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-   -   2019! The “How was your commute?” thread! (https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=1163199)

davei1980 12-17-19 10:38 AM

Cold/Dry. 26 degrees. No complaints except dark all the time.

Thinking of getting me and the fam a fleet of fat bikes for fun and leisure and commuting on one after the snow flies

pdlamb 12-17-19 02:11 PM

I took off ~40 minutes early yesterday to beat the rain and storms. Once I got outside, it didn't look too bad, so I took the long way to avoid tree limbs falling on the MUP -- still beat the storm home, but not by much!

Today the wind had shifted direction. Blew me off the 25 feet of sidewalk I usually ride, and into grass that was squishy soft because of all the rain last night. Between the wind, the soft soil, and the last little bump back onto the paved parking lot, I had to put a foot down. :(

davei1980 12-17-19 02:38 PM


Originally Posted by pdlamb (Post 21248978)
I took off ~40 minutes early yesterday to beat the rain and storms. Once I got outside, it didn't look too bad, so I took the long way to avoid tree limbs falling on the MUP -- still beat the storm home, but not by much!

Today the wind had shifted direction. Blew me off the 25 feet of sidewalk I usually ride, and into grass that was squishy soft because of all the rain last night. Between the wind, the soft soil, and the last little bump back onto the paved parking lot, I had to put a foot down. :(

Wow. You see, you just don't get stories like this while driving....

mgw4jc 12-18-19 07:37 AM

Clear, chilly morning. We had a 30 degree temperature drop from yesterday's high of 60F to this morning's low of 30F. And we had a good bit of rain yesterday which caused me to wimp out on the ride.

There was a tree down blocking one of the MUPs I sometimes use. It had been dead, so no branches on it and an easy get off, step over, get back on deal.

arsprod 12-18-19 08:06 AM

It's finally plowed! Riding on a clear trailway is sooooo nice even if it is only 20F

Tundra_Man 12-18-19 08:22 AM

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 866:

9F this morning with a -3F wind chill. At least the light wind was to my back so I got a little push.

Still riding the fat bike because they didn't plow the trails after the snow last weekend. It's not deep, but because it hasn't been cleared it's starting to get pretty icy where pedestrians and bikes have mashed down the snow. Took my time and rode carefully because I didn't want to have a repeat of last Friday's icy crash.

Speaking of icy crashes, and I was, I ran into a friend of mine on Monday night. He's a year-round bicycle commuter as well. He crashed on the ice last week and broke his collarbone. He was in a remote part of the trail and had to suck it up, get back on the bike and ride more than a mile to get to a point where he could get a ride to the hospital. He said it hurts but the worst part is he'll be off the bike for at least a month.

Got passed by two people this morning. I'm slow so I get passed frequently. One was another guy on a fat bike who said "good morning!" as he passed. The other was this clown that I see regularly all year. He (literally) never sits down on his saddle and rides as fast as he can. He doesn't ever announce his passing, passes other bikers and pedestrians close, won't slow down even if there is a whole bunch of people walking with pets and/or children, and generally is a reckless rider. He zoomed by fast enough to startle me, and I found myself secretly hoping he would crash on the ice. Then I felt bad about wishing that on another person and I had to repent.

pdlamb 12-18-19 12:49 PM


Originally Posted by mgw4jc (Post 21249721)
There was a tree down blocking one of the MUPs I sometimes use. It had been dead, so no branches on it and an easy get off, step over, get back on deal.

Same here! I guess. I decided after a day of joggers they'd probably have the MUP cleared. Nope, there were two barrels and a sawhorse barricade with a "road closed" sign. Funny, six feet wide doesn't look like much of a road... Anyhow, I'm not sure where the MUP was closed, I couldn't see anything in the first couple hundred yards -- but I went a different way anyhow.

Rest of the morning's ride was cold but otherwise uneventful. I could have used a buff early in the ride, but I still managed to sweat by the time I got to work.

liampboyle 12-18-19 02:49 PM

12/11/19 Evening, just rode a mile to my son's winter concert. The lyft the wife ordered was big enough to throw the bike into so we all took that home. Weather: 35°F, Wind 4 mph SW

12/12/19 Morning - 28°F, Clear, wind 4 mph SE
12/12/19 Evening - Overcast, 42°F, Wind 6 mph ESE

12/13/19 Morning - Mostly Cloudy, 39°F, Wind 6 mph SSE
12/13/19 Evening - Overcast 44°F, Wind 4 mph ESE

12/16/19 stayed home sick

12/17/19 Morning - Light Snow, 33°F, Wind 12 mph NNW - Yay, close enough to freezing the damn shifters froze up again.
12/17/19 Evening - Clear, 33°F, Wind 7 mph NW - Didn't even try with the shifters, just rode all the way in a single gear.

12/18/19 Morning - Mostly Cloudy, 25°F, Wind 8 mph WNW - Wondering id shooting some lock de-icer into my shifters might help recover from cold weather fixie mode. When this happens the triggers shifters just seem like they don't grab the cable at all, so I'm thinking it's the shifters themselves not the chain, cable (which was just replaced a few weeks ago), or derailleur.

noglider 12-18-19 03:18 PM

Last night, I got out of rehearsal having taken buses and subways all day. It was dry enough to ride Citi Bike, but the air was uninviting. I took the subway home.

I guess it was a cold front because it's drier and colder today. (I just finished a college course in Weather and Climate.) The thermometer reading is above freezing, but it feels damned cold. I dressed adequately for my ride into college, but there's something about the wind and the cold. I'm not really complaining; I'm doing fine. Tonight I have a rehearsal for a paid Christmas gig, so I have a few more miles to go before I sleep.

mgw4jc 12-19-19 07:28 AM

"28 degrees and riding a bike! You're awesome!" That's what one co-worker said heading up the stairs as I locked up my bike. I actually got a little warm coming in. I added a lower body layer over my tights this morning. That helped my legs, but I think it made my upper body too warm somehow. I wore the same layers as yesterday's 30F morning, but got too warm and began sweating a little. I slowed down a bit and was fine.

A coyote crossed the road just a little bit ahead of me. His winter coat made him look like a big dog, but definitely had a different gait and when he saw me, he bolted across into some bushes. A dog would not have reacted to me that way. I have only seen one or two coyotes over the many years of riding. It was almost 7:30am and pretty light out already too.

Today is my Friday and the last day before Christmas break. I will have a couple of more commutes before the end of the year though. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

arsprod 12-19-19 08:34 AM

12F with windchills of -7. Actually not so bad now that most of the snow and ice are cleared. I'm looking forward to temps over freezing to get rest of it - there's one street in my neighborhood that's terrifyingly slick

Notso_fastLane 12-19-19 10:16 AM

14F this morning. The new shoes definitely are much better and my feet are much happier. The roads are pretty clear, with only some small patches of snow left (it was warm enough that it rained last week, which washed most of the snow away).

The only ice patches I've seen are where people have watered their trees or forgot to turn their sprinklers off or something, and it runs into the street and freezes at night.

The velo handles it well, though. A little slide with rear tire doesn't matter when you've got 3 wheels! :D

noglider 12-19-19 01:09 PM

I'm interested in pushing my limit for low temperature but not so much for slippery surfaces. I wasn't sure if I should ride today since we got a dusting of snow last night. It was 19ºF when I got up, and that's pretty cold for the city, even in the coldest week of the year, usually the 2nd or 3rd week of January. So before leaving home, I took a short walking trip to the dry cleaner to asses the streets. They were good. So I bundled up much more than usual, including my ski helmet, work boots, and heavy mittens. I was slow because I was so bundled up, but it was just fine. It's a bright, sunny day with high air pressure. So today is another success so far.

There were far fewer bike commuters out today than normal but still some, and there are always delivery people. People were pretty sensibly dressed.

This evening, I'll be riding to Transportation Alternatives for a meeting. TransAlt, as it is known, is the big pedestrian/cyclist/mass transit advocacy organization. So that ride -- and the ride home -- might be new challenges, but I'm pretty confident.

Darth Lefty 12-19-19 04:47 PM

It's dark and lonely on the MUP lately and the MTB portions are full of mud puddles, keeping me on the asphalt. I'm about ready to start podcasts again

arsprod 12-20-19 08:09 AM

A bit warmer this morning at 19F. I noticed the counter that records number of trail users at a downtown intersection was only at 7 this morning. I'm assuming that's because people are starting vacations today. Mine starts after today - last work commute of the year. Happy Holidays everyone - see you next year!

Tundra_Man 12-20-19 09:12 AM

Consecutive work bicycle commute number 868:

Today is my final ride of the year. I leave town tomorrow to visit my in-laws in Ohio and I won't be back until the 2nd.

20F this morning with a 10 mph head wind. I had to ride out to our company headquarters in the morning, and to a client location in the afternoon. Total miles was going to be around 20, and after two weeks of riding the fat bike I wasn't in the mood to go that distance with that much effort, so I risked it and rode the hybrid.

There was still lots of ice lurking in the unplowed snow from last weekends precipitation. I chose my lines carefully and was extra vigilant in the really icy spots. I didn't have any close calls and kept the bike upright the entire way, so I guess it was a successful commute.

My ventilated bike shoes meant my feet were numb by the time I arrived at the office. Those things are great when it's 90 degrees out. Not so much below freezing.

pdlamb 12-20-19 10:29 AM

Third frosty day in a row, it must be winter. (At least I don't have to scrape a windshield when I ride my bike in!) Some high clouds, so it may rain this weekend.

MUP was still closed, and I didn't feel like tackling the short hill this morning, so I took the long way around. A lot of people seem to be taking off today, so the ride down the two lane road, which is usually heavily trafficked, was pretty calm and benign.

mgw4jc 12-27-19 10:22 AM

Ain't nobody riding this week? I had most of the week off, but rode in today. Mid 30s with some colder spots when I dropped down to creek level. I left early and went to the gym for a bit before riding the rest of the way to the office.

Back to a mostly normal week next week, just with Jan 1 off.

noglider 12-27-19 09:22 PM

I commuted on Christmas eve, commuted to my church gig for midnight mass. I'm an occasional church choir singer. New York churches have Jews in the choir because we happen to be free at church times. ;) I was almost late, so I had to haul my behind really hard, which is hard on Citi Bike. I was tired from everything, I.e. the hard ride, the late singing. We didn't get out until 1:20am, so I decided to do the lazy thing and take the subway home. That turned out to be a mistake. The trains ran slowly, and the company I had on the train wasn't so pleasant, as you might imagine. But I made it home eventually.

My wife suggested I take the car the next day, as I had another Christmas service to sing. Without thinking, I took her suggestion. She was right that parking was easy since the city was so empty. But I don't like driving, so it wasn't fun. I should have ridden.

Darth Lefty 12-28-19 12:42 AM


Originally Posted by mgw4jc (Post 21259925)
Ain't nobody riding this week?... Back to a mostly normal week next week, just with Jan 1 off.

My job, the machinists union long ago traded away half their holidays to get the week off between Christmas and New Year, and the company put everyone on that schedule. The total holidays is about the same as the federal schedule... actually more like 90 hours since we work a 9/80 schedule. This year most of us took vacation for the 2-3rd.

mgw4jc 12-30-19 08:02 AM

Warm and windy morning after some overnight rains. About 64F but with a head or cross wind for the majority of my ride. Just keep pedaling.

liampboyle 12-31-19 07:52 AM

12/18/19 Evening Commute: 27°F wind 7mph WNW, Cloudy

12/19/19 Morning Commute: forgot to recoprd
12/19/19 Evening Commute: Clear, 36°F, wind 5mph SSW

12/20/19 Morning Commute: Clear, 26°F, Wind 3mph ESE
12/20/19 Evening Commute: Cloudy, 40°F Wind 4mph E

12/23/19 Morning Commute: Clear, 33°F, Wind 4mph NE
12/23/19 Evening Commute: Clear 52°F, Wind 4mpn NNE

12/24-25 Merry Chrisma-Hannu-Kwanaz-ica

12/26/19 Morning Commute: Clear, 47°F, Wind 6mph S
12/26/19 Evening Commute: Cloudy, 57°F, Wind 7mph S

12/27/19 Morning Commute: Overcast, 52°F, Wind 4mph SW
12/27/19 Evening Commute: Overcast, 57°F, Wind 3mph W

12/30/19 Morning Commute: Cloudy 44°F, Wind 14mph WSW
12/30/19 Evening Commute: Cloudy 41°F, Wind 12mph SW

12/31/19 Morning Commute: Cloudy 34°F, Wind 13mph WSW - Car decided to roll a four way stop while I was in the ****ing intersection. Thankfully my brakes worked well.

mgw4jc 12-31-19 08:08 AM

30 degrees colder this morning compared to yesterday. Clear and no significant wind though. Traffic was extremely light with the holiday and all.
I've been reading about the snow, ice and wind mess going on up north. No travel advisory in Fargo. "Just don't go outside!" Intense stuff. Y'all stay safe up there!

Korina 01-06-20 11:59 PM

Dark but clear this morning, in the upper 30's. Riding the trail through the Arcata Marsh is the best part; even though it's dark, I can see the sky reflected in the ponds, and hear the birds waking up. It's nearly deserted at 6:30; sometimes I'll run across a jogger or another cycle commuter, but mostly it's just me and the quiet and the dark. Riding on the highway under the eucalyptus I only had to stop twice to take branches off the shoulder. The only time those overly bright LED car headlights are useful is when the side wash lights up the shoulder so I can look for oncoming obstacles without having to blast my own light. Got off the highway and onto the trail (different trail, sort of), chilled and sweaty (gotta find a better jacket), arrived at work a few minutes later to a lusciously warm building and hot tea with breakfast.

Lather, rinse, repeat, throwing in fog now and then.

cb400bill 01-07-20 10:50 AM

Closed. Please go to 2020 thread.


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