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Crankin
11-04-2008, 11:43 AM
Just got back from voting; we rode the Jamis' a big 8.4 miles round trip to the polls. It's 62 degrees out, eerily warm for Nov. 4th. There were no lines, but every booth was full. I was number 1428 to vote in my precinct.

75% of the voters in Concord have already cast their ballots and it's only 2:41!

On the way back, we took the back way, to ride by the Old North Bridge, to remind us where it all started. Now, on to celebrate my 55th birthday, with an election party with our cycling friends and my oldest son.

Susan126
11-04-2008, 11:52 AM
I got up at 4:45 AM this morning and went to the 5:30 AM spin class. It really boosted my metabolism and woke me up! I have so much energy. Plus I seem to be very hungry all the time! I'm glad my daughter made me go. We will be going again on Thursday morning. :)

I also dropped off my family's ballots here at work. My middle school library is a polling place. :) We have had a full/over flowing steady stream of people in my library all morning long! Lots and lots of people coming out to vote!

kfergos
11-04-2008, 11:53 AM
Happy birthday and yay for voting!

I rode to the polls and got in line at 6:40 this morning. It was colder than I thought and I forgot gloves, so my fingers felt like ice. Fortunately they warmed up before I had to try to fill in little scan-tron bubbles! Then I rode to work on such a dazzling beautiful morning, it made me sad to get off the bike.

As Crankin said, right now it's in the 60s -- 64 here in Shrewsbury -- and I'm planning on taking the hilly way from work to enjoy this unseasonable lovely weather.

Blueberry
11-04-2008, 12:11 PM
We've been getting relatively heavy rain here in NC - so no riding for me. Already took care of all election related stuff, so no need to rush out. No lines here, though.

CA

Trigress
11-04-2008, 12:17 PM
Happy Election Day, everyone! :)

Norwegians are following the American election very closely, this is all very exciting, I can't wait to hear the news tomorrow morning!

Zen
11-04-2008, 12:31 PM
Rode to the local elementary school to vote and took a short ride after. It's quite warm here too but very gray.
No lines, I was in and out in ten minutes.

Now to prep food for tonight's party :)

newfsmith
11-04-2008, 12:55 PM
It's only a few blocks to the school where we vote so we walked. We waited until 10:30 to let the rush of people voting before work clear out, but even so it was packed. Had lunch and then went on a nice ride in the beautiful sunshine. It was easy to spot the polling places, they were all surrounded by cars and senior center buses. I think this is the heaviest visible turnout I can remember.

Tri Girl
11-04-2008, 03:24 PM
I didn't get to ride to vote because I did it on the way to work (which I can't ride to b/c it's too darn far).
I gotta say- I've never felt so proud to be an American and have the right to vote as I did today. I waited in line for 40 min. and was so excited that so many Americans were out voicing their opinion and making a choice. It's what this democracy is all about (oops- I typed deomcrazy first- hmm...:rolleyes:).
I LOVE that so many people are getting out and voting. There's a buzz in the air today (and a 40 mph wind, but that's another story).

hirakukibou
11-04-2008, 03:40 PM
I rode to an acupuncture appointment before I came back to vote. I didn't ride to the polls, but was still in my kit because I wanted to get to the polls before the rush and didn't have time to shower and all. Glad I went when I did because the line wasn't too bad and I expect that as the afternoon went on it got longer.

Eden
11-04-2008, 03:46 PM
I rode the whole two blocks (I was going out for errands afterwards) up to my polling station at about 12:30. I was voter 416 for the day - though I'm not sure how many people there are in a precinct. Then I went out for some grocery shopping and cat food.

My workout for the day was just spin ups, so its an easy one to fit into errand running. I actually hooked up the cadence sensor the other day. I can hit about 183 before I bounce... I think that's OK.....

Brandi
11-04-2008, 04:00 PM
I voted, got a cup of free tea from starbucks. Had my first Mammogram and got a rose for doing it. Then i gave myself a bike ride. it was a resistant bike ride cause it was very windy, but I felt so good afterward!

wackyjacky1
11-04-2008, 04:07 PM
After work, I rode over to my polling place. It's at the football stadium on the campus of Trinity University. Trinity U possesses an amazing feat of engineering: EVERYWHERE you have to go is UPHILL. Steeply uphill. :eek:

There was no one in line ahead of me, and only other one person there voting. As I got off my bike, wearing my usual work clothes of shorts & a t-shirt, with sweaty helmet hair and hauling a backpack, the woman checking registrations at the door asked me if this was my first time voting. LOL! I must have looked like a college kid, I guess, due to my clothing, backpack, and mode of transportation. Either that, or sweaty, matted hair is a great way to cover up the grey. :D (BTW, I'm 45). I just laughed and said No, it's not my first time. (In fact, this will be my 7th presidential vote. :p )

Then I cruised around a bit before heading home. All told, 10.33 miles.

OakLeaf
11-04-2008, 04:11 PM
I can hit about 183 before I bounce... I think that's OK.....

:eek::eek: I guess so! Wow, way to go. Your new handle is SMOOTH.

wildhawk
11-04-2008, 04:26 PM
DH and I stood in an early voting line here in Florida on Sunday - took us about 3 hours to just get an absentee ballot - but next time we will have them mailed to us. A family on cycles peddled directly up to the door and the Dad went in and dropped their ballots and they all rode merrily on their way - cool!! I was wishing I had done that!! Just glad to get it done finally.

luv'nAustin
11-04-2008, 04:44 PM
No riding for me here in North Carolina...rain, rain, rain and more rain!

mudmucker
11-04-2008, 04:45 PM
Been totally offline for 4 weeks. No riding Sat and Sun's. Spent 4 solid weekends needing to button up the house and finished up on Sunday. Whew. I needed to do a lot of things and now I can rest easy.

Still been commuting though, once or twice a week. Like today. Voted at 7:15 am. Hopped back into the car and drove to Littleton. Rode the bike to work in Lowell. A wonderfully warm day for November.

30 miles round-trip. Totally riding back now in the evenings in the dark, but it's fine and working well. I'm using a slightly different safer route out of Lowell/Chelmsford in the dark as it's a bit crazy in a couple of places even in the light. Some of the route has street lights but half is dark. The cars whiz by at 50 or so on the main part of my route but I see them giving me a wide berth so they certainly see me. I love the lights I chose. In the dark parts of the road, the amount of cars are pretty steady and their lights offer me a sweep of light in front of me so I can see ok.

I put on about 500 miles so far commuting this year. It has been an entirely positive experience. I have found that the drivers are extremely courteous to me. Many stop and let me go, wait for me in some cases. There's one spot where I have to cross the road before I begin. One morning I was standing and waiting to cross (just coming out from my car) and there was a huge dump truck screaming up the road. He stopped to let me cross the road.

cycling_sarah
11-04-2008, 04:47 PM
I drove to the polls, but went for a ride after. The weather was gorgeous, about 60F and sunny. I could wear shorts and a light jersey again! I did 40.71 miles.

Transmutable
11-05-2008, 08:04 AM
I didn't get to ride -all day- due to a flat tire, but finally got it fixed to bike the half mile to my polling place at 7:30 at night, in the dark, with my never works when its dark out, but perfect at noon bike light. Good ride though, it was so warm! And hardly anyone on the roads, though I scared the crap out of a few pedestrians.

RoadRaven
11-05-2008, 09:44 AM
Well, I rode to work on America's election day - 25km in 55min or so
Mild and a tail ind
People were checking news sites and youtube at work all day to see how it was panning out
Glad I could listen to the radio on the way home

EnZed is voting this Saturday and many EnZeders haven't got a clue which party to vote for
Think I'll bike to the polling booth myself
:)