How Was Your Commute Today?

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Originally Posted by pfunk12

Hmmm...have you been there recently to check it out? Can you go there and actually walk on it to check it out to see how safe/unsafe it is?
So IF you can do get by safely, I say go for it!

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DH and I drove up the hill today, alongside the path I use to get out of my neighborhood. We counted (actually, HE counted..I gave up) 35 distinct and significant mounds of ice that were impassible except to go out into traffic (against traffic)... and that's just in the first block. By the church and houses, there were even more. Across the street (a 6 lane major thoro-fare full of crazy drivers and no shoulder....I tried riding it...once...and was nearly killed by crazy people. And I'm not hugely skittish of riding near cars.) was just as bad. Wahhhh....

Our city leaves lovely ice berms on both sides of every road. All winter. Getting across streets is so much fun... not. The rest of the commute is lovely, though. I would like a change from the "freezing fog" but I'm afraid the change will be heavy snowfall so I don't want to complain too loudly.

Deb

Okay, so I have two brilliant ideas. DH wakes up bright and early and drives you just beyond the icy stretch. You get out of the car, get on your bike and ride to work and DH goes home. You do the opposite at the end of the day. OR...DH gets out there tomorrow with an ice chopper and the loving DH that he is...he works all day chopping away at that ice so that your path is clear and you are, once again, a very happy commuter! ;)

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Originally Posted by 7rider

DH and I drove up the hill today, alongside the path I use to get out of my neighborhood. We counted (actually, HE counted..I gave up) 35 distinct and significant mounds of ice that were impassible except to go out into traffic (against traffic)... and that's just in the first block. By the church and houses, there were even more. Across the street (a 6 lane major thoro-fare full of crazy drivers and no shoulder....I tried riding it...once...and was nearly killed by crazy people. And I'm not hugely skittish of riding near cars.) was just as bad. Wahhhh....

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I think skating across the Potomac would have been easier than what I did! I left work a half hour early so I could see the ice.

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

Can you skip the bridge and skate across the river? Talk about no traffic! :D

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Originally Posted by pfunk12

Okay, so I have two brilliant ideas. DH wakes up bright and early and drives you just beyond the icy stretch. You get out of the car, get on your bike and ride to work and DH goes home. You do the opposite at the end of the day. OR...DH gets out there tomorrow with an ice chopper and the loving DH that he is...he works all day chopping away at that ice so that your path is clear and you are, once again, a very happy commuter! ;)

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DH begs to differ. He thinks that is NOT a brilliant idea! :rolleyes:

Were you riding up the hill towards your place at 5:25 p.m.? DH and I were pulling into the lot by the shop to get the trainer and saw a cyclist heading up the hill. Thought it might be you.

Yes, that was me! I left work 30 minutes early and still got home at the same time. But I'm not complaining because at least I am on the bike.

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Originally Posted by 7rider

DH begs to differ. He thinks that is NOT a brilliant idea! :rolleyes:

Were you riding up the hill towards your place at 5:25 p.m.? DH and I were pulling into the lot by the shop to get the trainer and saw a cyclist heading up the hill. Thought it might be you.

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Today was my first full day back to reality after 2+ weeks of Christmas vacation. I traveled back to Michigan to visit my family, so the readjustment to Saskatchewan temperatures has been a little painful :( Temperatures have been pretty steady right around the -6F mark today (windchills in the -20s). However, even though it's so cold here, I'm thankful that I get to ride my bike to work every day. I live so close (2km) that it seems like a shame to drive my car unless temperatures/conditions are dangerous.

I started out this morning, then had to turn back. :( I need wider tires, or more weight. I couldn't fight the wheel ruts any more. I know if I could just get to the path I would be fine but it was too far to walk and the windchill was just too low to spend the extra time outside. At lunch DH took me to the bike shop to get monster tires for my MTB. :D I rode a bit around the neighborhood tonight to get used to it. The windchill is about -20° so I didn't get to stay out very long. I only went over once. It was fun. I ordered some fenders. If I can't commute on my Kona I'll do it on the Giant. Bring it, winter! :cool:

Deb

Bring it, winter! :cool:

Love the attitude. :-)

Sometime while I was stuck inside at work, the predicted cold front actually came through...

ride to work: 40 F & mostly dry roads with a few ice patches
ride home: 7 F & mostly snow packed roads with newly covered ice patches

First commute of the year! it REALLY is difficult to get going again when it's dark out and the temp is below 40. What really works is wearing heavy winter boots and deluxe gloves..

Yesterday we got that predicted cold front: I rode in yesterday, but it was snowing so heavily that i had to ride home at lunch and switch bike for car. Bummer. Today, it was -16 (again!) and still snowy (not really packed down by cars enough yet for me to ride on), so I bummed a ride to campus from my dbf and I may walk home at lunch and bring the bike back with me. Lousy weather!

Ai, so Tuesday I was Queen of the Universe, then the temperature dropped even more... It's been -20C (-4F) for the past 2 days, so yesterday I took the bus to work, bringing ski things, then went for a short ski trip right after work instead. Then today I had a couple of errands in town, so decided to bike commute. New temperature record for me, w00t! I went for the same stuff as for -15 C, but added a wind vest underneath my jacket, and my homemade "rain shorts" just to keep the wind off the my butt.

I had no trouble keeping warm, actually, but ohhh. It is a bit of a hassle riding when it's that cold. My bike did NOT want to shift in front at all. I just left it. In back it would just shift slowly and hesitantly. So basically I just coasted down the hills, and stood up and pedalled my *ss off uphill. And they still hadn't scraped the bike paths, so I was still skidding around in a thin layer of grungy potato flour snow, which made everything go even slower. Everybody else was all wrapped up in layers and paying no attention to anything, so I had to squeeze and sidle past any pedestrian, no matter which way they were heading. And the city has most definitely not bothered with plowing the bike lanes, so once on the road you just have to suck it up and get in the way of the cars.

Nothing terrible, I just felt slow, clumsy and in the way. But slightly vindicated hearing how everyone else had either had trouble starting their cars, or froze to death waiting for a delayed train, or whatever. It struck me that biking (or walking briskly), is actually one of the best and most guaranteed way to actually keep warm "during transport", rather than the opposite.

Not sure if any of you have been experiencing the same things as I have been this week. As I mentioned the other day, this is my first day commuting since before the holidays so it's much colder than it was a few weeks ago and there is also (still) quite a bit of ice out there. Because of the possibility of hitting patches of ice, I am forced to be more alert than usual. I also feel as if my body is more tense. After my roundtrip commute on Tuesday, my biceps were actually sore. Believe me when I say that I am not complaining about the commute...:)...but when I get to the office in the morning and when I return home in the evening, I am physically and mentally drained and I am also very, very hungry. It's also been very windy so I feel like I am working twice as hard as I did a few weeks ago. Again, no complaints though. :)

Oh yeah, I'm expending much more energy. And eating a lot more chocolate to compensate :D