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

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

Old 01-15-20, 09:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Tundra_Man
I just got back from the LBS. A co-worker wound up hauling me and my bike there rather than making my wife come, and in return I bought him lunch.

Apparently I hit a rut or something big enough to break the bead on the tire, and had a slow leak. The LBS just re-seated everything and tested for leaks and everything looked good. They threw in some extra sealant just to be safe. They even cleaned and lubed my chain and didn't charge me for any of it. Then I rode the bike back to the office and everything held fine.

I'd only had the tires converted to tubeless for about three months, so I doubt the original sealant had gone dry in that time. I'm not sure what kind they use, but they're used to dealing with bikes in our climate so I'm sure they've figured out what works well. I remember them saying that the sealant they use does pretty good down to about -20F.
Hmmm.., I wonder if they make cush cores in fat bike sizes
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Old 01-16-20, 08:08 AM
  #52  
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Consecutive bicycle work commute number 874:

Last night on the way home the temp had gotten down to 1F and was falling. The wind was really blowing at 20+ mph, but thankfully I had a tail wind.

This morning I woke up to an air temp of -12F. Thankfully the wind had died down overnight so there wasn't any wind chill on top of that. I decided to do a split commute this morning, so I rode about a mile to the bus stop, took the bus downtown, then rode another 1/2 mile to the client's office.

The down side to taking the bus is in order to get to the stop, about 1/4 mile from home I have to climb a monster hill. Not having time to get warmed up combined with the frigid temps really makes me suck oxygen hard even gearing way down and going slow. Traffic is also pretty heavy on this route, although the drivers were pretty decent to me this morning. Must have taken pity on me in these temps.

This evening when I head home it's supposed to get up to 7F, so I'll probably just ride the whole way rather than taking the bus. The wind is supposed to pick up and I'll have to fight it the whole way home, so it may not feel any warmer than it did this morning.
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Old 01-16-20, 08:25 AM
  #53  
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Streets are finally dry after all the rains. Around 58F this morning, but looking to be much colder tomorrow. I've been spoiled and able to wear shorts and just a lightweight long sleeve shirt.

I saw two deer alert and alive and two not so much just off the road (different places). Reminded me of a near miss last week when I was driving. There is one road I regularly drive and often see deer. I use my bright headlights when I can and watch for them lurking just off the road. But last week I did not see one ahead of time and it was maybe 10 yards in front of me when I saw it. I slammed the breaks as it was running across the road. I don't know how I missed it, but did not hear or feel any kind of thump.
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Old 01-16-20, 02:16 PM
  #54  
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Today I went out after snow hit PNZ on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday we had some, but nothing to be concerned.
So, it was around 37F today morning and riding to work on my mup, the first elevated path inside the park I go through was icy for like 200 feet. Pretty scary and had my clip-less off just in case.
Then the path inside the park had some good stretch of icy packed and have to juggle myself to not fall.
Another bridge and I dismount to be safe.
Then, finally got to the hill facing north and for about 1 mile..... all icy.
After that the last 6 miles were ok.

Some sun showing and temps up to 40s, so hopefully it melts a bit on the hill I will be going down on my way home.... or will be walking down.
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Old 01-17-20, 07:35 AM
  #55  
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Temperature drop from previous days. It was 40F when I woke at 5am, but forecast to drop down to 33F even as the sun came out. I had a bit of a tail wind for part of the ride and made good time.
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Old 01-17-20, 08:05 AM
  #56  
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Spitting rain turning into ice. There was some ice on the roads but nothing terrible. Wore my new $30 hi-viz rain suit from Menards.. underestimated how thick it was..hot! Seemed to work good so see how it holds up. Rain/ice supposed to continue the rest of the day so the ride home might be fun!
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Old 01-17-20, 08:34 AM
  #57  
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Consecutive bicycle work commute number 875:

17F and snow falling this morning. We're supposed to get 8 inches total. I rode the old winter bike with the skinnier tires because they're also talking about a 50 mph headwind on the way home. I reasoned that between the wind and the snow, I may want to take the bus for part of the trip home. My fat bike tires won't fit into the bike rack on the bus, so I rode the old winter bike with studded tires.

They preemptively called off school in town, which is interesting. We have a new school administration and they're a lot more willing to cancel school for weather, even just forecasted weather. Because weather here is so unpredictable, the forecasts are frequently inaccurate. More than once since the new administration came in they've cancelled school based on the forecast, then the storm swings north or south and misses us, and the kids wind up sitting at home during a nice day.

For many, many decades we might cancel about once every other year, but it would take at least a foot on the ground before they would call off classes. If it wasn't snowing before school then they wouldn't cancel, and if it started snowing hard after the school day started they reasoned that the safest place for the children to be was inside the school building, so they wouldn't cancel then either. Growing up here from K-12th grade there were probably fewer than 10 times we didn't have school due to weather. That was far too seldom, so they needed to relax their policy a little. However, I think maybe the pendulum has swung a little too far the other way.
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Old 01-17-20, 10:24 AM
  #58  
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Back in the saddle again -- after rainy commutes in the car the last week, what a relief! A few items of note:

First, they dug up the MUP and replaced the drainage tile since I last tried it. Kudos to public works -- I really thought it would take them another 4-6 months. OK, so it's not repaved again, but I can ride over the packed-down gravel surface (it's not much worse than root-warped portions of the "paved" surface!).

Second, it was interesting watching the temperature on the Garmin. Quarter mile from home, and the unit that just came out into the cold read 60 degrees. Another quarter mile, another stop sign, and it was 55. Another mile and a half, 40. I guess it stabilized at the end of the 10 mile ride, at 36F.

Finally, in that kind of weather, what the heck was the meadowlark doing here, singing a mile from the office? We're supposed to drop below 20F early next week! I wanted to tell that bird, "While I appreciate your singing, you need to be flying south as fast as you can." But since I can't chase it 200 miles towards warmer weather, I just hope it survives the cold snap.
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Old 01-17-20, 10:36 AM
  #59  
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I rode home with a jacket and shorts in the high 40's F yesterday. Warmer on the way in vs home. It was below freezing today on the way and apparently will be below average temps for the next week.

Finally back on the bike yesterday and the warm temps made it nice but felt good to ride after almost 2 weeks off.
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Old 01-17-20, 11:20 AM
  #60  
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Originally Posted by phtomita
Some sun showing and temps up to 40s, so hopefully it melts a bit on the hill I will be going down on my way home.... or will be walking down.
Yep, on the way home most of the icy stretches have melted and cleaned. Only two spots that have ice - one a bridge out of the park and another after crossing under a bridge that doesn't get sun at all.
Today is dry, and cold and same icy spots - happy riding!
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Old 01-17-20, 01:12 PM
  #61  
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Just maintenance stuff. Bike is clicking around the pedals / bb, and ghost shifting in lower gears. Can't find a sticky link, which is what caused the ghost shifts before, but the pedals don't feel very spinny, so one of these is going to be easy to fix.
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Old 01-20-20, 12:57 PM
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Maybe I'm the only one working today, or there's a storm on the other side of the Rockies? Anyhow, I was running just a little behind so I took the street route. Minus half a mile, all paved.. Dull!

Chesters arriving today. Letting the cable out half a turn seems to have sorted out the ghost shift.
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Old 01-21-20, 08:09 AM
  #63  
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I had yesterday off for MLK day. Nice to sleep in a bit and took the kids to see Dolittle.

Coldest morning of the new year at 25F. And probably the coldest high with the forecast of 41. Similar temps for the rest of the week. I think I'll add a second layer over the tight pants for a bit more warmth tomorrow morning.
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Old 01-21-20, 08:23 AM
  #64  
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Consecutive bicycle work commute number 877:

0F this morning with a 20 mph wind. Thankfully the wind was at my back.

The last three days I rode my old winter bike because I was doing split commutes and needed the skinnier tires to fit on the bus bike rack. Thursday and Monday mornings I caught the bus on the way to work because of double-digit below zero temps in the morning, then rode the whole way home. Last Friday I rode to work in the morning, then caught the bus on the way home because we'd gotten 7" of fresh snow and the MUP hadn't yet been plowed.

Yesterday morning I did an experiment and rode to a different bus stop from home. It was a bit farther than the one I usually use, and I had to climb a bigger hill. However, the hill was on a residential street with little traffic, versus the main artery of my regular route. I didn't mind the bigger hill as I could take it nice and slow because I wasn't worried about trying to keep up with traffic. It was nice to reach the bus stop without completely gasping for oxygen in the sub-zero temps. I think I'll probably use this stop going forward on the handful of days I don't ride the entire commute.

Today I was back on the fat bike as I am planning on riding the complete commute today. The MUP has been plowed, but there's a ton of snow pack and lots of ice ruts, so it was nice having the big tires to float over the rough surfaces. The previous three days of riding the old winter bike really reminded me how cushy the ride is on a fat bike.

It's supposed to get up to 23F today, which is the warmest we've seen in a week (by about 10-15 degrees.) I'm going to feel like a wild man on the ride home, even having to fight the wind.
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Old 01-21-20, 09:17 AM
  #65  
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No work yesterday and glad, temps were barely in double digits, today it's a balmy 25F
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Old 01-21-20, 10:57 AM
  #66  
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Not all the way plowed

The Jones Plus LWB handled it beautifully. I would never take my Ridley with it's narrow, 43mm tires over this frozen slush!


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Old 01-21-20, 12:31 PM
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@davei1980: "Narrow" 43s!??

Went out for a ride yesterday, about 43 snowflakes floated down so nothing serious. It was about the same temp today (22-ish), but a long base layer and short ride straight to work made today's ride seem a whole lot warmer. It's hitting melting today, for the first time since Sunday, but I'm hoping the wind turns around before I have to ride into it going home!
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Old 01-21-20, 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted by pdlamb
@davei1980: "Narrow" 43s!??

Went out for a ride yesterday, about 43 snowflakes floated down so nothing serious. It was about the same temp today (22-ish), but a long base layer and short ride straight to work made today's ride seem a whole lot warmer. It's hitting melting today, for the first time since Sunday, but I'm hoping the wind turns around before I have to ride into it going home!
43 is the widest tire I can fit on my CX bike and I am running them at 20/25 PSI/tubeless. They're skinny AF compared to....

My Jones Plus LWB has 29x3.0 (not 27.5, 29, so they're... tall...) tires running about 8/10 PSI/also tubeless.

Same here on the melting thing but those transitional days bring the wind! I hate having to ride in to a headwind both directions!!!
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Old 01-22-20, 12:28 AM
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Today was a wet day commute, not a strong rain, but some drops. The pavement on way back was very wet because was just after a heavy rain.
Definitely it felt as I lost some grip on the tires, so was careful on descends specially with some leaves and other wet stuff on the pavement.
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Old 01-22-20, 08:19 AM
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Consecutive bicycle work commute number 878:

Unseasonably warm this morning at 33F. There was a pretty stiff headwind as rode out to our company office for the first time in five weeks, which is the farthest distance I've ridden in the last month. Then I hit an unplowed stretch of the MUP which caused me to have to carry the loaded fat bike for about 200 yards through about a foot of drifted snow.

I am now completely physically wasted. I'm hoping once I get some breakfast and fluids in me that I'll perk up, otherwise it's going to be a very long day.
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Old 01-22-20, 08:42 AM
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Clear and cold, again, without the north wind to blow me to work I had to pedal and worked up a sweat. In 24F weather. Is that crazy, or what?
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Old 01-22-20, 09:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Tundra_Man
Consecutive bicycle work commute number 878:

Unseasonably warm this morning at 33F. There was a pretty stiff headwind as rode out to our company office for the first time in five weeks, which is the farthest distance I've ridden in the last month. Then I hit an unplowed stretch of the MUP which caused me to have to carry the loaded fat bike for about 200 yards through about a foot of drifted snow.

I am now completely physically wasted. I'm hoping once I get some breakfast and fluids in me that I'll perk up, otherwise it's going to be a very long day.
You are in inspiration. Wow. 878.
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Old 01-22-20, 09:43 AM
  #73  
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The "frozen slush" that I boasted about tackling yesterday became compact sheets of ice in the latest rain/freeze/thaw/freeze cycle which necessitated me walking my bike over the MUP in a few spots.

My new bike has 3" wide tires and they're awesome but I am really trying to avoid falling into the overconfidence trap!
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Old 01-22-20, 09:58 AM
  #74  
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Originally Posted by davei1980
The Jones Plus LWB handled it beautifully. I would never take my Ridley with it's narrow, 43mm tires over this frozen slush!
Cool bike! We almost never get slush, turns to rutted ice so I'll stick with my skinny studly tires on brisk 18F degree mornings like today
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Old 01-22-20, 10:20 AM
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Originally Posted by arsprod
Cool bike! We almost never get slush, turns to rutted ice so I'll stick with my skinny studly tires on brisk 18F degree mornings like today
Thanks! It came with pretty basic alloy rims and hubs - down the road when I want to upgrade I may set them up with studs on narrower tires and get a carbon set of wheels built for all other riding.

I may even try to make my own studs out of my old tire carcasses, some sheet metal screws, and Gorilla tape!

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