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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.
 
#6,801 ·
Saw a rider prang themselves off of some bridge structural steel this morning.

It was on our "bicycle bottleneck" and about 100m infront of me I heard a crash and saw a bike go sideways. When I got there the cyclist and bike were kindof wedged in between the supports, and he'd managed to find his glasses on the ground and was putting them back on. He said he was okay, and I did a surreptitious bike check - no obvious damage to wheels, levers, derailleurs - so I headed off.

For reference, the steel on the left of the photo is what he would have slammed into


In the back of my mind I'm always afraid of this, particularly in the winter when the pathway is covered with bumpy, rutted ice. But thankfully the city is usually pretty ocd about clearly the pathway, presumably for that reason.

Not sure what caused it...there were no pretty girls around as far as I could tell.
 
#6,802 ·
Saw a rider prang themselves off of some bridge structural steel this morning.

It was on our "bicycle bottleneck" and about 100m infront of me I heard a crash and saw a bike go sideways. When I got there the cyclist and bike were kindof wedged in between the supports, and he'd managed to find his glasses on the ground and was putting them back on. He said he was okay, and I did a surreptitious bike check - no obvious damage to wheels, levers, derailleurs - so I headed off.

For reference, the steel on the left of the photo is what he would have slammed into


In the back of my mind I'm always afraid of this, particularly in the winter when the pathway is covered with bumpy, rutted ice. But thankfully the city is usually pretty ocd about clearly the pathway, presumably for that reason.

Not sure what caused it...there were no pretty girls around as far as I could tell.
That is the High Level bridge so if he hits the right hand railing and goes over????
 
#6,803 ·
^ that's what I'm worried about for November~April. :) But he was oncoming in the left lane, and just hit the supports on the left (his right)

I had my sunglasses blow off of my face along there during a rainstorm, and I didn't even bother looking for them. If they go west it's 150' down to the river, and if they go east it's less than 1' into traffic. So the fact that the guy found his glasses was pretty lucky.
 
#6,804 · (Edited)
Another 1.75" of rain last night so 3.25 in two rains in the last three weeks. Biggest rains since May 5. Too late for most of the corn crop. Lost a maple and an ash out of the front lawn (lightning and borer + 2 summers' drought). No clouds with a silvicultural lining, I'm afraid. Wood falls when rain fails. They were both older than me, but I have not taken a lightning hit, not do I have ash borer. If I had, look so good, I would not, when their age I reach. :D

The errand bike made it to the farmer's market and back (so did I with 82 pounds of bike, locks, panniers, and payload). I was happy with easily cranking 42-21 on the slight grade headed home and 42-15 on the flat, just cruisin'. I had only 45 and 50 pounds in the 700-38's so they were cushy, but not rolling too easy.



As you can tell, bike parking is where you make it. Beat the rain (too brief, but would not have been good) which started just as I brought the bike into the house. Something caveman-like in hauling home my kill, er purchases. :) Ribeye tonight!

BrianMc

PS. Thanks Mtbxplorer, the steak was local and the wonderful, if the chef does say so himself! :thumbsup:
 
#6,806 ·
Sounds like trouble. Both the weather and purdyboy riding along Manly beach.
Doh! I can`t believe you wrote that! Still, now I`m going to have Peggy Lee singing "Boy From Ipanema" inside my noggin all night. Hope you made it home safely, Purdy!
Brian, did you wrap your water bottle with something to keep it from jumping out again?

Saw a rider prang themselves off of some bridge structural steel this morning.
Ouch. Boy, that does look like a good one to avoid. If somebody does go over, how long would the fall be? Is there water underneath it, at least in the thawed months?

Tall and tan and young and lovely...

We haven`t lost any trees yet, but one maple is looking very sad. Funny because its twin is doing just fine. I did a good job keeping all the trees watered over the winter, but didn`t know I had to water the lawn also- I`m a newbie when it comes to lawn care. The poor lawn squeeked by for its first winter without any additional water (it snowed that winter) but its totally dead after last one. I might replant it, but to tell the truth I was getting tired of mowing it by the end of its second year, so every time I see that dead yellow/brown sod now it reminds me how glad I am I don`t have to drag the mower out.

When he passes, each one he passes says "Ahhhh..."
 
#6,807 ·
Doh! I can`t believe you wrote that!
Neither can I. Apologies to purdy. All I can say is that the juxtaposition made me do it. :)

Still, now I`m going to have Peggy Lee singing "Boy From Ipanema" inside my noggin all night. ...Tall and tan and young and lovely......When he passes, each one he passes says "Oooo ..Ahhhh..."
Rodar has purdy's revenge! That tune is soooo viral. Almost as bad as Sheri Lewis's "This is the Song That Never Ends". (Don't ask. Don't google. Walk away clean, man, walk away clean. :D )

BrianMc
 
#6,808 ·
Rodar has purdy's revenge! That tune is soooo viral. Almost as bad as Sheri Lewis's "This is the Song That Never Ends". (Don't ask. Don't google. Walk away clean, man, walk away clean. :D )
BrianMc
Hey at least it's not "It's A Small World" or the Barney song. Both of which were penned by Satan Himself. :devil:
 
#6,812 ·
Good stuff, Hunter. Looks nice and cool, green.

Hey at least it's not "It's A Small World" or the Barney song. Both of which were penned by Satan Himself. :devil:
I can handle Small World, but my mom is still traumatized from being stuck in one of those little boats for an extra 45 minutes or so for a mechanical- that would have been in the mid 70s, but she`s slow to let go of things like that. As far as Ipanema goes, here`s an interresting and more upbeat version that I bumped into not long ago. Looks like the singer is one of the flavors du jour Rio these days. More rock and roll-ish than my normal fare, but I think she`s sexier than Astrud :). Them eyes!
 
#6,813 ·
Well today I went and made a test run of my route that I am going to start commuting. Learned a few things 1) I would go though about 2 gallons of water when it's 108 f* outside. 2) bring spare parts. Chain snapped at mile 15 walked a 1/4 mile to Finnish commute. But other then that I had fun on the ride and can't wait to continue


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk expect the worse!
 
#6,814 ·
I drove today =(. I really need to get some fenders for my 1x1 so I can ride in the rain, I get VERY wet.

On a side note, I am looking for a road bike. I would love to have a steel frame, 700c wheels and a retro look. I have a brooks saddle for it already and I would put fenders and bags on it. If anyone comes across one for a decent price send me a PM. I ride a 54cm. Thanks!
 
#6,815 ·
MTXB - I love the Crooked river!

Pretty slow commute today on sore legs. We did campground Olympics which included a 1 mile dirt road race (running) 2 mile dirt road bike race, sh1t house sprint, 100m sprint, jump rope competition, and a 2.5 mile round trip mountain climbing event with 1200' of elevation gain. In addition I biked the same mountain, did a long cross bike trek and several other shorter rides. Oh, and 2 days of kayaking.

First is a picture from the top of the mountain. It was foggy... and the rocks were really slippery. I walked more of the trail than I usually do.
Second is a pic from my cross bike trek - this section sucked.
Third is in the middle of Brownfield Bog.
 

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#6,816 ·
Rodar that ain't bad but truth to be told I liked the original version... call me weird. Rode home into a headwind today, which is a little unusual for my area. Had to get into my drop ends for extended amount of time and realized that my bar is just too wide for the ends to have longer term comfort. Started looking around at alt type bars or maybe even an actual drop bar to try out, but not gonna be easy with hydro discs. I was surprised that some of the bar designs are as inexpensive as they are (Origin8 has a mustache bar for @ $20).
 
#6,817 ·
Well today was the first day class, and I was suppose to commute on bike all semester. However I woke up 30 min. before class (15mi. commute), because when the power went out a few days ago I didnt properly reset my clock (12 hours off, AM-PM). Stupid me, oh well. Tomorrow, and the rest of the week will be different, I promise. /diary
 
#6,819 · (Edited)
I had good rides too. Last night I slept out on the deck under the stars to catch the tail end of the meteor showers that had been totally clouded out until then. Saw a few shooting stars, and one particularly spectacular one that went clear across the sky in a super-bright streak.

I left early enough this a.m. to take the "TNT" trail that I helped work on a couple weekends ago, and was pleased to make it across the skinny bridge that was carved skinnier with a chainsaw after we built it. On the way home I stopped at a great blackberry patch and got a whole large bike bottle full within minutes, with only minor scarring from the thorns. :)
 

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#6,820 ·
My wife was busy over the weekend, so I went out on our standard Tahoe tandem route with my `bent buddy. That was about 30 flat miles and the only "extracurricular" riding I`ve done in two or three weeks. It was a lot different without Mrs Rodar- amazing how many overpriced pastries I managed to wolf down without getting the evil eye!

Well today I went and made a test run of my route that I am going to start commuting. Learned a few things 1) I would go though about 2 gallons of water when it's 108 f* outside. 2) bring spare parts. Chain snapped at mile 15 walked a 1/4 mile to Finnish commute. But other then that I had fun on the ride and can't wait to continue
Riding at 108 has to be bad enough- no way anybody deserves a mechanical and then a walk on top of it! Good luck with that furnace commute, and i`m glad it ain`t me!

We did campground Olympics which included a 1 mile dirt road race (running) 2 mile dirt road bike race, sh1t house sprint, 100m sprint, jump rope competition, and a 2.5 mile round trip mountain climbing event with 1200' of elevation gain. In addition I biked the same mountain, did a long cross bike trek and several other shorter rides. Oh, and 2 days of kayaking.
That ought to be enough excitement for one weekend. Sh1thouse sprints? Details, please :p

However I woke up 30 min. before class (15mi. commute), because when the power went out a few days ago I didnt properly reset my clock (12 hours off, AM-PM).
Uh-oh! I`ve done that more times than I care to think about :rolleyes:
 
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