Kev90210's Top Ten - Pt 2

[Kev365428]

Things that make me smile while commuting.

1. Fresh air. I just love it, and at this time of year it can be particularly fresh in the morning.
2. Warm afternoons and quite streets. Love the isolation of a quite street when riding home and all you can hear are the birds and the breeze.
3. Burning legs. Love climbing those small hills with a full backpack, then enjoying the lactate rush down the other side.
4. The Peace Bakery at Arncliffe. Riding past there of a morning as the fresh Lebanese bread comes out of the oven is divine. On more than one occasions I've succumbed and stopped to buy a loaf. Heaven.
5. Sunrise. During Autumn and Spring when my mornings commute end is timed perfectly to coincide with sunrise is just fantastic. As I'm heading east in the morning, I get to watch the changing colours for 30 minutes or more.
6. A full fuel tank. Driving to work sees me use 70+ litres of fuel a week. Nothing better than filling up on a weekend, and still being able to drive the following weekend.
7. A ful wallet as a result of #6. Although, it usually gets emptied at the lbs in no time flat.
8. A hot shower after the morning commute in winter. The hot water warms me up and helps relieve aching quads.
9. Taking alternate routes. For the last 2 years or more I was a devoute freeway commuter. Numerous flats saw me abandon the freeway for the debris-free urban route. Now I look forward to trying different routes to find the easiest, hardest, or most scenic route there is. Also good to when looking for certain shops on the way home to purchase goods. Some shops that are so close to me, and I never even new they existed.

And the winner is.....

10. Traffic jams. Nothing makes me smile more than riding past cars that are stopped at light, or just due to congestion. If I had lipstick on it'd get on my ears my smile is so broad. I reckon I can almost hear the dirty thoughts those car drivers are directing at me.

What makes you smile whilst commuting?

Kev.

[casual_cyclist]

What makes you smile whilst commuting?

1. the feeling of being pumped after a hard ride when I am in the mood to thrash it.
2. riding is my fastest way to get to work (I have to go slow some mornings or I get to work to quick )
3. taking the long way home when the weather is nice.
4. a nice hot shower on a cold morning and a nice cool shower when it's hot... so refreshing!
5. a quick trip to the library on the way home.
6. other commuters waving, nodding or smiling or forumites saying g'day.
7. saving $$$.
8. other commuters with good lights front and back.
9. car drivers being considerate (this happens a lot on my commute and I always smile, wave or nod to them).
10. riding helps me wake up in the morning and relax in the afternoon.
11. knowing I can leave work/home whenever I want (don't have to stick to a bus/train timetable).
And the winner is.....
12. the views of the sun rising over the Swan River.

[Strawburger]

1. Getting to work (generally) happy and energised
2. HOT SHOWER! or COLD SHOWER! after the ride
3. Beating the public transport by up to 1hr (30 min trip vs 1hr on train or 1-1.5hrs on bus)
4. Not having my day set around timetables
5. Transport from door to door, no travelling to transport
6. Beating the traffic in
7. Missing out on dirty trains, sick people coughing on me, overcrowding
and...
8. Feeling fit & healthy

[casual_cyclist]

Missing out on dirty trains, sick people coughing on me, overcrowding

+1. I forgot that one. Last year in total I had a couple of weeks off sick. This year (since cycle commuting) I have had 2 days sick (mild cold) and 1 day off because of a (non-commuting) stack

[trailgumby]

I love:
1: The pure sensation of flow, the joy of spinning, steering, rolling, turning, moving through the world from beginning to journey's end, and then arriving.
2: The smell of the air just after it's rained on a summer morning
3: A hot shower when I get to work, and feeling fresh and alert the rest of the morning
4: The ramps down the 2 flights of stairs at the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
5: Getting a great cardio workout - without having to pay some Fitness First personal trainer pimp to shout at me!
6: Rolling through Spit Junction intersection on a green light
7: The view southeast over the harbour from Parriwi Road as I'm climbing up Spit hill
8: The "You ride how far?! -" look that comes when I tell colleagues how far my commute is (a mere 19km each way)
9: Beating the bus to work by 15-20 minutes door-to-door
10: The sense of being radical - knowing all the while that cycle commuting makes such compelling common sense!

[Mulger bill]

Gotta love congested traffic.
Listening to nature wake up in the morning.
Timing the approach to the lights right.
Walking in on a grumpy early morning colleague with a 3km wide, !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! eating grin and telling him what a great day it is.
Railing roundabouts at warp when there's nothing coming.
Tucking in behind a smokebox for a bit of a tow out of roundabouts when there is someone coming.
Less peds at 0540.
Not having to scrape ice off the windscreen after a frost.
As with all riding, the FREEDOM!

[Kev365428]

I love:
8: The "You ride how far?! -" look that comes when I tell colleagues how far my commute is (a mere 19km each way)

Ah, yes. I love that one. My commute is 42km each way, and look of utter disbelief on co-workers faces is priceless.

Even more fun is telling them that I rode the 40km out to the start of the 'Gong ride, then rode some of the way home, clocking up 170km in a day.

Kev.

[goneriding]

1. the double take when riding down Victoria Rd in the morning. Driver sees you pull along side, looks down at their speedo and then looks at you pulling ahead of them.
2. The sunrise along Canada Bay and the top of Barnstaple St (towards the City - Sydney) in Five Dock at the moment. Awesome. Actually it's awesome everywhere at the moment.
3. The nod and the smile from cyclists going the other way
4. The Bakery in Haberfield
5. ANZAC Bridge
6. Not getting sneezed or spluttered on whilst on public transport.

[sharktamin]

Unexpected meetings with:
1. other cyclists who will chat as we ride,
2. friendly peds,
3. old friends,
4. occasional wildlife, a rabit, a duck, an echidna, who knows?

[Tom Marius]

4. occasional wildlife, a rabit, a duck, an echidna, who knows?

or, as i was lucky enough to spot one day on the cap city trail near the railyards under the freeway (sorry im new to melbourne don't know names ) a great dirty big rat.
Did make me laugh but.