How Was Your Commute Today?

[ElizabethWaland]

It was okay. I wish I could have used my bike but where I live isn't the most friendly place for bicycles so I just settled in for the bus.

[carlotta]

First half was nice and icy this morning, couple downed trees from the ice storm yesterday that required some sidewalk detours and one section of closed road that was full of pebbly ice that fell from the trees and refroze in a 1.5-2" layer. Lots of glare ice from refreeze overnight. Still LOVING the disc brakes and studs combo, I think my sense of self-preservation kicks in before I'm anywhere close to losing traction.... hoping to get out of here while it's still light tonight since my road up the hill has even less shoulder than normal due to the snow and I'm not as fast going uphill as I am coming down

[Eihposi]

New to the forum, just thought I'd pop around and say hi!
My commute was quite nice today, a bit cold and it had been raining last night, so a bit wet here and there, but not enough to make me slip on the tram rails (I had an accident involving tram rails and rain last year, I'm still not a 100% comfortable crossing them). But for the rest, nothing feels better than knowing that you're faster than the public transport

[Melalvai]

It's nice to be able to get out without having to layer up so ridiculously. It's still cold but fewer layers required.

Because of my trip, I have been biking a lot, but because I work from home and most things I need are in walking distance, I haven't been commuting by bicycle. I've been walking. Last year I sort of biked in a tornado. A funnel was sighted over the school which was about 5 blocks from where I was biking when the 80 mph straight-line wind came through and swept me off course and knocked down trees on the street I was trying to get down.

Yesterday I was in the gym when the tornado sirens went off. They put us all in the bathrooms which double as tornado shelters. Then we got the all-clear so I gathered up my stuff and headed home. It was raining a little. Then it hailed! I was near shelter so I ducked under the eaves until the hail quit. There was the most beautiful rainbow.

And then the tornado sirens went off again. I was about halfway home-- do I head for the nearest building and take shelter or just go home? I decided to just go home. The sun was shining, the clouds were far off, the wind had died down. There were plenty of houses, all neighbors, that I could take refuge in if something started to happen.

Soon my dad & I will be biking all over Missouri right through tornado season. The bathrooms in all the state parks double as tornado shelters.

[azfiddle]

This morning was my first commute of the spring. I skip the winter months because I just don't feel as safe on my route when it's still dark out, and I have to leave by 6:30 am to get to work and cleaned up by 7:30. My route goes through neighborhoods for a couple miles but then onto a really busy 4 lane road that passes the air force base and then turns onto a busy 2 lane road through the open desert with bad pavement on the shoulder for a couple of miles. It's better for the last two miles when I get back into suburbia and smoother pavement.

I'm also much happier starting my day when it's not chilly...(and compared to some of you, I am a total and complete weather wimp!) So it was about 50 degrees and already light when I left. My 10 mile commute is slightly uphill and usually into a breeze. It was pretty calm but still I only managed about 12.5 mph. My best days I average about 14 mph. Coming home is usually much, much faster- sometimes I can average close to 17!

[Crankin]

I commuted today for the first time in almost 6 years (June 2008). This was worth all the crap involved in getting a new job, getting settled, etc. I now truely feel I am back to my old self; filling up my car every 2 weeks and riding 2 days a week to work. Of course, the mileage is nothing like I was doing before, which was just under 14 miles one way and hilly right before I got to work. My new commute is 5.2 miles one way, and the best part is the way there is all downhill and flat. I actually wasn't going to commute today, because rain was predicted right at about noon, the time I leave, but it was clear the rain was not going to get here until later, so after I was already dressed in my street clothes, I changed, got all my stuff, the bike, packed the pannier, and left around 7:45-7:50? There is sometimes a big back up at an intersection about 2.5 miles in, but not usually on Fridays, or until 8 AM. Normally, I have a client at 9, but he had to work, so I wasn't rushed. I didn't even break a sweat, but still glad I was wearing my cycling clothes. Got changed in a snap and didn't even have to use any of my hygiene supplies, except my brush. Coming home, a different story. Not fun going up my street with that heavy pannier, but hey, that's why I have the mountain derailleur.
Looking forward to many more months of this. Next one is Tuesday.

[azfiddle]

Yay Crankin- sounds fantastic

[colorisnt]

It's nice to be able to get out without having to layer up so ridiculously. It's still cold but fewer layers required.

Because of my trip, I have been biking a lot, but because I work from home and most things I need are in walking distance, I haven't been commuting by bicycle. I've been walking. Last year I sort of biked in a tornado. A funnel was sighted over the school which was about 5 blocks from where I was biking when the 80 mph straight-line wind came through and swept me off course and knocked down trees on the street I was trying to get down.

Yesterday I was in the gym when the tornado sirens went off. They put us all in the bathrooms which double as tornado shelters. Then we got the all-clear so I gathered up my stuff and headed home. It was raining a little. Then it hailed! I was near shelter so I ducked under the eaves until the hail quit. There was the most beautiful rainbow.

And then the tornado sirens went off again. I was about halfway home-- do I head for the nearest building and take shelter or just go home? I decided to just go home. The sun was shining, the clouds were far off, the wind had died down. There were plenty of houses, all neighbors, that I could take refuge in if something started to happen.

Soon my dad & I will be biking all over Missouri right through tornado season. The bathrooms in all the state parks double as tornado shelters.

We got those sirens, too. We'd just been out walking the neighborhood with our dog and the dog we were dogsitting. We brought them both into the common apartment shelter. Nothing much happened here but stuff was happening south of us. Glad you were safe. You are safer in a bathroom as you say than in a car driving on the interstate anyhow.

Glad to see you are trying to bike Missouri! If you get to come through here, give me a shout! My BF would love to Bike the Katy. Maybe when I graduate next May we can do that before we move.

I have been commuting quite a bit lately and it's almost halved my gas consumption! Yay. Dang weather makes it hard, though. Today I opted to drive because I had to be on campus all day and it was supposed to POUR. I almost hit a commuter today, though. Some balsy guy, a real PITA, who didn't want to wait for a left turn and just breezed through, full well knowing I had the right of way. I slammed on my brakes and thankfully neither killed him or got rear-ended. Another commuter, a lady who was coming up after his stupid feat looked at me like, "WTF?!" watching him almost kill himself, so it wasn't just me. It's guys like him that make the townies hate us. I can't stand people like that!

[Eihposi]

I have been commuting quite a bit lately and it's almost halved my gas consumption! Yay. Dang weather makes it hard, though. Today I opted to drive because I had to be on campus all day and it was supposed to POUR. I almost hit a commuter today, though. Some balsy guy, a real PITA, who didn't want to wait for a left turn and just breezed through, full well knowing I had the right of way. I slammed on my brakes and thankfully neither killed him or got rear-ended. Another commuter, a lady who was coming up after his stupid feat looked at me like, "WTF?!" watching him almost kill himself, so it wasn't just me. It's guys like him that make the townies hate us. I can't stand people like that!

We're saving a bunch on gas and public transportation costs too, it's one of the upsides of commuting that I sometimes forget about until I see how much I have left of my pay check at the end of the month

Yesterday I found myself hunting down a suicide cyclist to tell him to follow the rules of traffic before he endangers us all. He was speeding down a very steep hill and didn't bother to stop for the red light at the end - just rushed through one of the busiest intersections in town. Last year a cyclist was killed by a bus after similar reckless driving in that same intersection. I hate cyclists that ride against the red light, apart from the obvious danger, it makes us all look bad!

[Crankin]

I had my first commuting "incidents" this morning. Nothing I am not prepared for, but, I never had any of this when I was leaving at 5:45 AM and coming home at 2:30. I wanted to be there by 8, so I left at 7:30, which gave me extra time. Usually, the earlier, the better. So first, I got in the lane, approaching a 4 way stop that is very busy at commuting time. It was just slightly backed up, so I was patiently waiting my turn to go, when a young girl, not a teen, maybe 20 or so, decided, I didn't have the right to be there. She proceeded to go around me, into the oncoming cars, to get ahead. I *wanted* to ride right up to the bumper of the car ahead of me, but since she was in the car, I didn't . But, she didn't really have room to do that, so she was like going sideways across the road. And what for? She had to wait her turn for maybe 2 seconds less. She clearly didn't think I had the right to be there, and judging from her car and where she was headed, I'd say she was from the state north of here. Then, when I was waiting to cross the highway, right by my office, the light turned green and I was a few vehicles back. It turned yellow when I was in the middle of the intersection, so I started sprinting, but then there were 3 cars waiting to make lefts in front of me. Two went, I slowed a little, and then the third one clearly didn't see me, I grabbed the brakes, and when he saw me, I think he probably peed in his pants. I didn't have to stop, but by now I was in the middle of the intersection, and the light was red. Not only are cars turning everywhere here, but once I get through the intersection, there's a street on the right with no light, where cars are trying to turn left onto the road that crosses the highway, as well as cars turning left, like I do, into the hospital. I wasn't scared, because I am hyper vigilant and saw all of it coming, but I definitely will be leaving earlier on Fridays. I always have stuff to do... probably no commuting next week, as it's going to rain on Tuesday and on Friday I have a client until 12 and then a hair appointment about 6 miles away, up a 3 part hill. By the time I change and get lunch, it will be very close, so I probably will do a "dark" ride early in the AM.