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A friend of mine commented that her bike has become her "lazy way" of transportation. I said "Isn't that funny! I know I kept intending to walk or even drive this winter but it was just easier to bike, even in the bitter cold."
How I miss that bitter cold... It's still easier to bike than to walk or drive.
My commute was great. The new bike path extension has been working out. The virgin asphalt is dreamy smooth. It seems to take me a few more minutes, which is weird. Not sure if it's a little longer, or if I'm a little slower for some other reason. Anyway, it hasn't been busy, so that's been nice. The official opening ceremony is later this week, so that might make more people know about it. For now, it's mine. All mine.
Bought a bike computer this week and got it working this morning
WOOH!! 55km/hr!!
(Just ignore the 9km/hr up that hill..) :P
Need to figure out how to pull out the average speed and distance and stuff
A Beautiful ride this morning - a layer of Frost on everything :)
I don't envy you lot the heat, it'll hit us here soon enough *sigh*
My car's brake light came on yesterday, so I brought it to the mechanic today, which is 5 miles from work. Whenever I have car work done, I bring my bike along and ride to work. It's much shorter than my regular commute, so I think of it as not riding. I came very close to not wearing bike shorts today. I'm so glad I didn't.
When I got to the shop after work, my car was not ready, and would not be until tomorrow. And, they wouldn't let me take it because it was too dangerous to drive. So, I had to ride another 10 miles to get the bus. Not a big deal, but I had been thinking of this as a non-ride day. I ate a puny lunch, about half the calories I usually eat for lunch, and I was dehydrated. I blame my current emotional state for both of these. My appetite is off, and I forgot to drink enough. Had I known I would be riding 15 miles instead of 5, I would have used some chamois butter, and eaten more. I also didn't have bus fare. Luckily, my lbs is right down the block, and they generously gave me some cash. Love those guys.
I had to wait almost an hour for the bus, and it went a really crazy route, looping through the community college, which I'd never even seen before. Had I known it was going to do that, I would have gotten off at the first stop and just ridden from there. That would have been faster, for sure. It ended up taking me 2 1/2 hours to get home.
Well, I'm beat. At least I didn't go postal on anyone. :D
Hello All, I'm new around here, just found this website a week or so ago. I have been commuting daily to work since May. I'm amazed and how much better (more energized) I feel with even a small ride to work and back. My commute to work is a tiny .71 miles, but generally I try to get an extra six to twelve miles in after work. I own a brand new in May 2011 Specialized Vita Elite, it's a hybrid and perfect for commuting. Although I do feel, every so often, the need for a fast & light road bike (maybe next year). My dream is to get in shape enough so that I can take a bike tour of New Zealand. I guess my reason for hanging about here is to get some winter biking tips - I've gotten some good ones already from lurking about. I plan on biking as much as I can until it snows out.
I'm trying to commute once a week. It means leaving half an hour earlier, and it's always a bit stressful even though I feel great when I get to work. I've got my change/clean-up routine down to less than 10 minutes. .... but I've got to say, riding home when it's 100 degrees leaves me ready to collapse when I get in the door.
Today the humidity was reasonable (17%) and the clouds moved in as I rode home, but I then I had wind all the way home. I'm not sure which I prefer- blazing heat with calm or more favorable winds, or overcast with wind.
Crap. Earlier this week, nice cool morning ride. For two blocks. Then my bike started feeling like it was hinging in the middle, then it felt heavy and dead in the back. Shoot, flat. No time to change it so I turned around and walked briskly home and took the truck to work.
Took the time that evening to rotate the tires (they have about 1600 miles on them and the back is more worn than the front but still serviceable.) The rear tube was not only flat from a rather large 1/2" by 1/8" wide shard of glass stuck in the tire, but it looked chaffed and had many tiny cracks like it was dry so I replaced it. Had to use pliers to get the glass out of the tire, and patched it from the inside. It felt good to ride it on Friday.
Our weather has been mild for the San Fernando Valley/L.A. I don't think it's been 108f yet, and has maybe hit 100 once or twice all month. The humidity is high though and I sweat bullets going home.
And I think it is time to start looking into new 700x28c tires...
had my first run in with rain, today. Funnily enough, two days ago was my one month anniversary with my bike. Little blue monster is a beast.
Rain isn't my favorite. BUt I think I just have to find better ways to deal with it. TO be honest, it wasn't a good day and I wasn't expecting the rain
A normal commute in, until I heard a nearby 'chufchufchuf...' as I was approaching a railway line I bike under, and thought that diesels sounded a lot like steam trains these days. Just as I got there a stream locomotive went past over the bridge, it was pulling an excursion train and working hard to get up the hill. It was quite a sight - I have mixed feeling about steam power, a steam engine pollutes an awful lot, still it made my Monday.
I freakin' hate my car. My commute today: DH needed the good car (normally he works from home so this isn't much of an issue) so my choices were to take the unreliable car or ride my bike. I've been commuting by bike a lot recently, but we didn't realize our conflict for today until after I had already gotten in an early morning run, and there are thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon, so I figured I'd take the unreliable car. Generally if it's going to have problems it'll be right at the start (or the non-start as the case may be). But it started up just fine and got me about 9 miles along on my commute before it started lurching and stalling. I eventually got it off the highway and parked it in a convenience store lot and walked the last 2.5 miles to work. Between the drive, the time spent starting and stopping and lurching, and the walk, I could have biked the route a lot faster.
I'm calling a vehicle donation place and getting rid of that car today.
Fun. For one, I finally got a new tune stuck in my head. I've had Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" playing in my head on rides for months. Months! Finally today, something inside clicked, and "Heavy Metal Drummer" by Wilco came on. What a contrast! Hopefully, it's a sign of good things to come. I love Leonard Cohen, but that might be the most cynical song ever written. I'm ready for a lighter internal beat.
Also fun because I out-rode the impending rain. Saw it coming on the Doppler, and my friend said, "Ride like the wind!" and I took off. Apparently that wasn't really necessary, because it's still not raining, and I've been home for an hour. Oh, well, it's good to have inspiration for speed. I purposely didn't ride my rain bike today because I thought it might be fun to try to avoid it, and it was.
Edit, oh, and I forgot about yelling at the strollercizers monopolizing the entire bike path (both lanes) this morning. After saying, "bike back" and "walkers move to the left" and being ignored, I finally yelled "walkers to the left!" (there are signs posted at every intersection, it's not my rule). Afterward, I was embarrassed for being rude and hoped no one I knew heard me. But, they finally moved.
my school year starts tomorrow and that means I get to commute again!!!! WOO HOO!!! It's been FAR too hot this summer to do any recreational riding- only riding as part of the training I'm doing for the IM next month. Can't wait to get on my bike and ride to work again! I always miss it when the school year ends, and always look forward to it when the school year begins.
I like the strollercizer term, that's great. I have the same problem with a section around the lake, where I bike after work. I finally gave up the bike path and used the road. Between the kids and the geese the roads are safer, and at least the geese have the sense to move. I actually had a little kid (maybe 4 or 5 yrs old) stand in the bike path and kinda jump from side to side in front of me purposely get in my way. I'm sure she thought it was cute.Quote:
Originally Posted by redrhodie
That sounds very annoying. I usually stay off the bike path at this time of year, but it was my friend's birthday, and I thought I might run into him on the path. We have opposite direction commutes.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnnB
I don't think this was an actual "Stollercize" group like they have in NYC, but it was 8-10 ladies working out with their babies (which I totally respect; but pay attention and give others room to get by, please). The real Strollercizers I used to see in Manhattan were totally hard core, running full speed, with one hand on the stroller, then jumping sideways. I swear, some of the women would be in tears trying to keep up. Oh, and they ran single file, with military-like formation. I suspect it would be easy to get by them.
Yesterday I needed to be in San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay. Some neighbors were driving to the West Bay, :p er, Peninsula. I put my folding bike into their trunk and got a ride with them.
This let me ride across the bay via the Dumbarton Bridge! :cool: The ride was much easier and more pleasant than I expected.
I linked a bunch of errands, all via bike, into this trip. In the end, it was 9 errands and 50 miles of riding. :eek: At one point I was slightly lost - I knew I was on the correct side of a certain freeway, headed in the correct compass direction, and that within 10 miles I'd encounter the cross street I was looking for.
Even after 50 miles of pedal pushing, I don't feel a thing - no soreness, no tiredness. I think this trip must be in the top 5 of my single day riding distances.
This commute did end on a bit of a sour note. I forgot my sunglasses hooked onto my bike's handlebars while I had dinner. They were gone when I returned. :( At least I got two years of use out of them.