CACycling

I started vacation today but realized I'd forgotten to take care of a few things at the office. So, after my wife and I took a nice road ride together, I decided to in head to the office on my road bike. Didn't need to take all my normal stuff so didn't need the cargo capacity of my commuter. The lighter bike, lighter traffic and lack of need for lights of a mid-morning commute was really enjoyable. That, the georgeous day (sunny and mid-70s with no wind) and not needing to change into work clothes (I wasn't there THAT long), made it quite enjoyable. OK, knowing I wouldn't be going back in for 10 days didn't hurt either.

slloth

Any ride that doesn't end in me working is a good ride. Good for you!

stevemtbr

Outstanding ride home from work today. Left at 3pm and rode 26 miles home with 20 of those miles all single and double track. Life is good!

Rothaí

My commute was cold & dark but an amazing view of Orion in a cloudless sky. Saturday is great with no traffic...it was windy and in my face though...Murphy's Law states that the wind will have changed direction by 180 degrees and be in my face on the way home too !

Lorcán.

dynohubrider

i fortunately live close to where i work as a welder in west yorkshire, uk. 2.3 miles so i ride most days. as i leave the house i have a nice stretch of level road so get the old sturmey archer aw into 3rd and cruise at 17mph then freewheel down the hill with some speed bumps, brooks b66 saddle to thank going over these! then its onto the B6136, a fast road with some hills which had a lovely smooth surface till it was resurfaced with that horrible grit, every time a car speeds by its like being shot with a blunderbuss! when will councils realise the coarse gravel they use lessens the surface contact and actually decreases grip? don't see formula 1 tracks with that surface! the road takes a sweeping downhill bend which is good for 30mph on a still day followed by a small uphill section under the motorway bridge, into 1st and a nice climb then it levels off but slightly downhill around ferrybridge power station and goes back to a smooth surface, hit the power again! now it takes a gamble to get a gap in the traffic to get on the opposite path as running the gauntlet of the A162 turn on further ahead is no junction for the cyclist! before the deadly junction is a railway bridge where you can't see the path under it because of a slight rise in the path. my hopes rise, is he going to be there? i power on then see him under the bridge, same place every morning- that ******* with the dog! the ignorant sod gives a look of defiance and walks in the middle of the path and glares at me even though i slow down. swear he has a key in his back, every morning, same time same place, the bottleneck just before the railway underpass, like clockwork, if i set off earlier hes at the worse bottleneck around the waste recycling site after the bridge by the side of the A162 slip road junction near work. an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, the dark cloud to my silver lining of a morning commute. maybe the dark mornings coming in will make him walk the dog later, otherwise something must give, i won't change careers, he seems healthy for his age, how many years has the dog got left?

matt

girljen

Today was my first commute on my new Long Haul Trucker, so I'll have to try very hard to describe it without resorting to 'OMG OMG OMG!! *squeeee!!*'

It was so nice to ride a bike that's fast and quiet and strong! The saddle fits me perfectly, the bike is completely silent, the ride is smooth, and it's just plain awesome.

It was a good ride, warmer than usual and hardly any traffic. I saw another bike commuter, so I rang my brand new Hello Kitty bell at her. I got a ring back.

For the last leg of the trip, a straight shot from the state highway to my building, I decided to get down in the drops and sprint. WHEEEE!!! I know that the Trucker isn't built to be fast or meant to be a racing bike, but compared to my old hybrid, it's a rocket! No wonder my Trucker-riding brother always dropped me like a bad habit whenever we tried to ride together!

Anyway, just imagine me doing the happy dance and counting down the hours until I can ride home (11 hrs. 40 min.!).

making

WOW I guess you like it huh? Congratulations on the new bike.

SouthFLpix

This week I commuted on both weekends. It actually was really great because there was much less traffic to deal with.

Caleab

What make/model was the hybrid? I'm just curious because I'm also considering moving from a hybrid to something else.

girljen

It was a K2 T-Nine Crosswind, $400 from REI. Very good entry-level bike...not so good daily commuter and weekend trailer-puller.

The ride home was much more relaxed than the ride in. I was trying to get a feel for my new Serious Bike (that's its name, I guess, since I've been referring to it as Serious Bike since I picked it up), trying out hand positions and fiddling with the bar end shifters. I spent a good portion of the ride down in the drops. I've never had a bike with drop bars before, and being in the drops is surprisingly comfortable for me!

The only downside to the ride was the darkness creeping in. This is probably going to be my last week commuting on the MUP...after that, it'll be all street and all dark both ways.

Nota

Woo Hoo ...28,000th post!

*drats, 27,990*

trombone

Congrats on the new bike, girljen.

Took it easy on the ride in this morning; I took the plunge at the weekend and converted the SS to a fixie. I'm still not completely comfortable riding it, I guess it takes a while to get used to it. It definitely makes for smoother pedaling though.

123Roadie01

I love my commute and today was no different than most days.

I jump on my bike at home and ride approximately 1.5 km to the bus stop at Mount Coolum. Fold up the Dahon and get on the bus which takes me to Noosa Heads. Unfold the bike, and ride allong the Noosa River for about 8 km to Tewantin.

Picture a bloke dressed ready for the office riding a bright red Dahon Curve, passing all the would-be fitness freaks dressed as if they're European professional cycle racers panting and weazing on their new Canondalswho have only ridden about as far as what I have. Money can't buy you happiness like that look on there face when you say good morning.

Caspar_s

Got to work after a nice quiet ride - love riding in for 5:30. Hardly any traffic and quiet. Saw three rabbits.

Lunchroom smells like the night cleaning crew were smoking inside and tried to cover it with spray.

Check the schedule to see who else is working... 12:30-9:00 Seven hours early for my shift. The other supervisor who is on apologised to me? said I could work a split shift. Heck with that, had a nice quiet ride home as well.

Oh well, only 6km each way and I didn't do too much on the weekend.

YoKev

Temperature reading on my computer held between 20F and 23F the whole ride here, plus, a winchill on top of that.

I was really starting to wonder if my fingers would still be attached to my hands when I got to work.

girljen

I got a surprise: Nice weather!

The weather report was threatening 30s and showers, but when I got outside, I found 45 degrees and cloud cover. Yes! It was just humid enough for me to feel, which is a nice change from either completely dry or raining. I made good time, too...good enough to make coffee (first priority) and put on makeup (which I only do if I have time after making coffee).

tarwheel 

Coldest morning (36F) so far in NC this fall, and my first ride in the 30s since last spring. It felt great as I judged my clothing just right. It's easy to overdress when the temperatures start dropping, but I got it just right and hardly broke a sweat. My main problem was my glasses fogging up, and I am gonna have to come up with a fix for that.

I had to pull over to the curb for a fire truck responding to a call, the first time that has happened. Then I had to wait for another fire truck returning to the station later on in my commute.

trombone

For the full effect you should wear a bowler hat and carry a rolled-up umbrella!

There was a light drizzle on the way home tonight; I ride home late on a Monay after an evening rehearsal. It's kind of nice to have the city streets pretty much to yourself. Summer is also coming; it's still 15C at 11pm even with the rain.

cg1985

Well, the weather is starting to get cooler. It was around 40 this morning, wasn't too bad. Just threw on a wind breaker over my regular clothes and made the ride into work.

I'm just about ready to tackle the real cold weather, just need to get a nice hat, and scarf. I'm trying to not look super fred-like, tying to avoid the balaclava. But we'll see.

This morning's ride was nice. No fatigue or hard work, just the 8 mile stroll to the office.

Thomas Brock

High 30s and dark on the way in. I was cold, but not freezing.

Definitely going to need some pants soon.

dcrowell

It was in the low 30s this morning. I'm not having any pain in my ankle/achilles, but I wanted to go easy on it, so I drove part of the way, and rode the remaining 3.75 miles on my hybrid.

I wore jeans, t-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, gloves, and a beanie under my helmet. I was plenty warm.

I had one guy in a pickup show off his new air horn while behind me at a red light. That wasn't cool.

Other than that the ride was good. I thinking riding about two miles away for lunch to add a little more distance to the ride.

SouthFLpix

Great weather, no traffic problems and my legs felt good.

vtjim

First day back after 2 weeks + 1 day vacation. Temps in the high 20sF. Very light headwind.

Only saw one cyclist heading the other way. I did see two tire tracks in some frost on the MUP though. One skinny tire and one fat tire.

ModoVincere

Temp was about 40F when I left the house. I am not ready for these cooler temps...I miss summer.

Pig_Chaser

Another windy one, 1/2 headwind, 1/2 tailwind so i guess it all works out.