Getting Easier

I've done half commutes a few times now (I have DH take me to work and I bike home afterwards). The dreaded hills (inclines ;) ) are getting much easier. Still not fast, still not exactly easy, but *easier*.

I'm enjoying commuting. At some point I plan on doing the entire 22 miles in one day but for the moment the half commute is good for me. I only wish I had more options for roads. My co-workers are constantly telling me how dangerous it is for me to bike on the roads. I am not an idiot, I know the risks. It's disheartening to realize how many people really are scared to ride like I do.

Don't listen to your coworkers. You're doing great! The half commute sounds like the perfect solution. 22 miles is excellent.

Put on a high-viz jersey and have at it!

People who tell me how "dangerous it all looks" are invariably people who don't bike themselves and don't know how much more you can see from a bike, who only notice the ninja cyclists who bounce out of nowhere and barely miss their wheels, and who assume that we all ride like that and along the same highways and at the same speed that they drive their cars. When I ask exactly what looks dangerous they're often hard put to reply.

Sure, it has risks, but leading a sedentary life is hardly riskfree either... ;)

Just smile, and help yourself to an extra portion for lunch!

Tell your coworkers to drive mindfully and be extra aware of cyclists--it could be you! Good job on continuing to commute by bike. Is your commute 22 miles each way or round trip?

Yay for you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I really intended to commute yesterday, but it was raining and nasty and I'm a lazy fair-weather cyclist. :rolleyes: Maybe next week (I'm only working Wednesdays this month.)

Great job!!!!
It will seem less dangerous or scary the more you do it- you will develop your traffic skills. I too recommend throwing some high-vis screaming yellow top or vest on- I think they really help keep drivers alert to you. I got a couple of loose hi-vis yellow t-shirts and I just cut the sleeves off and throw them on over whatever I'm wearing sometimes. Instant lightweight safety vest! :p

Keep up the good work!!

you go girl!
we are the pioneers, the adventurous women who take charge of their lives and get on our bikes and ride!

As you continue to ride, the scardycats will quiet down. I have the same problem here.

Fantastic! And it will only get better from here.

Yes do tell your co-workers that if they are concerned for your safety they should be mindful when they drive and give ample room to cyclists. And smile to them, too. :)

Or they could also get on the road with you. Safety in numbers!

Enjoy!

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Originally Posted by tulip

Tell your coworkers to drive mindfully and be extra aware of cyclists--it could be you! Good job on continuing to commute by bike. Is your commute 22 miles each way or round trip?

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It's 11 each way. I re-read what I wrote and it sounds like it's 22 each way...nope! Though some days 11 feels like 22 :D I fixed the OP.

My one co-worker is the worst because she fell asleep at the wheel and crashed her car into a mailbox so she's always telling me about how someone like her could take me out. What do you say to that? Sheese.

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

Great job!!!!
It will seem less dangerous or scary the more you do it- you will develop your traffic skills. I too recommend throwing some high-vis screaming yellow top or vest on- I think they really help keep drivers alert to you. I got a couple of loose hi-vis yellow t-shirts and I just cut the sleeves off and throw them on over whatever I'm wearing sometimes. Instant lightweight safety vest! :p

Keep up the good work!!

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The t-shirts are really a great idea for a cheap, lightweight vest.

I was able to feed my hot pink addiction and get a hi-viz vest all in one. I found a company that sells SCREAMING HOT PINK safety vests that also have the 3M relfective striping. The yelling is because it really is SCREAMING HOT PINK. DH brought the package in, and since I had used his CC to order it the label was in his name, so he opened it. He told me he was blind for several minutes afterwards :D :D :D

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Originally Posted by Heifzilla

It's 11 each way. I re-read what I wrote and it sounds like it's 22 each way...nope! Though some days 11 feels like 22 :D

My one co-worker is the worst because she fell asleep at the wheel and crashed her car into a mailbox so she's always telling me about how someone like her could take me out. What do you say to that? Sheese.

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Good grief.... she could have as easily killed someone in another car.... I have little restraint with people like that. I probably would have suggested that she needs to take the *responsibility* of having the *privilege* of driving much more seriously and that anyone who does not deserves to lose that privilege....

Just beware of anything other than hi-viz yellow in dusk conditions - when light is low, but enough daylight that motorists won't necessarily be burning headlights to activate your retro-reflective strips.

I recently bought a SCREAMING orange top for running, and yes it screams, just like your pink. ;) (They call the color Cherry Tomato apparently, but it really is a bright safety orange.) When I took it into the changing room to try it on, the orange that stood out so brightly on the rack on the shop floor, almost disappeared in the low light. For comparison I grabbed a true hi-viz yellow Brooks top and brought into the changing room. Unlike the orange, the yellow stayed lit up.

I have one of those Brooks tops already, and I don't like the fabric well enough to buy a second one, so I bought the orange. But I wear the orange one only in bright sunlight. If it's full dark, then reflective matters more than color obviously. If it's cloudy or toward evening, it's yellow and only yellow for me.

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

Great job!!!!
It will seem less dangerous or scary the more you do it- you will develop your traffic skills. I too recommend throwing some high-vis screaming yellow top or vest on- I think they really help keep drivers alert to you. I got a couple of loose hi-vis yellow t-shirts and I just cut the sleeves off and throw them on over whatever I'm wearing sometimes. Instant lightweight safety vest! :p

Keep up the good work!!

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Good on you, Herfzilla!

I got a SCREAMING yellow jacket this winter which also converts to a vest (Pearl Izumi http://www.rei.com/product/772147 ). It has lots of nice pockets. I wore it as a vest today and yesterday, even in our 85 degree weather. It didn't make me too hot and the color really pops. My kids say it hurts their eyes.

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Originally Posted by Heifzilla

It's 11 each way. I re-read what I wrote and it sounds like it's 22 each way...nope! Though some days 11 feels like 22 :D I fixed the OP.

My one co-worker is the worst because she fell asleep at the wheel and crashed her car into a mailbox so she's always telling me about how someone like her could take me out. What do you say to that? Sheese.

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I'd say, "You shouldn't be driving if you aren't in a condition to do it safely."

I bet you'll build up to the whole commute faster than you think. I used to commute 14 miles each way and it wasn't a problem after I'd been doing it for a couple of months.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Just beware of anything other than hi-viz yellow in dusk conditions - when light is low, but enough daylight that motorists won't necessarily be burning headlights to activate your retro-reflective strips.

I recently bought a SCREAMING orange top for running, and yes it screams, just like your pink. ;) (They call the color Cherry Tomato apparently, but it really is a bright safety orange.) When I took it into the changing room to try it on, the orange that stood out so brightly on the rack on the shop floor, almost disappeared in the low light. For comparison I grabbed a true hi-viz yellow Brooks top and brought into the changing room. Unlike the orange, the yellow stayed lit up.

I have one of those Brooks tops already, and I don't like the fabric well enough to buy a second one, so I bought the orange. But I wear the orange one only in bright sunlight. If it's full dark, then reflective matters more than color obviously. If it's cloudy or toward evening, it's yellow and only yellow for me.

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I agree with you on the yellow. My husband, Mr. Engineer, insists that the hi-viz hunter orange is the best color for dusk...he said it's proven that people can see it, why else would they use it for hunters since hunters are usually out at dusk, yadda yadda. I found a chart that said that the lime yellow color is actually the best: http://www.ndt-ed.org/EducationResou...htresponse.htm and still, DH argues with me. That lime green/yellow is right in the sweet spot for the human eye, around 550 nanometers, so we see it the best.

When I lived in Pittsburgh,for a short time they started painting fire engines "easy eye green" for the same reason - the human eye is super sensitive to it. I don't think it lasted - tradition won out and they went back to red....but signs, like pedestrian crossing signs, have been slowly migrating over from school bus yellow to easy eye out here in Seattle where I live now.

The town I lived in in FL had all the firetrucks hi-vis lime green. It hurt our eyes to look at them - it would be really bad if motorists felt the need to shield their eyes when they saw them and then got into accidents! :p

I wear a hi-vis yellow/green jersey for my afternoon commute - but I'm actually not sure it's the best choice. About half my commute is rural and it's pretty close to the same color as the wheat fields and the trees in the setting sun. I would bet that I'm blending into the background too much when I'm not in the city.

Good job on the half-commutes! I'm doing the same thing but I've been driving to work with my bike on the car, biking home and then biking back the next day. It is 20 miles each way for me, so this is the most I can handle right now!

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Originally Posted by Heifzilla

My one co-worker is the worst because she fell asleep at the wheel and crashed her car into a mailbox so she's always telling me about how someone like her could take me out. What do you say to that? Sheese.

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She could have killed anyone: car drivers, pedestrians, cyclists or herself. She's the one who should stay off the road.

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

I wear a hi-vis yellow/green jersey for my afternoon commute - but I'm actually not sure it's the best choice. About half my commute is rural and it's pretty close to the same color as the wheat fields and the trees in the setting sun. I would bet that I'm blending into the background too much when I'm not in the city.

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This is part of my reasoning for going with the hot pink. The majority of my ride is rural, and is either grasses on the side of the road, or trees. The pink definitely jumps out against the green or yellow of the grasses.

Also, familiarity breeds contempt. People are getting so used to seeing the lime yellow-green on construction workers that they start to blend into the background (and believe me, since this is Illinois they see a lot of construction workers, LOL). You just don't see very many people wearing this screaming shade of pink as you drive down the road.

And another thing I have noticed as well is that fluorescent colors make a huge difference. I have one non-fluorescent orange hunting vest that is no where near as bright as the fluorescent orange hunting vest I also have. Even though my first vest is screaming orange, it is no where near as bright to me as the fluorescent one. Same goes for my pink vest. It is definitely fluorescent, and while is is very similar in color to many of the hot pink things I wear (scrubs, for example), it "pops" way more because of the fluorescent quality. Fluorescing is extremely apparent under a UV (black) light. Since sunlight also has the UV wavelength in it, anything fluorescent will also pop somewhat in sunlight, which is what makes fluorescent fabric so vivid to us. There is even more UV light at dusk (and dawn) to cause fluorescent fabrics to continue to "pop" out while everything else seems to fade into the background due to the lower light levels. This is why fluorescent materials are recommended for safety at dusk and dawn.

Here's a good article: http://www.ipmba.org/reviews/The_Nee...ty_Apparel.pdf It explains how hi-viz apparel really helps others to see you. Page 3 is the nitty gritty.

I have several screaming lime-green/yellow cycling jackets, different weights for different times of year.

Heifzilla - can you share where you got that hi-viz pink vest? I'd like something hi-viz in a color besides yellow/green and that sounds like a good option. :)

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

Heifzilla - can you share where you got that hi-viz pink vest? I'd like something hi-viz in a color besides yellow/green and that sounds like a good option. :)

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Sure, here ya go: http://wrenstorage.com/catalog/hi-vi...fety-vest.html

They have pink & purple framed safety glasses, too, which I got a couple pairs of. Seem to be decent quality. They ship quickly, too.

Good job! Your commute milage is about the same as mine. I started at 6 miles each way, five years ago, and now do 13'ish in the AM and 11'ish in the PM. For me, it's just the right milage. Long enough to feel like I did something but not enough to wear me out. Time wise about an hour each way. Just keep at it. I have come to terms with the hills I ride everyday. Yes they still suck but I just grind up them every morning and enjoy going down them every afternoon. :D bikerHen

I was doing ( before it started to get so cold I couldnt stand it) 18km per way.( about 14 miles). If i was tired, Id pop the bike on a bus a part way, and then ride the rest!

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Originally Posted by cylegoddess

I was doing ( before it started to get so cold I couldnt stand it) 18km per way.( about 14 miles). If i was tired, Id pop the bike on a bus a part way, and then ride the rest!

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I wish I had that option!

Yesterday I did the entire commute. I was called into work for 2 hours and I thought, "2 hours?? That's a waste of gas to go in...hey, why don't I ride both ways?" ;) It was a win-win :)

It was the first time I did the ride in and it wasn't that bad. There is one hill/incline that killed me, but I just kept pedalling. And as I rode it, I thought to myself, "Half of this hill would have left me gasping for air just 6 weeks ago, so keep pushing and eventually even this hill won't bug ya." I used to avoid certain roads because I thought they were too hilly for me (they were at the time) and now I hardly even notice them. I LOVE that feeling.

I ended up having to stay later than I expected, so the ride home was in the dark. My Dinotte helmet light is da bomb. I have the 140L and it is just perfect for me. I never out ride the light, and I can see everything I need to. If you need a helmet light, I highly recommend.

After I got home, I was pretty wiped. I've ridden 20+ miles before, but usually on a MUP or bike trail and riding on a busy road is much more stressful because you are having to be on such alert for cars. I got buzzed by one minivan, which totally annoyed me because there wasn't another car in sight. There was NO reason that she had to buzz me, the other lane was totally open :mad: I've noticed two types that are the ones that usually buzz me: rednecks in pickups and soccer moms in minivans. I have no idea why that is, it just seems to be the ones that do.

I also didn't drink enough water yesterday and I woke up with a terrible headache :( So be sure to remember to drink lots of water!

oh yeah - remember commuting is biking too and takes lots of energy. I try to start off each way with at least half a cup of coffee and something easily digestible inside me. Oh, and I drink different herbal teas all evening to make sure I get enough water altogether.

Well done on the full commute, and those hills!! It gets less stressful as you memorize your route and know where all the potential pitfalls are. Well, you never get used to "buzzers", but if you expect them they're not quite as scary, just annoying.

Yeah, keep up the good work, it does get a lot easier! I have 34k to work, and so I don't commute everyday (takes nearly 3hours altogether!), but I have noticed a significant pain reduction when attacking the dreaded hill home...

Keep it up! For riding in traffic, i cannot stand to ride without a helmet mount mirror. I MUST know what they're up to!