How Was Your Commute Today?

[malkin]

Oooh, so pretty!

[SueMargaret]

And I have to say it was great. My office just moved over the weekend. Previously it was only two miles from my home and since I could take an hour for lunch I would drive and then come home for a nap at lunch. But now my office is 8 miles away==a perfect commute. It was chilly morning and I was cold at first but warmed up quickly. My route follows the Penobscot River which was misty and beautiful. About 35 minutes with my pack fully loaded and lots of good natured ribbing from my (impressed) co-workers. Came home the longer way --12 miles with more hills. It was lovely. What a good way to live!

[redrhodie]

It is 93° right now. I may have mastered commuting in the heat. I got to work hardly sweaty. It took an easy pedal stroke, and effortless effort. Today was not a day to even think about riding fast.

[ZenBiker]

"Interesting" is the word I'd choose. After reading all the advice about getting a professional bike fitting done, I went ahead and did that yesterday. The lbs I bought my bike from doesn't have anyone trained to do fittings, so this required taking the day off and driving 3 hours to the Big City. The guy who worked with me said he would have put me on the next bigger frame but the fit was close enough that swapping out the stem and making a few other adjustments should give me a good ride position

Anyway, this morning's commute felt kind of like getting used to a new bike. Not dramatically different, just unfamiliar. I think this is going to be a big improvement once I get used to the new position and slightly different handling.

Then, after work, I had to pick up two 8' x 4' outdoor banners I just had made for our local farmer's market (which opens in July). So I was riding down main street with these rolled up, but still quite large, banners strapped to the sides of a backpack like a pair of skiis. This is in a town that lives and dies on oil and gas drilling, so bikes get odd looks even when they aren't doing anything weird. I'm guessing there were some interesting comments made about me, but maybe not - maybe they just ignored the odd biker going by.

[SueMargaret]

and I love it! But today was very hot and I took the long way home because I won't ride for the next couple of days. So it was about a 20 mile ride home. Very hot for us here in Maine. About ten miles in I started yawning like crazy. Then close to the 15 mile mark I got chills and goosebumps. I realized that something was not right and stopped to get a cold drink. Felt very wierd and disoriented. Finally I bought some PB crackers to eat with my cranberry lemonade adn felt better enough to limp the last five miles home...has this happened to others?

[Melalvai]

You were smart to realize something was wrong and get some food & water. It just takes a few days (or more) to adjust to heat. I struggle with it every year.

I finished Bike Across Kansas on Saturday, 60-80 miles daily. I tried to go for a short ride Monday evening but it was too hot and I didn't do well. (I nearly threw up.) It was unusually cool for Kansas last week. Then on Tuesday I biked to work, not even 2 miles, and got super nauseous again. Wed-- I was feeling sick before I even got on my bike. (I biked anyway. Slowly.)

Heat and fatigue, I guess. I'm off to NIH in a couple hours (by plane, not bike!) so no more biking this week. Hopefully next week will go better.

[ZenBiker]

Good reminders to take heat seriously - thanks.

It was 50 degrees when I left for work today, and is 97 right now. Unfortunately it's downhill in the morning, and uphill coming back - so I can't cancel out the temps with more/less effort pedaling. But it's helping me justify the nice, lightweight, stuff-able jacket I bought when I started commuting.

It was a red letter day at the office: we exceeded our bike rack capacity! Of course, we have around 100 employees and our bike rack only holds 6 bikes, so.... not much to brag about. But progress nonetheless.

[lovelygamer]

I had trouble in traffic yesterday afternoon. A woman tried to aggressively pass me on the left in a major intersection when there was no room. I would have been hit or knocked over so I put my arm out like I was turning to secure my space and that pi**ed her off. She barreled up on me and revved until the next light where she started yelling at me "Get your bike on the sidewalk where it belongs" and "You shouldn't drive in the road if you can't go as fast as a car." The intersections were a block apart. I was not going majorly slow-just following the flow of traffic. I thought she was going to get out and hit me. With things like this happening, it's frustrating. It sure would be a deterrent to a new rider. What if this happened to a rider on their first or second day out? I can understand why so many people fall into the "interested, but concerned" category as the League of Bicyclists calls it. Our communities need some real education on the rules of the road.

[Giulianna23]

I had a Flat tire this morning I am about to kill myself... now I am gonna have to wait at least until Friday to ride again :'(''' ... Sucks!

[Catrin]

I had a Flat tire this morning I am about to kill myself... now I am gonna have to wait at least until Friday to ride again :'(''' ... Sucks!

I hear you...between the big broiler in the sky kicking in tomorrow with temps >100F , my knee would likely appreciate a day or two more off the bike... This means I've not bike commuted in two weeks, though Sunday I DID ride downtown to my gym and back, taking different routes each way.

[Tri Girl]

I still read this thread in the summer, but since I teach I don't commute in the summer. I kinda miss it, but not so much that I want to get a summer job to have someplace to bike to everyday.

Keep it up, ladies. I don't know how you do it when the temps hover above 100 for too long. As it is, I usually melt during August while the temps are still well into the 100's. I only get some relief when September comes and it tapers off into the 90's. Don't know if I could stand commuting for 3 months of 100's.

[Crankin]

Since my only commutes are errand rides and an occasional ride to the one client that lives near me, I did do a commute today. I only have one client on Wednesdays, and I had rescheduled him, to go on a group ride. Unfortunately, it was cancelled, due to threatened thunderstorms in Maine, where the ride was. So, I put my pannier on and went to the natural foods store and a gallery/artist's store to buy a present for a colleague who is moving. It had rained early in the AM and was still nice and cool at 10 when I left. When I turned onto Main ST in Concord center, a vicious wind hit me in the face. I felt like I was standing still! I was exhausted after riding 6.5 miles to west Concord. I ended up buying a little more than I intended at the food store, so when I got to the store to buy the gift, I decided it had to be a scarf, to save weight on my return trip! After it was boxed, the weight of all of my stuff, along with my lock and purse was enough to make feel like I was really working. I did have a tailwind all the way back until my first turn, about 3 miles and I made the light across the highway (very rare). Then, the wind hit me again, as I got near my neighborhood.
I like seeing the reactions of other cyclists and people when I ride my Guru, with the pannier, and I am not dressed in true roadie clothes. I was wearing a skort and a polo type jersey with a zip pocket. It's clear I'm riding a nice road bike, but I do have that rack (though it's titanium) and a huge pannier today. I got waves from all of the women, nods from most of the racer boys, and hellos from a few. There was a "casual cyclist" type in the artist store when I was in there, telling the shop owner all about how she rode there. The shop owner says, oh, my daughter has my bike on Martha's Vineyard this summer, so I can't ride. I piped up and said, yea, well the correct number of bikes is always N+1. The shop owner agreed, but the other woman glared. When I was unlocking my bike and heading back after my purchase, she continued to stare, as in the "people are rude" thread.
I still had fun. And carrying all that weight up my hill was a workout.

[Melalvai]

When it's hot like this, my rule is, if I'm going more than 8 mph I don't pedal. It's slow, but it keeps me from overheating.

I read an interesting article about the physiology of heat acclimation (sorry I long since lost the link). It involves increasing red blood cells because of the extra blood needed as it's all shunted to the periphery for cooling. According to the article, athletes acclimate within days, the rest of us take a couple weeks or more.

[Giulianna23]

I hear you...between the big broiler in the sky kicking in tomorrow with temps >100F , my knee would likely appreciate a day or two more off the bike... This means I've not bike commuted in two weeks, though Sunday I DID ride downtown to my gym and back, taking different routes each way.

Fortunately I was able to get my bike fixed yesterday Yay!...I was thinking about todays weather and wasn't sure of commuting today but ...what the heck!... here I am!!.... and for some reason the weather wasn't bad at all... or at least I didn't feel it .As a matter of fact the ride was nice....I didn't even feel the necessity of drinking water but I had some anyway just to hydrate my body ....I was feeling very strong this morning ....maybe the protein shake I had earlier?... Lets see later how it goes.

[wackyjacky1]

"Get your bike on the sidewalk where it belongs"

I get this about once a week from one yahoo or another. Usually I just smile and wave.