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2019! The “How was your commute?” thread!

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2019! The “How was your commute?” thread!

Old 07-08-19, 06:41 AM
  #1201  
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Just like this thread, my morning commute was sticky. Pretty warm and humid these days.

Having a line of bushes taller than your car all the way down your driveway is a bad idea. How can you hope to back out and see oncoming cars, joggers, bikers, kids, whatever? Just this morning I had to slow and swing wide around such a car. It was in a neighborhood and there were no cars behind or oncoming, so I had room to swerve left. The driver saw me and stopped. But we could not see each other earlier due to said bushes.
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Old 07-08-19, 08:46 AM
  #1202  
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Test rode the commute with a friend from church Sunday. She wanted to ride Sunday to see the route etc.25miles for me before noon. WOW it was hot out there. But my Strava week ended up being 135 miles in three days last week. Not too shabby, I thought for sure I was going to have a low week of riding with vacation 3 out of 5 days.

Rode this morning and glad it was earlier than yesterday's ride cooler and more shade at 6:30 vs 8:30 am

Chance of showers this evening but still going to ride some this week.
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Old 07-08-19, 09:17 AM
  #1203  
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Lots of angsty drivers out there this morning. Lean on your horn because you thought two left turning vehicles could fit through a gap the driver in front of you didn't think one could? On a five lane road, turn left into the left turn lane in front of one car and wait for the other visible car to pass you before you pull into the left lane? Jeez, you'd think it had been a long holiday weekend. Maybe they're hung over.

Me, I had a nice ride in most of the way. Last night's shower cooled things off which is very nice. The downside is that the shaded MUP pavement was all dark, so I couldn't see the tar stripes where the cracks were sealed last summer. Those stripes are useful as bump indicators, so the last mile was rougher than usual.
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Old 07-08-19, 10:04 AM
  #1204  
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Originally Posted by mgw4jc
Just like this thread, my morning commute was sticky. Pretty warm and humid these days.

Having a line of bushes taller than your car all the way down your driveway is a bad idea. How can you hope to back out and see oncoming cars, joggers, bikers, kids, whatever? Just this morning I had to slow and swing wide around such a car. It was in a neighborhood and there were no cars behind or oncoming, so I had room to swerve left. The driver saw me and stopped. But we could not see each other earlier due to said bushes.
That would be a building code violation here, for this ^^^^^ very reason, and probably is in most communities. At the very least, the resident should back in, so s/he can pull out and have greater visibility, given the known hazard.
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Old 07-08-19, 11:01 AM
  #1205  
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I had a nice ride in but had a hard time with cooling off once I got in. I've got the turn the AC way down to get it to start when I get in, and I heat up a lot faster than it cools things off.
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Old 07-09-19, 05:05 AM
  #1206  
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A very nice commute to work today with clear skies and cool temperature at 61 f degrees.

The town is doing road construction off of the road I live it is taking a long time because they are also putting in new water pipes which are desperately needed due to age of the old pipes and new construction that is taking place. The road is all torn up and traffic in the afternoons is very bad. I look forward to when this is completed and I have smooth new road to ride not the bumpy mess that it is now.
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Old 07-09-19, 06:15 AM
  #1207  
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A warm, overcast morning, but with some breezes to help out. High is only supposed to be 85 as opposed to the 90s. That would be a nice change as the rides home have been quite hot with the sun beating down.

On yesterday's ride home a guy leaned out of a truck's passenger window to suggest that I should get the f off the road. I feel my bike is better suited to pavement so I just stayed on the road.
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Old 07-09-19, 06:51 AM
  #1208  
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You high mileage guys have a lot more opportunities to meet people...
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Old 07-09-19, 07:13 AM
  #1209  
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Still riding since I started up last week, convalescing is over. I'm still keeping it easy though, no more than around 18 on my road bike.


I'm not 100% certain but I think if I disregard injuries, holidays and having to drive someone else somewhere, I haven't driven to work in about 6 years. But a more important number to me is 1980 days commuting, with 3 injuries, is once every 660 commuting days. I really need to do something to improve that number.
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Old 07-09-19, 07:19 AM
  #1210  
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Consecutive work commute number 763:

Steady rain for most of the 8 miles to the office this morning, until I reached the cul-de-sac where our building is located and the skies unleashed. Glad I didn't have to ride through that. I arrived wet, but not as wet as the last four or five times I've ridden to our office. This time I didn't have to wring out everything I was wearing before putting them on a hangar. My clothes might actually have a chance to dry out before I leave at 1 PM to head to a client. Something about office days lately that attracts rain.
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Old 07-09-19, 08:01 AM
  #1211  
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Some back issues have had me down for the last few weeks so I've not been cycling like I would like. That includes commuting.

FWIW, I live 4.5 miles from work which IMHO is too short of a distance to ride. So, I have an extended route that gives me 16.5 in the morning and 17.2 in the afternoon due to traffic avoidance.

16.5 miles this morning at a 17.1 MPH average through the hilly N.E Tennessee countryside. I passed by the Mullican Flooring right before shift change so there were a few cars passing me on some back roads. Beautiful day with a not so sore back.

This afternoon will be another hot one. Hopefully less issues than yesterday. I had either a distracted driver or a**hole cross the centerline and come right at me. There were some other instances where motorists were less than pleasant.
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Old 07-09-19, 08:21 AM
  #1212  
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Much cooler this morning, 63F - and then it's supposed to be 90 on the way home. Gotta love the 30 degree temp swings!
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Old 07-09-19, 09:16 AM
  #1213  
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Took the long way around, since my short route was milled down before repaving last week.

A cooler morning turned out to be less cool with the longer ride -- how'd that happen? It was only 5 minutes longer than normal, but I was dripping sweat when I arrived.

Traffic calmed down compared to yesterday, thank goodness. Maybe everybody's resigned themselves to working this week.
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Old 07-09-19, 09:34 AM
  #1214  
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Cool and humid. I've slept poorly the last couple nights and I'm dog tired, but I somehow still had some good energy for the ride. Now that it's summer (by the calendar at least, certainly not by the weather), I'm seeing more people out for morning recreational rides along my route.
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Old 07-09-19, 09:36 AM
  #1215  
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Originally Posted by arsprod
Much cooler this morning, 63F - and then it's supposed to be 90 on the way home. Gotta love the 30 degree temp swings!
that is normal around here 30 temp swings. I am thakful that today's high is 83 vs whatever yesterday was... seemed like less traffic this morning vs yesterday...
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Old 07-09-19, 09:58 AM
  #1216  
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A few months ago I was asked to be on the city's Bicycle Steering Committee. It's a committee that serves merely in an advisory capacity to the city council to give input on decisions that may affect the cycling community.

One added perk of serving is that I get included on the emails regarding MUP closures prior to it getting announced to the public. I just found out that the route I would have taken across town at noon is getting closed down so they can do maintenance on a railroad bridge. I would have wound up riding a fair amount out of my way had I gone with my original plan. Now I can re-route and take a different part of the MUP.
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Old 07-09-19, 11:01 AM
  #1217  
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Originally Posted by RidingMatthew
that is normal around here 30 temp swings. I am thakful that today's high is 83 vs whatever yesterday was... seemed like less traffic this morning vs yesterday...
Something not quite right when it's hotter in Indiana in July than in North Carolina!
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Old 07-09-19, 11:45 AM
  #1218  
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Originally Posted by arsprod
Something not quite right when it's hotter in Indiana in July than in North Carolina!
It is cloudy today and the weather algorithms are probably wrong. it might be more humid in NC too
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Old 07-10-19, 05:01 AM
  #1219  
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It was another pleasant commute this morning. The temp was at 60 f degrees so it is cool.

On my ride home yesterday the weather was absolutely beautiful it was 85 f degrees and sunny. Since my ride home is at 4 pm I get a lot of shadiness due to trees. I extended my ride as it seemed the perfect day for riding. I need more of those days!
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Old 07-10-19, 06:36 AM
  #1220  
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It was just under 80 and overcast for my ride home yesterday. Not bad at all. Still humid, but comfortable.

I think my back wheel may be slightly out of true. I get minor brake rub on it, but only when I stand to pedal up a hill and lean the bike side to side. It was happening and then stopped for a while but started up again this morning. I don't need brakes applied when going uphill!
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Old 07-10-19, 08:58 AM
  #1221  
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Heat adaptation: Maybe I'm getting used to the heat, or may I'm learning my annual summer lesson. I always carry a water bottle on my commute, and usually take a few sips from it. Today there were a few rattles from the remnants of the ice cubes, but there was no liquid in my 24 oz. bottle when I walked into work.

I may have to stop for a drink on the way home this afternoon.
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Old 07-10-19, 10:58 AM
  #1222  
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Record time for the trike yesterday morning. Pretty fast today too though I didn't hit the light and had to stop a few other times.

In the afternoon I took it on a wrong-way detour climb up the Hazel bridge before going home. Lots of riders out. It was on the hot side of warm and a bit humid, good for riding to cool off. The Strava segment finder has amusing fits around this bridge, it has underpasses for bike trails on both sides as well as bike lanes on the road.

I've been going faster and faster, and it's nice. I noticed that most of the time now I've been hanging out at the top end of the middle ring and so I switched to the top ring for today and only had to use the middle ring once for the overpass climb.
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Old 07-10-19, 12:31 PM
  #1223  
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Yesterday I had a nice net tailwind for the ride to work and no wind for the ride home. This morning I had light headwinds up until the last quarter mile when I turned a corner and all the wind rush noise in my ears disappeared and pedalling became effortless. If the forecast holds, the wind will shift 180 degrees and I'll get headwinds for the ride home too.
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Old 07-11-19, 07:18 AM
  #1224  
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The bottom bracket on my road bike is still giving me fits so right now it's in a disassembled state. I wasn't really in the mood to ride my hybrid, so I made a bold move and busted out the fixed gear for the first ride I've done on it this year. Today's route is about 20 miles so we'll see how recovered I really am from my open heart surgery.

Beautiful morning. About 62 degrees, with no clouds and no wind. I probably saw two dozen other bicycles on the MUP this morning, and most of them looked like commuters. It was by far the most cyclists I've seen in a morning since I started bicycle commuting 12 years ago.
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Old 07-11-19, 07:26 AM
  #1225  
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Take it from me, just be extra careful on the fixed gear and even more caution after it feels normal. After a rain, feeling good and cranking it up is when it's dangerous for me. The road looks fine, but random wetness leaves no margin of error on the fixed gear.
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