Tundra_Man 

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1500:

Now THATS a nice big round number. I like nice big round numbers.

It rained most of the night, but had stopped by the time I headed out to work. I had wet pavement, but nothing falling from the sky.

Other than that, it was a completely uneventful commute for number 1500. When I reached downtown I stopped to take a photo to commemorate the milestone:

Darth Lefty 

Congrats! Honored just to envy you

Joe Bikerider

Darth, I enjoy your notes and wanted to pass on a thought. Yesterday I buried my wife’s sister and it made me think, as it should. Her brother had assembled some family pictures. which we saw the other night.

Our family has had some ups and downs as I think you are having too. I love the way you are holding it together. That’s what dad’s do. Keep it up. You and your kids are both important. Keep riding.

Sorcerer

Bummed
Last week on Thursday my schedule said to show up 45 minutes early, which is the time I use to ride to work.
So I decided to drive, for that and other reasons. One other reason was that I was feeling tired. Another reason was getting ready for bike packing on Friday night.
I gather now that fatigue was the onset of Covid-19.

Felt like crap and called in sick on Friday morning, got a test, Saturday morning the result is positive.

Work won't let me return until 10 days from Day1.

Going to miss my bike commute next week.

Darth Lefty 

Sorcerer: Bummer, man!

Joe, thank you. That is very kind.

Tomorrow is "showers," but 0.12 inches for the entire day, so maybe it's a watch-the-radar morning and if that works out, deal-with-whatever afternoon. Hope this helps with the Mosquito fire north of here. It had a pretty severe new run a couple of days ago and the left end flared up again, but there was light rain here in the foothills today. In a happy irony this fire was also slowed down by the burn scars from fires in 2013-14, which is why it never took off like the Caldor fire last year

edit: forgot about cardio appointment downtown. No ride

Darth Lefty 

My commute today! Wikipedia: "The average untrained healthy male has a V̇O2 max of approximately 35–40 mL/(kg·min)." My VO2 max is 20.2. Dreadful for a cyclist or pretty ok for a heart patient, you decide. Of course I'm doing the denominator no favors. It was a ramp of 20 watts/min and I made it to right about 200W. I got to see the plot of CO2 exhaust and blood oxygen, where one dies and the other ramps up going anaerobic. That was cool. I did maybe another minute? after that before I tapped out. Glad I was able to push myself ok in this test, because what I'm able to do is so inconsistent. If I'd had a sandwich first I couldn't have done nearly so well. Or I might have hit angina before tapping out. Today I was ok.

Tundra_Man 

I thought I'd had every cardiac test they've invented, but this is a new one to me.

Glad you're OK, at least for today.

Darth Lefty 

It's a pulmonary exercise test, the same one you used to see in Gatorade commercials. Breather tube measures flow in and CO2 concentration, pulse-ox taped to forehead, ECG for heart rate, and blood pressure cuff for good measure. The bike just makes resistance. This is the same kind of "FTP ramp test" the roadies do on Sufferfest/Trainerroad/Zwift but with a bit more equipment.

https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/ftp-tests/ramp-test

Tundra_Man 

Reminds me of when they gave me a treadmill stress test (I rode my bicycle to and from the appointment.) They hooked me up to the heart rate monitors, put me on a treadmill, and every 30 seconds they increased the speed and the incline until I cried uncle.

Before we started I asked the technicians, "How long do people usually last?"

"Between four and six minutes is typical," they answered.

"What's the current record?" I asked.

One of the technicians shrugged his shoulders. The other one said, "I had a guy last almost fifteen minutes once!"

"Turn it off at fifteen minutes and one second," I replied. They thought I was joking and started the test. Around fourteen and a half minutes they were saying they were going to shut it down. "Don't you dare turn it off yet!" I screamed as I was running at a full sprint. I made it the fifteen minutes and one second.

I'm kind of ornery like that. Actually, I felt like I could have kept going if it weren't for the incline. They had the treadmill so steep that it was taking all my strength to hold on to the bar to keep from falling off the back of the treadmill. My arms were what were giving out more than my cardiovascular system.

Darth Lefty 

The dumbest one I've had so far was a bike stress echo. It was supposed to let them image the heart while it's actually under strain but the test setup was so hokey it didn't work. Laying completely flat on back, pedals at the end of the bed. The push-pull of pedaling moved the mattress around and it wasn't steady enough to get the shot. I also once had a treadmill stress echo. You have to jump off the treadmill and run to the table so they can shoot it before your heart rate drops. Still pretty stupid...

Welshboy

I've not posted for a while but I've kept up the commuting on my three-day week all through a glorious summer in the UK and I think I need to go back to the winter to remember the last time I used the car to get to and from work and it's probably the same length of time since I rode a bike with fenders. My commute is still a very short 3-mile each way and I miss how fit I was when it was 12-mile each way!

Things have just changed in work though and I'm now on a four-day week but working slightly fewer hours due to a shorter working day. On the plus side, my contract has been extended to the end of March 2023 and I think that proper retirement beckons for me then after being semi-retired since December 2018.

Rothaí

Recent happening: went for a sea swim, followed by a pint+pizza, followed by another pint (in another pub).....forgot to remove my lights from my bike at the second pub and when I returned they'd been robbed....my (overpriced-but-excellent) Exposure front and my Ebuyfire back light!
Disgusted!!

Borrowed my brother's lights for my commute in this morning! Start at 5:30am....but a nice cycle in!

Darth Lefty 

That’s lame! I have to guess anyone stealing bike lights is pretty desperate.

I might be buying cheap lights again here soon because I can’t find any of my chargers from the present set

groovestew

Hey everyone, I said I wasn't finished cycle-commuting this year, and I meant it! Finally back on the bike today for the first time since school started.

Got to ride on a completely rebuilt trail through a ravine today. What was once badly crumbling pavement is now smooth as glass. Some of the undulations have been smoothed out too. A bit chilly at about 5C (41F) but still wearing shorts. Wore a jacket tho.

Not riding tomorrow. Have a great rest of your week and weekend everyone!

newbikegirl

great ride today for me, first time on my new bike.

StarBiker

Zippier with that $22 Innova find recently......(I am not commuting, just putzing around like always)

The F 700 isn't going anywhere though....

Darth Lefty 

What rolls down stairs
Alone or in pairs
And over your neighbor’s dog?

What’s good for a snack,
And sits on your back?
It’s

pdlamb

I want to hear more about rolling over your neighbor's dog!?

Tundra_Man 

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1505:

Sometimes things work in your favor. I need to relish these moments...

Rain was predicted for this morning. I had prepared for this possibility and had my waterproof panniers ready. However, the rain was only predicted to last for a couple hours, and then be dry the rest of the day. The wind is supposed to come up and I'm going to have a stout headwind for the ride home.

I'm lazy. I don't like to make things harder for myself than necessary. Because of this, I wasn't looking forward to riding my rain bike home into that wind. I'd much prefer to fight the wind with my road bike, as that bike cuts the effort in half (at least it feels like half.)

When I got ready to leave the house, it wasn't raining. The approaching clouds didn't look too friendly, so rain was definitely on the way. I decided to risk it and threw my backpack on and took the road bike.

About 1/4 mile from home the sprinkles started. However, I was going to make a turn and start riding away from the approaching rain storm. I started cranking the pedals hard. Another 1/4 mile down the road the sprinkles stopped. Didn't feel any rain falling for the remainder of the commute.

I rode hard the whole 4.25 miles to the client location and made it there in just a bit over 15 minutes. A few minutes after I arrived the rain storm hit. YES! Mission accomplished.

Tundra_Man 

I'm trying to figure out who has a name that rhymes with "slinky."

Darth Lefty 

I guess you had to be adolescent at a very specific time

sbuckaroo

Had a dry run over the weekend to check the commute route and it was fine. I look forward to overcoming my fear of traffic and to staring to commute a few days a week.

pdlamb

Nice day for a commute, now that the summer heat has broken. Not many songbirds along the way, though there were a few goldfinches enjoying the goldenrod. (Achoo!)

Thought I'd try to get close to my PR on the way home for one stretch, but I think the wind was out of the NW more than the W, so it probably just made me tired. :/

Tundra_Man 

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1508:

36°F this morning First time for long pants this season.

Shortwave

Nice! Tundra man! I saw your latest YouTube video and was glad to see you post again. Keep commuting.