rumrunn6

phillypino215 - on the weekend take your car and experiment - look for a rote that feels intuitive, you don't wants lots of turns etc. Using a mapping program may help but there's nothing like seeing the road for yourself. 25 miles is pretty far to commute. I did 17 miles this summer, but only did a whole week 1 time. By the end of the week the 170 miles of commuting roads was harsh

Cycho

Didn't commute today due to the rain. I'm just not that committed yet to ride in any kind of weather. However, I bear good news. One of my buddies whom I have been riding with for fun/excercise decided commute to his job today. He IM'd me this morning proud of himself that he did it felt great. One less car (in his case a giant SUV) on the road!

phillypino215

thanks for the help! yea i figured that 25 was a good amount for a noob like me. figured that ill build myself to it so i can consistently get to that distance. i just may do exactly what you said. thanks for the advice

caloso

phillypino215: One thing you can do is use Google Maps. Put in your start and destination and then check the box that says "avoid highways." That may give you a good route to start with, then you can ride it on the weekends, and make adjustments accordingly.

Good luck!

phillypino215

wow i didnt even know you could do that on google. thanks!

jyossarian

On the way to work, my geek strap slipped below my pant leg and...


And I didn't notice this was still stuck in the chainring til I got home.

Tsuru

FANTASTIC ride home, averaged over 20 mph, very cool air from the cold front coming through this morning, just owned it tonight. Felt great!!!

Morrison

Left the house yesterday at 4:30, cup of coffee in my bottle cage. Felt like life couldn't get any better. Biked to the Y, swam then continued on my way to work. Got caugth in a significant lightning/rain storm. But that was ok. Fortunately I can dry my clothes in my office with a little discretion.
On the way home I had to bike to my son's xcountry meet where I monitor the turnaround. I got a little too casual and had to really burn the last seven miles. My legs are a bit tight today. Hopefully I can continue to bike regularly for another month or so before the weather gets too complicated, i.e. rain/snow/cold.

I just love the casual ride. I don't know if I'm cut out to race although I want too... We'll see.

JoeSoMD

Great ride in this morning. Very dark though. Overcast so no moon or stars. For the first time I wore my Class-II reflective safety vest with blinking LED's in the refelctive stripes. I probably looked like a dope. Reminded me of the movie Urban Cowboy. Maybe if I looked like Robert Redford people would cut me some slack. At least I gave the motorists a good chuckle. Saving gas for them and providing entertainment value. Now that's sacrifice.

vtjim

Winter's-a-comin'. NNW (tail) wind, but it didn't make up for the devastating headwind I had on my ride home yesterday. Sheesh. Low 50Fs this morning. I wore a long-sleeve jersey for the first time since, oh, May, perhaps?

A guy wearing cycling clothing on a road bike with panniers came onto the MUP from a road in front of me so I let him pace me. 15MPH or so. Very comfortable with the tail wind. We passed another cyclist.

Why do people ride with their helmets dangling from their handle bars?

Javan

Cold ride today, but I will take it. Only about 43 at the house, should be about 65 or less after work. 1st time wearing the new tights. Wife laughed at me. But I was warm, except for the fingers. have to dig out the gloves shortly. Granted, the commuting days are dwindling down since the Baby arrival day is 39 days out!

Cycho

Good day to ride (in northern NJ). Cool morning, 54 deg. Suppose to hit a high of about 75. Perfect! Got started just before sunrise (6:17), took my usual urban route but for some reason decided to deviate from the norm and wound up taking the scenic route through East Orange! Won't do that again. That's one rule to commuting: once you have your route set (and I have several, depending on the mood) stick to it! Don't make things up on the fly or you can end up somewhere less than entirely favorable.

jgrendel

Nice ride today. Cool (a little cold at the start - pretty steep downhill right after I leave home), no wind to speak of. Definitely going to be time to upgrade the outfit soon. Fall is a-comin'!

FredOak

Could see my breath when I started out this morning. But nice ride, kicked it up a gear to generate some heat, got a little too toasty by the time I got to the last 2 miles, which is the cool down part of my ride in. Suppose to be about 65-70 on the way home so that should be nice too.

cg1985

Was cooler this morning than the past few, around 40 degree's. I put on a hoody over my base-layer wicking shirt, and wore some jean knickers over long johns. Felt pretty warm leaving, so I knew I had to control my effort before I started sweating like crazy.

Good to know. This pay day it might be time to get some tights and a wind breaking jacket.

oakback

Was pretty cool this morning, maybe as low as 70! Almost time to throw on a sweater!

Saw another bicyclist for the first time on my commute, that surprised me!

walterk46

How was the commute today? Delightfully cool. Sunny. Calm. Beautiful.

envane

I'm loving fall. Hope it lasts.

knucklesandwich

Comfortable days this week in the DC area but I feel like more and more bikers lately are riding like people drive- cluelessly and recklessly.

So far this week I've had to slow down and wave two separate people past me who felt the need to sit on my rear wheel on a stop & go MUP with many road crossings. One of them had his front tire ahead of the back of my rear one 3 or 4 times when I looked back, but still showed no inclination to pass.

The second one came up nearly alongside me (on my right, natch) at a few road crossings, unwilling or unable to slow/stop as I did to see if any cars were coming. This kind of stuff pisses me off to no end.

And last night, as I was riding a busy 4 lane road away from my office, a guy was riding roughly my pace alongside, but weaving back and forth between the sidewalk and parking lots that abut the road. At one intersection he noticed that across it, people were on the sidewalk waiting for the bus, so he just swung right out into the street, not even looking, about 10 feet ahead of me. If I'd been looking over my shoulder for cars behind me, or glancing at anything else, I'd have hit him.

Just venting- after all it still beats driving.

bjoerges

I've taken nearly the last week off from riding due to a wicked cold. So I was prepared to be a little sore after the ride in today. It felt a little chilly in the house so I decided to grab a sweatshirt for the ride in. I'm glad I did as it was COLD (60' F). Granted, I plan to ride through the Michigan winter so it will certainly get colder. I rode hard to keep warm and averaged 15mph through the mostly uphill route.

I did have one van honk at me (though I'm pretty sure the driver didn't even need to slow down for me before I had turned).

jpdesjar

nice riding for sure
i saw a few other people riding to work also, one guy riding a brooks and wearing a sport coat...pretty cool

Pig_Chaser

So i kinda discovered an alternate route (or portion thereof) that is by all means devoid of cars. I get passed hmmm, maybe 2 or 3 times, and that's in the opposite direction, nothing passing in the same direction. This really should be paradise, but in some ways... it just feels lonely.

pinkrobe

Sunny and crisp this morning. Traffic was largely agreeable, although I did get stuck behind a taxi and had to get all sprinty to make the next three lights. Boo to taxis!

Allycat24

Nice ride today. I saw a lot of other riders, heading in the opposite direction, which is unusual. Most riders I see are heading into DC. Today was my first commute since vacation in late August. Still riding the mtn bike since my commuter is in the shop. Hope to get it back tomorrow. It looks like I will fall way short of my mileage goal for the year, mostly because my commute is shorter than last year and the miles just don't add up very quickly.

Ka_Jun

Cool, almost chilly this morning. Had a late start, when I pulled up to my regular parking spot, there are 5 others locked up where usually there are only 3 including me. Should be a nice run out. Clear skies, low ozone.