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

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

Postby Summernight » Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:47 am

More nice rides at the moment, apart from the heat. Oh, and cars parking in the dedicated bike lane between the bollards designed to stop them parking there. :roll:

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

Postby FiveDaysAWeek » Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:13 am

Thick ground fog rolling off the racecourse this morning and I thought 'right, winter is here early'. Turned out to be no colder than the rest of this week though i.e. comfortable in short sleeved jersey.
The thermal cap, vest, full fingered gloves etc. sat unused on their shelf all last winter, kind of hope to get to use them this time around.

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

Postby bychosis » Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:16 am

:D this morning. Donned the lights, put up the MTB against Glenrock in the dark, followed by a beautiful calm and foggy cruise around the lake foreshore around sunrise.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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

Postby snortin » Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:06 pm

terrible commute this morning.

my commute is all of 12km into sydney cbd from gladesville. on victoria rd, all in a bus lane (except for 1km of t3 lane) until anzac bridge . Left 15 minutes later than usual (it's my birthday - and the 4 & 6 year old sons had cards to give me and presents to help me open....)
You get the odd idiot driving in the bus lane, but as long as they don't almost kill me i tend to not mind too much.

Today in the bus lane I had an idiot in a lancer tailgate me and close shave me (as i was slowing down for the bus stopped at the bus stop in front of me). He was looking at me and waved as he shaved me....
Of course I caught up to him as he was stuck in the t3 lane over gladesville bridge, so waved as I went past (very restrained I thought after he had come so close).
he then decides to get in the bus lane again 50m later (transit lane ends) and tailgate me up the hill (i was stuck behind a bus). he pulls up at the red light and i see he is taking photos or video of me with a galaxy note or similar oversize phone. it was at this point i asked him why he thought it was acceptable to not only drive illegally in the bus and transit lanes, but also pass me exceedingly closely and then use a phone whilst driving. The passengers waiting at the bus stop were amused as I told him to have a good day and waved as I rode off in the (clear) bus lane once the light went green....

Not 1km later and a woman who was blocking the intersection (she was trying to turn right onto Victoria Rd from a side street but there was no space in the traffic lanes due to the bumper to bumper traffic) decided to move into the bus lane directly in front of me. Would have wiped me out if I hadn't yelled out (I was also braking as I expected some sort of idiocy due to her car positioning). I stopped to avoid a crash and told her to get out of the bus lane. A guy 2 lanes over in a pirtek emblazoned van yelled at me to "get off the road" through his window. I responded with "what and be stuck in a car like you" as I shook my head in wonder, which brought a "come over here then" response as he undid his seatbelt. Unbelievable. When the bus in front of me moved off so did I in order to not escalate things further, but the woman tailgated me (with me stuck behind the bus) giving me the finger before pulling into the traffic lane (just a few hundred metres from where a cop was booking someone else for driving in the bus lane)

great start to my birthday, hope the trip home is better.

I have had enough, mobius camera on the way to record this sort of road rage and idiocy.

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

Postby jasonc » Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:33 pm

happy birthday snortin, I think

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

Postby westab » Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:08 pm

jasonc wrote:happy birthday snortin, I think
+1 for the birthday - hope you do have a good ride home.

Oh and for next time get the pirtek vans number if safe to do so and report him to either his employer, workcover or both. Larger companies tend to not like the employees making them look 2nd class. Ask me how I know.
Not fast, no style, but still get there.

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

Postby TailWind » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:18 pm

snortin wrote:great start to my birthday, hope the trip home is better.
Happy Annual Ageing Event snortin, hope you got home ok and had a party!

My commute yesterday afternoon was the same as the previous day's home ride, but included additional +2C temp, +10 km/h headwind, -roadie trailing me. Hard work.
Muggy this morning, but the wind direction remained the same, so I had a relatively cruisy ride into the Melb CBD.
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queequeg
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby queequeg » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:53 pm

Had to drop the car off this morning for a service, so I packed the bike in and did my commute home (to work). Bobbin Head & Berowra Waters....lots of fog
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Huggies
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Huggies » Wed Apr 02, 2014 11:52 pm

Had a crap commute into work today when the right hand crank snapped from metal fatigue. I was riding through a intersection at the time when I went down for the count. Luckily no vehicles were behind me & I got away with minor grazing plus a damaged work shirt . :|

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

Postby FiveDaysAWeek » Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:43 am

Heard a metallic tapping noise from the back wheel this morning, thought I might have picked up a tack or screw in the back tyre. Turned out to be a broken spoke. What with that and the near miss with a 4WD turning through a red light (I had a green cycle light, much good it did me), I thought I was having a bad commute.

Then I read Huggies' post and changed my mind.

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

Postby find_bruce » Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:26 am

Darn you must have some serious thighs Huggies :D

Had a slow trip in today, my left leg just didn't want to play. Oh well there is always tomorrow
It doesn't get easier, you just get slower

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

Postby Lizzy » Thu Apr 03, 2014 11:40 am

Had a slowish trip but that was OK. Came past a very nasty looking crash, bike vs dual-cab ute type thing, near the RAC building. Ambos on scene, police rolled up just as I was passing. Very upsetting scene and I hope the rider is OK. :( :(

So yeah, my commute was awesome since I got to work safely. Look out for yourselves please peeps.
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Summernight
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Summernight » Thu Apr 03, 2014 12:27 pm

The roads were full to brimming around Dallas Brooks Centre last night on Albert St. The clearway stops at 6:30PM but I went through at 6:40PM and all the on street car parks from Gisborne/Macarthur down to past Dallas Brooks were full, which I don't think is possible unless people decided to start parking early. It caused all the traffic to bank right back into the city. Of course, after Dallas Brooks the roads were clear because everyone was stuck further up. :)

Lovely ride in this morning with the legs ticking over nicely.

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

Postby Huggies » Thu Apr 03, 2014 1:34 pm

find_bruce wrote:Darn you must have some serious thighs Huggies :D
Steven Tyler thinks "I'm Lord of the Thighs!". :mrgreen:

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

Postby InTheWoods » Thu Apr 03, 2014 2:51 pm

Glad you're alright Huggies, that's a really nasty thing to happen. I think I've seen a surveillance cam video of somebody going under a truck after snapping a crank (luckily they survived).

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

Postby bychosis » Thu Apr 03, 2014 3:05 pm

Another good start to the day. Lights on, off to Glenrock. About a hundred metres in on the first part of the loop lost the line a bit, hit a rock and burped the tyre. Pop noise, small shower of sealant and front tyre had nothing. Walked back to the trail head, installed a tube coz the co2 thingy was on the roadie. Had a canister though :( by the time that was sorted not much time left for riding so straight to work on the road. Still, great weather this time of year.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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

Postby snortin » Thu Apr 03, 2014 4:02 pm

westab wrote:
jasonc wrote:happy birthday snortin, I think
+1 for the birthday - hope you do have a good ride home.

Oh and for next time get the pirtek vans number if safe to do so and report him to either his employer, workcover or both. Larger companies tend to not like the employees making them look 2nd class. Ask me how I know.
thanks - worked as it was a better ride home on birthday afternoon.
best part was my mobius camera turning up today - installed on helmet ready to go!
what's the bet I get some idiot free commutes in the coming weeks??? (although I will take that outcome over road rage any day!!)

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

Postby WarbyD » Thu Apr 03, 2014 4:24 pm

bychosis wrote:Another good start to the day. Lights on, off to Glenrock. About a hundred metres in on the first part of the loop lost the line a bit, hit a rock and burped the tyre. Pop noise, small shower of sealant and front tyre had nothing. Walked back to the trail head, installed a tube coz the co2 thingy was on the roadie. Had a canister though :( by the time that was sorted not much time left for riding so straight to work on the road. Still, great weather this time of year.
So, so jealous that you can include a bit of trail time in your commute... I've scoured google maps looking for anything that looks like it might be rideable within coo-ee of my route and found NADA! Short of getting in the car and adding an hour round trip in driving to the hills, no chance of anything fun before work for me :(

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

Postby Scott_C » Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:45 pm

WarbyD wrote: So, so jealous that you can include a bit of trail time in your commute... I've scoured google maps looking for anything that looks like it might be rideable within coo-ee of my route and found NADA! Short of getting in the car and adding an hour round trip in driving to the hills, no chance of anything fun before work for me :(
That's easy, just extend your 'extended' ride into the city a bit further by taking a right on the shared path before the Casino, heading out to Victoria Park Drive (also shared path) and following that to the far side of the Graham Farmer Freeway so that you can ride the "temporary" PSP alignment between Belmont Park and Windan bridge.

You'll get overgrown vegetation, loose sand and gravel on an unsealed surface and drops offs into blind corners all in a single 300m stretch.

If we get any decent rain you'll probably also get some water crossings thrown into the mix.

Alternatively if you cross under Goonganup & Windan bridge and head East you can do a there and back of the PSP detour without adding too much distance to your ride.

As far as how my commutes have been going, I've been getting increasingly annoyed by the deterioration of the temporary PSP detour for work that was meant to be complete in January but still shows no signs of being finished with significant new excavations occuring this week.

EDIT: On a more positive note I did see a dolphin chasing fish around the shallows just north of Windan bridge this morning.

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

Postby WarbyD » Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:52 pm

Scott_C wrote:
WarbyD wrote: So, so jealous that you can include a bit of trail time in your commute... I've scoured google maps looking for anything that looks like it might be rideable within coo-ee of my route and found NADA! Short of getting in the car and adding an hour round trip in driving to the hills, no chance of anything fun before work for me :(
That's easy, just extend your 'extended' ride into the city a bit further by taking a right on the shared path before the Casino, heading out to Victoria Park Drive (also shared path) and following that to the far side of the Graham Farmer Freeway so that you can ride the "temporary" PSP alignment between Belmont Park and Windan bridge.

You'll get overgrown vegetation, loose sand and gravel on an unsealed surface and drops offs into blind corners all in a single 300m stretch.
You've piqued my curiosity haha, if I remember, I'll check this out tomorrow morning :P

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

Postby TailWind » Thu Apr 03, 2014 7:03 pm

Light Rain in the Melbourne CBD for the ride back yesterday afternoon, but it tapered off the further north I went.
Conversely, very fine but dense drizzle in the outer north for my start this morning, but eased the closer I got to the CBD.
This afternoon's commute from the Melb CBD started dry, then got wet on the DCT between Alphington and Bundoora.
Oh well, gentle introduction back into the wet season :)
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bychosis
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby bychosis » Thu Apr 03, 2014 10:10 pm

WarbyD wrote:So, so jealous that you can include a bit of trail time in your commute...
It's a fair detour to Glenrock, turns a 6.6km into 22km without adding the dirt. I'm also lucky enough to have some other trails (but not as good) that about double the commute with most of the extension off the road, and looking into some other options.
This afternoon cruised back around the lakefront share path. This is pretty much God's country here. :)
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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

Postby cowled » Thu Apr 03, 2014 10:21 pm

It's funny how the commuting experience can vary so much. Monday morning, I had six close shaves in the space of 2min on a 70km/h stretch of road.



Then, my Thursday morning commute was fantastic. Every single driver gave me heaps of room. I was so happy that I decided to post my favourite moment on YouTube.

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

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Thu Apr 03, 2014 10:32 pm

Perth, pretty in pink. 8)

This time of year, with daylight coming so much later, the rides are so much fresher and the skies so much clearer.

This morning - looking west to Melville Water from Kwinana Freeway, sunrise behind.
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WarbyD
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby WarbyD » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:57 am

Scott_C wrote:
WarbyD wrote: So, so jealous that you can include a bit of trail time in your commute... I've scoured google maps looking for anything that looks like it might be rideable within coo-ee of my route and found NADA! Short of getting in the car and adding an hour round trip in driving to the hills, no chance of anything fun before work for me :(
That's easy, just extend your 'extended' ride into the city a bit further by taking a right on the shared path before the Casino, heading out to Victoria Park Drive (also shared path) and following that to the far side of the Graham Farmer Freeway so that you can ride the "temporary" PSP alignment between Belmont Park and Windan bridge.

You'll get overgrown vegetation, loose sand and gravel on an unsealed surface and drops offs into blind corners all in a single 300m stretch.

If we get any decent rain you'll probably also get some water crossings thrown into the mix.

Alternatively if you cross under Goonganup & Windan bridge and head East you can do a there and back of the PSP detour without adding too much distance to your ride.

As far as how my commutes have been going, I've been getting increasingly annoyed by the deterioration of the temporary PSP detour for work that was meant to be complete in January but still shows no signs of being finished with significant new excavations occuring this week.

EDIT: On a more positive note I did see a dolphin chasing fish around the shallows just north of Windan bridge this morning.
Rode your suggested detour via Vic Park Dve this morning.. If you have an issue with that diversion, I would suggest avoiding the current diversion on the Kwinana Fwy. What you've got there is an absolute dream in comparison, and certainly many multitudes better than the diversions they put in recently on the shared path on the river side of the casino (straight over the grass/sand/mud.. no attempt at any actual surfaced path)

Remarkably slow commute this morning.. Put the rack/pannier back on last night and I think its that extra weight on the bike which is making it so much more sluggish. Oh well. Still better than a backpack... N+1 creeping in again though: I have the workhorse commuter (Avanti 29" Hardtail MTB, with rack & pannier) and I have the weekend toy (Merida One-Forty-3-B All Mountain dual suspension mountain bike), now I'm feeling an urge to get a cheap roadie for the occasional faster commuter. Doh!

Any of you commuter folks riding a Reid Aquila? For $400, that's looking pretty tempting..

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