Fall and Winter Commuter Challenge!

[tulip]

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.

[Biciclista]

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!

[divingbiker]

Tulip, your hair is amazing!

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

[SouthernBelle]

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.

[tulip]

Tulip, your hair is amazing!

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

[Grog]

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!

[andtckrtoo]

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.

[danadear]

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!

[SouthernBelle]

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.

[tjf9]

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!

[tennisgirl43]

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.

[Geonz]

Well, if kfergos is allowed in, can I come too? I don't even drive on the weekends - I drive when I rent a car (or if the Subaru dealer lends us one for our bike rides for sag, like last Sunday )
I just got a ***really*** bright little flashlight, a Fenix something or other from www.batteryjunction.com . I realized that it is a nice little defense device. It's blinding. Cruising in the dark dark last night I realized it's also pretty good for requesting oncoming drivers to dim their brights. (We don't have too many creepzoids around here... ) It was expensive ($50) but it's as bright as my big battery-in-the-water-bottle-carrier light that broke last week was (I had it jammed between the other stuff on the handlebars and must have stretched the wrong part and broken some wires). The $50 also got me a cute holster for it ... and it's a sweet piece of machinery ... and I have sort of decided that the "I can get that for cheap from China via Walmart" is a bad idea, and getting things that are well done and will last is a better one. (It's an Xtracycle thing ) WIth what I save being without a car, I can do it.

[out_spokin']

Well, the commute's over for the week, about to hit the airport for a biz trip. I made 2 for 3 rides though, and I ended September with 69% - just above the goal! Definitely need the lights in the morning now, and the temps are falling into the normal fall zone...glad to have this group to help stay excited about being on the bike on those early mornings!

And yes - the more the merrier -- car-free, car-lite, any kinda bike commuting is a happy thing in my book.

[kacie tri-ing]

I made four out of five again...I'm happy with that!

[kfergos]

5/5 - and with a yucky ingrown toenail. Ew. That's all I'm gonna say on that.

Did I just see Xtracycle? How's commuting on one of those? I'm thinking of converting a bike with an Xtracycle kit, but it looks involved and expensive. Is it worth it?