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

[WarbyD]

Very pleasant ride today.. Did the full 30km again, no issues - Will be sticking with this each day from now on. 300km a week of cycling should do something for the fitness me hopes

Took me 1hr 10 minutes at avg 25km/h ... I really need to get faster haha. Can I blame the 29er with knobby tyres? I currently have Kenda Small Block 8 tyres in 29 x 2.1" on it - thinking I might swap them out for a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus in 700 x 35c (or there abouts).. Any recommendations for a more appropriate tyre or should this do nicely? I'm a heavy bastard (115-120kg) trundling along mostly good bike path (Kwinana PSP) with a little bit of road at either end..

[jasonc]

warbyd - go the marathon plus

[outnabike]

[quote="poohkies"]Kemore to Airport

felt something on my leg look down OMGosh SPIDER THE SIZE OF MY HAND SCREAMED nearly crashed. Snipped

Hi poohkies.
Just how loud would you say the spider screamed, and have you got it on camera record?

[jasonc]

Kemore to Airport

lovely cool morning, nice ride, till i got to the city, stopped at a set of lights as i rode of felt something on my leg look down OMGosh SPIDER THE SIZE OF MY HAND SCREAMED nearly crashed got of pulled my bag shirt helmet trying to find the little F ! $ Ker , after about 5 mins of searching continued on my way!

just to let everyone know - poohkies is a big boy. if you saw him in a dark alley, you'd want him on your side
if he was scared of it, everyone would have been

btw - watch out for snakes on the bike path around fig tree pocket too

[Summernight]

I've done the inelegant dismount (ie. falling sideways) off a horse mid canter years ago due to looking down and seeing a great big huntsman crawling up my thigh. Why I couldn't just flick it off without the need to fall off at the same time is beyond me.

This weekend I looked down (I was on the ground on two feet this time) and there was a giant huntsman crawling up my knee-high boot. Not happy as I have no idea where it came from to crawl up my boot at that particular time (the feet had been in the boots for over an hour and I have them inside at home to prevent spider invasions).

* * * * * * *
Today's commute:

Why thank you, Wind. I did so want a headwind on my way into work on the day after a public holiday.

I also had a car look like it wasn't going to give-way to me as it turned right into the street I was riding down (T intersection and I was about to turn right from my street - the through street - into the street he was coming from). He pushed his way into the keep clear section in the middle of the road (as there is space to wait there between the two directions of traffic) and as most drivers do, drove his car up to as close to the line (or over it) as possible and went at a pace that looked like he wasn't stopping until the last second. So my risk analysis is telling me I need to be prepared for a SMIDSY so I cover the brakes, shout at him (as his windows are down) "Ay, ay STOP!" and then he stops (just before the line into my lane) and says something like "I saw you" (in a tone which said I shouldn't have said anything) so I responded with "Good!" as I'm riding off.

Hey, Mr Driver: You may have seen me, but if you had, the courteous thing to do is to drive very slowly across to the middle of the road so as not to scare me, the little cyclist, that you are going to run me down, and to stop a fair distance back from the line to indicate that you aren't about to SMIDSY me.

[Hamster]

My poorly made Chinese aluminium carrier has been repaired for the last time. Last week the aluminium rods that attach the carrier to the seatpost snapped and the whole thing just fell backwards and dragged along the ground. Fortunately apart from the rods and my ego nothing else was damaged. With a short length of 8mm steel rod I now have the carrier sitting where it should.

To prevent further carrier-malfunctions I’ve bought myself a Tubus Cosmo TIG welded stainless steel as the much needed replacement. As I am now riding the extra distance to work and saving $63.45 pw in fares I’ve managed to convince the Minister for Finance & War that it isn’t and expense but an investment.

I am left wondering what else can fail before the new carrier arrives and is fitted to the bike.

[alexander]

Very pleasant ride today.. Did the full 30km again, no issues - Will be sticking with this each day from now on. 300km a week of cycling should do something for the fitness me hopes

Took me 1hr 10 minutes at avg 25km/h ... I really need to get faster haha. Can I blame the 29er with knobby tyres? I currently have Kenda Small Block 8 tyres in 29 x 2.1" on it - thinking I might swap them out for a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus in 700 x 35c (or there abouts).. Any recommendations for a more appropriate tyre or should this do nicely? I'm a heavy bastard (115-120kg) trundling along mostly good bike path (Kwinana PSP) with a little bit of road at either end..

you might want to look at some slicks, schwalbe big apple or marathon plus, conti top contact.

[oxonabike]

Fairly stiff sort of a breeze behind me for the run into work this morning, which has now ramped up to gale force into which I will battle for the trip home tonight.

Looks like we're in for a cyclone in the next days, so just to be sure, would such an event be permissible for entry into the honourable excuses thread?

[TonyMax]

Looks like we're in for a cyclone in the next days, so just to be sure, would such an event be permissible for entry into the honourable excuses thread?

Sure, feel free to get a cab home because riding in during the cyclone was tough.

There is no try, there is only do or not do .

[WarbyD]

Hmmm, just pulled the trigger on 2x "Schwalbe Marathon Original GreenGuard Rigid Road City Tyre" in 700x38c .. Only after finalising the order did I happen to notice that tehy are "Marathon Original" rather than "Marathon Plus" ... is there much difference between the two? Should I try to cancel the order and go in search of the Marathon Plus instead?

[alexander]

Hmmm, just pulled the trigger on 2x "Schwalbe Marathon Original GreenGuard Rigid Road City Tyre" in 700x38c .. Only after finalising the order did I happen to notice that tehy are "Marathon Original" rather than "Marathon Plus" ... is there much difference between the two? Should I try to cancel the order and go in search of the Marathon Plus instead?

Hey warby, you might want to shift this conversation out of this thread and perhaps into another one, as it's not really relevant. but in short M+ are tougher. See here http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageb ... 80029.html

[poohkies]

airport kenmore

nice ride did a few extra km's

[WarbyD]

Thanks alexander - You're right, this is off-topic heh so will leave it here.. Reading the link you provided though I'll stick with the tyres I've ordered (for now at least heh)

[poohkies]

Kemore to Airport

lovely cool morning, nice ride, till i got to the city, stopped at a set of lights as i rode of felt something on my leg look down OMGosh SPIDER THE SIZE OF MY HAND SCREAMED nearly crashed got of pulled my bag shirt helmet trying to find the little F ! $ Ker , after about 5 mins of searching continued on my way!

Had a good chuckle over this at your expense - sorry.
Know exactly how you feel. I've ridden into a web spun across a path lined with bushes and trees, and the little beastie was right in the middle. Hit me in the chest. Queue emergency braking, leaped off bike and danced around, frantically brushing myself off. Continued on eventually but kept on imagining tickling sensations for the rest of the ride...brrrrr.

i'm still freaking, the only web i hit was about 10 km's before hand along the western freeway (the hour that I ride i hit a number of them) and the thought of that thing on me the whole time has freaked me out! if I had a gun i wouldnt' own a leg right now

[poohkies]

Very pleasant ride today.. Did the full 30km again, no issues - Will be sticking with this each day from now on. 300km a week of cycling should do something for the fitness me hopes

Took me 1hr 10 minutes at avg 25km/h ... I really need to get faster haha. Can I blame the 29er with knobby tyres? I currently have Kenda Small Block 8 tyres in 29 x 2.1" on it - thinking I might swap them out for a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus in 700 x 35c (or there abouts).. Any recommendations for a more appropriate tyre or should this do nicely? I'm a heavy bastard (115-120kg) trundling along mostly good bike path (Kwinana PSP) with a little bit of road at either end..

i just got some maxis 700x 28's i'll get the brand, they where 25's from reid cycles for the wifes 29r, it's improved no end comp over the 29/r mud tyres, funny how small the bikes looks with them

[Razorwolf]

Took me 1hr 10 minutes at avg 25km/h ... I really need to get faster haha. Can I blame the 29er with knobby tyres?

That's a decent speed dude. I average 25km/h on a road bike with 25c tyres!

[WarbyD]

Thanks Razor.. that makes me feel a bit better haha

[Rhubarb]

airport kenmore

nice ride did a few extra km's

Kenmore to the airport is a pretty good regular commute. What route did you end up settling on through the city?

[poohkies]

Kenmore to Airport

nice ride in, few showers but all in all a nice ride, plus side no spiders today, In turn i did practice balancing and nearly every set of lights! and looked down to make sure nothing was on the road

Rhubarb,
commute western free way, coro drive, go between bridge then across the victoria bridge, william st, elizabeth st, eagle st, wickham st, breakfast creek road, kingsford smith drive, nudgee rd, east - west aterial road, lomandra drive, qantas drive, airport drive dryandra road.

that's my early morning commute, and my late night commute home pretty much the same waybut when i get to the city i use bot the go between bridges, in peak hour i go through newmarket and along the river (stay off the roads)

[alexander]

Mellbourne:

19º, Overcast, Southerly Wind, 15-20km p/hr. Wow, a tonne of people this morning, lots of commuter racing. One guy was so keen on passing others that he wasn't looking for oncoming, and nearly had a head on collision. What a knob.

Was wearing my new Rudy project sunglasses, and they were great, no fogging up, even though I was sweating big time. Did an average time, as I had a few light sequences kill it for me. The ride home should be lovely as the cloud clears and I get a slight tail wind on the way home.

[Summernight]

Headwind and dry throat home last night. Couldn't get rid of the cough or choking feeling. Ahh, hot weather!!!

Lovely ride in this morning. Lots of cyclists on the Kew Boulevard taking advantage of the beautifully cool morning. The calm before the prolonged heat returns!

[WarbyD]

Most of the ride in this morning was pleasant enough, although did scare a pedestrian because of a d!ckhead cyclist who decided to (slowly) overtake me without any form of warning just as we reached the point where I needed to move right to go around the ped enjoying her morning walk.. Looked over my shoulder before moving over and he had just moved up alongside me travelling only slightly faster than me, too close for me to also move right around the ped so was forced to go left off of the path, eliciting a well deserved "tsk!" from her.

Had I been on a roadie rather than MTB I expect that sudden drop off the path would have resulted in me coming off the bike.. and some pain, for him when I caught him.

How bloody hard is it to either:
(1) Wait; or, if you absolutely MUST get ahead
(2) Provide warning "Bike right," "passing," "coming around" or "Im a little teapot" would have sufficed and allowed me to slow sufficiently to wait behind the ped until he had passed.

To the cyclist: Moron. -.-
To the ped: Sorry!

[TonyMax]

...or "Im a little teapot" would have sufficed...

I laughed out loud. If anyone in Canberra hears that before being overtaken this afternoon you'll know who it was .

[TailWind]

Blast furnace northerly headwind for the ride home yesterday afternoon. Put in a couple of pit stops to soak my shirt with water - makes the heat bearable for about 15 minutes. 42C when I got home.
Naturally, there was a change overnight and I had a cool southerly headwind this time for the ride into the CBD. Roads were pretty busy, haven't seen this many cars and cyclists around in the morning for a good couple of months.

[bychosis]

Yesterday afternoon had a horrible headwind and I was trying to get home in good time to get the kids. Big effort resulted in a reasonable time despite the wind. Also passed another guy from work who was quite obviously not pushing the limits too much.

This morning I headed out with the expectation of a bit of a tailwind and setting a decent time, but was foiled by a wind shift that meant there was more headwind than expected. I hoped to get sub 14min, but the wind combined with a bit of traffic meant I missed out by about 15sec. Oh well, I did manage to round up a Moped around a roundabout, then lost him stuck behind some of the traffic, and then passed an older guy on a carbon roadie so reasonably happy with that.

Not looking forward to the forecast headwinds again for this arvo.