not pedaling, and either equal-weighting your feet, or extra weighting the foot on the side you would tend to slide out too (like how you would put down and weight the outside pedal on a downhill turn). If these ideas are familiar already & it was just a fluke, in that case maybe someone else will prevent a fall from trying them.
 
#3,369 ·
This week has been a hot one. The highs will be in the 90s all week. It was 97 yesterday. The mornings are also warm. I have moved my commute one hour earlier in the afternoons. I cut my hours so I can focus on my studies for grad school. So far, I'm digging the new schedule.
 
#3,371 ·
Raining again this morning. Looks like I'm going to finish the school year in fairly nasty weather... that seems appropriate for this year.


Just got done compiling the annual stats for the school year... with the addition of 18 mile Thursdays and the semi-regular trail route home, I came within striking distance of 2000 commuting miles this year. This is for the school year, from Mid-August through this Friday:

Miles: 1945.5
Driving Days: 6.5
Gallons of Jeep gas saved (at 15 mpg): 129.7
Gas money saved (at $3.90/gal...rough average): $505.83


Weight loss/apple fritters consumed canceled each other out, so I'll ignore those two....
 
#3,375 ·
I've kindof wanted to find some biopace rings to try out, just because they sound like they should be a good idea...or at least I understand why shinamo thought they had the next big thing. Why the hate, JAG?
I have biopace on my old bike 1990......

Rode it for about 3 years, never noticed they were any different, from any other bike...

I pulled the bike out in 2006 and wow the rings were lop sided...
 
#3,376 ·
This is the first time I've ridden a biopace bike. My father in law raves about them and wanted a biopace crank for his bike, so I bought this Miyata with the intention of trading him cranksets. I've put about 12 miles on this bike, and I can feel the biopace in the pedals. Its not annoying or uncomfortable, it just feels like a bent pedal axle...a bit off. Supposedly its good for your knees, and I can report zero discomfort there! If this were my only bike I probably would just leave it on until the chainrings died. But its bike #4, and probably won't stick around for long since I really don't "need" it, nor have room for it. I thought my 12 yo son would like it, but its not cool enough looking for him!
 
#3,377 ·
Brisk ride this morning. One of my fastest yet. May was good for me; all of the riding I did has me in pretty decent shape and I can handle back to back to back 50 mile days without too much discomfort!

The only bad part of this mornings ride was when I turned from the bike trail in to the adjacent neighborhoods and noticed my back end was squishy. Rear tire was at 60 psi <sigh>. On the plus side, I did just buy myself a fancy new Topeak Road Morph and used it today. It's much easier to pump road tires with that than with the Mountain Morph I was using previously. Since I was so close to the office, I just aired her up and rode in. Lunch time flat change it is!
 
#3,378 ·
^^ You reminded me... I'm at zero flat tires for the year. made the switch to tubeless the summer before this school year and stopped worrying about goatheads. I've had as few as 5 flats, and as many as 15 in a school year... never come close to zero. Now that I said that, I'll get a flat between now and Friday, but I'm totally sold on tubeless.
 
#3,379 ·
^^ You reminded me... I'm at zero flat tires for the year. made the switch to tubeless the summer before this school year and stopped worrying about goatheads. I've had as few as 5 flats, and as many as 15 in a school year... never come close to zero. Now that I said that, I'll get a flat between now and Friday, but I'm totally sold on tubeless.
I love tubeless as well. In this case it's the tires. They seem to be prone to perforation. I get almost no flats on my fancy road bike with the Mondo Pro tires. Love those things.
 
#3,380 ·
I had to get in an hour early today for some fieldwork, but did not want to leave home by 6 to catch the early bus. Instead left at 6:30, rode the whole 22 miles instead of bussing partway, and was in by 8 & showered & ready to roll in time. Thundering when I left my house, got soaked for a short stretch, but it stopped. Between the rain and the remaining flood messiness, both bike and I were filthy! Not sure about the ride this p.m., I may try to get a ride if the forecast severe t-storms, large hail, and 25-35mph headwinds with 40mph gusts materialize. I have to go 13 mi to Waitsfield.
 
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