How Was Your Commute Today?

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Originally Posted by MDHillSlug

My goal for the year was 25 bike commutes and I finally got the 25th today (3 weeks later than last year). I'm basically OK with biking in traffic and I'm mostly OK with biking in the dark but I'm not really liking biking in rush hour traffic in the dark. This might be my last until late winter/early spring.

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CONGRATULATIONS!!!

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Originally Posted by 7rider

Oh, yuck. Glad to hear he ran away - and that he didn't take YOU out in the process.
I always worry about squirrels on my ride in. They are so busy this time of year, they forget to think about what's going on around them (kind of like the deer).

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I have learned to make a squirrelly sound with my tongue in my teeth. I kidja not, they tend to turn and sprint for the nearest tree. I revel in what's sort of almost power...

Good both ways today. I am still a little under the weather so I've been slower than usual, but I enjoyed my ride.

Deb

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

As i was riding to work this morning (it was 49 degrees) I was thinking about why riding is more fun than driving.
I can smell all kinds of smells - lawns, flowers, someone's bacon cooking, the sea (when the wind blows from the west), the occasional dead animal, the smell of spring, the smell of autumn; the pleasures of riding behind a garbage truck, and the sounds; dogs barking in the distance, various birds, the sound of someone's car idling in a driveway, the sounds of running over leaves, and ick, glass... in a car, you don't smell anything except yourself and your car, you don't hear anything except the loudest of noises.
i can see people's cats watching me from their front stoops, I can count eagles and crows (and can follow them from their sounds).

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your post summarizes exactly why i love commuting so much.. i feel like all the car people are missing out on so many special things.

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Originally Posted by Geonz

I have learned to make a squirrelly sound with my tongue in my teeth. I kidja not, they tend to turn and sprint for the nearest tree. I revel in what's sort of almost power...

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:D :D

Isn't it funny how we tend to try to talk to animals with sounds like they make themselves. A cat's "mrrr?" is the only one I have a decent chance of simulating well.

I used to have to ride through huge flocks of Canadian geese, and I'd invariably end up shooing them by yelling "honk! honk!" :D

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Originally Posted by lph

:D :D
Isn't it funny how we tend to try to talk to animals with sounds like they make themselves. A cat's "mrrr?" is the only one I have a decent chance of simulating well.

I used to have to ride through huge flocks of Canadian geese, and I'd invariably end up shooing them by yelling "honk! honk!" :D

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I don't know what sound a squirrel makes, but I usually hollar out "Chah....chah.." when I see them. No idea what it means. It's just my pre-coffee gibberish that is appears to mean "Hey, dumb squirrel...don't run in front of me....or that car!"

one of my friends got caught gobbleing to geese on her morning commute last year... she thought she was alone on the road, but there was a pedestrian. Tee hee :p

Talk to the animals!!!

Getting really hot here.
Woke up, too hot with terrible nerve pain in my shoulder( bad futon!!)
Knew ride would fix me up, so got dressed.
Riding couldnt get into it, felt somewhat tired.But nice to smell fresh dried fields and the comforting smell of clean cows, drifting off the pastures. No cyclists in sight, Odd but terribly hot even for 630 am.
It went well, no flats( like day before!). Arrived in time to buy fresh veggies for lunch.
Worked.Then rode on air con bus for part of the way.( MMMM). Then got off , aggghh!! 39 degrees and sooo hot my contacts kept drying out as I rode so I lost vision now and then. :eek:
Wow, my bum hurts and my legs. :(But I rode to work TWO days this week ( 15 km each way) and Im proud. Maybe three next week. Im hoping but with strength training, on my feet all day and bits of chronic fatigue lingering, its a bit iffy!

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Originally Posted by 7rider

Talk to the animals!!!

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I loved that video! (Roger Moore really can't sing, can he?)

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Originally Posted by cylegoddess

Getting really hot here.
Woke up, too hot with terrible nerve pain in my shoulder( bad futon!!)
Knew ride would fix me up, so got dressed.
Riding couldnt get into it, felt somewhat tired.But nice to smell fresh dried fields and the comforting smell of clean cows, drifting off the pastures. No cyclists in sight, Odd but terribly hot even for 630 am.
It went well, no flats( like day before!). Arrived in time to buy fresh veggies for lunch.
Worked.Then rode on air con bus for part of the way.( MMMM). Then got off , aggghh!! 39 degrees and sooo hot my contacts kept drying out as I rode so I lost vision now and then. :eek:
Wow, my bum hurts and my legs. :(But I rode to work TWO days this week ( 15 km each way) and Im proud. Maybe three next week. Im hoping but with strength training, on my feet all day and bits of chronic fatigue lingering, its a bit iffy!

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Congrats on getting out there and doing it.

Very nice ride in this morning. Nice and cool. Just cool enough to try one of my thrift shop merino wool sweaters. Felt lovely.

Only drawback to this morning's ride was finding that my pair of 'matched' socks for work are really one navy blue and one black.

I tried out merino wool too today... I should have washed it first... a little scratchy - or maybe jsut a little stiff. Good commute though. It has be seriously cold but just beautiful! I can handle cold as long as the wind doesn't show up :o

Warm! It's 8-10 deg. C here (but still damp and black) and I didn't what to do with myself in my winter gear :p

-signed, soggy in Oslo

I attended a training course in town all this week, so I rode in, a 32.9Km round trip. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Brisbane has a nice end-of-trip facility, so I got a 5-day membership for $30. I got to start every day with a nice bike ride.. what could be better!

Only problem was the return trip. At that time of day (4PM), it's quite hot (35+ degrees C) and I found myself struggling. On a couple of the rides, I ended up having to pull over and pour water over my head to forcibly cool down.

That said, I made a point of taking it easy on the return trips. Well, as easy as I can take.. the moment someone passes me, it's on for young and old, and I must catch them, pass them, and put enough distance between us that they can't catch me again. I'm far too competitive for my own good.. as evidenced by the fact that I had to pull over to cool down :o

Anyway.. long story short - I had a great week of commuting. :D

Max