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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:36 am
by jasonc
TailWind wrote:TailWind is back in the saddle.
All body parts seem to be holding up just fine...
awesome to hear TW.

slow commute for me - was going on at a nice pace up coot-tha. got half way up and knew the pace was about to disappear so just cruised the rest of the way.
bike ran REALLY nice with a new chain, clean cassette, clean crank, and relubed bottom bracket. pity about the bloke pushing the thing.

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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:27 am
by Kenzo
Nice ride... must have had a slight breeze at my back as the first half of the commute seemed fast.
I ran out of breakfast about halfway to work and was relieved to come across a workmate so I could tundle along with him for the rest of the way... then he decided to go faster :roll:
:lol:

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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:19 am
by find_bruce
Been thinking over the last couple of weeks how pleasant it has been in the absence of the common or garden variety nutbag.

It seems that they have been plotting and scheming their attack, with no less than 4 separate eyebrow raising incidents on the way in today.

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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:47 am
by ColinOldnCranky
Perth:

Where were al the hardcore riders in Perth this morning? It was positively lonely on the path. Yes it was rainy but nothing that Melbournites don't face all the time. There was a bit of wind around 6:30 but the temp before accounting for that was a comfortable 17. Besides, what wind there was was short lived.

Disappointed Perth. I thought we were tougher than that :wink:

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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 1:36 pm
by Comedian
I've an appointment at three so stole the wife's electric gazelle this morning. Will be interesting to see if I can do the 5k without getting too sweaty in 32 degrees. :o

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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:33 pm
by Lizzy
Yes, was a bit quiet out there in the wild west this morning. Set out in a light shower but nothing too drastic. Traffic at my favourite roundabout was noticeably more of a carry-on with school being back in ... and the dreaded Broadhurst bomber caught me off-guard again, oog!

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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:42 pm
by Hamster
Not a great deal to report. The roads were damp after last night's thunderstorm. The wind seems to be strengthening and swinging around to the north just in time to give me the normal "enhanced training opportunity".

I've achieved my monthy kilometer target today so there is plenty of time left to build up a good figure for the month. I'm behind on where I need to be to make my annual target (7,500 kms) but with a good total for October I should just about be back on target.

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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:53 pm
by goneriding
No riding over the weekend for me made for well rested and very enthusiastic legs this morning. I spent most of my commute muttering "slow down" to keep the form in them for tomorrow morning's training at SOP. Didn't work! Bloody Strava!

I got a bit of a surprise this morning after loading a heap of old rides up onto Strava and noted that on one of my "rides" I'd KOM'd a number of segments. A more detailed analysis indicated that perhaps I'd left the Garmin on when the bike was strapped to the top of the car!

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

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:24 pm
by Comedian
Comedian wrote:I've an appointment at three so stole the wife's electric gazelle this morning. Will be interesting to see if I can do the 5k without getting too sweaty in 32 degrees. :o
It went real well. No problems. :) Hardly sweaty at all. :)

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:14 am
by TailWind
The cycling gods just aren't smiling upon me at the moment. Rear started going flat on the Darebin Creek Trail on the way back yesterday afternoon. I had this sense of deja vu, as I had a flat with the same tyre during one of the last commutes on this bike virtually at the same spot. Not an instant flat, but a slowish leak that would hold enough air for a couple of minutes before bottoming out.
Seeing I was only about 7kms or so from home and I couldn't see any obvious puncture, I decided to pump up the tyre, sprint for a couple of minutes, rinse & repeat x 6 or so until I got home, rather than stuff around with the IGH wheel at the side of the road.
The LBS had inspected the tyre while they were refitting a the new hub a couple of weeks back, but couldn't find any foreign objects embedded in it.
I'm going to bin this tyre, despite it having a few thousand kms of tread left - something's not right....
Rode in on the MTB this morning. Chilly start, but dry.

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:32 am
by find_bruce
To those ladies and gents cycling along Lilyfield Rd yesterday, I appreciate that there is nothing quite so sexy as an overweight middle aged man in a wet white T-shirt, but thank you for resisting.

To those who say cyclists should wear "normal" clothes, lycra is looking pretty good about now isn't it :D

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:22 am
by jasonc
riverloop commute - cruisy pace. not looking forward to the headwind predicted this arvo

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 11:40 am
by Comedian
Riverloop commute for me too. Averaged 37 and still got dropped. :o

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 11:53 am
by Kenzo
find_bruce wrote:To those ladies and gents cycling along Lilyfield Rd yesterday, I appreciate that there is nothing quite so sexy as an overweight middle aged man in a wet white T-shirt, but thank you for resisting.

To those who say cyclists should wear "normal" clothes, lycra is looking pretty good about now isn't it :D
Hahaha...

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 12:31 pm
by JBark
Ugh, getting real sick of the magpie along the Broadhurst detour. Here he is, flying alongside me and lining up for the 2nd of 3 attacks on the way home last night. Definitely getting more aggressive, it used to be just a beak clap as he swooped by, but now he's chasing you for about a block. Doesn't help that in the afternoon heading south you're almost always riding in to a 20kph+ headwind, so going pretty slow making it easy for him to line up multiple hits.
Image

It's odd, but he never swoops when you're riding north along the same stretch. I'm thinking of switching sides for that block on the way home, to see if it's a direction travelling thing of just a specific the side of the road that triggers an attack. :)

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:57 pm
by dino1969
JBark wrote:Ugh, getting real sick of the magpie along the Broadhurst detour. Here he is, flying alongside me and lining up for the 2nd of 3 attacks on the way home last night. Definitely getting more aggressive, it used to be just a beak clap as he swooped by, but now he's chasing you for about a block. Doesn't help that in the afternoon heading south you're almost always riding in to a 20kph+ headwind, so going pretty slow making it easy for him to line up multiple hits.
Image

It's odd, but he never swoops when you're riding north along the same stretch. I'm thinking of switching sides for that block on the way home, to see if it's a direction travelling thing of just a specific the side of the road that triggers an attack. :)
Thanks for the picture and warning JBark! :wink: I commute along that road but have been lucky to miss a meeting with that particular fellow! I will keep an eye out this arvo :wink:

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 5:34 pm
by Lizzy
JBark wrote:It's odd, but he never swoops when you're riding north along the same stretch. I'm thinking of switching sides for that block on the way home, to see if it's a direction travelling thing of just a specific the side of the road that triggers an attack. :)
Hrmn, he either has a sidekick or he gets me in both directions. I've taken to adding a meta-detour :?

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:58 pm
by marinmomma
Comedian wrote:Riverloop commute for me too. Averaged 37 and still got dropped. :o
Where did you get dropped?
You looked like you were hanging on ok when you went past me near the beginning of the Corso....that's an excellent average for the river loop!

Did Karen stay with you for long?
Might have to join you with the smurf patrol next week! :wink:

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:26 pm
by jasonc
head wind sucked this arvo

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:40 pm
by Comedian
marinmomma wrote:
Comedian wrote:Riverloop commute for me too. Averaged 37 and still got dropped. :o
Where did you get dropped?
You looked like you were hanging on ok when you went past me near the beginning of the Corso....that's an excellent average for the river loop!

Did Karen stay with you for long?
Might have to join you with the smurf patrol next week! :wink:
I managed to hang on for the corso... but I got hung out in the breeze a bit. I was clawing grimly till the top of "Dead Mans Full Gas" and they got away from me up highgate hill.

I managed to sit down with coffee ordered before the first arrivals got theirs. My goal for next week is to be at the coffee shop before they order. That group have been super great for me. I'm feeling much stronger again. I made some big mistakes with my riding earlier in the year that snotted my speed but it's coming back again now - thankfully. As a bonus they are super great operators and lovely guys (and gals) :lol:

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:49 pm
by jasonc
Comedian wrote:I managed to hang on for the corso... but I got hung out in the breeze a bit. I was clawing grimly till the top of "Dead Mans Full Gas" and they got away from me up highgate hill.
So if you can hold on for that long, I'd last til Fred Schonel Drv?

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:48 pm
by marinmomma
Climbing out up Deadmans is a challenge after contesting the three sprints on the loop! The distance after the Corso to the start of the climb isn't quite long enough for me for the legs to recover....I either get a PB on the Corso and die on the hill or cruise the Corso and still die trying to get a PB up the hill :wink:

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

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:50 pm
by marinmomma
jasonc wrote:
Comedian wrote:I managed to hang on for the corso... but I got hung out in the breeze a bit. I was clawing grimly till the top of "Dead Mans Full Gas" and they got away from me up highgate hill.
So if you can hold on for that long, I'd last til Fred Schonel Drv?
I'm going out again tomorrow but instead of a Turbo Tuesday, it will be a Womble Wednesday :roll:

I'm leaving Southbank at 5:15!

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

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:25 am
by jasonc
did my first front'n'back coot-tha commute. felt good.

to the group up there this morning (i know the name won't mention it)

when I yell "On your right" it means I want to pass you on your right. tried 3 times. ended up having to wipe off all speed.

If you can't descend stay out of the way of people who can.

PERFECT weather.

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

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:49 am
by TailWind
Riding home yesterday afternoon in a quiet little residential area in Bundoora, I am approaching an intersection where the road I'm on joins another at a 90 degree bend.
I'm heading straight through, and I can hear a car steaming up behind me.
I slow in order to give way to any traffic in the road I'm about to join (none), and continue on at pace. Car behind me sits on my tail and then shaves me through the intersection, cutting me off and forcing me to the left toward the opposite kerb.
I raise my left arm in a what-are-you-doing gesture (nothing rude) as I can see him looking in the mirror, probably admiring his handiwork in menacing a cyclist with his smokebox.
So then he makes a stuff-you gesture. Now it could well be that my nerves are a little frayed and my tolerance of bad driving is at an all time low since last week's incident, and my blood boils and I take off after him.
He makes a left at the next traffic circle and I follow - as mentioned, this is a quiet neighbourhood with lots of circles, speed humps etc. I see him indicate to turn left into a driveway, but he must have seen me and changes his mind, carries on, makes a right at the next circle. I follow. Then another left, and I'm not too far behind. I take the left and now see the car stopped at the kerb. I hit the brakes and bring the bike around in a lovely 90 degree skid right at his door.
He jumps out and asks me what my problem is. I (somewhat agitated and out of breath) explain that his driving is unacceptable and that he endangered me by his actions.
His reply was that I should have slowed down :?: :?: and various other nonsense, including how he rode a bike himself. I just repeated that his driving was unacceptable and rode off. Lacked any juicy lines at the time.

Anyhow, better ride in this morning, which also featured a roo bounding along the foot path/nature strip on Enterprise Drive, next to the Continental building.
For some reason, the sight of the roos on my commute always cheers me up.