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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.
 
#8,442 ·
Had a couple of snap-cold commutes in, but this one was my favourite. The bump in the skyline is Mt. Rainier.



It dipped to 17.8ºF before the rain and sleet kicked in, warming it back up to above freezing temperatures. More of the usual again next week (rain, rain, more rain).
 
#8,444 ·
:lol: +2 for my ride home this morning, and it felt like cold, so I was a baby about it! Then couldn`t resist waking up my wife by dropping my frozen mittens on her warm face when I walked into the house.
This got by me. You posted so you weren't killed. Living dangerously. :D

BrianMc
Damn dude... Someone call Kenny Loggins coz you're in the... DANGER ZONE.

You can tell when a man is planning for the future when he buys a really, really nice couch to sleep on. Because he can do stuff like this and know he's going to get a good night's sleep.

Coincidentally, my $1500 couch is FANTASTIC.
 
#8,446 ·
Good Monday morning all!

Nice pics hunter & newfangled.

Trail commute again and it kinda sucked. I thought they would be firmed up after some warmer weather and snowmobile traffic but they were softer than they were on Friday. Again, a fatbike would have been perfect...I'm just saying. A friend and I skated the lake over the weekend and the direct route has plenty of ice so that is nice.
 
#8,447 ·
Back in action here... Christmas break was too short yet again. Only 2 weeks off. I don't know how people with 'normal' jobs do it :lol:

It warmed up to the teens for me...a nice re-introduction. It's been single digits in the mornings. Still a lot of ice/packed snow out there, and it's been so cold that it's an instant transition... bone dry pavement to packed snow/ice in 1 centimeter :lol: Yesterday was the first day we've gotten above freezing since before Christmas.
 
#8,450 ·
I clipped a walker on the MUP this morning and man do I feel bad about it.

Lucky for both of us I was going fairly slow (about 10MPH) because I was climbing a long grade. I was grinding along with my head down just daydreaming away when suddenly she appeared in front of me. I was maybe 3-4 from her when I first saw her. I made an emergency left move and clipped her left arm hard enough to knock the flashlight she was holding out of her hand. Thank god I did not knock her over.

I got off my bike apologizing profusely, asking if she was OK, picked up her flashlight and gave it back to her. She said "didn't you see me?" and I admitted I had not because I was riding with my head down daydreaming. I told her it was completely my fault and that I was an ass for riding with my head down. I must have apologized twenty times. She was nice about it, said she was fine and we parted with a "have a good day".

I cannot help but think about what could have happened if I would have plowed straight into her - I could have really injured her. In four years of riding this route I have never seen anyone walking this section of MUP in the morning which is why I was not paying attention but that's no excuse.

Big wake-up call that I have to pay better attention in the future. I've let myself get a little lazy. Be careful out there everyone.
 
#8,451 ·
^^ Honest mistake. Sounds like she's over it... way to admit your error and actually have a concern for other people. That's too rare these days. I'm sure you'll be 100% alert for quite a while now :lol:
 
#8,452 ·
I clipped a walker on the MUP this morning and man do I feel bad about it.

Lucky for both of us I was going fairly slow (about 10MPH) because I was climbing a long grade. I was grinding along with my head down just daydreaming away when suddenly she appeared in front of me. I was maybe 3-4 from her when I first saw her. I made an emergency left move and clipped her left arm hard enough to knock the flashlight she was holding out of her hand. Thank god I did not knock her over.

I got off my bike apologizing profusely, asking if she was OK, picked up her flashlight and gave it back to her. She said "didn't you see me?" and I admitted I had not because I was riding with my head down daydreaming. I told her it was completely my fault and that I was an ass for riding with my head down. I must have apologized twenty times. She was nice about it, said she was fine and we parted with a "have a good day".

I cannot help but think about what could have happened if I would have plowed straight into her - I could have really injured her. In four years of riding this route I have never seen anyone walking this section of MUP in the morning which is why I was not paying attention but that's no excuse.

Big wake-up call that I have to pay better attention in the future. I've let myself get a little lazy. Be careful out there everyone.
I came within inches of going OTB into the rear of a parked car while daydreaming up a hill.
 
#8,454 ·
At least you handled the aftermath well, Woodway. I`ve done similar (usually on cold mornings), plodding along in a bike lane with my head down, just basking in the relative warmth with my nose in the lee of my helmet, when suddenly a pair of walking feet appear in the upward limits of my vision- Whoops!

We have CB`s heatwave going one too. So far all the mud in my yard is still covered, but now by slushy, grainy snow rather than the safe and squeaky kind. I have a few hundred yards of hardpack/ice over dirt to get to the street, then a couple long shady sections with the same overing over asphalt, but most of my paved ride has been bone dry for quite a while. Man, this snow has really held on figuring it was only a few inches and has been hanging around for a few weeks now!

No couch needed when I go overboard with Mrs Rodar- I go to bed an hour after she gets up. Next week I think I start swing shift, so had better watch my manners!
 
#8,455 ·
Woodway: good on you for taking ownership. It is a 'heads up' that New Year's resolutions may change use patterns on our routes.

CB: This too shall pass.

Rodar: I guess she is out of the house within 2 hours or you'd be fair game. She can save cold feet for the middle of your back next week.

Newfangled: Nice. I'm not the only one slow to get the Christmas Ornaments away.

BrianMc
 
#8,456 ·
I only rode home because I had to bring the work car back this morning after taking it for fieldwork and training on Friday. 13F and uneventful except for my pack (battery)-to-helmet cable kept getting hung up on something on my pack and was annoyingly tugging on my helmet. I was a bit anxious to get home because I picked up a foster dog yesterday and had not left her at home alone before today. But she did great!

Woodway, glad you both were none the worse for the wear.
 
#8,460 ·
Got to work this morning, and realized that I had worn my reflective vest underneath my jacket. Whoops.

Another nice day with temperatures around freezing. Unfortunately it looks like our heatwave is finally about to end, with temperatures supposed to drop back to normal starting on thursday.
 
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