2019! The “How was your commute?” thread!
#551
Senior Member
Yesterday's ride home was close to 70F - first ride in shorts. This morning, 40F, 18mph winds, light rain. About 2 miles in the front went flat. Feeling particularly lazy I just aired it up and went on... for about a mile and it was flat again. So, stopped and changed the tube to discover I'd just used my last co2 cartridge. Lesson learned
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#552
multimodal commuter
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Snowdrops are in bloom. I've seen a few crocus as well.
This morning the air was humid and almost "warm." It didn't feel like winter anymore.
By the canal I heard peepers, first time this year! They seemed loud in the distance, but when I got closer they got quiet.
And then I saw a fox, fleetingly.
All in all, it feels like Spring is on its way. Whew.
This morning the air was humid and almost "warm." It didn't feel like winter anymore.
By the canal I heard peepers, first time this year! They seemed loud in the distance, but when I got closer they got quiet.
And then I saw a fox, fleetingly.
All in all, it feels like Spring is on its way. Whew.
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#553
Senior Member
Horrible flooding. The river has logged its highest level in recorded history. Homes and businesses are underwater. My house is OK, but I feel a little guilty as I have friends who have lost everything.
I had a Dr appointment at 7:30 this morning. Normally it would be a 1/2 hour ride or less from my house to the hospital, but the MUP and a lot of roads are underwater, so I knew I would have to get creative with my route. I left the house at 6:30 to give me a little extra cushion.
I found a road that went over the river that was still open. Unfortunately that meant every other car in the city was also using that same road. I decided to bite the bullet and just took to the sidewalk as fighting the traffic on this stretch was more than I wanted to deal with today. It was a long stretch without driveways or intersections, so it wasn't much different than riding the MUP.
The ground is still frozen and the temp dropped to 25F overnight, so all that standing water started to freeze. As a result there was tons of rutted ice on the streets. Last night I thought maybe I could get away with the hybrid without studs, but this morning there was no question I needed the winter bike. Even with the studs there were some ruts that were pretty treacherous.
Made it to the hospital in 45 minutes, so I had a few minutes to relax and cool off before the appointment started. Afterwards I rode another couple miles to work.
I had a Dr appointment at 7:30 this morning. Normally it would be a 1/2 hour ride or less from my house to the hospital, but the MUP and a lot of roads are underwater, so I knew I would have to get creative with my route. I left the house at 6:30 to give me a little extra cushion.
I found a road that went over the river that was still open. Unfortunately that meant every other car in the city was also using that same road. I decided to bite the bullet and just took to the sidewalk as fighting the traffic on this stretch was more than I wanted to deal with today. It was a long stretch without driveways or intersections, so it wasn't much different than riding the MUP.
The ground is still frozen and the temp dropped to 25F overnight, so all that standing water started to freeze. As a result there was tons of rutted ice on the streets. Last night I thought maybe I could get away with the hybrid without studs, but this morning there was no question I needed the winter bike. Even with the studs there were some ruts that were pretty treacherous.
Made it to the hospital in 45 minutes, so I had a few minutes to relax and cool off before the appointment started. Afterwards I rode another couple miles to work.
#554
Disco Infiltrator
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Folsom CA
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Today I went to see the North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show, with a retired acquaintance. He went straight to the Rivendell booth and gave them the secret signal, whereupon they gave him a sticker. I think he could have gotten it without the secret signal. He tried to give them an improvement on their Silver shifter and they received it politely. Not a lot of commuting stuff this year, though there were a couple of rack and bag suppliers. There were a few sport-touring bikes. But the over-arching theme was absolutely gravel bikes. They were everywhere, in guises ranging from barely disguised roadies with lightly treaded 28’s to monstercross. All the major American component suppliers were there, as well as California and PNW and other out-west bike companies. I got to see the CeramicSpeed shaft drive bike, on display for the first time since its Eurobike debut. They still haven’t worked out how to shift it. Also talked to people from Selle SMP, Wren suspension, and Onyx hubs... products I like.
#555
Senior Member
took new roadbike out yesterday to get some things done and to give it a bit of a test. Bike's nothing fancy a btwin triban 100 which they sell at decathlon here, at that price range i'd have to get a used roadbike and to be honest i'm not knowledgeable enough to trust my judgement on choosing a good used one.
in total rode about 30km yesterday, minor trip to market and back, followed by ride to other side of town and later in the night some commuting to and from a stand up thing. there's been a storm here all week with ridiculous wind speeds and riding through that was hell. did realize after the morning rides that neck and shoulder where a bit stiff, after some youtubing found out what my options where to help me out with this. Ended up anglign the bars up a bit and put the final space that was on top of bar at the bottom. that little bit seemed to help. that said this si based on the much shorter riding time to and from stand up gig.
in total rode about 30km yesterday, minor trip to market and back, followed by ride to other side of town and later in the night some commuting to and from a stand up thing. there's been a storm here all week with ridiculous wind speeds and riding through that was hell. did realize after the morning rides that neck and shoulder where a bit stiff, after some youtubing found out what my options where to help me out with this. Ended up anglign the bars up a bit and put the final space that was on top of bar at the bottom. that little bit seemed to help. that said this si based on the much shorter riding time to and from stand up gig.
#556
Senior Member
Good Monday morning! A cold but nice uneventful commute this am. The temp was 24 f degrees with dry roads and dark skies.
#557
Senior Member
Not bad weather this morning. Sunny, 24F and a light headwind. Had to get creative with my route to work due to flooding still blocking a lot of my usual path. Lots of rutted ice, so I'm still on the winter bike.
#558
Senior Member
The flooding going on in the midwest is incredible and so widespread! Do stay safe.
Easy weather here. Chilly in the mornings, nice in the afternoon. Gotta dress quite differently for each ride. I left early this morning and went to the gym before work. And my headlight battery was low due to having used it a lot more last week than I had been before the time changed. It got me there and the second leg of my ride was in daylight. And I'm charging both front and rear lights while at the office.
Easy weather here. Chilly in the mornings, nice in the afternoon. Gotta dress quite differently for each ride. I left early this morning and went to the gym before work. And my headlight battery was low due to having used it a lot more last week than I had been before the time changed. It got me there and the second leg of my ride was in daylight. And I'm charging both front and rear lights while at the office.
#559
Senior Member
44F, clear. We're getting into that weird early spring weather in SoCal where the temperature swings 30+ degrees between the daytime high and the overnight low. It may hit 80 here today. Also, daylight savings time is stupid. It's fully dark all the way to work right now. Bleh.
Today is my first day back on my bike after a week off due to nagging knee pain. I took it super super easy, minimal resistance, and while I was still a bit sore when I got off my bike at work I had no pain when riding. We'll see how it goes this rest of the week. I got my replacement Cycliq light in, finally, and it seems like it actually worked the whole way to work this morning. Que milagro. I'll check the footage when I get home and make sure it's actually continuously recording.
Today is my first day back on my bike after a week off due to nagging knee pain. I took it super super easy, minimal resistance, and while I was still a bit sore when I got off my bike at work I had no pain when riding. We'll see how it goes this rest of the week. I got my replacement Cycliq light in, finally, and it seems like it actually worked the whole way to work this morning. Que milagro. I'll check the footage when I get home and make sure it's actually continuously recording.
#561
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: northern Deep South
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Bikes: Fuji Touring, Novara Randonee
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Nice ride in this morning. Beautiful, sunny, clear skies; the redbuds are blooming, and the cherries (that are left) are gorgeous. The city fathers tore the crap out of, I mean, rebuilt the downtown duck pond, last year, and dug up the old cherry trees. What's left is young trees that look like, well, young cherry trees, three branches with 20 blossoms each. It's a far cry from the established cherry blossoms we had until then.
It'll be interesting to see how many cycling clothes, that I wore in this morning, end up going home packed up. I'll need them tomorrow, after all!
It'll be interesting to see how many cycling clothes, that I wore in this morning, end up going home packed up. I'll need them tomorrow, after all!
#562
Let's Ride!
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Triad, NC USA
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Much much chillier weather this morning. I am glad I wore the windproof tights. i think my hands could have used a better glove option. They were quite cold for over the first half of the ride.
#563
Today? PAINFUL
1 or 2°C early morning. Was careful because of the wet conditions, but roads were okay. However ... I was totally unprepared for a nasty railway crossing that got me down. Thin, difficult to see layer of ice.
Usually I am extra cautious but only in winter when it freezes or snows. Today I was really caught be surprise!
Damn, I imagine tomorrow morning will feel even worse when I try to get out of bed :-(
1 or 2°C early morning. Was careful because of the wet conditions, but roads were okay. However ... I was totally unprepared for a nasty railway crossing that got me down. Thin, difficult to see layer of ice.
Usually I am extra cautious but only in winter when it freezes or snows. Today I was really caught be surprise!
Damn, I imagine tomorrow morning will feel even worse when I try to get out of bed :-(
#564
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Walnut Creek, CA
Posts: 772
Bikes: 1969 Peugeot PX10, 1992 Della Santa, Linus Roadster 8
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hope you don’t mind my jumping into your pool. I did commute for many years to the BART and back home up the hill. Have been lurking here for a couple years. Because you guys just do it. And I like that. I do the sort of eldery commute version going to the different places around town. Regards.
Last edited by Joe Bikerider; 03-18-19 at 03:51 PM.
#565
Senior Member
A nice uneventful commute with the temp at 22 f degrees. It is either a full moon or very close but I only got to enjoy it on the first few minutes of my ride as I take a right turn and then the moon was behind me the remainder of the ride.
#566
Senior Member
I’m 67, as of yesterday, and I don’t commute to work, ain’t none. But I do ride for fun and to the library and such. In fact on the MUP there are quite a few of us. I ride a Linus 8 speed and love it.
hope you don’t mind my jumping into your pool. I did commute for many years to the BART and back home up the hill. Have been lurking here for a couple years. Because you guys just do it. And I like that. I do the sort of eldery commute version going to the different places around town. Regards.
hope you don’t mind my jumping into your pool. I did commute for many years to the BART and back home up the hill. Have been lurking here for a couple years. Because you guys just do it. And I like that. I do the sort of eldery commute version going to the different places around town. Regards.
Cold again, well about 28F when I left. I'd like at least 40F first thing in the morning. Then I can get away without the long tights. Nasty headwind on yesterday's trip home for a long, 4.5 mile northbound stretch. I was a bit beat by the time I was done.
#567
Senior Member
Have to leave work today at 11 for a medical procedure, so I decided to come to the office a little early this morning to get some things done. It's kind of a peaceful change riding before traffic really starts to get heavy. 31F this morning with a light breeze. Still plenty of ice on the ground, but a little less than yesterday.
The river is still above flood stage blocking most of my regular route to work. Sounds like it will remain impassable for another couple of weeks. The city issued an emergency declaration for flooding. The snow pack to our north is projected to melt this week which will dump the equivalent of 4"-8" of rain water into our already overfull river system. On top of that, they're predicting more rain this weekend, which will drive the river to new record flood levels. The mayor is closing a lot of the parks along the river for safety reasons, and they're advising homeowners in low areas to prepare to evacuate. It's a horrible mess.
The flooding of the frozen river has carried huge chunks of ice to places that don't normally have huge chunks of ice. I took this photo on the way home from work last night. This piece has been sitting and melting for 5 days. It was easily 3x as big when it first started blocking the road. Last Thursday the bathroom on the upper left of this photo was completely underwater with just the peak of the roof sticking out.
The river is still above flood stage blocking most of my regular route to work. Sounds like it will remain impassable for another couple of weeks. The city issued an emergency declaration for flooding. The snow pack to our north is projected to melt this week which will dump the equivalent of 4"-8" of rain water into our already overfull river system. On top of that, they're predicting more rain this weekend, which will drive the river to new record flood levels. The mayor is closing a lot of the parks along the river for safety reasons, and they're advising homeowners in low areas to prepare to evacuate. It's a horrible mess.
The flooding of the frozen river has carried huge chunks of ice to places that don't normally have huge chunks of ice. I took this photo on the way home from work last night. This piece has been sitting and melting for 5 days. It was easily 3x as big when it first started blocking the road. Last Thursday the bathroom on the upper left of this photo was completely underwater with just the peak of the roof sticking out.
#568
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: northern Deep South
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Bikes: Fuji Touring, Novara Randonee
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End of winter, or beginning of spring?
Frosty this morning, but the cherry blossoms in the neighborhood didn't look like they'd been bit, so maybe my blueberries (which are blooming) will survive. The blueberries are usually OK down to 28F. I was somewhat underdressed, and I'll still likely have stuffed panniers this afternoon hauling cold weather clothes home. Easy riding this morning after a brisk ride last night, which also kept my face from getting any colder than it already was.
On the other hand, it was almost painfully bright and clear. The springtime birds are back! Within a couple miles of work I heard the accelerating, "bouncing ping-pong ball" call of a field sparrow, a couple of meadowlarks, and saw a bluebird.
Frosty this morning, but the cherry blossoms in the neighborhood didn't look like they'd been bit, so maybe my blueberries (which are blooming) will survive. The blueberries are usually OK down to 28F. I was somewhat underdressed, and I'll still likely have stuffed panniers this afternoon hauling cold weather clothes home. Easy riding this morning after a brisk ride last night, which also kept my face from getting any colder than it already was.
On the other hand, it was almost painfully bright and clear. The springtime birds are back! Within a couple miles of work I heard the accelerating, "bouncing ping-pong ball" call of a field sparrow, a couple of meadowlarks, and saw a bluebird.
#569
Senior Member
Mon PM: 75 and sunny. Light wind. I couldn't have asked for a better day to ride.
Tue AM: 45 and clear. I'm sure I'm a wimp by the standards of some around here but I haven't been able to shake the tights in the morning just yet. But it's so nice in the afternoon that I find myself wishing for shorts... It doesn't help that I have the sniffles today so I'm probably running a little less comfortable than usual. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I may work from home if I'm still sniffling and coughing.
My knee feels okay today, a little stiff at my desk but painless when riding easy. I'm going to start PT this week to try and strengthen it and prevent this from becoming a major problem.
Tue AM: 45 and clear. I'm sure I'm a wimp by the standards of some around here but I haven't been able to shake the tights in the morning just yet. But it's so nice in the afternoon that I find myself wishing for shorts... It doesn't help that I have the sniffles today so I'm probably running a little less comfortable than usual. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I may work from home if I'm still sniffling and coughing.
My knee feels okay today, a little stiff at my desk but painless when riding easy. I'm going to start PT this week to try and strengthen it and prevent this from becoming a major problem.
#571
Disco Infiltrator
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Folsom CA
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Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem
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Today is three weeks post-myectomy. I feel like the pace of my recovery has slowed. This somewhat due to me over-doing it, and somewhat due to me hanging out on the couch with my rambunctious kids. Last night for instance my 2yo girl tried to climb over me and put her little knee right in the middle of my incision, and that was just one of several incidents. So by bedtime my BP and HR were very high and I was taking the stronger pain medicine. On the plus side my heart itself seems to be doing great. My average blood pressure keeps dropping. My pulse, which had been running 90+ since the surgery, suddenly dropped on Saturday to the mid-70s.Yesterday at lunch time I walked a mile and could have done more.
[MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION], good luck with the preparations, and with the flooding.
[MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION], good luck with the preparations, and with the flooding.
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#573
Senior Member
Today is three weeks post-myectomy. I feel like the pace of my recovery has slowed. This somewhat due to me over-doing it, and somewhat due to me hanging out on the couch with my rambunctious kids. Last night for instance my 2yo girl tried to climb over me and put her little knee right in the middle of my incision, and that was just one of several incidents.
Commute - FINALLY on a bike with street tires yesterday and today, SUCH a relief vs. dragging along with the studs. Cold in the AMs but nice warm afternoons. Biting our collective nails over the prospect of flooding, as the snow in the wooded areas further up the watershed melts. Mayoral election time, and our incumbent mayor cringes every time he has to drop that particular "f-bomb".....
#574
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
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I'm very happy to hear about your ongoing recovery, [MENTION=339610]Darth Lefty[/MENTION].
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New York City and High Falls, NY
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#575
Virgo
Really nice, mid 30s with a tailwind on the way to work, mid 40s with a 15mph headwind on the return. 2 full hours of badly needed sunshine. The mild workout plus sunshine felt like a massage. This winter I think made me forget how relaxing riding a bike can be. And 40s and windy is still pretty chilly honestly. This having been my first full winter bike commuting, I think it may take some soul searching to commit to another. But I’ll check back in with myself after it’s been warm for a while.
Edit: additional thought, may be good to invest in a trainer for warm, indoor, stress-free saddle time for winter. Or anytime really.
Edit: additional thought, may be good to invest in a trainer for warm, indoor, stress-free saddle time for winter. Or anytime really.
Last edited by Phamilton; 03-19-19 at 05:35 PM.