Fall and Winter Commuter Challenge!

[ms pepperpot]

So far 4/4 this week. Even better last night i cycled from work all the way to my boyfriend's which is twice as far from my work to my place (about 12 miles), and then from there back to work this morning, so I'm feeling particularly smug.

Last night was a bit of an adventure as it was the first time I had done the journey so was route finding at the same time and ended up taking a few detours and taking a really long time overall. This morning was better, with a breakfast stop en route. Fortunately the weather was nice for both rides.

[SouthernBelle]

It's Friday again. I commuted 3 days this week, which meets my goal. I feel slightly guilty for not riding in today, despite needing to drive far afield this evening.

But I'm going to fill my truck up with gas as prices have dropped below $2!

[Aggie_Ama]

I haven't been commuting but we have been carpooling. Drove the truck twice this week but it is still an improvement over 5-6 days a week. Gas is down to $1.92/gallon but we don't want to get complacent, it will go up again. It is nice to have my little car cost less than $30 to fill up (13 gal tank) and the truck finally less than $50 when we had been looking at $100 fill ups this summer. I hope it stays low through the holidays.

[Eden]

We put $12 worth of gas into our car last month and haven't put in any yet this one! We have driven the car once - my husband's work sponsors a volunteer day, gives them a day with pay to do it and organizes a trip to the local food bank warehouse to pack food and it was a bit too far to ride (plus we knew we'd be quite tired at the end of the day). As a group we packaged up 22,000 lbs of dried beans into family sized servings in about 5 hours. That actually did amount to a hill of beans....

[Aggie_Ama]

I live 20 miles from work, 7 highway miles from the nearest supermarket 11 miles by hilly but bikeable roads. DH is 26 miles from work. We chose the house for the road riding we could do on the weekends and schools (even though no kiddos) knowing we would be car bound. But I think it is a Texan thing, we love our cars and driving. DH was never happy until he got his last truck, before he had a sedan. We make changes but we still love driving and taking trips by car. I miss the Sunday drives on county roads we used to do growing up.

22,000 lbs! That is a whole lot of beans!

[Biciclista]

believe it or not, I rode again today so i got my two commutes in this week (if i survive the home trip!)

i missed getting drenched by minutes yesterday, but today seems a bit safer in that respect.

[Geonz]

Gore-tex and smart-tex came in handy today, as it was gently raining the whole way. Yesterday I had to dodge backhoes and the guy directing traffic gave me a howdy; today he wasn't directing traffic but we exchanged grins... I'm thinking he likes "rotten" weather, too. Hey, it's 50 degrees - that ain't bad for November!

Tomorrow's supposed to be 25-30 mph winds, high temp 42; expected wind chills int he mid-20's with snow showers and flurries. I think I'll just get out at dawn and attack it, just for fun.

[tpage]

Hello everyone,
I appologize for not checking in on my commuting progress, but I have been very busy with school and a family. But I have been very diligent riding my bike at least 4 days a week, that was until these past two weeks. Last week my bestfriend died and this week was Thanksgiving break. I plan to get back on schedule this Monday. I have even found that one of the teachers at school rides on the weekends, so over the fall/spring break (dec 17-Jan 13) i am going to meet with him and a few other friends and ride. I am really looking forward to it. I made them promise not to ride off and forget i was in the back lagging behind.

[lph]

ah, well, I'm not really signed up for this but it seems that this is where we go to gripe about our winter commutes so here I am

Made a bad decision yesterday about my commute. Several, actually. The day before yesterday I rode home in WAY too much clothing, on my heavy winter bike with full studs - on bare roads in a very unusual warm wind. Got home snorting like a walrus and soaked in sweat and tossed all my bike gear in the wash. Bingo, yesterday morning my winter jacket and tights were still damp, and the temperature had dropped. Oh well, still just around freezing and the temps were going to rise again, so I layered up with other stuff and took my mtb w/o studs. Got 10 yds before I realized I NEEDED studs in front at least, turned around and grabbed the studded front wheel off my winter bike. My dh laughs at me cause I spend more time getting ready than he does on his entire commute.

Even after a full day of warm weather it was sooo slippery out and I had to take every turn at a snail's pace and remember to only use the front brake if possible. I really missed studs in back as well. And my ride home got delayed for a million reasons, all stupid, so by the time I rode home I was hungry, tired, and it was dark and COLD out. I was literally skating all over the place with frozen feet and hands and chattering teeth by the time I got to where I was headed.

Uerg. Just needed to gripe. I hate it when I miscalculate both food, clothing and bike like that.