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

[Lizzy]

Nice couple of days riding for me, a bit chilly this morning but no annoying wind to speak of. Have had a flare up of my intermittent lower back pain/stiffness, reached a point over the weekend where bending or squatting down actually made me yelp - hasn't kept me off the bike but I've been taking it pretty easy, seem to be coming out the other side (with the aid of gallons of deep heat which I'm sure my office mates are loving).

[TailWind]

Bit of a weird day today, quiet ride in, but then work went a bit nuts, had a late meeting and was subsequently behind schedule for other stuff, so rode though to the kids' school and stuck the bike in the back of the car. Not what I really had in mind, oh well. Tomorrow's another day.

is that an excuses thread entry for you??????

Hmmm, on re-reading it does sound like an excuse, doesn't it?
Did a full distance inbound, but heading back was a fraction of the normal distance...does that warrant an entry in the excuse thread?

Anyway, windy and cold in Melbourne for the commute into the CBD, but uneventful. No easing of the current conditions in sight....

[jasonc]

does that warrant an entry in the excuse thread?

no. you still rode part way. damn it.

[gretaboy]

The ride home yesterday was spent largely in the hurt locker. To start with the headwind was running between 30-44 k/h. Then less than 5 k's into the ride I joined up with another rider, who I have ridden with a few times now, and he made me work, and work hard for the next 20 odd k's. At the 25 k mark, and at which point he turned off to go his way, we were averaging 30 k/h and this with the strong headwind. Lucky me only had another 15 k to go in this wind. At some points I felt like I was stopped yet moving forward the wind was that strong. I was shattered by the time we split and simply limped home.

The wife said she was fully expecting a call to come and get me due to the winds. She tried hanging washing on the clothes line but it kept blowing off.

This morning the weather was just lovely. Cool, actually a little chilly but the wind was with me and I had no issues with any vehicles...which is great. I am now trying to recover for the ride home, into the headwinds again.

[Summernight]

It was cold and windy last night and this morning and I thought I may have under-dressed on both rides. Although feet and hands are staying warm which is good.

[Thrilloilogy]

Multi Vehicle accident on Epping Rd, and of course the tow truck waiting around blocks the bike path, instead of staying in the car lane that wasn't going anywhere. Have to utilise footpath, and you can see why there was an accident. Police ask one of the drivers loitering around a question and said person moved from a position he could talk to the policeman, into the path of where the policeman directed me to go to avoid the loiterers!

[ColinOldnCranky]

Perth:

Got off early with a view to riding home - I needed to work off some bad eating. Anyway, half way home I realised that I had left my headlight at work charging. Damn.

Well, the choice is

• to push on home and then NOT ride in in the morning, leaving later and taking the train instead.
• Ride back towork and get the light

My ride in is the ride that I most look forward to. So the ride-back-to-work option won out. I took the train then from Perth and, in the process managed a few extra kms, still arriving home about the time I was planning on anyway.

So still all good. And I still get to ride in tomorrow. Lets see i f I can do it right then.

[jasonc]

cold. apparent temp at my place was 0.6 degrees when I left. doing to regular group wednesday coot-tha. went there. waited. and waited. and waited. no show. not impressed.

[TailWind]

Still windy in Melbourne yesterday afternoon, with the wind still coming from the wrong direction. Managed to avoid areas of rain somehow and even had some blue skies.
Chilly again this morning, felt somewhat sluggish for the ride into the CBD, and it showed in the ride time.

[alkhoo]

Like Tailwind, I felt sluggish this morning.

Had a close shave by a truck on Lorimer St - I have no idea what the fool was thinking. He overtook me in my lane only to pull up to a stop in the left lane 100 metres further up the road.

Had to drop by the drycleaners just off Bay Street to pick up my backpack - coming down Bay Street, I see a Beemer reverse into a parking spot and was prepared for what was bound to happen - I rode out and hug the right line of the bike lane. Beemer lady flings her door open completely and I let out an "Oi!" She went "Oh !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !!!" and jumped back in the car. I was never in danger of getting doored but hopefully, she's learned a lesson. Though, I seriously doubt it.

Apart from that, commute was pleasant. I squeezed in a coffee pitstop too.

[gretaboy]

I am suffering again.

The ride home yesterday was into a 20+k headwind and it was cold. Froze the knackers off and with about 8 k's to go I was busting to pee. Not a nice feeling having a cold wind hit you and wanting to pee. I started thinking about the nice hot shower I was going to have as soon as I got home...after I went to the loo of course Body was shattered last night, I felt so tired.

Middle of the week and my legs dont have much in them at the moment. Had a nice-ish wind behind me this morning but it was cold. Kept all my gear on for the entire ride and the tootsies were half frozen when I got to work. The ride itself was great, a little struggle due to legs being knackered, but the cold sun was out and no issues with cars/trucks...so all up a good ride.

[Summernight]

Commute home last night was good, commute in was good (legs didn't feel 100% though), apart from a little necessary acceleration at one point in order to put myself in full view of the driver of the little car that decided to move over the bike lane to turn left without looking for the bike (me) that was in the bike lane at the time. Spidey sense told me the driver wouldn't look and would turn left (wasn't indicating at the time) so I was prepared.

[CXCommuter]

Absolutely beautiful weather over in Perth this week, spent monday on Rottnest cruising with the family then back to work today, rode down along Riverside Drive (scenic detour) for the first time, a pleasant bypass.

[vortex1018]

Saw this on my way home, helmet on handlebars, earphones plugged in


P.S. The magpies are swooping already

[Thrilloilogy]

Fastway Courier blocks 3/4 of cycle path on Epping Rd tonight. She even checked and was happy about her illegal park. I would have stopped to get her numberplate, but had to get past before I caused an issue for the cyclist coming down the hill!

[Robinho]

Beautiful ride home from Perth CBD north to Mindarie tonight (39km). I had energy and felt like a superhero, picked up 49 "medals" on strava including my first top 10. I was flying along really nicely feeling very good about myself when I turned off the main drag and turned south for 500m to the house, straight into the wind that I hadn't realised had been pushing me all the way home!

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 4

[jasonc]

Rode home last night with a guy from Sydney (he's temporarily working in Brissy). I think his name was Deano - nice guy.

This morning was cold, but not as bad as yesterday

[TailWind]

Headwind again for the way back yesterday afternoon, 44km later my legs were aching - they don't seem to be recovering quickly enough with all these weeks of relentless northerlies.
Tiger Balm applied last night, but to little avail....
This morning there was drizzle right out the gate, so I opted for a shorter route, also with a view to saving the legs a little. Headed down Plenty Rd, then High St onto Heidelberg Rd and onwards into the CBD. Shortest route into the CBD I've tried yet at 22km. Downside is that it's all on-road with high traffic volumes. For the pre-dawn commutes it's ok, but I won't be trying this route in the afternoons.
Had a weird encounter with a cop car that turned right into High St at an intersection near Clifton Hill, then stopped as I approached. Both driver and passenger jumped out (I'm getting a little concerned at this point and stopped behind them), dashed around the car swapping sides, and then raced off with lights flashing.

[find_bruce]

Saw an impressive sight on my commute home last night. A lady towing her son in a trailer over the Victoria Rd overpass at Lilyfield Rd. To get around the 90° bend at one end and the 180° bend at the other shows great skills - I have tried it a few times & it is a real struggle.

I stopped at the lights to have a chat. Her first reaction was one of apprehension - conditioning from too many negative comments I suppose. A huge grin broke out though when I said she had great skills & gave a big thumbs up.

[gretaboy]

My ride home yesterday was uneventful...until...roughly 15 k's from home, going down a slight hill, two lanes with left merging into right. Stopped at lights and have got 3 cars then a truck next to me. Light turns green and off I go to try and get in front of the truck, I stayed to the left, maybe too far left as I didnt want to claim the lane fully as I hadnt picked up enough speed yet. Cars go by and I start to mover across to my right as there is no shoulder at all at this point. The truck comes up onto me, I was well in front of it, and for the first time in a very long time, I was fearful of my life. I actually stopped pedalling and just held on for dear life. Had no shoulder at all to work with and a grass verge that drops away on my left. There was less than a normal school ruler between myself, the truck and its trailer.

Remember I have b-doubles and semis going by me all the time so am used to them somewhat, but this guy was close and doing some speed, 60 or more, and he had me scared. All caught on the go pro but due to wide angle lense it seems as if the truck isnt that close. Got the rego number, AL 55 CQ, but unfortunately for me the truck had no company writing on it. I know the police wont touch it as there is really no laws broken in this instance.

Apart from that big scare, the ride home was just another cold and windy ride.

Woke up to a freezing morning this morning, cars had ice on them and once riding I could see there was a good frost on the ground too. Due to the hard yards riding home this week into the wind, I had decided to take this morning easy, not push myself. Took a bit longer than usual but got to work with no major incidents or issues, thankfully. My big toe's were that cold that when I walked it actually felt as if both of them had big holes in them, the sensation was that there was nothing there for half of the big toe..this changed after a nice hot shower.

[Summernight]

It's always the trucks that are the worst. They are the vehicles I am most wary about (as well as buses). Glad you came out of it unscathed (physically, at least), Gretaboy.

Headwind and legs felt meh this morning. And on Collins St between Swanston and Elizabeth once again I gave myself a (virtual) pat on the back for not going into the 'bike' lane/dooring zone and sticking in the vehicle lane behind a car as a van driver opened his door just in front of where I may have been if I had been riding there. Earlier in my ride I also had a car tailgating me for a bit on the two block section of Albert that doesn't have a bike lane, but I don't think it was done maliciously as they did end up changing lanes to pass with no issues and no honking or gesturing.

[rdp_au]

It’s been pleasant going for the past few days, with nice weather and generally well behaved motorists. This morning was decidedly chilly, though – just over 3 deg when I left. Appreciated a considerate driver as I headed down Vimera Rd in Eastwood. This is a 2km straight piece of road with a cycle lane closely alongside the kerbside parking zone. There’s not much traffic, but it is fast moving. I watch my mirrors carefully along this section and claim the lane to go around any parked cars. I’ve been shaved and tailgated a few times but generally most people pass reasonably safely. The considerate driver was a lady in a blue Toyota who sat a comfortable distance behind me. There were places where she could have easily pushed past (as most do), but she stayed behind until there was plenty of room and then gave me a very wide berth as she came past. I gave her a wave in appreciation and got a wave back in return.

[Thrilloilogy]

Interesting commute tonight. Firstly guy walking down bike path instead of footpath 1 metre over. Normally I wouldn't say anything, but it was garbage night and the bins were taking out part of the lane. So I politely said the footpath is over there - just got a blank look.

Then a couple of km's down the road, a ped was walking down the middle of the shared path wonkily. She wasn't drunk, just unaware of her surroundings. I didn't know which side to pass. So I rang my bell and got no acknowledgement. When I passed on her fare left, she says "nice bell".

I also had a courteous driver near home. I was wondering why they were so cautious unlike most drivers. Turns out it was my neighbour!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[Dropbear20]

Good luck with the Singaporean traffic, Dropbear! How do the police handle complaints (if at all)?

Thanks, but not sure how the police handle complaints. I suspect nothing if I don't get hit. I might need to get a camera and find out.

Nothing special today other than a lot of traffic. I'm learning to filter through the stopped cars, you just have to watch for the motorcyclist doing the same thing.

Passed 500km this month. The most since September last year. I'm not so sure I enjoy the weather so much, but it beats sitting in the congested traffic in a bus.

[DavidS]

Tailwind, you certainly are right about the wind, it has been relentless all August. With a Northerly I get assistance for most of the trip home, going in is another story. The gusts can be very problematic at road junctions though, to the extent I sometimes go for the bike path on Beach Rd rather than the bike lane going South. I prefer the lane but in gusty conditions it becomes a much safer option to go for the path on the foreshore.

Tonight's commute was damp but only rained on in the middle section so not too bad.

DS