How Was Your Commute Today?

[Melalvai]

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and today I did something unusual for transportation. I didn't bike. For the most part, I didn't walk either. Yes, I drove a car.

If I'd had a great experience with it I wouldn't write about it on this thread. But I'm going to tell about because it was such a NOT great experience. Once in a while, I try to turn to the car, I'm not sure why. It seems like cheating and sometimes I want to indulge in cheating, eating crappy food and using crappy transportation. Why does it feel like indulging when it's really not?

My daughter was in the school play, and performed this weekend. The last week of rehearsals have gone at least 6 hours a night. Several times we picked up her and her bike. Toward the end of the week, after her bike was tampered with late at night while she was at rehearsal, she left the bike home and either walked to school or we drove her.

This morning, the play is over, no more rehearsals, but she was exhausted. Her backpack is ridiculously heavy so she doesn't like to walk. (It's less than a mile.) So I drove her to school.

Then I was supposed to meet some people at the state park (10 miles) and I hadn't gotten around to arranging for a ride. It's ridiculous that all 6 of us drove separate vehicles out there. But...we did. Usually at least some of us carpool. I thought we were walking through the 0.5 mile section of the future trail, which is not exactly a path but we have at least been through it and tied ribbons on the trees and cleared away the brush so it really doesn't take too long to hike it out and back. But it turned out we were walking the other part, which is 4 miles, and the purpose of today's walk is to get information so we can decide on a route.

It was a LOT of fun, but it took 5 hours. And I wasn't back in time to pick her up from school. I had no cell phone signal most of the time. Eventually I got a little and sent a text to her dad asking him to meet her there and help her carry her books.

We all survived, but driving back I wished that I hadn't encouraged her to ride in the car this morning, and that I had carpooled (which would have involved biking to meet someone), instead of driving. Then the car would be at home and neither of us would have been depending on it.

So it's not a huge big deal but just enough of an inconvenience to push me back to wanting to bike instead of drive.

[7rider]

Saw a bumper sticker on a car in my office's parking garage:
"Hate driving in traffic? You ARE traffic!"
Funny, I think that line would work better on the back of a bike jersey than the back of a car.

[Sky King]

Two humorous incidents on Monday. I dropped our car off for servicing, as I walked in the man behind the counter says "you made it" I have never been to this shop before as the DH usually takes it in, so I said, oh, did you recognize the car? He says "no I saw you get your bike out of the car and knew immediately which appointment you were" then he shared with me the best way to get to the MUP
2nd humorous? moment - after leaving the mup, I have a fairly busy street with a major intersection that I ride through. prior to the light a right hand turn lane appears necessitating that I change lanes in order to continue going straight. I look over my left shoulder, see traffic but it is far enough back that I signal and move to the left. I hear a horn honk??? so I just waved and decided to take the high road that they were approving of my signal and my bright green jacket as there weren't any cars close enough for them to be concerned that I was "cutting" them off. In fact the light turned green just as I approached so I kept on pedaling and was through the intersection before any of the cars that had been behind me when I changed lanes even caught up to me.

[redrhodie]

Wow, was it warm today! I got sweaty. Weird November.

[malkin]

You rode!
Yay you!!


I got plenty of exercise coughing.

[tzvia]

Boy am I getting beat up. Construction on both sides of the blvd; metal plates, potholes, bad repairs and cut road sections for pipe that are poorly filled. Lots of debris. Dirt and mud. Getting fenders in my alu Fuji road bike would be quite a trick if I use wider tires so it's been fun trying to stay clean going to work (no showers). It really needs some 32c tires or greater, but it won't take more than 28c because of frame and brakes. So I go to the REI to buy some 28c tires for whatever relief I can get. Almost ready to call it quits but I love commuting. My commute is a straight line down that street so avoiding it would take me way out of my way.

REI was strangely not as busy as I thought it would be, so I took time and walked around the bikes. A steel commuter that can take wide tires and fenders would be nice. And I really don't mind going slower on a heavier bike at this point. They had a clearance sale, so I ended up buying the Novara E.T.A. size small, and fitted my lights, saddle, seatpost and pedals on it yesterday. Yea it's heavy, but the gearing range works in it's favor. No fenders yet, but I am looking into which ones to get. Rode it around the house, wow what a difference, almost feels like suspension. Most of the extra poundage feels like the wheels and tires, maybe one day I will get a lighter wheelset (29ers will work on this hybrid frame) if I can find a good sale. The 35c tires feel stable in the sand and lose pebbles from the construction sites. Just need to lower the stem a bit and it will be ready for next week. Yea!

[Sky King]

REI was strangely not as busy as I thought it would be, so I took time and walked around the bikes. A steel commuter that can take wide tires and fenders would be nice. And I really don't mind going slower on a heavier bike at this point. They had a clearance sale, so I ended up buying the Novara E.T.A. size small, and fitted my lights, saddle, seatpost and pedals on it yesterday. Yea it's heavy, but the gearing range works in it's favor. No fenders yet, but I am looking into which ones to get. Rode it around the house, wow what a difference, almost feels like suspension. Most of the extra poundage feels like the wheels and tires, maybe one day I will get a lighter wheelset (29ers will work on this hybrid frame) if I can find a good sale. The 35c tires feel stable in the sand and lose pebbles from the construction sites. Just need to lower the stem a bit and it will be ready for next week. Yea!

I can't wait to hear if you really ride that much slower, you may surprise yourself. The 35C's should make your commute much more enjoyable. I suggest you take a look at the SKS longboards or a simple planet bike fender to complete this great new commuter bike!

[rubysoho]

First commute of the year today and I left my work keys at home.... ten or twelve (not exactly sure...) miles away!

I think I have hit my salt quota for the week. The roads were still dusty with salt from the storm that never came a few days ago. I road on my new Tricross and those hills are definitely more difficult on the tricross than the ruby but it wasn't terrible either! I'm still using a backpack. I hope to have a rack and fenders by the spring.

Only one person was mad and honked at me today. We were on a very narrow road with no sidewalk or shoulder. I consider it one of the more dangerous areas of my commute (aside from some poor viz street crossings and places where traffic is merging on to a road). But with the tricross I can minimize my time on that narrow stretch because I can cut across a public property to get to work instead of needing to stay on the road.

It was cold. (currently 34 degrees) I wore my ski pants over my long cycling pants. I am IN LOVE with my gortex gloves that have two fingers for shifting/breaking and then bundle up the other three of my fingers for warmth in a single compartment. Best ever!

Ok, time to focus and get to work!

[shootingstar]

When it's this cold, I always feel I lost an extra 10 calories just to stay warm for my short commute ride..

It's snowing lightly at windchill -23 degrees C (-9 degrees F). If it weren't for the wind, today's early morning ride to work could have been @ -14 degrees C ( 6 degrees F).

I just hope there won't be ice when I ride home after work.

[rubysoho]

shootingstar, your weather is much colder than mine. Mad respect for you.

[Melalvai]

Cold is relative. What's seriously cold weather in one area is unthinkable in another. Or to put it another way people in milder climates suffer as much at 36F as someone in a harsher climate suffers at 10F.

At least that's my theory, based in part on the few climates I've experienced, and how cold 34F seems at the beginning of winter and how WARM it seems at the end!

We were walking to the grocery store a few weeks ago and it was so cold and windy that both my husband and daughter complained their faces hurt. I was surprised, because it didn't seem that cold to me.

Then a few days ago I learned that there are physiological changes that happen in the skin of the faces of eskimos and in the feet of barefoot runners--any place where skin is routinely exposed to extreme cold. That explains why my face didn't hurt from the cold wind.