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

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CXCommuter
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby CXCommuter » Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:56 pm

or now?

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TailWind
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby TailWind » Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:06 am

Hey all, TW is back in bicycle commute mode here in Munich.

After a day of walking to and from work on Monday, which turned out to be at a location further away than I was initially told, I scoured the local small ads for a cheap city bike, found one, and picked it up on Tuesday night. The bike was a bit rough, but seemed generally a good deal for EUR 90.00, and considering I have only 5km to go each way, I really couldn't justify something fancy.

Headed out on Wednesday morning, arrived at work to a deflating rear tyre, nevermind, headed out at lunch to buy a hand pump and repair kit.
Pumped up the tyre when I left work (flat by then), and had to stop multiple times to top up the air on the way back. Bit of a bother, but not a biggie.
Got home, took the bike into the cellar and checked the tube - sure enough, pin-prick hole leaking air. Patched it up, but I wasn't happy with the state of the tube and the tyre generally, so the next day I took it in for set of new shoes (SMPs, of course) and new tubes, brake pads and a minor service. Impressive turn-around time - took it to Dr Bike at just after 11am, finished at 2pm, without even having to book it in. The downside was that the service and parts cost almost twice the price of the bike - EUR 171.00.
Oh well, I'm happy with the result, and apart from the bottle dynamo howling like crazy, it's a reasonably comfy ride. No drops, no flat-bar, pretty upright.

As for bike commuting here in Munich - I guess the most astounding thing, a sort of total paradigm shift in comparison with Oz, is how normalised it is. From little kids to seniors well into their 70s or 80s, so many people ride here, purely as a means of transport. No fancy kit, mostly no helmets (there are a few sporty looking commuters that seem to wear them, and some kids), and they ride in all weather conditions.
Then there's the infrastructure. There are bike lanes along most roads. Generally, they are off road, elevated to footpath level, but surfaced differently to distinguish the ped side from the bike side. The ped side might use large pavers for example, whereas the bike lane might have smaller pavers or bitumen, along with a border made up of a different set of pavers to clearly separate the two paths.
There are also on-road lanes, which are clearly demarcated with a thick white line, and absolutely do not take you past parked cars and door zones.
There are a number of transitions between on-road and off-road paths, but they are all clearly marked and don't have the horrible kerbing that we are used to in Melbourne.
Where there are no bike lanes (mainly tiny inner-city or suburban streets), you just ride the road. Nobody gets upset at being held up.
My observation on drivers: Not only do they look, but they see. They know how to look out for bikes barrelling down a bike path crossing a side road, or before they pull out into the road you're on. They anticipate you, tolerate you and accommodate you, even if they have to hang behind for a couple of blocks.
Ok, it's early days yet, but these are my first impressions.

My route takes me along some suburban roads, then along the river Isar, through some forest and some main roads. Lovely ride all in all. The temperature has hovered between -2C and 1C, with a bit of snow on occasion, but otherwise relatively dry. I wear my work clothes for the ride, gloves, a thick jacket, scarf and beanie.
No bike cages at work, just a huge number of outside bike racks, somewhat under cover from the overhang of the building. Oh yeah, a lot of bikes sleep outside here, some with a saddle cover, some with a "cockpit"/saddle cover, and some just plain naked.

I'm not going to make a dent in this year's commuter challenge, but that's ok, I'm having plenty of fun just experiencing the uncomplicated, non-threatening, fully accepted commuter/utility/leisure cycling over here. The way it's meant to be.
I've got my bike cam with me, so I'll mount that at some point and post some pics and video of my commute (I'll wait for some impressive snow fall :mrgreen:)

In the meantime, ride safe everyone!

Happy weekend! :D
Soma Double Cross 2012 - Commuter || Giant CitySpeed (Alfine 8 IGH) - Commuter || Bakfiets Long 2011 - Cargo Bike

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bychosis
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby bychosis » Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:41 am

Hey TW,

good work on the cold commutes. Out of interest due to the large number of cyclists are cameras seen as necessary there?
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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TailWind
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby TailWind » Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:57 am

bychosis wrote:Hey TW,

good work on the cold commutes. Out of interest due to the large number of cyclists are cameras seen as necessary there?
I haven't seen a single camera on any of the bikes encountered on my commutes, and the fellow cyclists at work that I've spoken to don't use 'em either. Cycling is so normal here that you wouldn't expect a cyclist to carry a cam any more than you would a ped to use one :)
Soma Double Cross 2012 - Commuter || Giant CitySpeed (Alfine 8 IGH) - Commuter || Bakfiets Long 2011 - Cargo Bike

jasonc
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:36 am

awesome news TW

gabrielle260
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby gabrielle260 » Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:36 am

TW, sounds like you have gone to cycling heaven ! The sort of place all bike commuters wish they could be!
Cheers
Andrew

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sun Jan 25, 2015 9:55 pm

jools wrote:I regularly see a lady on one of those elliptigo strider things on the cooks river path, she gets along pretty well. Yesterday I overtook a guy on a unicycle with a wheel the size of a mountain bike's while the lady on the elliptigo was approaching from the other direction. I felt a bit normal amongst all the odd contraptions!
It appears from your own observations that ab-normal is the new normal. Obviously you did not get the email. :lol:
Unchain yourself-Ride a unicycle

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Summernight
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Summernight » Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:59 am

gabrielle260 wrote:TW, sounds like you have gone to cycling heaven ! The sort of place all bike commuters wish they could be!
Cycling heaven on Earth, that is! Are you heading back to Cycling Pergatory/Hell that is Australia in the near future or is the move to Munich permanent, Tailwind?

Absolutely beautiful, crispy fresh morning goodness this morning!

There was a person on one of those I'm-a-motor-scooter-with-pedals-but-not-a motor scooter on the way in - the ones that have the fake licence plate saying "no registration" with pedals that serve no purpose. At least that one seemed speed limited and was only going about 20kph max.

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TonyMax
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby TonyMax » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:06 am

Got a little sprinkle of water for the last ~10 minutes this morning, made a nice change from arriving at work dripping with sweat.

New wheels went good, not a popped spoke in sight.
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Robinho
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Robinho » Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:10 pm

Painful, hot and hungover, but I got here

jasonc
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:15 pm

TonyMax wrote:New wheels went good, not a popped spoke in sight.
did you get the RS20s?

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Lizzy
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Lizzy » Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:34 pm

Struggled out late due to still feeling wiped out from a dive trip yesterday. Washed both my bottles in too much of a rush so they tasted like dishwater, blargh. Couldn't quite get my neck and shoulders right for some reason which turned into a headache about halfway. Hmph. Not that any of this makes life bad by any measure, but ... [/whine]
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TonyMax
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby TonyMax » Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:35 pm

Yep RS21s. They seem OK to me.
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TonyMax
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby TonyMax » Tue Jan 27, 2015 7:23 pm

Favourable conditions this afternoon, averaged over 30km/h (30.7) for the first time ever.

http://app.strava.com/activities/246719133" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Flying.
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find_bruce
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby find_bruce » Tue Jan 27, 2015 8:20 pm

Got to work & ironically almost no water in the shower - was tempted to grab the soap and head back outside in the pouring rain, but that would have been picked up by the Sunrise cameras :oops:

Belting down rain on the way home too, but oh well, nice change from the heat

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

Postby rheicel » Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:54 pm

Hahaha, did you forget to pay the water bill? :)
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TailWind
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby TailWind » Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:19 am

Summernight wrote:
gabrielle260 wrote:TW, sounds like you have gone to cycling heaven ! The sort of place all bike commuters wish they could be!
Cycling heaven on Earth, that is! Are you heading back to Cycling Pergatory/Hell that is Australia in the near future or is the move to Munich permanent, Tailwind?
My contract here in Munich runs until the end of this year, but there's talk about enough work to last until 2018. I'll see how I feel when I get to December.

First snow commute this morning - it had snowed overnight. My little street hadn't been cleared yet, so I rode in the wheel ruts of cars that had gone along there previously. It got pretty slippery at intersections for some reason, and I tiptoed along for the length of the street.
Thankfully, all the bike paths were clear, so no issues for the rest of the way.

Heavy snowfall during the way back this afternoon. No traction issues, but the front of my coat had a blanket of snow covering it. Trying to get used to the feeling of snowflakes hitting my eyeballs.
Soma Double Cross 2012 - Commuter || Giant CitySpeed (Alfine 8 IGH) - Commuter || Bakfiets Long 2011 - Cargo Bike

jasonc
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:45 am

TailWind wrote:Trying to get used to the feeling of snowflakes hitting my eyeballs.
Does that sting? I know rain stings (especially at over 50km/h)

Had a damp commute in

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Summernight
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Summernight » Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:34 am

TailWind wrote:Heavy snowfall during the way back this afternoon. No traction issues, but the front of my coat had a blanket of snow covering it. Trying to get used to the feeling of snowflakes hitting my eyeballs.
I'm sure ski goggles would be acceptable cycling wear in those sorts of situations. They've got to be good for something like that? :P

* * * * *
I didn't really believe it when Il Padrone mentioned months ago on a forum about a change to this intersection, but the City of Yarra have actually modified the intersection at Hoddle and Elizabeth/Albert to remove the left hand through lane and change it into a left turn only lane with the bike lane on the right of the left turn lane... And wonder of wonders... The bike lane continues ON and OVER Hoddle Street with a bike symbol just before Albert Street (where it currently turns back into a second vehicle lane). I'm very very happy about this change (although I'm sure the peak hour drivers aren't). Well done City of Yarra and presumably VicRoads! :)

I also had to bring in invitations to be sent off by post (snail mail these days? weird. :P) and didn't want them bent in the backpack, so I put them in a supermarket plastic bag and hooked it to my backpack strap so it was sitting on the outside flapping away... A couple of hundred metres down the road from home I realised that paper is stronger than plastic... The envelope corners were tearing through the thin plastic. Oh noes!

I pressed on, watching closely as my plastic bag died of a thousand envelope-edge cuts and hoping that it would survive until work so I wouldn't have a disaster with envelopes strewn across the road. Fortunately the plastic bag held out for me like a good soldier does and I and the invitations reached work. Phew!

Won't be doing that again without extra padding. Envelopes: 1. Plastic Bag: 0

jasonc
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:38 am

Summernight wrote:Won't be doing that again without extra padding. Envelopes: 1. Plastic Bag: 0
sounds like something lizzy would write

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Summernight
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Summernight » Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:44 am

jasonc wrote:
Summernight wrote:Won't be doing that again without extra padding. Envelopes: 1. Plastic Bag: 0
sounds like something lizzy would write
I learn from the best. 8)

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

Postby oxonabike » Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:58 am

Been extending the commutes this week due to it being short, and I have meetings in Brisbane from tomorrow, so today is last commuting day on the bike.

This morning was my first inbound flat, just on the start of a decent descent, so glad it happened before there was too much speed up.

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

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:59 pm

Perth:

Whew. The air was alreadhw arm at 6:30 when I headed out. As humid as Singapore.

I normally do a fairly extensive set of exercises at the end before my coffee stop. Today I only bothered with about a half a session and I reck THAT was laudable (or stupid). As if that was not enough, I got home (took the train most of the way) and then had to dig up a few big rocks and bang in some level markers in the front yard.

Roll on Autumn. Please.
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fat and old
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby fat and old » Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:55 pm

Back into it, and I cop some insect or something down the front of my top. It wasn't happy with my smell or something, so it bit me....lots. Bummer :(

TW.....your new deal sounds great! Riding in snow must be good fun. :D

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TailWind
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby TailWind » Thu Jan 29, 2015 4:41 am

jasonc wrote:
TailWind wrote:Trying to get used to the feeling of snowflakes hitting my eyeballs.
Does that sting? I know rain stings (especially at over 50km/h)
No danger for me there, I don't average more than 15 km/h in the slippery conditions. The larger flakes tickle though :)
Summernight wrote: I'm sure ski goggles would be acceptable cycling wear in those sorts of situations. They've got to be good for something like that? :P
Way too extreme considering the local dress code....maybe in blizzard conditions? :mrgreen:
fat and old wrote:TW.....your new deal sounds great! Riding in snow must be good fun. :D
Having a lot of fun riding about, snow and ice is quite treacherous though, having to adjust my riding style quite a bit, especially where streets/paths haven't been cleared/gritted, or have frozen over since the last plow had been along. I've had a number of hairy moments. :shock:

Some quick shots from my morning commute through the forest section:
(and don't laugh at my bike! Just kidding, laugh all you like, I think it's a hoot too, compared to my Melbourne commuter! :mrgreen: )
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