Stubacca

Wednesday afternoon was a good ride home. I took a detour through the state park nearby, and ended up riding right next to a time trial event. There were some friggin' fit riders there! I stopped for a few minutes to check out some of the equipment, before jumping back on and heading home. The detour extended my usual 14 mile route to just over 20.

I took a day off riding yesterday as I had a couple of meetings to get to in the middle of the day, and the guy I'd normally grab a lift with was in Houston for the day. It really sucked to be in the car! With the traffic around the freeway road work here, it took me an extra 10 minutes to get home!

Trip in this morning was pretty much without incident. I had one girl turn out of a sidestreet without looking while chatting on her phone and smoking a cigarette. Saw it in plenty of time, so no problem avoiding her. Just enough breeze today to stop me sweating on this gorgeous 55 degree morning.

PaulH

I've been ignoring these "Bike to Work Days" for years, mostly because I have better things to do (like bike to work). This time, I rode a few miles out of my way to check out the stop at the Crystal City Waterpark. Quite an operation! Hundreds of people, lots of cool freebies, breakfast, and music. I quite enjoyed myself.

Like ArtM, I was astounded by the questions on the VDOT survey. I can only assume that the target population was people who live so close to work as to make driving a car absurd, and see what it would take to put them on bikes. Given the road congestion here, that is a worthy goal.

I had expected to see a bunch of bewildered people taking their first ride in 20 years on borrowed Huffys with underinflated tires. Instead, the people I saw at the stop seemed to be serious, long-time commuters. In retrospect that may be the drawback to this thing...the potential bewildered folks are the ones that the event should be attracting/educating/motivating.

Anyhow, it was really fun! I'll do it again next year.

Paul

Zin

Wow! 55F morning! We don't even have those in the middle of summer! Enjoy it Stu!

Last night I had a nice tail wind pushing me home. What a nice change. Still was cool in the mid 50s.

The ride into work this morning was very nice Mid 40s. The SPRING smell was in the air. Fresh, clear, and sweet. Life is good!

freerangemike

I stopped at the Vienna and Reston stops. No VDOT survey for me. They were plotting everyone's routes on a map, but their map stopped at the beltway. I told her I was riding from the district, and she said, "Oh, I guess that's not on the map." Silly organizers.

With a reverse commute, the extra traffic isn't much of a concern. I wonder if I won the raffle. I wasn't going to stick around for 20 minutes to find out; I had to get to work.

mjw16

I forgot all about 'bike to work day', in fact a friend had to remind me of it. I'm usually on the trail so early that I missed it last year too. I did notice a few additional riders out there who, I was relieved to see, seemed to be fairly serious cyclists. I guess there was stuff going on at Federal Plaza (which is directly beside my work) but I was oblivious. Other than missing out on the festivities I had a beautiful ride in today and really enjoy being back on the bike after a week's vacation-just signed up for the DC area Tour de Cure too.

Stubacca

Oh, I am... mornings like these are what make me so depressed when I have to drive the car.

ArtM

I also "reverse commute" Vienna to Ashburn. There was a stop at route 28 that had tables next to the trail - riders were standing on the bike path. I don't think they appreciated my bell warning prior to riding past.

Zin

80F for the ride home! Mostly sunny. Swapped bikes when I got home, and took off on a very steep hilly route toward the Smith River and a tiny community called Eden. I can't believe I was able to make it as far as I did. Would have gone further, but ran out of water and time.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

ollo_ollo

Rainy all day here. We are traveling down to Salem, OR to visit our grand kids & I had to chauffer our 2 dogs out to doggy daycare for the weekend so I drove today. I felt strange meandering along the usual route without wind in my face. Don

cyclezealot

It has been really hot here the last couple of weeks..Really enjoyed today's commute. The inland portion of my commute was only in the low 80's . Felt great. It has been in the mid-90's... Did not commute during those hot/smoggy days.
Took a little longer than my usual two hours... The headwinds were more than 15 miles an hour..Cut down on my time..

borneo_cyclist

Today is the 1st time I have used my road bike for commuting. Before that there was problem with the gear then I change to fixed gear and the problem solved. The road bike is much faster then my mountain bike but I still will be using the MTB cause I like the exercise.

Kodama

Had to work today -the dirty secret of the computer industry. Nice day for riding too partially sunny, with shorts and t-shirts temps and beautiful fluffy clouds. The wind is a bit high and of course the trail is unusable (why aren't these people at Mom's ). Riding with the full touring load all this weekend, only missing my sleeping bag (which is in route) and sundries. Getting easier pushing that weight. I did do a long steep hill yesterday that forced me into my lowest gear. Then came the torrential rain...

Chris L

20 Degrees C this morning, although strangely it was only 19 when I got to work (yes, I have a thermometer on my new computer). Bit of a recovery ride after yesterday's 100km ride with 1,327 metres of climbing, and an 18km walk with six river crossings (on foot) to go with it. Had a decent tail wind, so it was all pretty easy.

borneo_cyclist

When I was riding home, a small car from opposite lane cut the car in front at 120 km/h and go into my lane. It almost hit me. If it hit me I will be dead.

There is a car having a flat tire half way during my trip. They are having problem changing it.

The ride is much faster and easier with my MTB changing to SS last 2 days ago.

DogBoy

Today marks my 5th consecutive day of commuting to work. I only go about 5 miles one-way, but have generally felt much better upon getting to work than I did when I drove. Its kind of wierd, I get up at 6:30 instead of 8:00, but feel less tired. I also get to work earlier so I can leave earlier. I've found that my average speed is slowing down, but I'm not too worried as I'm still averaging 14-15 mph. So here are my high's and lows of my first full week of biking:

Highs:
Having lots of people look at me like I'm nuts when I'm walking through the office in my bright yellow jacket carrying my helmet.

Not feeling guilty about my afternoon trip to the vending machine

getting in an additional ~50 miles of saddle time per week without having to find time for it during the day.

Saving $6 a week on gas, or about $15 a week in total auto expenses for not driving.

Lows:
Jerks in cars/trucks: Only one bad case, guy in an old rusted out truck slammed on his brakes, squealing his tires while sounding his "dixie" horn. Hope he had fun.

Flat: Stick caught in between spokes and ripped out the stem

Locked out: I forgot that I didn't have a house key on my "Bike" keychain, so I had to break into the house. I found out just how easy it is, and now I don't feel so safe in my house anymore (same day as the flat...what a day that was)

Headwind both ways. Can't the wind pick a single direction for a day instead of turning around on itself.

Laundry. (I have a limited bike wardrobe, so I'm washing my clothes every 2 days).

Stubacca

Great conditions this morning - around 50F/10C, with a slight tailwind for a change.

Broke another rear drive-side spoke this morning, though. I hear it pop when I took off from the lights at about mile 9 of 12. Fortunately I was able to secure it for safety and cruise in to the office - will have to bum a ride home this evening.... damn!

I'm tempted to buy a new rear wheel, but I don't really want to spend any money on this beast since I'm intending to replace it completely in a month or two. Perhaps I'll wander up to the LBS this evening and pick up some slicks for the hardtail.

Zin

Happy Monday morning to everyone!

25F/-4C with light winds this morning. Got the crap scared out of me when I rounded one of the blind curves in my route when a couple of large "ring-necked" phesants were right there! They screeched, I yelled, we all went our seperate directions.

TeeDubya

I did it! After lurking here a week or so, I screwed up my courage and rode my bike halfway to work today. I live 10 miles from my office, so I parked my car about halfway and biked the rest. Lovely day for a ride. No wind, 65 degrees. Only hitch: I got a nosebleed about halfway through. I had to cut off part of my sleeve to shove up my nose to block the drippage. Yuck.

I look forward to commuting again. Thanks to everyone here for motivating me.

prabbit

Today was my first commute on the bike. It's 10 miles one way. I rode the route last weekend so I had an idea of what to expect. I'm glad I rode it on a weekend first, because some things weren't as I expected. The route starts out in a city neighborhood, then I ride into and through downtown, before getting on a commuter trail where there are no cars. It's about five miles of streets and five miles of paved trails.

I packed all of my gear last night as recommended to decrease the chances of chickening out. I woke up early probably becase my mind was nervous/excited about the ride.

I packed a lot really. Extra shoes, jeans, t-shirts in case I forget those things someday. I work at a software company, so the casual look is quite all right. Besides the t-shirts have the company logo on 'em! : )

I packed my work shirt and changed by sweaty "commuting" shirt in the washroom. I had showered before leaving this morning, so I simply washed up using a camping/pack towel (the ones that are like a chamois), put on some deodarant, and put some gel in my hair.

The commute took about 40 minutes and there was only one and a half incidents.

First (half) incident was a car that tried going around me pulled into the next lane without looking and nearly side swiped the car that was in that lane. Not my fault and the honking horn wasn't at me. It was the left lane driver honking at the right lane driver that was in too much of a hurry.

The second (also a half?) incident was I was at stop sign wanting to make a left turn with three cars behind waiting for a car to drive through an intersection. The car coming down the intersecting road did not have any stop sign, yield sign, or anything. She stopped at the intersection! And there were cars behind her! She had a dazed look on her face waiting for me to go. I pointed out she didn't have to stop and waved her on. Crazy.

Zin

Congrats to you both! Welcome!

TeeDubya

Thanks for the warm welcome, N7CZinMT.

I showered at home and changed when I got to work, but I'm afraid I under-packed. Forgot the deodorant! Now, I think I stink. Going to have to put together a kit to keep in my desk.

Zin

Yep. Good idea! You'll get the minor bugs worked out as you continue to commute.

Bob

billwatson58

Congrats on the commuting. Unscented baby wipes work well for me. Take 10 minutes to cool down, a fan helps with this. Then go to the bathroom and do a birdbath - cold water on the head is really great. I keep a belt, pants and shirts, and shoes at work. My work is casual, so it doesn't bother me to keep clothes here.

Today was a first for the year for me...no arm or leg warmers or anything like it...just a short sleeve jersey and shorts. So while it was nice when i started (upper 60s temp) by the time i got to work (10 miles one way) I was pretty warm, especially my back because of my backpack. Might have to get a rack and pannier with the warmer temps on the way so the back doesn't get so sweaty.

caloso

Haven't been commuting in a while due to a leave of absence from work, but I'm back at it. I left just after 6 and rode a big circular route to the east before heading north on Watt Avenue and on to the American River Bike Trail to head west into Downtown.

Nature sighting of the day: a huge Harris hawk pulling a ground squirrel out his hole. Awesome. The ancient Greeks would say that's a propitious omen!

mtessmer

Hey, thanks Bob, that was very thoughtful of you. It worked out to be a great day.