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2012 - How Was the Commute Today?

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2012 - How Was the Commute Today?

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Old 10-30-12, 10:22 AM
  #3401  
Notso_fastLane
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It was raining this morning on the commute. Steady, but not real hard, and the temps were quite mild (mid 50s F). I wore my water resistant tights (Novara) and an actual rain jacket, which is lighter than the insulated jacket I wear when it gets colder. I didn't even bother with the booties, since it was a relatively light rain.
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Old 10-30-12, 10:56 AM
  #3402  
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The hurricane stinks, nothing but rain and wind. Work got cancelled Monday.
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Old 10-30-12, 11:13 AM
  #3403  
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Was awesome yesterday. Was my Friday, so I took off a few hours early and took the long way home. 7.5 miles to work and 22.5 home - no rain and about 60 degrees. Except for the wind, an almost perfect cycling day.

Best wishes to the peeps on the east coast.
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Old 10-30-12, 12:19 PM
  #3404  
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Originally Posted by maidenfan
Was awesome yesterday. Was my Friday, so I took off a few hours early and took the long way home. 7.5 miles to work and 22.5 home - no rain and about 60 degrees. Except for the wind, an almost perfect cycling day.
See what a 90 per cent chance of rain gets you? It did rain on me a little on my way to work.
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Old 10-30-12, 03:31 PM
  #3405  
Mark Stone
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Starting tomorrow I'm cutting my commute in half. Call me lazy! For the winter months I'll drive halfway with the bike on the rack, then bicycle the rest of the 7 or 8 miles in and then ride back to the car after work. Older? Lazy? I dunno, maybe I'm just not as "political" as I used to be and I'm just doing it for fitness.
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Old 10-30-12, 03:56 PM
  #3406  
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5C and I was definitely overdressed. Wet roads and since my mountain bike has the studded tires on it, I took the touring bike instead.

The paint on my fat bike fenders should be dry tonight, so Ill ride my Pugsley tomorrow. Last night when I was putting air in the tires one of the valve cores came out. That was annoying, so I picked up a core tool today.
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Old 10-30-12, 07:50 PM
  #3407  
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I'm going to give it a try in hurricane ravaged NYC tomorrow. There's no subway, but my office is open so I'll go in. I did this before when things were all closed and was the only one there. I'm expecting a lot of leaves and debris on the way, but otherwise should be OK.

I'm also going to try out my new/old Trek 7000 as a commuter. This is a clone of my 8000 that my son took to college.


Untitled by zacfi2000, on Flickr
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Old 10-30-12, 08:49 PM
  #3408  
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Remnants of Sandy today, wet but not too windy. Did see something rather amusing on the way home (around 7:30). I saw a dark shape heading toward me on the opposite side of the road. It was some guy on a scooter-style e-bike with a dead battery. The pedals were in such a stupid and inconvenient place that he was using it as a big, expensive skateboard. Had a good giggle about that as a I swept by on old reliable.
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Old 10-30-12, 10:05 PM
  #3409  
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My new Necromancer Pugsley is almost ready for commuter duty. The rear rack should arrive later this week. Those fenders took the better part of the weekend to build from a pair of Planet Bike Cascadia 29er fenders. The red strip on the rims is 3M reflective tape.

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Old 10-30-12, 10:19 PM
  #3410  
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Woke up to the East Brothers Light House fog horn. Ditto day today. You all have a Happy Halloween... Boo!
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Old 10-31-12, 04:42 AM
  #3411  
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Just a cloudy morning, post Sandy at 41f (5c). I had off mon and tues, due to Sandy, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The Jersey shore got clobbered. It was my first hurricane in 55 years to come ashore as such. Most others came in as Tropical storms. The erratic weather patterns are getting more interesting.
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Old 10-31-12, 05:37 AM
  #3412  
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Originally Posted by gecho
My new Necromancer Pugsley is almost ready for commuter duty. The rear rack should arrive later this week. Those fenders took the better part of the weekend to build from a pair of Planet Bike Cascadia 29er fenders. The red strip on the rims is 3M reflective tape.

A monster! A veritable monster!
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Old 10-31-12, 06:06 AM
  #3413  
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Our limited exposure to the outskirts of Sandy (winds up to 60km/h, light but driving rain) was over yesterday. Today's ride was in 2C, light rain, 21km/h N wind so I was comfortably cool with a bit of dampness on my legs through my tights and a bit on my lower back where my coat ended.

I didn't dress up but my (too late) idea was to get a skull balaclava for the ride in and then wear my mostly black biking outfit as my costume. I didn't have enough time to buy it so maybe I'll get it for next year.

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Old 10-31-12, 06:23 AM
  #3414  
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It was 23degree when I left this morning, only average 16.6mph. I guess the cold do really effect my average speed, gotta love the MN cold weather lol.
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Old 10-31-12, 07:16 AM
  #3415  
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Originally Posted by gecho
My new Necromancer Pugsley is almost ready for commuter duty. The rear rack should arrive later this week. Those fenders took the better part of the weekend to build from a pair of Planet Bike Cascadia 29er fenders. The red strip on the rims is 3M reflective tape.
that's soooo cool!
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Old 10-31-12, 07:17 AM
  #3416  
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I had icicles hanging from my beard when I got to work this morning--a first for the season. Happy Halloween!
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Old 10-31-12, 07:21 AM
  #3417  
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I'm feeling beat this morning. I woke up late to find a flat tire so I rolled out my trusty GMC Denali, strapped the lights and pump on it, felt up the tires and figured about 30 psi - enough for 10 miles to work - and rolled out. By then I was runing late, and dressed for rolling slow, and with no speedometer on that bike I maybe pushed a bit too hard. Made it on time though.
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Old 10-31-12, 07:21 AM
  #3418  
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I rode today in defiance of the remnants of Sandy, 38F with 15mph winds. Fortunately, the winds are out of the west and much of my route is shielded by buildings. The few times I was out in the open it was brutal. Unfortunately, my route is directly north-south so I get to do it again on the way home and the forecast is for a high of only 44. Good thing is I'm in no hurry!

Anyone recommend some windproof pants/tights?
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Old 10-31-12, 07:54 AM
  #3419  
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cool (mid 30s) with frost on the ground. Only a light breeze (5-10mph) which was a lot better than Mon and Tuesday (20mph, with gusts up to 40pmh). My bike felt a lot faster without the crosswind.
Uneventful traffic wise, I rather enjoyed it.
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Old 10-31-12, 07:57 AM
  #3420  
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Another commuter just getting back to it post-Sandy. Lots of leaves and debris in places asking the commute, but otherwise fine. Nothing so big or bad I had to get off my bike. There was a spot with some broken glass along the 14th Street Bridge, that had a lot of cyclists dropping and walking/carrying their bikes. I slowed, but stayed on my bike, made my way through slowly and was grateful for my Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. Nice not to have to worry about that kind of stuff so much.

Cool enough to break out the full fingered gloves this morning at around 40. Come January that'll be warm enough for fingerless gloves, but I'm still getting acclimated. :-)

Happy Halloween everybody. I'll be taking my six month old son around or apartment building and down the block. Having a kid makes the holiday a little more exciting...
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Old 10-31-12, 08:22 AM
  #3421  
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Rode in this morning. When I left, it wasn't too bad. As I got out on the road I ran into those 25mph wind gusts. Coming up one of the hills on my commute, I was hatin life there for a minute. It was cold and windy and in my face. I rode a shorter route I like to call my winter 10 miler.

I really can't complain though...It was nice to get back on the bike after a couple day break.
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Old 10-31-12, 09:32 AM
  #3422  
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I had a a lot of headwind left over from Sandy. not the 40-60 knot nonsense that forced me onto the train yesterday, but still a good 20-25 knot headwind that made me 10 minutes late for work.

going home should be fun!
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Old 10-31-12, 09:45 AM
  #3423  
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Originally Posted by arsprod
I rode today in defiance of the remnants of Sandy, 38F with 15mph winds. Fortunately, the winds are out of the west and much of my route is shielded by buildings. The few times I was out in the open it was brutal. Unfortunately, my route is directly north-south so I get to do it again on the way home and the forecast is for a high of only 44. Good thing is I'm in no hurry!

Anyone recommend some windproof pants/tights?
I really like my Novara tights. They are a bit warm when the temps get above 50F, but great at least down to the upper 30s.

I drove today, so I could dress up for Halloween.
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Old 10-31-12, 09:49 AM
  #3424  
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Clear, cool, & calm...
https://mapmyride.com/view_workout?w=199396561
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Old 10-31-12, 10:08 AM
  #3425  
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Nice tailwind this morning. The seat post on my Pugsley was a bit low but I didn't want to stop to raise it. I'm definitely going to need to add a mud flap to my fender. Debris missed my feet but from the mid point of the down tube to the bottom bracket received the full tire spray.

i saw an odd looking rack on a bike last week. I saw the same bike again this morning and took a closer look. The rack was made out of aluminum hockey stick shafts, both the platform and the support posts. I took a picture and will post it when I get back home.
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