Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Commuting
Reload this Page >

How was the commute today? 2011 Edition.

Search
Notices
Commuting Bicycle commuting is easier than you think, before you know it, you'll be hooked. Learn the tips, hints, equipment, safety requirements for safely riding your bike to work.

How was the commute today? 2011 Edition.

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-04-11, 07:43 AM
  #1  
Doohickie
You gonna eat that?
Thread Starter
 
Doohickie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Posts: 14,715

Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 164 Post(s)
Liked 67 Times in 44 Posts
How was the commute today? 2011 Edition.

How 'bout we start out clean for the New Year? The other thread hangs up on me sometimes.

Anyway, the ride in today was the perfect Texas winter ride: 43 degrees, slight tailwind (both ways if the afternoon forecast is correct), and the new additions to my cycling wear- a merino wool jersey (a gift from the wife) and a pair of Pearl Isumi leg warmers (door prize from the bike club Christmas party) made me perfectly toasty, but not too warm.
__________________
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.


Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
Doohickie is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 07:59 AM
  #2  
mrdelprete
Senior Member
 
mrdelprete's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 170
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Need about another week till I can start again. The plowing around my town has been horrible. Areas still melting, icing and a lot of places one lane. Long story short...... my wife will be way to nervous and freaking out if I bike in right now.......
mrdelprete is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 09:15 AM
  #3  
RT
The Weird Beard
 
RT's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: COS
Posts: 8,554
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Same here. I thought about it this morning, but at 7*F, I thought better of it. Drove my route though, and the ice is still too prevalent. Hoping tomorrow after today's sun.

Last Thursday...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJFMywIKzSI

Last edited by RT; 01-04-11 at 09:17 AM. Reason: Add vid
RT is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:11 AM
  #4  
truman
It's true, man.
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: North Texas
Posts: 2,726

Bikes: Cannondale T1000, Inbred SS 29er, Supercaliber 29er, Crescent Mark XX, Burley Rumba Tandem

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Skipped the bike commute today, in favor of taking the 29er out to Grapevine Lake for a night ride after work. A ride's a ride, for a' that...

Tomorrow may see me back on the old Cannondale T1000, while I finally start to install Ultegra/105 running gear on the Vaya. I don't imagine I'll get that completed in time to ride in.

I've got a pair of platform pedals on the C'Dale - that'll take some getting used to

BTW, Doohickie - have you seen/do you know the guy with the double-racked Long Haul Trucker? He rides along Gorman, too.
truman is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:26 AM
  #5  
pallen
Descends like a rock
 
pallen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 4,034

Bikes: Scott Foil, Surly Pacer

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Liked 16 Times in 8 Posts
Mostly the same as doohickie's The weather is great - now if I could just do something about the mountain cedar making my nose drip like a faucet...
pallen is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:30 AM
  #6  
wisaunders
Senior Member
 
wisaunders's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Dallas
Posts: 207

Bikes: 2013 Carve with Rigid Salsa Fargo & 2005 Allez

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Good commute today, after skipping yesterday (up all night with panick attacks about returning to work). As Doohickie said, 43 degrees is a great temp for the morning ride here in N Texas. Got to use one of my new Ortlieb panniers today and my new helmet. Gotta love Xmas presents!
wisaunders is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:34 AM
  #7  
jeffpoulin
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,296
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 49 Post(s)
Liked 11 Times in 7 Posts
28F and overcast this morning. Started to snow on my way in, but just flurries. Kind of nice, actually. This afternoon was gray and still overcast. 29F with a light dusting of fresh snow on the ground.
jeffpoulin is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:35 AM
  #8  
pallen
Descends like a rock
 
pallen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 4,034

Bikes: Scott Foil, Surly Pacer

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Liked 16 Times in 8 Posts
oh that reminds me, today was the first day using my new Linus Pannier. Holds my iPad, pants and a shirt.
pallen is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:49 AM
  #9  
1nterceptor
LET'S ROLL
 
1nterceptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: NEW YORK, NY - USA
Posts: 4,782

Bikes: 2014 BMC Gran Fondo, 2013 Brompton S6L-X

Mentioned: 18 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 306 Post(s)
Liked 44 Times in 33 Posts
My commute was little dicey this morning.
Snow was melting yesterday in the 40's(F),
but this morning was about 30F. So a lot
of ice on the roadways. And to top it off, I
leave the house at 6am; no sun yet
1nterceptor is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:49 AM
  #10  
jeffpoulin
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,296
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 49 Post(s)
Liked 11 Times in 7 Posts
Originally Posted by RTDub
Same here. I thought about it this morning, but at 7*F, I thought better of it. Drove my route though, and the ice is still too prevalent. Hoping tomorrow after today's sun.

Last Thursday...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJFMywIKzSI
I watched it twice, it's that mesmerizing. Love the yakety sax overlay. It's perfect.
jeffpoulin is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:54 AM
  #11  
pallen
Descends like a rock
 
pallen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 4,034

Bikes: Scott Foil, Surly Pacer

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Liked 16 Times in 8 Posts
crazy. There's always some yahoo in a big truck that thinks his vehicle is big, therefore good on ice.
pallen is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 12:01 PM
  #12  
caloso
Senior Member
 
caloso's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
Posts: 40,865

Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur

Mentioned: 68 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2952 Post(s)
Liked 3,106 Times in 1,417 Posts
Everything's funnier with Yakety Sax.

I woke at 5 to go on a long ride in this morning, saw the Hounds of the Baskervilles quality fog and went back to bed. By 7:30 it had thinned quite a bit, so pretty safe and comfy. I just wore a dress shirt and pants, with a merino sweater, and was quite comfortable.
caloso is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 12:09 PM
  #13  
bored117 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Riverside, CA
Posts: 1,055

Bikes: Lynskey R230 DA DI2 ENVE 3.4 SES, 6KU Fixie, Cheap Aluminum Slapstick Trainer only bike

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Woke up late, rode leisurely as I already missed my regular train to catch. Got to station 15 minutes early still and noticed it is 35F. Ended up waiting extra 15 minutes in the temperature shivering as ... the train got delayed... 30 minutes standing still there at the temp was no fun. Looking forward to ride back though. Temp should be in high 40s low 50s which I love to ride at.
bored117 is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 12:16 PM
  #14  
Doohickie
You gonna eat that?
Thread Starter
 
Doohickie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Posts: 14,715

Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 164 Post(s)
Liked 67 Times in 44 Posts
Originally Posted by truman
BTW, Doohickie - have you seen/do you know the guy with the double-racked Long Haul Trucker? He rides along Gorman, too.
Not sure. I know a handful of LHT owners. Could be one of them. There's one that usually crosses the train tracks, then turns right on Hildring (in the morning; opposite in the afternoon). I've been doing that too since all the construction makes the freeway access roads yucky. I ride up through Overton Park to the trail along the creek, then to the river and back to 183. A mile or two longer but misses all the construction.
__________________
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.


Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
Doohickie is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 01:55 PM
  #15  
Sashko
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Toronto
Posts: 53
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Had some nice flurries on my way to work, and about half way to work, my rear gear cable broke :-( Just had it repaired during my lunch break.

All-in-all, it was a pretty nice ride here in Toronto. The roads were a bit wet, but didn't encounter any ice or snow on them. The temp was about 0°C and the "feels like" temp was -6°C.

Just bought a new face/neck mask while waiting for my bike to be repaired at work. Can't wait to give it a try :-D
Sashko is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 02:07 PM
  #16  
daven1986
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 2,324
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Embarrassing tbh. Didn't know I could get that out of shape over Christmas. Doesn't help that I ride fixed so can't change gear! Either way I made it home, but not without quite a bit of heavy breathing - hope I'm back in form by the end of the week!

Got new glasses though so was good to try them out
daven1986 is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 02:37 PM
  #17  
CptjohnC
Old, but not really wise
 
CptjohnC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Fairfax, VA commuting to Washington DC
Posts: 814

Bikes: 2010 Kona Dew Drop (the daily driver),'07 Specialized Roubaix (the sports car), '99 ish Kona NuNu MTB (the SUV), Schwinn High Plains (circa 1992?) (the beater)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I guess I'll repost my latest here -- will the old thread be locked, and this one be stickied?

Not a bad morning - - though I chose a shorter ride to ease my knees a bit. I thought I had misjudged the cold when I left off the Balaclava in favor of the beanie, but a mile or so in, all was right. Much less wind than the past few rides, which was nice, and more people out, possibly because of my later than usual start.

Oh, and I bought another used bike last night... Bad boy! It has some mechanical needs (derailleurs are frozen-ish), but overall it seems pretty sound. Guess I'll be visiting the mechanic's forum.
CptjohnC is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 02:39 PM
  #18  
dcrowell
Fat Guy Rolling
 
dcrowell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Louisville Kentucky
Posts: 2,434

Bikes: Bacchetta Agio, 80s Raleigh Record single-speed, Surly Big Dummy

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Cold and clear (and dark!) this morning. I left early to stop and the Y for swimming and weightlifting. Then I went to work.

Rode my bike about a mile after lunch to go drop off a Brooks saddle I sold on Craigslist.

In another two hours, I'll be leaving work and riding to my massage therapy appointment. Yeah, life is hard.
dcrowell is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 07:05 PM
  #19  
o0adam0o
Senior Member
 
o0adam0o's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 175
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I rode my bike in the rain for the 1st time today. Ive been commuting since about July and have avoided ridding when its raining. Today after work i was on my way to the bus stop but decided it was about time for me to learn to ride in the rain lol I didnt fall.. so i say it was a successful ride
o0adam0o is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 07:28 PM
  #20  
badrad
Senior Member
 
badrad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 444
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 8 Times in 5 Posts
today's ride - first commute of the new year (monday was banker's holiday), and there was the typical frantic panic over expected snowfall of 5 cm that will shutdown the city! (Vancouver - LOL - where 1 cm of snow will cause widespread chaos and destruction - what a joke).

https://www.news1130.com/news/local/a...warning-issued

it felt warm (around 0c) so i chanced it and decided to ride - against the quiet reservations from the missus. turned out - a very nice ride - low traffic and the snow held out. the ride home was even warmer - no precipitation as yet along my route, so was in all a pleasant commute day!
badrad is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 08:00 PM
  #21  
gerv 
In the right lane
 
gerv's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Des Moines
Posts: 9,557

Bikes: 1974 Huffy 3 speed

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 44 Post(s)
Liked 7 Times in 6 Posts
First commute of the New Year and was able to make it on my summer bike. There's no snow on the ground and looks like it will be that way for a week. What happened to winter? It was miserable here a few weeks ago.
gerv is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 08:49 PM
  #22  
nelson249
"Per Ardua ad Surly"
 
nelson249's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Kitchener, Ontario
Posts: 1,416

Bikes: Bianchi Specialissima, Mongoose Hilltopper ATB, Surly Cross-Check, Norco City Glide

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
First commute of the year today. I am fighting off the remains of a nasty cold but braved the cold and snow anyways. I'm a bit stubborn that way. I was, however, rather depressed since I passed by the spot on the MUP where a 60 year old man was murdered around midnight on New Years' Eve. Also, another man was assaulted on the same trail the same afternoon and a 30 year old woman was sprayed in the face with bear spray by two jerks on another trail near my house. I swear I think this place is going to hell.
nelson249 is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 08:58 PM
  #23  
Doohickie
You gonna eat that?
Thread Starter
 
Doohickie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Posts: 14,715

Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 164 Post(s)
Liked 67 Times in 44 Posts
Originally Posted by CptjohnC
I guess I'll repost my latest here -- will the old thread be locked, and this one be stickied?
That's why I started the thread; the other one seemed to be getting a bit unwieldy. But I have no control over that.

The ride home was cooler than I expected, but still a bit warmer than the morning. The roads were fast and smooth and there was a slight tailwind. Work commitments mean I'll have maybe one or two chances to commute over the next two and a half weeks.

Glrgaghh
__________________
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.


Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
Doohickie is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 09:32 PM
  #24  
BigCircles
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 62
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Nice commute today. Relatively warm morning (50's) and then low 60's on the way home with a nice, light rain. It was my first real commute while raining...and it really made me appreciate the fenders that are on my bike.
BigCircles is offline  
Old 01-04-11, 11:52 PM
  #25  
prrnrngr
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Mentioned: Post(s)
Tagged: Thread(s)
Quoted: Post(s)
Nice and cool this morning. It was my second day of riding in jeans and besides the fact that I look like a total dork tucking my leg into my sock, riding 2 miles in comfy jeans isn't half bad!
 


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.