How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

[TailWind]

Brisk headwind for the afternoon commute yesterday with gusts up to 41km/h.
Came across some new markings on the Darebin Creek Trail, although I doubt whether it will deter the morons on their pesky trail bikes:


Warm this morning, 20C at 4am, compared to 6C yesterday around the same time. The northerly was still around and made for a speedy ride into the CBD.
This afternoon on the other hand looks like a bit of a challenge - a massive band of rain is approaching Melbourne at the moment. With a bit of luck the worst of it will have blown over come home time.

[jasonc]

it just says no monos from what i can see

[TailWind]

it just says no monos from what i can see

Yep, I'm afraid that's how it'll be interpreted and ignored anyways...

[alexander]

Only got a few sprinkles this morning. I'm testing out my new Endura overshoes and Gabba jersey in the wet. Hopefully there will be more rain about this evening, although I think most of the rainband will have passed.

funny when you have a new gabba you want it to rain just to see it working.

you won't be disappointed, it's one of the best pieces of kit I have.

[duncanm]

Bah!

not so great this morning.

Hit a patch of what looked like ATF at the top of Beecroft Rd and went down in the blink of an eye in heavy traffic.

Lady behind stopped and checked if I was ok - which was nice (big thanks).

Rode the rest of the way to work with some minor road rash and a cut above my eye bleeding (from broken sunnies)... thinking 'probably just a scratch, it always bleeds a lot up there'.

First look in the mirror at work told me I had to get some stitches in it.. a nice clean 1" slice under the eyebrow and a big shiner. Looks like I've been 3 rounds with Mike Tyson.

[queequeg]

Bah!

not so great this morning.

Hit a patch of what looked like ATF at the top of Beecroft Rd and went down in the blink of an eye in heavy traffic.

Lady behind stopped and checked if I was ok - which was nice (big thanks).

Rode the rest of the way to work with some minor road rash and a cut above my eye bleeding (from broken sunnies)... thinking 'probably just a scratch, it always bleeds a lot up there'.

First look in the mirror at work told me I had to get some stitches in it.. a nice clean 1" slice under the eyebrow and a big shiner. Looks like I've been 3 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Where was that? Rode Beecroft Rd this morning from Observatory Park to Epping but didn't see anything on the road.

[Lizzy]

Yow, duncanm, bugger

Well my commute this morning was better than that, and better than catching the train yesterday - upon arrival to the platform I'm treated to the sight of a gen-Y male casually leaning over the bin and depositing his guts therein (with an impressive minimalist flair and grace for one hurling in public - didn't even take his hands out of his pockets). Stay classy, Perth Nearly every train journey finds some small way to remind me why I ride and should do so more often.

Nice and cool this morning, legs felt heavy but settled into it as I got over the Parliament hump. Still experimenting with a suitable return to PSP south of the detour - the ramp down from C-Bridge station had so much busted glass over about a 20m stretch under the flyover that I had to dismount and carry the bike over it. Normally I would be a good citizen and clear the worst of it but there was just altogether more than I could take on in the time I had. Feedback form to the council mayhap ...

But now for the good news - I BEAT MY NEMESIS TO THE NICE SHOWER

[duncanm]

Bah!

not so great this morning.

Hit a patch of what looked like ATF at the top of Beecroft Rd and went down in the blink of an eye in heavy traffic.

Lady behind stopped and checked if I was ok - which was nice (big thanks).

Rode the rest of the way to work with some minor road rash and a cut above my eye bleeding (from broken sunnies)... thinking 'probably just a scratch, it always bleeds a lot up there'.

First look in the mirror at work told me I had to get some stitches in it.. a nice clean 1" slice under the eyebrow and a big shiner. Looks like I've been 3 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Where was that? Rode Beecroft Rd this morning from Observatory Park to Epping but didn't see anything on the road.

Right at the kink coming off Pennant Hills Rd.

There seemed to be a line / puddles of something down the middle of the left lane from the PH Rd corner for about 20m or so.

Slippery as the proverbial - I wasn't going more than about 30, and went straight down when the front let go without warning.

This was about 8am. It looked like it might have been pretty fresh (in fact, I wondered if it came out of the taxi I was following).

[__PG__]

funny when you have a new gabba you want it to rain just to see it working.

you won't be disappointed, it's one of the best pieces of kit I have.

Yeah I tried it out in the Dandenongs on Sunday morning when I did the Crucifx for the first time. Kept me toasty and warm on the descents and when unzipped and with no arm warmers I didn't overheat too much on the climbs.

I don't expect it to be completely waterproof but I imagine that it will do the job for a 30 minute commute.

[queequeg]

Bah!

not so great this morning.

Hit a patch of what looked like ATF at the top of Beecroft Rd and went down in the blink of an eye in heavy traffic.

Lady behind stopped and checked if I was ok - which was nice (big thanks).

Rode the rest of the way to work with some minor road rash and a cut above my eye bleeding (from broken sunnies)... thinking 'probably just a scratch, it always bleeds a lot up there'.

First look in the mirror at work told me I had to get some stitches in it.. a nice clean 1" slice under the eyebrow and a big shiner. Looks like I've been 3 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Where was that? Rode Beecroft Rd this morning from Observatory Park to Epping but didn't see anything on the road.

Right at the kink coming off Pennant Hills Rd.

There seemed to be a line / puddles of something down the middle of the left lane from the PH Rd corner for about 20m or so.

Slippery as the proverbial - I wasn't going more than about 30, and went straight down when the front let go without warning.

This was about 8am. It looked like it might have been pretty fresh (in fact, I wondered if it came out of the taxi I was following).

phew, glad I missed it! I join up just at the top near the sharp left onto Beecroft rd, just after the traffic island. Could have been a garbage truck as today was bin day in that section.

[poohkies]

well that hurt, been a long time but o wells! 3 rides today and one being a commute to work totally 114km so far legs arnt happy

saw mr R in the Velomobile this morning on my ride home from town

[jasonc]

well done poohkies

[find_bruce]

First look in the mirror at work told me I had to get some stitches in it.. a nice clean 1" slice under the eyebrow and a big shiner. Looks like I've been 3 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Who bit your ear ?

[Rhubarb]

saw mr R in the Velomobile this morning on my ride home from town

Now that is a highlight

[Lukeyboy]

No matter how many times it happens it never gets old when someone and by someone I mean a commodore driver from behind roars past in the right hand lane in peak hour traffic to get ahead as the left hand lane starts to end only to then put some massive power through the pedals in response.... all those extra 4 watts help to then retake said motorist and merge infront of him before the lane actually ends. Skinny leg power beats V8 Commodore power once again

[Big_Red]

Had the airzound that i picked up from ebay last week for the grand sum of $20 (delivered) arrive today. Cannot wait to come across my first ipod zombie or bike ninja with no lights so i can give it a go...

[ColinOldnCranky]

Perth:

How was my commute?

What do you think?

Canning Bridge sometime around 6:20am

And, for good measure, another of the Bridge last week

[FiveDaysAWeek]

Fellow commuters were an interesting bunch tonight. Cyclists everywhere without lights and running red ones, someone almost invisible with a headlight pointing at the sky because he was doing an extended wheelie, someone else jumping the pedestrian crossing lights at Taylor Square and getting into a screaming match with a bus driver, a thing that looked like an electric motorcycle (with twin headlights!) whining up the Bourke St. bike path. I wonder if it all has something to do with the last burst of warm weather before the cold closes in?

[poohkies]

saw mr R in the Velomobile this morning on my ride home from town

Now that is a highlight

u had a roadie who was trying (and i say that loosley) to try and catch up to you! i was just doing wheelies again on the 29r

[__PG__]

The Gabba performed well last night and kept me dry and not sweating like a piggy. The Endura shoe covers kept me dry. After 30 minutes the toes were beginning to get saturated but my actual shoes (and therefore socks) were still dry.

There is a tiny nick in the neoprene coating which may need some glue/gaffer tape before it gets worse. In any case they work better than my last pair of BBB Waterflex shoes which got me wet inside 15 minutes.

[Summernight]

Well my commute this morning was better than that, and better than catching the train yesterday - upon arrival to the platform I'm treated to the sight of a gen-Y male casually leaning over the bin and depositing his guts therein (with an impressive minimalist flair and grace for one hurling in public - didn't even take his hands out of his pockets). Stay classy, Perth Nearly every train journey finds some small way to remind me why I ride and should do so more often.

Love the imagery, Lizzy.

I had to dash off to an early sporting match last night and left work at around 5:30PM... And promptly got stuck in the Queen St traffic peak hour madness. Even the bus lane was being blocked. All I needed was to ride a couple of blocks on Queen to Collins St and then use the Collins St non-bike-lane bike lane to cruise through the further traffic. Waiting in traffic going nowhere sucks. Fortunately I was on my bike so could filter through the standstill traffic.

I thought I'd get home, get into my match clothes and then drive, but it would have been faster to have ridden all the way as I got stuck in more traffic in my car. That'll teach me to rely on a car over my bike... And I saw the firefighters and police at the fire at Richmond station on the way home, all just standing around scratching their heads about what to do about this burning fire. Last night wouldn't have been fun for train users in the South East.

The driver who unsafely overtook me yesterday in Albert St, safely overtook me this morning in a single-laned section of a side street with sharrows by waiting a proper distance behind me until it was safe to overtake, properly moving into the oncoming vehicle lane to do so and not cutting back in early. I noticed his female passenger wasn't with him in the car this morning so maybe the lack of impatience had something to do with that. I said good morning to him although I don't think he heard. We were pretty much neck and neck all the way up Elizabeth St, Richmond and were both at the front of our respective lanes (me in the bike lane, him in the normal lane), and stopped for a red light. As we were waiting for the Lennox St lights two cyclists came from behind me and cruised through on the red. So if the driver recognised me, maybe my "read the road rules" comment from yesterday morning might sink in as he saw me obeying those rules... Or maybe not.

The pot hole of DOOM near the drain on Elizabeth St, CBD has been filled since yesterday morning (that might be because a council street sweeper was sweeping yesterday morning as I went past and I pointed it out to him), although the filling looks to be sinking as well so I'd still steer clear of it.

[TonyMax]

I really just couldn't get into it this morning. Got up after the first snooze of the alarm, had my normal breakfast and coffee, got dressed and headed off.

Less than 1h20m later I was at work and I didn't really enjoy any of the journey apart from cresting the rise near Lake Burley Griffin and seeing the wonderful autumn colours and the beautiful blue sky.

Somehow that sight just didn't seem worth the 1h20 and almost 40km I put on my yearly total (trying for a 6k km year).

I have another opportunity to get the mojo back on the way home today (giving lunch time a miss to save energy for home commute).

Feeling very ho hum about cycling today .

[find_bruce]

Perth:

How was my commute?

What do you think?

Canning Bridge sometime around 6:20am

Living under a bridge ? I always suspected you were a troll

[alexander]

The Gabba performed well last night and kept me dry and not sweating like a piggy…

Good to hear, the gabba isn't waterproof and over a decent period of time and rain, they will let in water, but it's the fit (no flapping), breathability and high level water resistance which impresses me most.

[Lizzy]

My good pneumatic fortune finally ran out this morning, heading into South Perth I felt a solid hit under my left pedal. Pulled over to check for damage and work out what the ham sandwich it was that I’d hit – everything appeared OK and couldn’t see any rogue brick-like objects, I don’t think it was the kerb either since I was a good distance from it I’m pretty sure … so carried on my slightly rattled way. About 2km later I heard a distinct pop and there went the back tyre. Now I keep myself fully equipped for such an event of course (one of the first things I learned here!), by the time I had found a nice patch of lawn, hauled out the toolbag and got the wheel off, a kindly stranger swooped in and helped get me going in 10 minutes instead of the likely half hour it would have taken me to bumble through it on my own. It is something I need to get good at myself I know, but nice people are nice and like to help, so thanks again good sir

Appropos: I just gotta get an itchy face whenever I handle bike grease