How Was Your Commute Today?

[blackhillsbiker]

First commute since the day before surgery #1 (June 9). I'm tired but victorious. I started early this morning and it's a good thing I did. It takes me longer. I hope to have speed/endurance built back up in a few weeks. It felt good to be back on the bike.

Deb

[7rider]

Major Senior Moment this a.m.
So..I'm in the locker room, on the phone with DH -- I call him and let him know I arrived in one piece -- and simultaneously unloading my pannier while yanking stuff out of my rental locker. I reach in to the bottom of my pannier.
OMG!!! Where's my towel??? I can't believe I forgot my towel! No wonder I had so much room in my bag for my lunch bag, a box of tissues, AND my sneakers for an afternoon circuit class. Oh, man....I'm gonna have to dry off with a pile of paper towels. That is gonna stink.
I plop down onto the bench by my locker in despair. Right onto my towel...which I had already taken out of my pannier, but had no recollection of doing so.
Sigh. Major brain-fart. DH is laughing, saying "Where's the baby? Der he is!" - a scene from Ice Age that just tickles his funny bone.

[divingbiker]

Ha, 7. That's what happens.

I took a tour of DC with Maidei this morning. It was cool and gorgeous, and most of the tourists hadn't come out to play yet. It was nice.

[kmehrzad]

Major Senior Moment this a.m.
So..I'm in the locker room, on the phone with DH -- I call him and let him know I arrived in one piece -- and simultaneously unloading my pannier while yanking stuff out of my rental locker. I reach in to the bottom of my pannier.
OMG!!! Where's my towel??? I can't believe I forgot my towel! No wonder I had so much room in my bag for my lunch bag, a box of tissues, AND my sneakers for an afternoon circuit class. Oh, man....I'm gonna have to dry off with a pile of paper towels. That is gonna stink.
I plop down onto the bench by my locker in despair. Right onto my towel...which I had already taken out of my pannier, but had no recollection of doing so.
Sigh. Major brain-fart. DH is laughing, saying "Where's the baby? Der he is!" - a scene from Ice Age that just tickles his funny bone.

I did something similar on a commute to work, a long, hot commute to the office. FORGOT an important item ... underwear. RATS!! I was going commando that day and not enjoying it. I've had to do the paper towel dry off move before, too. It happens ...

[pfunk12]

I've gone commando a few times this summer. Seems that I am more focused in the evening on what I'm going to wear cycling the next day than what I'm going to wear at work. My priorities are in order.

I did something similar on a commute to work, a long, hot commute to the office. FORGOT an important item ... underwear. RATS!! I was going commando that day and not enjoying it. I've had to do the paper towel dry off move before, too. It happens ...

[7rider]

I've gone commando a few times this summer. Seems that I am more focused in the evening on what I'm going to wear cycling the next day than what I'm going to wear at work. My priorities are in order.

Oh...the bike outfit ALWAYS takes priority!

[blackhillsbiker]

So far it has been cool enough in the early mornings to cycle in work clothes and arrive at work fairly presentable. The evenings are another story. I think I'm going to need to bring lighter clothes for the ride home.

Deb

[tulip]

I did something similar on a commute to work, a long, hot commute to the office. FORGOT an important item ... underwear. RATS!! I was going commando that day and not enjoying it. I've had to do the paper towel dry off move before, too. It happens ...

Oh, that happened to me once. I went commando until 10am, when the Gap outlet around the corner opened. The only undies they had were girls, though, so I got the girls XXL and was saved. Never forgot them again (I actually kept a couple in my desk drawer just in case). I just didn't feel right going commando at work with only one layer separating me from my coworkers.

[kmehrzad]

Oh, that happened to me once. I went commando until 10am, when the Gap outlet around the corner opened. The only undies they had were girls, though, so I got the girls XXL and was saved. Never forgot them again (I actually kept a couple in my desk drawer just in case). I just didn't feel right going commando at work with only one layer separating me from my coworkers.

Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode when Kramer's "boys" were separated by only 'one layer of clothing' from the rest of the world. Jerry cringed at the thought.

[tzvia]

1.5 miles from home, and my bike starts to feel like something is wrong. The fork feels like a noodle. Aaa crap, a flat, a nice slow leak.

Luckily I'm in front of a DWP building with a large concrete slab for landscaping. Plenty of room to sit down and take apart the front wheel while in the shade of the building. A nice breeze helped, as I had just pored some water in my helmet and down my back so was feeling rather cool. Well, I searched inside and out but could not find the bugger that punctured the tube, so I am half expecting my spare tube to be flat tomorrow. At least I had a frame pump instead of a mini pump, it was nothing to get the tire up to 80psi.

[JennK13]

Nice ride this morning, perfect temp, good times, and Wednesdays is group ride morning with work mates.
Then, we happened upon a jerk! Now, I have 3 bikes - I have a commuter with panniers, etc, if I'm straight bike commuting; I also have a road bike that I ride when we do group rides, as I will often bring a week's worth of clothes to work on Mondays and since we have lockers, I don't have to bring much as it's already at the office. So, here the three of us are, cruising up the road, single file, before 7am (before "rush hour"), on a nice, wide, 4 lane road - one that doesn't see a lot of traffic, especially going north like we were (the freeway is to the south), AND even though it's my road bike, I STILL have a light on the back. We're cruising pretty good due to the hills, 30+mph (speed limit is 35 there), and we pass a guy on a mountain bike who's riding on the sidewalk, so it's not like we "passed" him or pushed him into the curb - he was never in the street. We get stopped a signal, and he catches up to us, and yells at us for riding in the street! At first, I thought he was just commenting as though he wasn't comfortable riding in the street, as he said "I can't believe you guys are riding in the street". Then he proceeds to tell us that we need to be more considerate of everyone else, that it's "rush hour", look at all the cars around us (we were at a signal!!!), and he can't believe how inconsiderate we are riding in the street at this time of day. We had NO issues with cars at all, as traffic wasnt bad at all, we werent blocking any cars, and no one had to wait for us - I purposefully plan our routes to avoid the major thoroughfares especially during high traffic hours. This, coming from a guy riding on the sidewalk, darting out into the street unexpectedly as he crosses the street from one sidewalk to the other, and WE'RE inconsiderate? He was totally mad that we were riding in the road - no other reason, like we shouldn't be because that's where cars go especially, at that time of day. God forbid he infringe upon pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk, or just dart into the street as he crossed.
It just bugged the heck out of me, as I commute several days a week by bike, usually on a more heavily travelled, 2 lane road (with bike lanes), and I totally feel like this jerk had something against road bikes; like he was the urban commuter and we were those jerks that give cyclists a bad name. I swear, if I were on my commuter with panniers, and not wearing a jersey, he wouldn't have said anything to me - just a case of cycling prejudice!!!!
And, that's my rant for the day!

[Melalvai]

Well, I searched inside and out but could not find the bugger that punctured the tube, so I am half expecting my spare tube to be flat tomorrow.

You probably already know this but one of the first bits of bicycle maintenance I learned was that an old tire gets brittle and can puncture the tube. I had so many flats at first until I figured out that's what it was!