Fall and Winter Commuter Challenge!

Okay, I went through the last thread and picked everyone who said "yes" to joining in. I think the consensus was just tell us how you did each week, come by for encouragement, etc... Fall started Monday so the challenge did too, goes through March and the beginning of spring.

It is going to be a struggle for me to do my hybrid commute 2x weekly but I got to try. I am trying to lose weight and this is an easy way to force myself to do exercise even if I don't want to. :p I would have the goals but I don't have enough time to figure out why the print screen function is not working with me tonight. Jeez I only do it for work daily. Do we want those showing, I have it saved on my computer? :)

Outspokin'
tulip
pardes
Bicicilista
BikerHen
danadear
ms pepperpot
Aggie_Ama
Kacie Tri-ing
indigoiis
kfergos
twin
Eden
TsPoet
Grog
TattieFritter
tjf9
andtcktoo
SouthernBelle
GLC1968

My goal: Commute on my bike 90% of the time (9 times per 10 days). Excepted are the days when the temperature is below 1 degree Celcius (not often, where I live) at 7 a.m.

Count me in, too! I'll be riding 2-3 times a week. I'm riding in today and I rode in on Monday. Depending on what is going on tomorrow, I may ride in then, too.

Added andtckrtoo to the list.

My goal is 1-2x a week, hybrid commute for a weekly total of approximately 50 miles. The commute is husband drives me to work in our car on his way to work and I bike 27 miles home. He does the same two days, our gas guzzling Dodge Truck stays parked all but one day a week (the day he mountain bikes) and we are using 1/2 the gas we used to. Actually even less than 1/2. We used to fill up every 5 days, now we put half a tank in on payday (every Friday). We drive about 100-150 miles a week on the truck instead of close to 400. We do use the truck to go camping or mountain biking together, so it gets driven more in the weekends but still only 2-3 days a week instead of 5-7.

I'm in. Shooting to maintain 3 days a week.

My week:

Mon: 12 miles (bus and back)
Tue: 63 miles (work and back
Wed: 12 miles (bus)
Thur: 0 (need to run errands so drove to bus.)
Fri: 0 (it's going to storm tomorrow, so driving to bus.)
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87 miles for 9/22-9/26

Thanks for helping me log this... I am giving myself incentives. Since I haven't filled the tank in the truck in over a month, I bought myself a Pearl Izumi whisper jacket in high-vis yellow and a new pair of winter gloves.

Gots to have the SWAG.

;) Indy

M + W 12 miles round trip
F - I'll probably bike to my volunteer position, 20 miles round trip.

I can't really make a claim to have goals.... its just how I get to work.. I don't have a parking pass so I can't drive -they actually patrol the neighborhood for cheaters!!!! My only other option is the bus and with a 20 min commute by bike vs 40 min by bus its kind of a no brainer.

Last evening was my first commute of the year in the cold rain though, sigh.... its not supposed to be winter yet. It is supposed to warm up for the weekend.

Count me in, too!

I'm not sure if my goals are realistic or not, since I haven't lived through a winter in this state - nevermind with a commute that is this long.

I commute 19 miles each way. I do this at least once a week right now. I'm actually up to once a week with a full commute (both ways) and once a week with a half commute (drive to work, bike home, bike in the next day, drive home).

My goal is to get to two full commutes and one half commute per week by the end of October and to maintain it all winter. I don't know if that's even possible as I have no idea what winter will bring in terms of weather. For now, my goal is to get to get there before October is out. That'll be 114 miles a week. I'd be happy with that. :)

tomorrow's my last commute before being on holiday for 2 weeks. I expect it to be a lot colder/wetter/darker when I get back. I'm currently riding a heavy borrowed bike which only has one gear which I can use. I'll get my lovely new bike about 3-4 weeks after I get back. My first challenge is to carry on commuting most days for those first 3-4 weeks (assuming I can keep the borrowed bike for that time). Once I get my new bike I'm hoping I'll be so excited it will be much easier to keep going and I'll set a new challenge. (I have 6 miles each way)

I am trying for 4 out of 5 days. I have a 15 mile round trip, but school starts very early! I am already in the dark:)

My commute is only a total of 7 miles a day however I run most of my errands on a bike. I will try for 5 out 5 days. Fun! I have not missed a school day yet. I know my commute is really short.

Ooh, me too.

Goals:

Continue commute to work once a week (barring ice and strong winds)
Commute to running club as much as possible
Continue bike errands (Library, farm shop, butcher etc).

I did my first commute to the running club last night, its just over 7 hilly miles each way. I cycled in nice and steady and had quite a break at the other end as sorting out some shoes for Cross Country races over the winter (New Shoes!).

Then ended up doing the hardest run I've done in a long time with a faster group which we somehow managed to tag along with. Over 6 miles and they went looking for hills to run up at warp speed :eek:. The overall pace was also fast and as I was one of the slowest I didn't get my usual rest waiting on other people. I loved it though, nice to work hard. My legs were shot by the end. I had to keep reminding myself I still had to cycle home, people were offering me lifts home!

Then it was a sllooooowwwwww ride home, though I have to say my legs felt a lot better after the ride home than they did at the end of the run. They feel ok this morning, if I had just got straight in my car as normal they would be quite stiff I think.

The ride home was also the first commute this year I did entirely in the dark. I'm not sure if I'll do this every week. I won't be next week as I will be saving my legs for a trail race on Saturday but every little will help.

I did my two days this week for a total of 43 miles. DH's route home by car is past me and both days I was feeling a little weak, normally I tell him to go home but I took the short ride this week. Tuesday I was really hungry but yesterday I was just out of gas. There was a headwind and I was really fatigued all day for some unknown reason. Felt a little defeated to need the ride both days but the truck was only on the road 1 day this week. ;)

ETA- I should feel good. I did 23/27 miles Monday, just skipped the county road home to get dinner quicker! Yesterday I still did 20/27 miles. It was hot and a headwind, I could have just waited at work and made DH come get me which is more miles on the car because it is out of his way but following me home is on his way. What is this defeatist attitude? Rubbish.

Week 1: I'm out of town down on the Chesapeake Bay, so no commute. I was planning on just going for a ride or two this week, but here in eastern Virginia we've had quite a stormy spell. More rain and serious wind in the past few days than in a long, long time.

But tomorrow is the River Ride and I'll do the metric. And then I lead a ride on Sunday. Not commuting miles, but miles nontheless. I'll be back home on Monday and the post office commute will resume.

week 1
Monday and Tuesday almost don't count as they were my 99th and 100th commutes of the year. I would have done anything to finish THAT.

But today was my true first day of the challenge and i did ride in. I ride in the morning with DH most days and I'm not sure he appreciates the fact that pokey mimi is even pokier in the dark!
thanks for doing this!

Tulip, your hair is amazing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

Tulip, your hair is amazing!

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Mimi, I've met Tulip, and I don't recall her hair looking like that!:D

I commuted 3 days this week. I would have commuted today but the road bike REALLY needed to go to the shop which is a bit of a drive away.

I took it over a long lunch. I was shocked when they said they hoped to get it back to me by the 9th! They're that backed up. Sigh.

So all my commutes will be on the Nyala for the next couple of weeks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

Tulip, your hair is amazing!

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Makes wearing a helmet a bit of a challenge...Divingbiker remembers correctly.:rolleyes:

I have commuted four out of five days. On Thursday I had to stay home to await a delivery. Next week it will have to be 5 out of 5 to meet my objective... unless I end up going to the office by bike on the weekend.

I had pouring rain (and a flat tire) on Wednesday, and it's getting chilly in the morning. But the colours are so beautiful!

My goal for next week is to ride 3 out of the 5 days. One would think this would be especially easy for me as I live a whopping 2 miles from the office, but I find I'm good at making excuses as to why I need the car. It's supposed to be cooler next week, so if I have to ride home over lunch to feed our sick pup, I can do so without returning to work all icky and sweaty (I sweat so fast - I swear). The other two days, well, I have to take Jimmy (aka spoiled mutt) into doggie daycare. Hard to ride with him on the bike.

First week? Five rides! So far so good. Only one kind of rainy morning commute. It has been getting into the high 30's for my AM rides. But the PM rides are just perfect. :D bikerHen

You gals are amazing, I cannot bear to ride in the rain. For one thing since it rarely rains here you should see us attempt to drive in it. I don't want to be on the road with those yahoos. We carpool on rainy days, still helps but not as much.

Up here if you refuse to ride in the rain you don't get out much from Sept - May...... The worst part is thinking about it. Once you are out there its not so bad.

Four out of five last week! My one day driving was so I could run in the morning instead of the evening!

Hello everyone, I would like to join the challenge. I live in Northeast Mississippi. My challenge is to ride to college everyday, unless it is pouring down rain. I road everyday last week. A daily mileage of 9.5 miles with hills. My goal is to lose a little weight and get in shape.

Welcome to TE, tpage, and to the fall and winter commuter challenge! We look forward to your reports. :)

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Here's mine: Did 4 out of 5 this week, had to stay at home one day to receive a shipment and ended up not going anywhere for the day, just working in my study at home.

So next week would have to be 5/5 (my goal is 90%)! However I already know that Monday morning will only be a half commute: I'm lending a bike to someone so I'll ride the bike to the office so she can have it, and then I'll come back on transit at night. So it might be 85% for the week.

Week 1 went well!
M - telecommute day, but rode to Pilates - 4.8 miles and a car-free day!
Tu - to/from bike locker at bus stop - 9 mi
W - telecommute/rest day
Th - to/from bus + to/from work - 12 mi
F - not a work day, but still got the Pilates ride in - 4.8 mi

To start this week off I rode to/from my Quaker meeting yesterday on the road bike - speedy and fun! (11.7 mi)

Commute on, everyone! ;)

With no further ado I hereby change my goal from 90% to 80% of days. Even in the summer I don't actually commute by bike 90% of the time, I stay at home almost one day a week to work. As I don't like coming short of my goals, I'll change this one for a more attainable one. :)

VoilÃ*.

Do we have a new thread each week? I forgot to post last week. I did my weekly ride on Wednesday and it was great. Weather was beautiful. I made an adjustment that worked out wonderfully. I'm going for two days this week. Tomorrow and either Thursday or Friday. Have a good week everyone!

Last week's report:

Last week I commuted 3 days. It would have been 4, but I had to drive to leave off my bike at the LBS.

This week I commuting on the Nyala which is actually quite fun.

I'm hoping to get in 4 days this week.

I commuted all 5 days last week. On Thursday, I actually commuted to a restaurant, had dinner with the family, then got a ride home, but it was close to my normal commute. ;) Fortunately the weather is cooperating so it's not a challenge yet. My real problem is getting out of the office before dark. I had one dark commute last week - which reminds me, I need new batteries for my lights!

I'd like to join the challenge, too. I don't work currently, so my goal consists of running errands by bike.

I've committed to not drive my car this week, unless there's no way to avoid it, and only use my bike. With the gas shortage in Georgia, I figured that was a small way I could help with conservation.

I rode 22 total miles today, with a trip to Lowe's, the LBS, Kroger, and Starbucks.

If you updated week 1, I put it below. Way to go gals!

Outspokin'- every day or telecommute
tulip
pardes
Bicicilista- every day
BikerHen- 5 days
danadear- 1 day
ms pepperpot
Aggie_Ama- 2 days, 43 miles
Kacie Tri-ing- 4/5 days
indigoiis- 87 miles total
kfergos
twin
Eden
TsPoet
Grog- 4/5 days
TattieFritter
tjf9- 5 days
andtcktoo
SouthernBelle- 3 days
GLC1968
tennisgirl43
tpage

I went for a run last night and my legs feel, it was very hard not to just car pool with DH but that wastes more gas and I get stuck at work longer. Tonight I am riding home, don't know if the legs will support the full 27 miles or if I will hop in when DH passes this evening. I am hoping to go the distance since I will be less inclined in the winter. I even brought along my Polar monitor to see how many calories pedaling home burns. ;) Besides, tomorrow is a pure rest day and Thursday I will likely commute home again.

Week 2:

Monday - didn't ride, too much rain.
Tuesday - 30 in, 30 home.
Wednesday - can't ride - meetings
Thursday - can't ride - daughter has late class
Friday - 7 to bus, 30 home, weather permitting
Weekend - Plan on 40 miler.

Well I did it, all 27 headwind filled miles! My polar shows I burnt 1252 calories!

My husband did tell me something unsettling this afternoon, still digesting how to deal with it. He said he was told a motorist was raped after her vehicle broke down at the very intersection I get stopped by a light daily. He said it was supposedly evening but not super late, exactly how it will be come daylight savings time. I may just ride my bike to my somewhere we can meet and he can get me. Anyone know if I could call the local sheriff to just see if that really happened? No details, just was there a rape there in the last month? I cannot find it in the paper but not every rape or violent crime ends up in the paper. Although I do wonder how his friend knew of it. Ugh it is really messing with me!!

I found the paper article about the incident. I have to decide how much I can handle riding through that area. There is no alternative to going through that area and once it is dark it is a really open area with no lights. I am hoping to get some mace or pepper spray before the time change.

This is a concern of mine as I travel through a dark area that is part of a bike path but behind a supermarket and a crappy area. I've already seen creepoids on the path in broad daylight.

I have a personal alarm I carry with me given out for free at a Women's safety thing. It isn't meant to call for help, it's meant to scare the hell out of an attacker (it has a really high pitched whine and flashing lights) - giving enough time to get away. I feel better carrying this. I also ride a lot faster through that area. And, I have lights on my bike and helmet.

Someone told me, if you are ever attacked, HOLD ON TO YOUR BIKE and make a lot of noise.

Week 1 - 5/5 days
Week 2 - 5/5 days

I don't think I drove a car once during September. It is starting to be dark/dusky mornings and evenings, but I've got loads of lights, including my favorite, the Down Low Glow. I hear it's very noticeable even in just overcast or dim weather.

(Caveat: I do ride in a car on the weekends with the DH when we're going places; he's really not into going by bike, so that's that. I'd really like to convince him to use his nice new bike that we just got this spring more often, but he's convinced he just Does Not Like bike commuting/errand-running. :()

Quote:

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Originally Posted by indigoiis

This is a concern of mine as I travel through a dark area that is part of a bike path but behind a supermarket and a crappy area. I've already seen creepoids on the path in broad daylight.

I have a personal alarm I carry with me given out for free at a Women's safety thing. It isn't meant to call for help, it's meant to scare the hell out of an attacker (it has a really high pitched whine and flashing lights) - giving enough time to get away. I feel better carrying this. I also ride a lot faster through that area. And, I have lights on my bike and helmet.

Someone told me, if you are ever attacked, HOLD ON TO YOUR BIKE and make a lot of noise.

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Good thoughts. We had already planned to have DH pick me up along the way, he eventually comes up on me but some days it is a little further than others. I am considering pepper spray but might look for one of those alarms. It is very isolated but such an alarm might startle someone enough to make them think again. Or long enough to call 911 and make them think twice. I am also looking for a women's defense class. I don't want to stop commuting, it is too good of exercise for one scum to ruin it!

I wanted to thank you ladies for starting this thread. I am feeling lazy today - from a lower body torture session, er, ah, workout, yesterday and could not bring myself to actually do a Spinervals this morning, but thinking of the promise I made to y'all, I hopped on Mike the Bike and rode in to the office. That nice little spin helped loosen a lot of tight things! :P

Put me down for 2 Days - I know I can do that, but I'll aim for 3.