How Was Your Commute Today?

[7rider]

So, I rode in this morning, bound and determined to get at least ONE commute in this week.
Got to the office. 100 folks milling about on the sidewalk in front of my building.
Huh.
Come to find out - electrical fire and smoke in the building. They closed the building to investigate and sent everyone home. So, after a dozen calls and texts to co-workers (I'm acting Division Chief today), I rode home.
Does that still count as a commute?

[Antaresia]

beautiful ;_;

for the short time I've been tracking my rides, I've been trying to break my 20 minutes ride time. I finally did that today:

Ride Time: 19:20
Stopped Time: 4:24
Distance: 4.68 miles
Average: 14.54 mph
Fastest Speed: 28.45 mph
Ahead of Best Ride: 0:55

Except....I did it because I brought a different bike to work. My cheapo single speed. Normally I ride my much more expensive soma. My high-ten 70's SS conversion did it. I don't know how I should feel about this.

[tulip]

Great commute today. I rode to the dentist; took me 17 minutes. It would have taken longer than that by car with parking and all. Then I rode home, stopping by the vet on the way to pick up flea stuff for the dog.

My new Arkel pannier (I just used one today) works great.

[NadiaMac]

I am a recent re-convert to bike commuting- I commuted primarily by bike for about ten years, but since moving to the SF Bay area quite a while ago, I've mostly walked to work, or (last 10 years), commuted by car. But, for various reasons, I've started riding to work again. I've been going 2-3 times a week, riding about 12-19 miles to work (depending on route) and I am loving it!

The route is partly dense city riding, and part quieter roads or bike/pedestrian path, the latter being along the SF Bay. So a mix of grittier and prettier. Going home, I take the company shuttle bus into the city (the ride home has some significant obstacles, either steep gnarly hills or horrific freeway interchanges to navigate), then ride about 1.5 miles home. Short, but ends with steepish climb-- my place is on an 18% grade.

I had an awesome ride in yesterday- I varied the normal route to include a climb of our local mountain (which adds about 8 miles and 1200 feet of climbing to the route). It was a blast. Takes a bit long for it to be an everyday thing, but what a blast. Rode the "normal" route in today, with a new variation that adds another 1.5 miles on bayside bike/ped path. Fun to expore different options for commuting in!

I am hoping to maintain the momentum & keep up the bike commuting!

[Tri Girl]

I am hoping to maintain the momentum & keep up the bike commuting!

Good job, NadiaMac!!! Welcome (back) to bike commuting. Sounds like a good route you have there!

[missjean]

Commute to/from work today, 29 mlies. It was 40* when I left the house this morning and about 3/4ths of the way in, there were snow flurries.
As I left the shop this evening, my front tire went flat in the parking lot, so back into the shop to change the tire. There was a tiny wire poking through the tire. On one of the back roads I saw a nice flock of turkeys. Those birds are big!

And, my darling husband had Chinese waiting for dinner when I got home!

[azfiddle]

Now that the sun is up earlier, I will be trying to commute once a week again. I wear regular cycling shorts and jersey, rinse my hair in the sink (great being in a science classroom with a big sink & tubular hose!). I try to bring a pair of jeans and school t-shirt ahead of time, since that is the usual Friday dress code.

Friday's commute was great, less breeze than usual and I was ahead of schedule.. but I realized en route I had forgotten one important element- no underwear! Fortunately, the Walgreen's drugstore opens by 7 am and I was able to re-supply with a couple extras for an future forgetful commutes.

On the way in, I am always rushed so I stick to the main roads, even though there is a lot of traffic and the road surface is pretty rough in places. I wouldn't ride it if it didn't have a generous shoulder with a white stripe. On the way home, I have the option to cut out the three worst miles along a new MUP. It is nicely designe, has a great road surface, and very little bike or pedestrian traffic. But it adds 2 miles and I can't convince myself to wake any earlier to ride in to work. I have to leave at 6:30 as it is.

[tzvia]

Oh boy, summer is coming and it's going to be a hot one...

A few weeks ago, it was cold and I wore long sleeves and a jacket. Just a week ago, it rained hard with thunder and lightning. Today I rode home in 92f heat. So hot so quickly and still only April. I went through a large water bottle in 35 minutes. And made a slush from frozen cherries and crushed ice the moment I got home. Aaaaaahhh...

[ZenBiker]

I biked about 60% of the work days in April, and am determined to make it 100% for May since it's National Bike Month. There's road construction on the most direct route to the office, which is no problem at 0645 when I'm going in but a pain and bordering on dangerous coming home. They have traffic shifted way to the right so they can pour curbing on the other side, which puts the cars on the shoulder and me in the dirt (and still very close to the cars). There are other routes, of course, and I'll just have to remember to take the long way instead of getting on the usual route out of habit and then being stuck there.

Other than that, it was a great May Day commute - mild temps and no rain, despite a wet forecast!

[kelleil]

I had a great commute today. Masterfully handled traffic. However head wind. Tremendous headwind.

[Melalvai]

The clouds loomed darkly this morning but the weather page said only 10% chance of rain. So I didn't hurry to get to the office while it was still dry. Then the heavens opened. My expensive rain gear keeps me fairly dry, but I do get damp around the edges in a heavy rain. I looked at the downpour, stripped down to a t-shirt and underwear and put on my rain gear and sandals. I put my work clothes and socks in a plastic bag. I have shoes in my office. When I got to work I changed into my dry clothes. The only thing I forgot was a towel. My tshirt and my rain gear are hanging up to dry.

The lovely part is that it's warm enough to do that. On colder rainy days I end up with wet socks and wet gloves. I bring extra of both but if I have to go out several times it is limiting.

[ZenBiker]

I had a great commute today. Masterfully handled traffic. However head wind. Tremendous headwind.

My sympathies. During April and May where I live, there's almost always a west wind in the afternoon, which is a head wind for my commute. Today it was 15 mph, gusting to 25 = no problem. Some days it's 25 gusting to 40. That makes me say bad words.

[NadiaMac]

So, updating my last post: I've managed to keep up some momentum with the commuting and have managed to ride to work two or three times a week each week. Mostly, I take the more direct route, which is about twelve miles, but i've ridden in over the neighboring mountain twice with a co-worker, which is pretty cool. I've ridden in a few times with a big group commuter ride- over 60 people showed up last Friday! Most of the folks go much further, over forty miles to work!

on the process side: I located the showers at work - pretty nice ones in the building next to mine, and our company provides towels and shampoo, soap etc so we are very spoiled in that regard. The other "improvements"- I picked up a chrome commuter backpack and the thing is great a big improvement for carrying clothes to work (two tiny comments, I may review it later). I also obtained a brighter headlight, though haven't used it much since it's pretty light in the mornings now.

The one thing I haven't worked out is carrying my work laptop in on the bike. The thing is a brick and I do work at home a fair bit especially on the weekends. I have some neck/back issues and am loath to carry it in my backpack, but at the same time, I like riding my road bike to work and am not into putting a rack onto it. I do have a backup bike with a rack, but it's clunky and way less fun to ride. So, at the moment, I ride in only when I don't need the laptop at home the night before. This is the major limiter.

[7rider]

What a cluster this morning.

So, I go to put air in the tires this morning on my commuter, which lives out in the garage. Flat rear tire. Maybe, I can pump it up, get to work okay, and pump it up again before my ride home.
Pump, pump, pump, hissssssss
Air was coming out nearly as fast as I was putting it in.
Back inside. "Hon....can I ride the Big Buzz?"
Sure. Good to have an abundance of bikes and to be approximately the same size as DH.
So, I unpack my pannier, re-pack in another pannier, b/c my Arkel doesn't "work" on his rack without major adjustments to the hooks - which I don't want to do. Pump up the tires. Throw the grocery pannier on the other side of the bike (I need to hit the grocery store at lunch - plus I was bringing in pretzels for the office), put on DH's shoes (about 1.5 size too big for me ), and off I go.
Whap. Whap, Whap.
The Big Buzz is a "wicked cool" bike - but it doesn't have very long chain stays and my heels keep kicking the bags - especially the grocery bag - especially with DH's big water-ski shoes.
So it was a delicate, slow cadence, heel-up sort of pedaling style in this morning. Sigh.

[lovelygamer]

Commute yesterday and today was cold. 50 degrees 10mph winds. Not very fun in my opinion. Looking forward to a warmer ride home (it's warmed to 70).

This week is not promising. They are calling for 30mph tomorrow and 50% chance of severe storms Weds/Thurs.

Let's not even get into the lady that tried to mow me down INSIDE the parking lot to work. She couldn't give me 30 seconds leeway.