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

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

Postby jasonc » Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:33 am

Rhubarb wrote:
jasonc wrote:saw rhubarb on the commute home. I stopped to help a damsel in distress with a flat tyre while he buggered off.
Ha ha. Well I was going to give you a wrap for that but you can forget that now. :-P
Im pleased you did stop though - its always a good thing to do. These days I only carry spare tubes for my 20" tyres so rarely of any use to others. Maybe one day I'll pass someone with a flat on a folder...
she had a spare just wasn't 100% comfortable changing it. was calling for the recover vehicle. I fixed it quick enough

you must have changed your hours - saw you again this morning.

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

Postby lobstermash » Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:39 am

Took the SS on the morning commute. Another stunning morning to complete a week's worth in Canberra!
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Rhubarb
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Rhubarb » Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:55 am

jasonc wrote: she had a spare just wasn't 100% comfortable changing it. was calling for the recover vehicle. I fixed it quick enough

you must have changed your hours - saw you again this morning.
Good stuff.

My work is getting crazy busy so I have been starting a little earlier I guess. Where did you see me this morning? Sorry I didn't wave or say hello. I'm at a distinct disadvantage in this regard, in that I stand out so uniquely in my velomobile but all you DF riders just look the same to me :-P I do make a point of waving or chatting to people I know on my commutes. Its another one of the reasons that commuting via bike is so awesome !!!

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

Postby jasonc » Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:58 am

Rhubarb wrote:
jasonc wrote: she had a spare just wasn't 100% comfortable changing it. was calling for the recover vehicle. I fixed it quick enough

you must have changed your hours - saw you again this morning.
Good stuff.

My work is getting crazy busy so I have been starting a little earlier I guess. Where did you see me this morning? Sorry I didn't wave or say hello. I'm at a distinct disadvantage in this regard, in that I stand out so uniquely in my velomobile but all you DF riders just look the same to me :-P I do make a point of waving or chatting to people I know on my commutes. Its another one of the reasons that commuting via bike is so awesome !!!
sylvan rd at the intersection with jephson st i think you were there. (behind me, somewhere)

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

Postby Rhubarb » Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:17 am

jasonc wrote:
sylvan rd at the intersection with jephson st i think you were there. (behind me, somewhere)
ah ok - Sylvan Rd inbound I don't bother with the bike lane. In a velomobile its safer just take the lane the whole way. But yes that does mean I hang back in the traffic queue, rather than filtering up to the lights with the other bikes. I normally round em all up though, as per video below :wink:


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

Postby TailWind » Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:29 am

Damp ride back via Epping yesterday afternoon - light rain and drizzle. Roads and paths were pretty slippery and I had my rear step out on more than one occasion despite being pretty careful around turns.
Commuted on foot this morning - from my bedroom to the study - working from home today, but may ride through to my brother's place this afternoon for a catchup.

Happy Friday! :D
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Summernight
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Summernight » Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:31 am

Pretty darn pissed as I got in this morning. I got abused by a passenger in a silver 4WD Urban Assault Vehicle (which they'd probably call a city SUV) because I 'wasn't in the bike lane'.

Only thing is... There WAS no bike lane.

I was approaching a red traffic light and there is a left turning lane with a bike BOX however there are parked cars after the intersection so if you use the bike box you have to merge back into the vehicle through traffic (which, from previous experience can be stressful as the cars ignore your attempts to merge). So here I am rolling up to the traffic light with a clear road in front of me in the left through lane (there is another lane on my right). I see this 4WD change lanes behind me in my rear view and come up behind me. I stop at the lights at the front of the left through car lane and hear this little pip of the horn, which I ignore. Then the light changes green and I push off and this 4WD passes me about 20 metres ahead with the passenger screaming out the window "Use the bike lane." to which I shout back "There IS no bike lane, [richard]head."

Then the car behind him also passes me too closely for my liking.

Anyway, said 4WD gets stuck at the next set of traffic lights where the Albert St copenhagen lane actually DOES start so as I'm rolling past the car I shout "THIS is a bike lane".

Then further up he gets stuck at the red pedestrian crossing light near the park so I decide to stop and let him have it (sans swearing) and the lady driver winds down the window and the male passenger and I start shouting at each other (with me puffing away in-between shouts as I'd just ridden up the hill and had no breath). He says to me that I should have moved into the left turning lane (because there was a bike symbol painted there in the box and that supposedly means it is a bike lane... Go figure :roll: )

I kept repeating "There was no bike lane, that is not a bike lane and I'm entitled to use THIS lane" (pointing at the lane the car is in) and he says that I should have moved left, and merged in behind him after he'd passed (except I was in front of him the whole time) and basically given up my lane for his precious car.

So I parted with "I'm entitled to use that lane, read the road rules, you'll learn the truth." I need to remember to say something like 'what gives you the moral obligation to think you know everything about driving on the roads??'

He got stuck in the traffic on Albert St and I turned left after the park and that was the last I saw of him.

Today I guess I just decided I'd had enough and I had the opportunity to actually 'speak' to the motorist. Not that it helped overly much.

I must be doing something right because I'm clearly visible enough to be a nuisance. :|

Feeling better now. I still love riding the bike even with the [richard]heads that think they own the road. So much better than the tram. :)

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

Postby Thrilloilogy » Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:21 pm

I don't get some rider commuters. I was riding a comfortable pace, and this guy on his mountain bike sucks my wheel with a super bright disco light on the front which was quite annoying. The road was flat and straight. He was annoying me, so I slowed hoping he would pass. He doesn't. He then proceeds further on to overtake me on narrow bends; and then go slower than I would like to on the hill. So I power past him again.

He passed me, as I expected, when the hill went up. I say expected because I had done a hard ride during my lunch break and wasn't going to give much effort up the hills on the homeward commute.

I was also expecting to get some abuse for taking the lane 20 metres earlier than normal from some motorists; but if I didn't I'd get caught out at an upcoming roundabout with the line of traffic I could see approaching. To my pleasant surprise the driver who was approaching kept a safe distance behind.

Anyways, it was a safe, good ride.

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

Postby oxonabike » Sat Sep 07, 2013 1:06 pm

Since the last Cairns update there has been a variety of weather coming through the place, ranging from the tropical idyllic through to the thoroughly miserable. The latter provides very spirited inbound rides with a howling tailwind, and headwind pain for the return. Some of the breezes here were bordering on gale force, which is a fairly uncommon strength outside of an actual cyclone up here. Coupled with longish exposed highway sections, some afternoons had me heading out on more protected routes that involved some decent hill climbs, but I'll take these over a smashing from a head wind anyday.

With the winds came a bit of rain. The rain can make things interesting on some local road works, as removed lane markings become more visible than the recently repainted ones in certain lighting conditions. This is demonstrated in the Vid below from last weeks commute. After a previous incident here I thought it prudent to hug the edge of the road works, rather than stay in the bike lane. As for the bus driver, this is probably more of an improvement needed moment, rather than an honourable mention in the MM thread.


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

Postby TailWind » Mon Sep 09, 2013 10:40 am

I worked from home on Friday, but rode down to my brother's place just after 5pm for a bit of a relax. Suffice to say the ride there wasn't relaxing at all.
Suffered some P-Plater passenger abuse, followed by a MM manoeuvre that could have easily seen me in the ditch, or worse. All within 1km on Plenty Rd. Third incident in a couple of months in this area.

Lots of wind this morning, but it was heading the same way I was - into the Melbourne CBD - so an easy ride in.

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

Postby Summernight » Mon Sep 09, 2013 2:48 pm

The axe fell on Friday just before lunch so I am out of a job (redundancy without the redundancy pay as it is a small business. Woo hoo. Not :roll: ) . Finishing up some things at the office in the next few days and that's it. (On a good note for that: at least I can now increase my bike riding kms before the ATB with midday rides on the trails :P )

So I didn't rush to get to the office this morning. Windy on the way in and I got honked by a green P-plater in the two blocks I claim the left lane. He honked once as he comes up behind me and then again as he is alongside me in the right lane. Clearly he got his licence out of a Weeties packet and has already developed an ignorance when it comes to cyclists.

The GoPro also didn't want to turn on this morning. All seems to be working and charging now though.

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

Postby jasonc » Mon Sep 09, 2013 2:59 pm

bummer about the loss of job summernight

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jules21
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jules21 » Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:12 pm

Summernight wrote:he says that I should have moved left, and merged in behind him after he'd passed (except I was in front of him the whole time) and basically given up my lane for his precious car.
why? next time someone says that to me, i've resolved to agree, but say "you want me to let you past - fine.. just don't be holding me up after you pass me or i will be very unhappy."

although i avoid physical conflict if i can, it helps that i'm 190cm+.

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vortex1018
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby vortex1018 » Mon Sep 09, 2013 5:34 pm

Had to wear my formal trousers at my new workplace today. After arriving with 15 minutes to spare, just when I was getting off the bike "RRRIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPP". Rushed home as fast as I could to change and rushed back just in time :shock: :x :x :x :x :x

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

Postby stretts » Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:11 pm

Was riding home at 11pm a few nights back from a concert, passed a guy riding home on the same road, when I reached the top of the relatively small climb I decided to ease off, he caught up and we had a chat about my single speed as he wanted to get something a bit simpler to commute with. It was weird, in the middle of the night, riding alongside someone id never met before, just having a chat. weird and nice.

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

Postby VRE » Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:18 am

vortex1018 wrote:Had to wear my formal trousers at my new workplace today. After arriving with 15 minutes to spare, just when I was getting off the bike "RRRIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPP". Rushed home as fast as I could to change and rushed back just in time :shock: :x :x :x :x :x
Don't you hate it when, thanks to cycling, your quadriceps become so bloody awesome that your trousers don't fit? :evil: :lol:

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

Postby jasonc » Tue Sep 10, 2013 8:10 am

VRE wrote:
vortex1018 wrote:Had to wear my formal trousers at my new workplace today. After arriving with 15 minutes to spare, just when I was getting off the bike "RRRIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPP". Rushed home as fast as I could to change and rushed back just in time :shock: :x :x :x :x :x
Don't you hate it when, thanks to cycling, your quadriceps become so bloody awesome that your trousers don't fit? :evil: :lol:
N+1 works with trousers too.

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

Postby __PG__ » Tue Sep 10, 2013 9:14 am

Rode home yesterday and missed all the rain. I had showers falling either side of me with big heavy black clouds but by luck I had found a break in the clouds.
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Summernight
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Summernight » Tue Sep 10, 2013 10:25 am

Headwind in this morning.

And not one... not two... but THREE cars (okay, a ute, a motorcycle and a BMW thingy in that order) all passed me too close in the two block section where I claim the lane. And all did it one after the other in a row.

The ute roars up after the light turns green and I'm pushing off and accelerating and I see him too close to me in my rearview as he half changes lane (I'm in the middle of the left lane trying to stop this kind of thing). Then the Harley-type motorcycle passes me but stays in the same lane as me (I swear his foot almost touched my pedal) and then the BMW topped it off with a too early lane change back into the left lane (doing that straddling the lane thing) and passing too close. The cyclist a few metres in front of me (who was positioned in the door zone where I won't ride) kept turning his head as I read out the plates after each close pass. I must have sounded like a loony.

I need to engage the wobble more. I forgot about the wobble.

Was it punish the cyclist day today? :roll:

On a positive note: Good to see the MYT pontoons open again, although I don't think that'll help you TailWind as you go through before they open each morning (6:30AM). :)

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

Postby nezumi » Tue Sep 10, 2013 10:30 am

First proper commute in this morning - 18Kms from Heidelberg to Melbourne CBD via the Main Yarra Trail in 1 hour dead.

I managed to join an ad-hoc group of commuters between Eaglemont and Yarral Boulevard, which made things a little easier. Some convivial, the lead guy not so much - he fell behind at a detour in Kew then cut me off just later.

One CBD incident of driver not checking before merging into the street at a give way - slow speed and I was expecting it.

One lesson learned though - the rough track from Yarra Boulevard through to Fairfield Boathouse is too rough - not CX bike friendly! I might use it outbound, but not inbound!
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clackers
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby clackers » Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:37 am

nezumi wrote:
One lesson learned though - the rough track from Yarra Boulevard through to Fairfield Boathouse is too rough - not CX bike friendly! I might use it outbound, but not inbound!
Nice vigorous climb out of there, too.

If you currently go up Lower Heidelberg Road from Burgundy Street, you might consider Glenard Drive opposite the Ford dealership as a low traffic way of getting to the Eaglemont cutting.

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

Postby westab » Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:39 am

Wow spring is here and I had a wonderful ride in this morning. There were small finches flying along side my bike in western sydney parkland (shared path) - the sun was shining with a light brezze that was blowing the wattle over the shared path on the M7 and then I had shorter than usual waiting times at the lights on Sunnyholt road. What a pleasant ride - I felt like going further but there is work that needs to be done. Boy will I be out of here like a shot from a gun this afternoon if these conditions are like they were this morning.

I will be trying to see if I can geta few extra kms in before it is home time.
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TailWind
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby TailWind » Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:50 am

Summernight wrote:On a positive note: Good to see the MYT pontoons open again, although I don't think that'll help you TailWind as you go through before they open each morning (6:30AM). :)
Yeah, rode through there yesterday afternoon - hooray! Lots of yellow anti-slip stuff over the joins and cool new ramps, unfortunately marred by rounded covers over the joins in some places, like mini speed bumps. Still better than the South Bank surface - it's like riding a bucking bronco on some stretches over there. Didn't realise they only open at 6:30am - is that a recent thing? I seem to recall rolling through there before 6am when I did the MYT in the mornings while I still lived in Eaglemont. Only do it outbound in the afternoons now.
BTW - sorry to hear about your gig - hope you find something new that offers you a safe and pleasant commute!

Windy on the way back yesterday afternoon, but the weather was great otherwise. First magpie swoop along McKimmies Rd in Bundoora.

Working from home today due to some family issues.
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Summernight
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Summernight » Tue Sep 10, 2013 1:12 pm

The pontoons are apparently closing at 8:30PM and re-opening at 6:30AM each day so the council/whoever can do the silt dredging in non-peak hour times.

Any commute for any new job I will (hopefully) get will still probably be done through the middle of the Melbourne CBD, so if something comes out of the pipeline I'll still be getting plenty of MM or dumb ped/cyclist interactions... :P

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

Postby nezumi » Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:55 am

Building on my firsts - today was my first run in clipless pedals - Shimano M-530s, received from c r c yesterday and attached last night.

Nice smooth run, without the benefit of any drafting today. Still kept about the same time, 1 hour over 20 ks.
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