How Was Your Commute Today?

[Melalvai]

I took my studded tires off tonight. It took a couple hours to get it all switched and I ripped up a tube in the process.

If the entire nation is blanketed in an inch of ice tomorrow morning, it's my fault.

I also changed the battery in my cateye and re-set it. I guessed at the mileage but I think I'm pretty close. It quit letting me cycle through the readings 200 miles ago (3 weeks) so I estimated my mileage based on what I remembered plus calculated from the last time I wrote it down (October). I came up with 8550 +/- 50. Close enough.

[Tri Girl]

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I came up with 8550 +/- 50. Close enough.

WHOA! How long did that take you to accumulate that many miles? Impressive!



The start of the week and the end of the week couldn't be any more polar opposite than they were for commuting. Monday I was riding to work in short sleeves and capris and today I was bundled up in my wool winter coat, winter boots and heavy duty mittens. Go figure...

[Melalvai]

How long did that take you to accumulate that many miles?

I got my bike in Oct 2008. So ~3.5 years? A little over 2000 miles a year.

[tzvia]

I got stung/bit on the head by something on the commute Tuesday; I did not notice anything until I hit the shower that evening. It's right where a side vent is above the right ear. Whatever it was, it stung right through my headsweat. Wednesday was so windy I did not ride. No showers at work means no workout before work so a 40mph headwind means take the Tundra to work. At well north of 4 bucks a gallon, driving the 12 mpg Tundra is not what I want to do. The 7am telecon Thursday ruled out my ride (hey, don't managers in East Hartford CT know that Los Angeles is 3 hrs earlier?) as I am not getting up earlier than 4:30 for anything other than an earthquake. At least the weather was perfect for my commute on Friday.

[Melalvai]

I took my studded tires off this week. I expected the next morning the entire midwest would be encased with an inch thick sheet of ice because isn't that the way it works?

My bike is so smooth, quiet, and fast.

Ok, it isn't any of those things compared to other bikes, but compared to itself with studded tires it is!

It took me nearly two hours to get them changed. When I got the studded tires in December I intended to pay someone to change them at the end of winter, but the end of winter got here and it wasn't convenient. No bike shop in town and the free lance mechanic who usually helps me out is holding down 1 full time job, 4 part time jobs, and is the primary caretaker for his new baby (his wife is a Dermatology resident). So I did it myself.

I put on work gloves so the studs wouldn't hurt. But the schwalbe marathons (the unstudded) are really freaking tight and I roughed up my hands getting them on. I ripped a hole in the rear tube in the process so I had to take that one off and put it on again with a new tube. Even with the gloves my hands got completely filthy.

I can't wait for the bike shop to open in a couple months! Of course the way businesses go around here it'll be open for less than a year and then fold.

[WindingRoad]

Loving this weather, it's still 65 degrees at 11 pm I hope my whole week is this nice. My body actually got warmed up and my time was shorter too.

[redrhodie]

One of those days yesterday. Started by almost getting hit by my upstairs neighbor in our back lot. She slammed on the brakes and wasn't even that close, but it was awkward.

Then on the bike path, I could hear the quickly approaching sound of nails, getting louder. I knew instantly it was a dog, but thought he was in his yard. Not so much. He was in full chase, seeing me as prey, barking and growling loudly. Luckily he came from behind. He chased for long enough for me to think through my options. Outrunning him was first choice, but he just stayed with me. Then I actually had time to grab my water bottle and attempt to spray him, but I could only get little drips, not enough to do much good. I thought of stopping, but then you're stuck with a potentially still aggressive dog. Back to outrunning him, along with yelling at him to go home. I sprinted and finally dropped him. Then I made the mistake of looking back to see where he was, and that slowing down renewed his chase instinct, and I had to go all out again. He finally gave up.

It happened too fast to get a good look at him, but I'm pretty sure he had on a leash. No owner in sight, though. He was a beautiful beast, and I hope he got home, but boy, what a monster!

Now the rest of the day was gorgeous, while I was at work, anyway. It seemed to be getting breezy as I was leaving, but it was still sunny and warm. I stopped in my lbs and as I was leaving, my friend pointed out the black sky to the north, the direction I was heading. As soon as I got back on the bike, a front came through. It was windy with thick fog and threatening rain. It came from nowhere, a lot like that dog. By the time I reached my car (which took a lot of effort to get to), it was sunny again. Crazy.

I love commuting.