How Was Your Commute Today?

[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.