How Was Your Commute Today?

Nice morning commute, and I brought Madei along for the ride. She must have been tired from her travel to Tucson, because she slept in the backpack on the way in, but enjoyed a good view from the mesh side pocket on the way back.

I never seem to overlap with anyone else doing the bike commute, but today just as I thought about stopping to refill my bottle with ice to cool off a little, a guy passed me on a bike. So I didn't turn into the convenience store, but caught up with him. He actually wasn't commuting, just getting in an afternoon ride, but it was nice to have company for a few miles.

Today was my 2nd commute ever. I am regretting having not tried this sooner. I am more focused at work and seem to have more energy (without any caffeine). This morning's ride was cool but pleasant. This evening I experienced the pleasure of having a high visibility jacket with removable sleeves as the temps really warmed up. Only oops was finding two half-finger gloves that were for the same hand and having to wear the full finger ones from this morning home...a tad warm.

Dressing right for the day is a challenge when conditions can be quite a bit different riding in than riding home. Glad you are enjoying it!

I was rained on this morning for 2 miles and beautifully shone on by the sun this afternoon for 4 miles. :) It's all about balance right?

I decided to take the "hilly" route this morning. As I am coming up one of the long hills I see red flashing school bus lights.....and more driveways with kids...I thought I was safe, it was like 6:30 and I did not think buses picked anyone up before 7 am...guess times have changed. Anyway the bus driver finished picking up the first group of kids, slowed way down and did not put the lights on again until I was just passed her...she made my day...that hill was something and I really do not think I would have had enought steam left to get the bike going again. After having been doing this for only two weeks my co-workers are expecting me to bike in everyday. I got to buck 14 mph winds in 84 degree temps on my ride home. It made me very glad that my route is full of twists and turns so that I got a break from the wind. I almost forgot my car keys when I left work at the end of the day, put my wallet in my bike bag and left the keys laying on my desk. Lucky for me I got a phone call just before leaving and spotted the keys...makes me think I should seperate my work keys from my car key and keep the car key in the bag. That would have just not made for a good Friday night...tripple the traffic, the miles and that wind.

Yesterday, I biked to work twice because I left my business clothes home. Ugh lol well, it increased my miles by four. It was chilly in the am and breezy in the afternoon.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of my DH's company on the commute. He came down to do a presentation for my classes. The morning ride in was good, almost no wind, and although we had a stiff headwind to start our trip home, on the northbound final 5 miles we got a boost from the wind that kept us going over 20-22 mph, sometimes 25! Whee!

I was out of town on a work trip during bike to work week, but I took my bike along and chose my hotel based on access to a multi use path that would get me close to the office I was visiting. Worked great for a couple days, then on the actual Bike To Work Day we had thunderstorms and wind - I gave in and drove. But my bike was on the car and maybe provided some advertising as it sat in the parking lot. :rolleyes:

SO FRUSTRATED, here, have this tl;dr

Orange bike had the drops measured to fit, since I had them replace the flat bars. Drops on the orange bike are more comfortable than my custom-to-fit soma drops. I ask the soma builder, he confirms the drops he put on were too big to give me "stability" over comfort. Never mind that I didn't ask for that, but whatever. He'll replace them for free.

I get them replaced, and they knocked the front fender so hard it was beyond my ability to bend back into place.
I take the bike back to get the fender fixed, they fix it, I take it home.

Except they did a **** job fixing it, and today as I'm just finishing the first mile of my commute, the fender fails again, big time. So how was my commute today?

Alternatively pedaling as hard as I could, then coasting for as long as I was able with my right foot pushed up against the front fender so it wouldn't rub the tire raw. My commute was angry.

I. Hate. That "bike shop". So friggin much.

I am sorry to hear that your LBS sucks. :( That is so sad.

I had a tough day. 84 degree heat, super sunny and 20mph winds. I went 12 miles total in three different commutes. Painful.

I have expanded my route to 14 miles from the necessary 9.5. It looks like it will be realistic for me to commute 2-3 days a week. Today was a one way commute with both my bike and I catching a ride back to my car from a co-worker - due to winds in excess of 30 mph and threat of late afternoon thunder storms. At the end of my refreshing ride in this moring I got chased by a dog just after taking my lane for a left turn. I was able to out peddle the dog and it managed not to get plucked off by the garbage truck behind us and the oncoming traffic. I have been getting up at 4:40 so that I can get not only the commute in, but also some extra miles. I have been arriving at work 45 minutes before start time and am amazed at the energy I have. Sleeping like a rock at night too. I work on a Reservation with lots of forest and keep thinking that one of these mornings I am going to see a bear. Last spring one waddled across the road about 100 feet ahead of me.

Putting this ride under commuting, since for me, it's a utility ride. While I have two clients I can ride to, I've only ridden to one of them, a couple of times.
So, I decided to ride to the gym for my circuit training class, which starts at 5:30 AM. I generally get up very early at this time f the year, but I set the alarm for 4:20, in case.
OK, the gym is really only about 3.5- 4 miles from my house, but the route includes a traffic circle that is the most notorious in the state. While I probably could do it at 4:50 AM, I really don't feel like getting t-boned by some half awake motorist. I am entering and exiting the 2 "local road" streets, which no one pays attention to. So, my route to the gym by bike is 6.8 miles, through Concord center, and across the highway, into West Concord, where the gym is. It's a gorgeous morning, about 64 when I left. It was still a little dark, so I had my lights. When I got to the highway, I realized that my bike would not trigger the signal and there were no cars coming from my direction. So I actually rode across to the median (absolutely no cars, although there is a walk signal) and pressed the walk button on the median, which stopped the steady stream of cars heading into Boston. Wasted a couple of minutes there, but now I know I have to do this. Got to the gym about 5:20, which allowed me to change my shoes, etc. Brought my bike inside, since the rack on my bike made it impossible to fit in the bike rack. I had worn my new Terry Liberty shorts, which are long, tight on the top, baggy on the bottom shorts (kinda like a cross between road and mtb shorts), and my normal gym tank, with a LS jersey over it. The shorts are a little weird on me, possibly too big, but I think they will shrink in the laundry.
The class is getting progressively filled with more and more cardio intervals, so I took it a little easy (not too easy). I brought my bolero to wear over my gym top on the way home, which was perfect. And, I had a little taste of nasty commuting. The train was stopped in West Concord, and there was a long line of cars stopped. I was able to zip up to the front, in the parking lane, but after that the cars were being very aggressive; I got in the lane and they were still squeezing me right, so it kind of made me turn aggressive! I stuck my left arm out and shook it at the car behind me a couple of times, and I decided to turn left and cross the highway at a calmer intersection, since it was late enough for there to be cars to trigger the light. It was a good thing I didn't come this way, though, since there's no walk signal.
Saw my DH riding to work when I was about 2.5 miles from home. I will do this again, since it's a good option for utility cycling. I had a total of 15.5 miles.

I did something different today. Instead of loading my basket and wearing a throw bag on my back, I put everything into an actual backpack with wide straps. It was so much more comfortable for both me and the bike weight. The only negative was the weight of it on my back during the heat. I can't wait to get panniers. I hope they even out the clunkiness of my commuting. I want to get it to where I don't have to overload the basket (affecting the steering) or overload my back (makes me hot).

Edit: 8.20 miles on the way home! Would have made 10 but I ran out of water and it's too hot to press the issue.

Rode in today with a friend and co-worker who wants to get into bike commuting and wants to lose some weight. So, as I often do with newbie cyclists, I was really careful about signalling and calling out turns, obstacles, stopping at stop signs, not sprinting for lights, waiting at the top of hills, stuff like that. Last year she had done a multi-day tour with friends and this morning was telling how they frequently commented about the importance of calling out "slowing" and "stopping" when doing so - as a few times, they didn't, and the cyclist in the rear would run up the rear wheel of the biker in front, and of course, the last cyclist is the one that goes down.

So, we got to about our split point this evening on the ride home, and we're chit-chatting about my route to my house vs. her route to her place, going about 4 mph, when she says "Oh, this is the road I need to turn at." So, I say "Here?" and stop. And - D'oh! - I broke the cardinal rule -- I didn't tell her I was stopping (after two trips of non-stop hand signalling and calling out turns), and BAM! she ran right into my rear wheel and did a slow-speed topple to her right - onto the sidewalk, unable to clip out of her pedals. Bloody knee. I felt so badly! She'll live. She laughed about it, with blood trickling down her shin.

Hopefully, she'll join me again - but I'll be sure to remember to call out "Stopping!" :rolleyes:

I seem to be more nervous at the thought with riding with others around traffic than solo. This is kind of strange considering my lack of experience in traffic, but there you go. Tomorrow I plan to ride on a "regular" day, depending on how I feel in the morning. My usual commuting day is Friday, and I only work 4 hours on Friday so I've not yet had the full experience of riding home in the evening. I've not ridden to work for almost 2 weeks due to my work schedule so I need to get back out there before I get nervous about it again ;)

My recreational riding is still taking me places where I wouldn't have ridden even a month ago, so good things are coming about from commuting :cool:

Catrin, my daughter, who rides her bike regularly everywhere, has never ridden in a group until a few nights ago with the Traffic Skills 101 class that I'm teaching. Something fell off her bike and she stopped suddenly and in the middle of the road-- and another rider bumped into her. I suggested she break that habit right away, because it's one thing for a bicyclist to bump into her and quite another if it was a car! Of course I doubt she'd have stopped like that if there had been any traffic on the street. Still, it's not a good habit.

We used the opportunity to tell everyone, when riding in a group, never stop suddenly but pull over to the side of the road and announce that you are stopping. These are just things we don't have to think about when we are alone.

This weekend I got honked at 4 times. That's more than I've been honked at in the last six months. It's really amazing how much I DON'T get honked at around here.

What was really funny was that they weren't all dumb kids doing the honking. One was a little old lady in a big pickup. Another was a dad with his family in a car! My daughter said it might be the same little old lady who honks at her regularly on her way home from school. When she said that, I didn't think it was funny anymore. It made me really mad that some stupid old woman would honk at a little girl on a bike over and over.

Today I got caught in my first rain storm in Texas. It felt kind of good considering it was 94 degrees. Everything is a better on bike.

I look foward to riding into work everyday. My job is not as stressful since I started riding. I have converted one friend to a commuter. And another to weekend errands on bike.

Happy Biking Days.

Beautiful ride in this morning! Fastest I've ever been on the bike (it helps to, basically, only have 1 hill on a 10.5 mile route), so my average actually got up to 14 :) With my riding position I don't really expect my average to get much higher but time will tell. I think getting more efficient at shifting will help in this department as well. Trying to remember to get in the big ring on the flats which does help.

Only managed to get stopped by 2 red lights - and the second was within my last mile or so when I was already cooling down. Did have one close brush with an inattentive driver but all is well that ends well. I did, however, forget my sunglasses for the return ride home tonight :eek: that is what I get for leaving home when it is still dark. Oh well, I won't be headed homewards until after 6:30 (probably) so will just have to grin and bear it.

Rides like this morning make me wish I was riding to work more than once a week! I will consider this after my vacation in July.

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

What was really funny was that they weren't all dumb kids doing the honking. One was a little old lady in a big pickup. Another was a dad with his family in a car! My daughter said it might be the same little old lady who honks at her regularly on her way home from school. When she said that, I didn't think it was funny anymore. It made me really mad that some stupid old woman would honk at a little girl on a bike over and over.

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I don't mind being honked at --- as long as it is a honk from more than 100 feet behind me. Honking right behind or while next to me will cause me to purposely ride erratically as it just makes me angry. If I am driving and out places with bike riders up ahead and I can't move entirely over into the other lane I will tap my horn usually when I am about 200 feet back just to let them know I am back there. When a car or truck honks appropriately when I am riding I will wave a thank you. I would much rather have that then the car to appear suddenly on my left when I haven't heard the approach due to the wind in my ears :)

The commute home was great, but it came after two workouts at the gym - one was me doing my own thing and then I did a 30 minute Bosu class. Even with all that I did fine with the 13 windy mile ride home :cool:

One interesting note. I've been using a MUT downtown when I can, and then another trail to get from my gym to a point about halfway home. I am learning that I behave better when I am in the street with traffic when I am in areas where the trails intersect with busy streets. I am more confident when I am on the street - I know how I am supposed to act - like a tiny car and I think that it makes it easier for drivers to anticipate what I am going to do. It seems easier to do less wise things when I am on what amounts to be a wide sidewalk. :o

I agree. On the trails the rules just aren't well established and no one really knows what they are supposed to do. That's how most bicyclists are on the street, but at least everyone else is predictable.

There is a tiny little 3/4 mile MUP in town and it has signs that direct bicyclists to ride on the RIGHT and peds to walk on the LEFT! How confusing is that! There is a bike lane/ ped lane on another street, which is kind of an odd duck, instead of a sidewalk there's a ped lane striped, then a bike lane, then the regular lane. That thing has an almost identical sign only this time bicyclists are directed to ride to the LEFT of the pedestrians (ie in the bike lane which is in the middle between the ped lane on the far right and then regular traffic lane)-- which makes a lot more sense. Slowest traffic to the right, fastest traffic to the left!

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

I agree. On the trails the rules just aren't well established and no one really knows what they are supposed to do. That's how most bicyclists are on the street, but at least everyone else is predictable...

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Yes, and we are in the flow of traffic so we aren't trying to interrupt it. Last night on the way home I was stuck at a minor intersection because I was on the "trail" and there was always a line of cars waiting to turn both right and left into the subdivision - I finally had to take a risk to cross on a red light - and it was risky but no one would give me a chance to cross. If I had been in the the traffic flow it would not have been an issue. There is a portion of my route home out of downtown for which I may not have a choice when I leave close to evening rush hour but we will see.

Today's commute was all about alternative transportation for me. My bike was out of commission (see the stripped bolt thread in "maintenance"!) so I walked to work. My bike mechanic could take care of the stripped bolt in the evening, so I walked home, loaded the one-wheeled bike on the car, tossed the other wheel inside, and drove out to his house.

The drive was interesting, because I so rarely drive anymore. The walk was more interesting. I rarely walk to work in the summer, and I discovered a neighborhood that has the most beautiful hollyhocks on both sides of the street. Pretty!

Pouring rain for yesterday's commute. My sleeves filled up like water balloons, and even my socks were wet, but it was awesome since it wasn't cold or windy. The only part I don't like about riding in the rain is dealing with a dirty wet bike, but once it's wet, it's wet. Might as well enjoy it.

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Originally Posted by Rina

... Everything is a better on bike. ...

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This. I had a long, frustrating day at work - nothing especially bad just nothing that worked out, or got done, or felt good. But when I walked out the door and got on my bike, life got better. (It helps that the wind finally backed off to normal June level :))

Finnally decided to start commuting to work . I started Saturday and I feel good about it..was a little scared because of the traffic but for the past 2 weeks I studied the routes to pick the best one. More than 90% of the ride is safe but when I get to a Highway exit intersection that I have to be very careful. But other than that I feel good about doing this. I can feel the workout in my legs and my torso , they feel tight all through the day.

I have a question .....I do eat something before heading out in the morning. Like a bowl of oatmeal made with soy milk but as soon as I get to work I start getting real hungry..and I mean..reallly hungry!.. should I eat something heavier before starting my commute?. I ussually eat a snack at mid morning and feel fine ...but now I feel hungry right after my commute...like before starting my shift at 8:00 a.m. and I really don't want to eat more than I should specially when trying to lose some more weight.

BTW the weather was nice this morning decent wind at times...but refreshing...

Good job, Giulianna. I always eat something right when I get to work, so basically I have 2 breakfasts, like a bowl of oatmeal with fruit at home, then whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana at work. I'd be pretty depleted if I tried to wait until lunch. I really think this has made my metabolism faster.

Yesterday's commute was perfect. I've been taking the longer route to avoid the bike path. There's less road traffic since school is out. Lots of pretty scents, like honeysuckle and rose. I feel lucky to be able to ride in such nice conditions.

Mini-commute for me today! I rode the old bike 1 mile to a new yoga studio in the area, and did an hour 1/2 of yin yoga focused on hip openers, then rode back. It was awesome. :) The ride was good too. It's straight down a single street with only 1 turn, and everyone was mindful of my presence on the road. That was nice.

Did a little light commuting today, as I work out seat adjustments and knee pain. It's a lovely mid 70's and breezy day. My only annoyance was a timid cyclist travelling the wrong way (towards me in my lane) in the road this a.m.

Here is a beautiful little scene I get to see every morning when I ride my 11 miles to work. I don't generally mix up the morning route and this is part of the reason why. It was a great ride this morning, though it started out on the chilly side I did warm up. Mornings like this one make me want to ride to work more than once a week but that isn't feasible right now. In another month that should change.

I only work 4-5 hours on Friday (I work 4 nine hour days) and I've been experimenting with different routes home. I will not consider taking the same route home as I take at 5:30 am as I would like to survive the commute :cool: this was taken at 6:10 am and was almost to work.

Due to my short day on Fridays I have a lot more flexibility in the homeward-bound route. It wouldn't be possible to really experiment closer to rush hour so this works out well. My route home today was a bit over 16 miles, so I rode around 27-28 miles today.

Oooh, so pretty!

And I have to say it was great. My office just moved over the weekend. Previously it was only two miles from my home and since I could take an hour for lunch I would drive and then come home for a nap at lunch. But now my office is 8 miles away==a perfect commute. It was chilly morning and I was cold at first but warmed up quickly. My route follows the Penobscot River which was misty and beautiful. About 35 minutes with my pack fully loaded and lots of good natured ribbing from my (impressed) co-workers. Came home the longer way --12 miles with more hills. It was lovely. What a good way to live!:)

It is 93° right now. I may have mastered commuting in the heat. I got to work hardly sweaty. It took an easy pedal stroke, and effortless effort. Today was not a day to even think about riding fast.

"Interesting" is the word I'd choose. After reading all the advice about getting a professional bike fitting done, I went ahead and did that yesterday. The lbs I bought my bike from doesn't have anyone trained to do fittings, so this required taking the day off and driving 3 hours to the Big City. The guy who worked with me said he would have put me on the next bigger frame :( but the fit was close enough that swapping out the stem and making a few other adjustments should give me a good ride position :)

Anyway, this morning's commute felt kind of like getting used to a new bike. Not dramatically different, just unfamiliar. I think this is going to be a big improvement once I get used to the new position and slightly different handling.

Then, after work, I had to pick up two 8' x 4' outdoor banners I just had made for our local farmer's market (which opens in July). So I was riding down main street with these rolled up, but still quite large, banners strapped to the sides of a backpack like a pair of skiis. This is in a town that lives and dies on oil and gas drilling, so bikes get odd looks even when they aren't doing anything weird. I'm guessing there were some interesting comments made about me, but maybe not - maybe they just ignored the odd biker going by.

and I love it! But today was very hot and I took the long way home because I won't ride for the next couple of days. So it was about a 20 mile ride home. Very hot for us here in Maine. About ten miles in I started yawning like crazy. Then close to the 15 mile mark I got chills and goosebumps. I realized that something was not right and stopped to get a cold drink. Felt very wierd and disoriented. Finally I bought some PB crackers to eat with my cranberry lemonade adn felt better enough to limp the last five miles home...has this happened to others?

You were smart to realize something was wrong and get some food & water. It just takes a few days (or more) to adjust to heat. I struggle with it every year.

I finished Bike Across Kansas on Saturday, 60-80 miles daily. I tried to go for a short ride Monday evening but it was too hot and I didn't do well. (I nearly threw up.) It was unusually cool for Kansas last week. Then on Tuesday I biked to work, not even 2 miles, and got super nauseous again. Wed-- I was feeling sick before I even got on my bike. (I biked anyway. Slowly.)

Heat and fatigue, I guess. I'm off to NIH in a couple hours (by plane, not bike!) so no more biking this week. Hopefully next week will go better.

Good reminders to take heat seriously - thanks.

It was 50 degrees when I left for work today, and is 97 right now. Unfortunately it's downhill in the morning, and uphill coming back - so I can't cancel out the temps with more/less effort pedaling. But it's helping me justify the nice, lightweight, stuff-able jacket I bought when I started commuting.

It was a red letter day at the office: we exceeded our bike rack capacity! Of course, we have around 100 employees and our bike rack only holds 6 bikes, so.... not much to brag about. But progress nonetheless.

I had trouble in traffic yesterday afternoon. A woman tried to aggressively pass me on the left in a major intersection when there was no room. I would have been hit or knocked over so I put my arm out like I was turning to secure my space and that pi**ed her off. She barreled up on me and revved until the next light where she started yelling at me "Get your bike on the sidewalk where it belongs" and "You shouldn't drive in the road if you can't go as fast as a car." The intersections were a block apart. I was not going majorly slow-just following the flow of traffic. I thought she was going to get out and hit me. With things like this happening, it's frustrating. It sure would be a deterrent to a new rider. What if this happened to a rider on their first or second day out? I can understand why so many people fall into the "interested, but concerned" category as the League of Bicyclists calls it. Our communities need some real education on the rules of the road.

I had a Flat tire this morning :( I am about to kill myself... now I am gonna have to wait at least until Friday to ride again :'(''' ... Sucks!

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Originally Posted by Giulianna23

I had a Flat tire this morning :( I am about to kill myself... now I am gonna have to wait at least until Friday to ride again :'(''' ... Sucks!

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I hear you...between the big broiler in the sky kicking in tomorrow with temps >100F :eek:, my knee would likely appreciate a day or two more off the bike... This means I've not bike commuted in two weeks, though Sunday I DID ride downtown to my gym and back, taking different routes each way.