How Was Your Commute Today?

[Crankin]

I commuted home at 7:20 last night, my latest ever. For some reason, there seemed to be more traffic than if I left at 6:15. But, aside from being a lot more cautious, it was a really nice ride, with my favorite temperatures... around 52 when I arrived home.

[Sky King]

Yahooo, Muirenn! Sounds like you have a good set up.

[Crankin]

I am starting to hate riding with my pannier. Even though I only have my clothes/shoes, a few papers, and my flat iron, it feels super heavy. And that's not counting the times I had to bring books home. For a couple of weeks, I brought my clothes in ahead, so I could ride my bike without the rack to work, with just my Camelback as a little backpack. That's how I rode when I was commuting to teaching. I like riding my Guru so much better, without the pannier. I have an Arkel trunk bag, but it's a pain to put on/off, compared to the pannier, and it does not hold as much. DH has a huge seat bag he used to use on his carbon bike, that attaches somewhat like whta you have, Murienn, but my bikes are always too little to support that.

[Crankin]

My pannier was reasonably priced and I've had it for years (since I had the Coda), but the Arkel was pricey. I don't mind spending money on this stuff, but kind of not when it's for something I don't use all of the time. I probably should practice putting the Arkel bag on/off, so it becomes second nature, because I can't really feel it too much when I ride. Only thing is, I would not want to take it on/off when I get to work and leave, to carry my stuff up the stairs into the office.
And yes, I will never get a front bag again. I had one on my Trek 5200, almost the whole time I had it. I think that's when my bad cornering habits started... it changed the handling so much, I started being overly cautious. When I took it off, I was amazed.

[GLC1968]

I had to break in my lovely mixte by riding in the rain on Monday to go pick up my car (long story...but I was stuck at home with no car and no one to drive me so I thew on my rain gear, pulled out the bike and rode to the tire place). I've been hesitating to ride it in sucky weather because it's so lovely, but that ship has now sailed.

So today, I commuted on it. I had a big smile on my face for almost the entire ride in! And I'm really looking forward to the ride home, too.

[Owlie]

I went ahead and rode the Iguana in to work today, since there are fewer students around (dead day before finals). No expectations of anything. It's not a bad little bike and stable under load, although the seatpost isn't as fixed as I thought it was. I'm trying to figure out how to fix the slipping pannier, and I think I need to swap the grips out for ergonomic ones.

Home to work is about 13 miles. I got lost and that added another 7. And I made it up the giant hill without getting off! I don't know how often I'm going to be doing this--right now sunrise coincides with rush hour (which starts at 7 am, for some reason), and I'm starting to think that whatever I save in gas and parking will be spent on food!

[shootingstar]

It's been short rides for past week --for shopping and work. Enjoying these quiet contemplative rides with Christmas lights along the way. It feels like lull to me, before other drastic stuff happens in life.