How Was Your Commute Today?

[Groundhog]

That IS one place I hate to show up sweaty. I always feel bad for making them mess with my gross sweaty smelly hair.


Did anyone notice? No one noticed Thistle...

Yes, but she has to wash my hair anyway and my stylist has been doing my hair for about six years. I don't think she minded. She's been so supportive of me, trying to find a style that works with the helmet and makes me work-appropriate after commuting.

[tzvia]

Yesterday, 106f, today 105f. No commuting, too hot. Sucks. No 'cooling' till maybe Friday so I can get one lousy commute in this week. The power keeps dipping and my UPS's start beeping due to the power in this city being so crappy that it can't handle a little heat wave (like they don't expect them in Los Angeles). If I did not have the power supplies feeding my computer and my server, they would be crashing constantly on evenings like this. All I want is for the temps to drop below 100f with tolerable humidity (right now it feels like a sauna outside) and my Fuji comes out of the garage...

[blackhillsbiker]

She's been so supportive of me, trying to find a style that works with the helmet and makes me work-appropriate after commuting.

That's what I love about my stylist. She helps me look nice despite perpetual bike helmet hair. I keep my hair short, but it has to be cut really well in order to work. I have only a couple of minutes to be work-appropriate once I arrive.

Deb

[7rider]

The End of Summer.
School buses were out in force this a.m.

[colorisnt]

Didn't commute today Stupid delivery of my new bed. I've been living with an air mattress for 3 weeks and was desperate to get it. However, they were not here and it made it so late that the uphill never would have happened.

I did ride to/from school in a test run on this new baby:


It rides very nice. Not as nice as my trek, but worth the $350.00 considering the fact that it only had 50 miles on it before I got it. I can't wait to get out and ride to school tomorrow.

I call him Truman because he is tiger colors and I am now a Mizzou tiger grad student. That's the name of our mascot!

[blackhillsbiker]

Not too bad this morning. HOT this evening! Road construction is making life interesting (and not in a good way). I never know which route I'll be taking until I reach the bike path.

Deb

[colorisnt]

Made it to school in record time - about 20 minutes - 4 minute miles! I had to get up RBH to get there (really big hill) and it took a couple of stops and some talking to myself to get there, but I did in great time. I did it in a short jean skirt, too, which was remarkable. It took me about 10 minutes less to get here by bike taking the trail (5 miles) than it does to get here by car (3 miles). Too much traffic on the roads.

[azfiddle]

I have been able to commute every Friday except on school picture day (last Friday). Feeling a little proud of myself. I've figured out how to wash my hair in the sink (science classroom, with rubber tubing) and finish getting presentable in the teacher's restroom (hair dryer, etc). It's getting a little faster, too, 14.3 mph today on the ride in (which is uphill).

[Melalvai]

Not too bad this morning. HOT this evening! Road construction is making life interesting (and not in a good way). I never know which route I'll be taking until I reach the bike path.

It is an inconvenience, but I like seeing alternate routes when I'm forced off the route I ALWAYS take. I don't know why I only do that when I have to!

[Melalvai]

I have been able to commute every Friday except on school picture day (last Friday). Feeling a little proud of myself. I've figured out how to wash my hair in the sink (science classroom, with rubber tubing) and finish getting presentable in the teacher's restroom (hair dryer, etc). It's getting a little faster, too, 14.3 mph today on the ride in (which is uphill).

That is inspiring, I love hearing the creative things people do to enable their commute. Every time someone says "I'd love to bike but--" I start telling them how people get so creative so they can bike. I'm sure this endears me to them...

[colorisnt]

Exactly! I have a bathroom, a way to change my clothes, and the rec center has a place to shower that also provides towels and stuff to wash with for a very low monthly fee.

No excuse not to ride there. Even when I didn't have all of that, I found a way around it!

[7rider]

So...the new bike is awesome, but I'm less than impressed with the SRAM shifting. I threw the chain outside the cranks 3 times on the ride in this morning. So, I head over to the LBS after work to have Pepper adjust my derailleur. He hates SRAM...made me promise when I replace the cassette, I get a Shimano. Mike, the owner, assures me that SRAM needs to "break in" and shifting will get better with use.
Any other viewpoints on SRAM?? It's my first experience with it, and frankly, I'm not impressed.
Afterward, I'm out in the parking lot (waiting for my Garmin to lock on to satellites), and I see an unusual site come up the hill towards me. It's my friend, Chandler, and he's on the most unusual contraption I have ever seen. It's a Ellipti-Go - an elliptical trainer + bike hybrid. Truly a bizarre contraption. He was giddy with it and has been using it as his commuter all week. He saw some folks out in Seattle doing the STP ride on them, struck up a conversation with them, investigated the product, and bought one. (Chandler is a big guy and has a habit of breaking bikes - he was hoping he could climb his hill to his house without breaking this....good luck to him!). He claims its great for "frustrated runners". He also has gotten more calls/yells/shouts from folks on his ride than ever. Mostly thumbs up and "that is the coolest thing EVER!" kind of comments. He's the first on in the State of Maryland with one, and was trying to convince Mike to be a distributor. Mike laughed at the thought, and Pepper told him to get that piece of crap out of the shop and don't ever bring it to him for service!!! (Pfunk12....you can imagine Pepper saying that, right??).
You never know what you'll see when you walk into my LBS.

[tzvia]

So...the new bike is awesome, but I'm less than impressed with the SRAM shifting. I threw the chain outside the cranks 3 times on the ride in this morning. So, I head over to the LBS after work to have Pepper adjust my derailleur. He hates SRAM...made me promise when I replace the cassette, I get a Shimano. Mike, the owner, assures me that SRAM needs to "break in" and shifting will get better with use.
Any other viewpoints on SRAM?? It's my first experience with it, and frankly, I'm not impressed.

SRAM? Sure, have XO on my MTB and did not like it at first. The shifting, while functionally fine, just did not feel like the XT/XTR combo on my other MTB. Not as 'fast' feeling and not as crisp. But as I rode it more, I guess it broke in, because now I like it better than the XT/XTR setup. Only thing I don't like is the cassette. It is noisier than the Shimano cassette and I don't think it shifts as well. (My MTB setup has a Shimano XTR cassette btw.) My road bike came with Shimano shifters/derailleurs , but a SRAM cassette and I replaced that really fast with an Ultegra. Improved the rear shifting noticeably. However, whatever you are using, it should not throw the chain, that's an adjustment of the stop screws on the derailleur and is really easy to do. It's just a matter of limiting how far it goes at each end; not so far to swing the chain into the spokes or off the small cog; or jammed between the frame and crankset or flopping down off the crank. For all the in-between gears, the cable tension handles those. Nothing wrong with SRAM when properly adjusted.

[malkin]

Today's commute was great both ways!
Pretty much just misery between the rides though.

Where is that resume...

[pfunk12]

I can hear Mike laughing and can hear Pepper saying exactly that! With that wonderful smirk on his face.

He's the first on in the State of Maryland with one, and was trying to convince Mike to be a distributor. Mike laughed at the thought, and Pepper told him to get that piece of crap out of the shop and don't ever bring it to him for service!!! (Pfunk12....you can imagine Pepper saying that, right??). You never know what you'll see when you walk into my LBS.