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2020! The “How was your commute?” thread!

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2020! The “How was your commute?” thread!

Old 02-26-20, 11:17 AM
  #251  
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Showers last night that washed out the pollen on the air, so my eyes/nose are very happy today.
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Old 02-26-20, 02:17 PM
  #252  
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Now I feel like I'm the last person to discover Pamplamoose. I haven't gotten over my crush yet.

We've had rainy days. The rain has been light, and the temperature is steadily between 45º and 50º. I get by wearing shockingly few clothes. I hope that one day there will be a solution to rain on glasses but somehow I get by. The bike path is emptier than normal which offsets the danger, and it's pretty pleasant. I'm really enjoying it. And I have been riding the same bike for about three years now, and it fits me so beautifully, I feel so at home on it.

I was surprised to hear the NYC weather bureau says that we may have our first February ever with no snow recorded at all. It seems to me we've had many, but I guess they're saying not even a trace of snow, and I don't tend to remember the days when a little snow falls but none accumulates.
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Old 02-27-20, 07:25 AM
  #253  
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Wind was nice and helpful yesterday on my way home. It propelled me to an average speed of 17+ mph.
Wind was not so helpful this morning. It wasn't bad for most of the ride, but a good 1.5 mile stretch was slow and tough into a headwind.

This is the first clear sky morning we've had for a couple of weeks now. I felt there was enough daylight to wear my sunglasses instead of clear lenses for the first time this year.
noglider - I was thinking about moisture on glasses yesterday on my foggy ride. I thought it would be cool if they could somehow mimic eye lids on glasses. Yes, my best ideas come to me while riding.
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Old 02-27-20, 10:02 AM
  #254  
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A year ago today I paid a guy to stab me in the heart. I managed to get a bike commute day on my anniversary.

I find it pretty telling that my moving time today was 21:24 and before surgery, 23 was the best I could do and 27 was more typical.

I'd planned to compare it with Strava to the last ride before my surgery. This turned out crap, because I'm using Ride With GPS on my Apple Watch now and not Strava on the iphone. The former has turned out to be pretty buggy, showing a ride about half a mile longer jumping all over the trails. When ported to Strava it can't even find any segments. I'll have to try Strava on the watch. This is not to say Strava on the phone was perfect, it often grabs segments from the paved path parallel to the dirt I'm on and comes up with its own screwy results.
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Old 02-27-20, 12:30 PM
  #255  
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Back in town after a week in cycling paradise with no bike last week.

Yesterday was a light drizzle but upper 40s, today it was clear but right at freezing. (Or as they say up north, melting...) Not as much traffic on the streets as usual, maybe I should practice leaving on time more often. Made my morning meeting with time for a cup of coffee.

It's good to be back on the bike.
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Old 02-27-20, 01:01 PM
  #256  
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I'm learning to like the 6:30 commute for the solitude and light traffic though it still seems cold and dark.
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Old 02-27-20, 01:17 PM
  #257  
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Now I'm confused. Wikipedia says that Pomplamoose formed in 2008, but I could swear I read a review of one of their albums in a late-1990s Guitar Player magazine. Has there been more than one band by that name?
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Old 02-27-20, 02:15 PM
  #258  
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^^^^ I'm seeing two different spellings (both different from the spelling of the actual fruit), maybe two different bands?
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Old 02-27-20, 05:10 PM
  #259  
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Brutally windy, making the 40-something temperature feel much colder. I think I'll take an interior route home.
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Old 02-27-20, 06:46 PM
  #260  
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Originally Posted by noglider
Brutally windy, making the 40-something temperature feel much colder. I think I'll take an interior route home.
It was even brutaler to get home, and I did take an internal route. I had one gust right in my face, totally forcing me into a track stand for a second. I let out a yell, as it was like a punch in the stomach. It was cold, too, but I was dressed OK for it.
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Old 02-28-20, 07:59 AM
  #261  
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Pretty windy for my ride home yesterday too. It was a decent assist for the same 1.5 mile stretch I fought against on the way to work.

Another early ride and stop at the gym for a bit this morning. It was about 29F. I feel that the two shorter rides help me not get as cold. After working out I was plenty warm and swapped out the balaclava for a ear/headband and even unzipped the jacket a bit.
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Old 02-28-20, 02:20 PM
  #262  
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Originally Posted by madpogue
^^^^ I'm seeing two different spellings (both different from the spelling of the actual fruit), maybe two different bands?
That's probably it. The name stuck in my mind (as well as the description "power-pop this dour and jazzy"), and I always intended to check them out later. Didn't really think about it again until my wife got on a kick of drinking La Croix water, which of course includes a pamplemousse flavor.

This is maddening. I'll have to dig through my magazine collection to find peace.
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Old 03-02-20, 05:44 AM
  #263  
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The second day of meteorological spring and I was able to ride to work today. The temp was a cool 26 f degrees with little wind so it was a pleasant ride.
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Old 03-02-20, 08:02 AM
  #264  
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New month, new week, but same ol' Monday. Had a layover at the gym again this morning. Trying to switch things up and do some different exercises. We have the move coming up in about 2-3 weeks, so I'm trying to do some things to prepare me for carrying boxes and furniture.

I bike commuted just over 400 miles in February. Not bad, but I still have hopes to hit 500 for most months of the year. With holidays, time off, weather and other reasons to not ride, it may not be very many months that it happens.
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Old 03-02-20, 08:34 AM
  #265  
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mgw4jc That is a good goal.


I did not ride but only 8.99 miles in February. The gym times a couple days a week was not enough. I am sore in my back today. But...

I RODE!

I have missed it so much.
though supposed to rain this afternoon and a couple more days this week. I am debating still riding. I have to get rolling again.

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Old 03-02-20, 10:24 AM
  #266  
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I've not ridden in a long time, but I made it by bike this am. My normal winter bike has a bent derailleur which I discovered yesterday, so I'm riding the touring bike with slicks. The few spots of glare-ice were okay, and I had no close calls with any vehicles. A good start to my day and the month. Temps high 20s, wind 9 mph from the west. (I ride west, uphill to work.) Ride home should be fun!
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Old 03-02-20, 10:26 AM
  #267  
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Rain this morning. I started out carefully coasting to a stop where I could locate my foot on the dryer (or at least less standing water) portion of the pavement at stop signs and red lights, then touching down like a ballerina. One of those big Disney hippo ballerinas, but nevertheless a delicate, mostly dry, perch. Then traffic forced me to stay in the bike lane where there was a good inch of standing water. After that? screw it, my feet are soaked. I thought I was pretty well dressed for the ride, but it's taking me a while to warm up now that I'm inside.
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Old 03-02-20, 11:39 AM
  #268  
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Nice ride today - we had some showers yesterday night and some few drops while riding to work today. Temps are around its low 40s.
It will be raining on my commute home, and I am very happy with it. You know what it is if you have pollen allergy
This week shows showers forecast too.
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Old 03-02-20, 01:39 PM
  #269  
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About two miles into my six-mile ride to school, I remembered I had forgotten to pack my laptop charging cord, so I went back home since I had enough time. An extra four miles for my ride isn't bad. It was a tailwind on the way to class, so I had a headwind after turning back. The difference was more dramatic than I expected. Once again, a tailwind feels mild, and the corresponding headwind feels strong. And once again, I'm not as strong as I felt.
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Old 03-03-20, 08:37 AM
  #270  
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Consecutive bicycle work commute number 907:

Temp didn't drop below freezing last night (was 33F this morning) so I hopped on my hybrid instead of the winter bike. All patches added together, the total amount of ice I had to deal is now down to a couple hundred yards so I just made sure to be careful on those spots. I have a 20+ mile day scheduled, so it was nice having the thinner tires with less resistance. Had to fight a head wind the 8 miles to the office, but it should be cross/tail the rest of the day.

I see Nashville had a tornado touch down killing at least 6. Tragic. Anyone on this board from the Nashville area, and are you OK?

I put together my latest montage of interesting things I've seen on my commutes:

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Old 03-03-20, 08:41 AM
  #271  
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Damp roads from some early morning rain. I left a good 10 minutes early and rode a little extra. Winds were not helpful so my pace stayed slower than normal. More rain forecast for the rest of the day, but possibly letting up by 5pm.

We just had a company wide meeting about the corona virus. Pretty much reiterating CDC recommendations of washing hands, cleaning surfaces, and avoid touching your face. I know I'm not good at the last one. I often itch my eyes or nose or whatever. Maybe need to get some tissues handy.
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Old 03-03-20, 09:42 AM
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Tundra_Man - obviously, the deer were looking for their house!
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Old 03-04-20, 08:21 AM
  #273  
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First two miles seemed a bit traffic heavy and I heard one guy a few cars back blow his horn. He couldn't have been slowed down for more than a few seconds as cars in front of him were waiting for a straight line of sight before passing me. Usually when that happens (rare as it is), that same driver will blow their horn again as they pass me. I was waiting for it, but it didn't happen so I'm guessing he turned off or got over it.
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Old 03-04-20, 10:04 AM
  #274  
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Pretty nice ride in, since it wasn't raining, although the overcast was pretty heavy. Radar looks like rain's staying just a wee bit south of us.

Has anybody ever done anything this stupid? I rebuilt my spare Campy brifter a few months back and then thought I swapped it onto the bike. Shifting has been terrible. I thought I must have put the wrong side G-springs on. Finally I decided to rebuild the other one, opened up the box, and Oh My! that one has the carbon shift lever I put on the rebuilt brifter. I guess I opened the box, took the old one off the bike, put the newly rebuilt one into in the box and put the old one back on. Really swapped it over, like I thought I'd done months ago, and this morning shifting is crisp, gear engagement is positive, and I love that bike again.
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Old 03-04-20, 11:13 AM
  #275  
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Originally Posted by pdlamb
Has anybody ever done anything this stupid?
I mean... I can't find the one with the plastic bag I had on my handlebars getting tangled in the wheel and carrying the aerosol can jammed into the fork legs... but these are pretty good


Dumb again by Darth Lefty, on Flickr

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