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

[Cranky Jim]

Coming home (after Friday afternoon 'knock offs') I crossed paths with a gentleman in his fifties riding a very strange contraption down the Belgrave Rail Trail. It had handle bars and 28 inch wheels like a regular bike a scooter platform between them and he was 'scooting'. Although he was making reasonable progress it seemed like hard work to me. I've never seen such a thing before ... kind of like this but with a bigger rear wheel...

[Mulger bill]

Prolly a Kickbike there Jim. Can't see the sense m'self.

Shaun

[Cranky Jim]

Me neither. At first I thought I had had one knock off too many. He seemed to be working pretty hard just to get along flat ground at a moderate pace and it didn't look all that comfortable. It was a pretty extravagant 'kick' . I reckon he'll end up with one leg longer than the other ... or a standing date with his physio. Very strange. Good on him for getting to work under his own steam though.

[Aushiker]

G'day

Did my standard coastal ride this morning from home to the office and got wet and it was cold. So much for those claims of warm rain in WA . Glad I have a decent jacket; even had arm warmers on. Also struggled into the north-easterly. Just don't have legs at the moment That said the ocean was calm and the traffic pretty good. No hassles on that front.

Andrew

[casual_cyclist]

G'day

Did my standard coastal ride this morning from home to the office and got wet and it was cold. So much for those claims of warm rain in WA . Glad I have a decent jacket; even had arm warmers on. Also struggled into the north-easterly. Just don't have legs at the moment That said the ocean was calm and the traffic pretty good. No hassles on that front.

Andrew

Are your legs still feeling it from Saturday? Mine are and I haven't ridden since.

[Aushiker]

G'day

Did my standard coastal ride this morning from home to the office and got wet and it was cold. So much for those claims of warm rain in WA . Glad I have a decent jacket; even had arm warmers on. Also struggled into the north-easterly. Just don't have legs at the moment That said the ocean was calm and the traffic pretty good. No hassles on that front.

Andrew

Are your legs still feeling it from Saturday? Mine are and I haven't ridden since.

I guess so or I am just being slack

Andrew

[ruscook]

I guess we were lucky on the east coast. Was about 12-14 C this morning. More like a beautiful spring day than the middle of winter. The ride in was a cracker. Home - had too much of a headwind to push but still enjoyed the overall ride. Rest day tomorrow and probably another commute on Thurs if the weather stays reasonable.

Russ

[Mulger bill]

What commute?

Day off and I had a nice 60 odd planned via Williamstown.
Note the word planned.

Bloody dog had chewed thru the side fence again. Seven palings and 1.2m of rails replaced this morning. Ah well, take the MTB out for a bit of urban in the arvo...
Then it pi55ed down.

Anybody want a 14 month old Lab/Shepherd cross?

Shaun

[bigfriendlyvegan]

I started out at my normal time this morning before I realised that I didn't have to be at work for another 4 hours. Baby number 4 has been screaming all night and I am only just in the double digits for hours slept since Saturday. Given that I had some time to kill and my mind felt like it was on a Jack Daniels binge, the thought: "Why not do the Comenarra Parkway?" popped into my head. Whenever we drove to the hospital (the San) for checkups we went via Comenarra Parkway (and Yanko Rd) and each time I said to my wife: "I'd love to ride this one day". On an impulse, today was the day. See what a lack of sleep will do to you.

Did pretty well and had enough juice left to go down Lane Cove National Park and back before heading on to get some breakfast at work.

David

[Aushiker]

I started out at my normal time this morning before I realised that I didn't have to be at work for another 4 hours. Baby number 4 has been screaming all night and I am only just in the double digits for hours slept since Saturday. Given that I had some time to kill and my mind felt like it was on a Jack Daniels binge, the thought: "Why not do the Comenarra Parkway?" popped into my head. Whenever we drove to the hospital (the San) for checkups we went via Comenarra Parkway (and Yanko Rd) and each time I said to my wife: "I'd love to ride this one day". On an impulse, today was the day. See what a lack of sleep will do to you.

Did pretty well and had enough juice left to go down Lane Cove National Park and back before heading on to get some breakfast at work.

Nice work David.

Andrew

[Aushiker]

G'day

Rode from Joondalup to Fremantle yesterday evening (42 km) in the cold dark and wet night. Rode back this morning ... cold, wet and windy. Does anything change? Good pace south last night, crap pace north this morning. Maybe something to do with winds.

Usually moron or two on the road ... guess nothing changes.

Ocean was whipping it up this morning.

Regards
Andrew

[Strawburger]

Had a great trip in this morning. Nothing really unusual happened, just that it was the first trip back from the operation and dramas with my health i've had in the last 2 weeks. The kind city that is Sydney even threw at me a driver who didn't look and almost hit me turning from a side street in Pyrmont. I got the "don't look sideways to acknowledge the person" look as she drove up next to me at the next traffic lights.

How i've missed commuting. Beats the dirty overcrowded public transport system any day of the week!

[Missy24]

It was a wonderful ride apart from the fact that I was running late cause I didn't get out of bed till 08:15, the pain in my thigh every time I pushed my right pedal down and I wish that pedestrians would cross at the designated crossing area this includes ducks

[Runjikol]

My first commute for quite a while. Took the Bad Boy out, mounted up with Carradice SQR Tour which holds a decent amount, and tried out all my new gear in the 'wilds'. The Spiderfire B200 light is surprisingly powerful. Lights up the sides of the road well and since I've mounted it with a left bias I can see the left edge of the trail when under the trees away from street lights.

Everything was going great, aside from a littel cold-weather numbness in a few fingertips and my big toes, until I made it to Boronia Road and hear my Carradice SQR Tour bag rubbing on the back tire. "Damn!" I thought. "I did that clamp up tight." Luckily the peculiar yellow glow of the sodium-halides of Boronia Rd. make it through the gap in the bridge and provided much needed extra illumination as I examined my poor handywork. Clamp had slid down about 10mm. Oh well, try out my new multi-tool. In the dark I tried the wrong hex-key and thought, "Great: bought a dud multi-tool." But I persisted and remounted the SQR clamp as high as it would go.

Onwards I rode and dawn broke the birds' slumber and I made it another 400m before the SQR Tour was rubbing on the tire again. Pretty annoyed at myself I dismounted to check my malfeasance. The mount was fine so it must be the seat pole. Awesome! The clamp for the pole says 6Nm max. I could easily treble that with a hex key so I just did it up oil-filter tight: hand-tight plus 2/3rds of a turn.

Ah the joys of riding in the early morning light: crooked seat.

Back to it at last. The rest of the rid went well. When I made it to Tirhuatan Park I was starting to bonk and getting that feeling like one would eject the contents on their stomach. I pulled over at my favourite little bench and had some water: too cold to drink fast so I had to warm each mouthful before swallowing. On top of that my damned spectacles kept fogging up whilst I was still.

Onwards and I was getting into a nice cadence with minimal burn in the quads. I was pleased to see Dandenong council had rebuilt an entire service lane with lovely smooth concrete and bitumen. I traversed this before reaching the next piece of shared path that was my home stretch. Getting quite tired at this stage I welcomed my creatine recovery drink and hit the shower.

----

On the return leg I started to get lactic quite fast. Again I stopped in Tirhuatan Park, at a different bench, and gave my muscles a little reprieve. The threatening clouds were beginning to pass and gave way to a gorgeous night sky with a few streaks lit by the crescent moon. By the time I made it to Boronia Road again my Spiderfire was too dim to go more than a fast running pace and with the Cateye HL500 halogen as well it was enough to keep going. That didn't last long. As I came out from under Eastlink the lights were dimming and I was glad to know I had my lovely wife on standby for a lift. Noting the vast amounts of spare light from those sodium-halides that most call a streetlight I felt inspired to make ths short climb to Cold Rock for a milkshake.

Total: 60kms.

[Aushiker]

G'day

Nice read Runjikol. Thanks for sharing.

Regards
Andrew

[Aushiker]

G'day

I had to come into the office this today for a meeting (normally work at home on Fridays) so decided to take the Freeway path for a change. Silly move, as of course I got a puncture in the front. As it was only a few km from work, I pumped up the tyre and continued riding. As I approached Hodges Drive I spotted a young dude participating in a little art work on the overpass bridge below me. I stopped to consider my options, and as I did another cyclist saw him as well and turned around to have a word to the dude. Well since he stopped, I decided to go back him up and rode down for a "chat" with the kid. Had a little fun trying to take his photo (which of course in the heat of the moment I stuffed up) and the other cyclist had a little scuffle before the kid decided that two on one was not in his best interest. Anyway had a chat to the cyclist before just making it to the office before the front went flat again. Also reported the graffiti at Goodbye Graffiti. Not sure what will come of it.

Felt good to step in anyway ... bit of community spirit or something.

Regards
Andrew

[casual_cyclist]

G'day

Nice read Runjikol. Thanks for sharing.

Regards
Andrew

Andrew, if you are riding home this afternoon take care if there are strong winds.

[Aushiker]

G'day

Nice read Runjikol. Thanks for sharing.

Regards
Andrew

Andrew, if you are riding home this afternoon take care if there are strong winds.

Thanks Greg. Heading off as soon as I changed my front tube. The riding to Freo a bit later. More worried about tomorrow mornings ride with the 2.5 group. Going to get really killed I suspect

Andrew

[casual_cyclist]

Heading off as soon as I changed my front tube. The riding to Freo a bit later. More worried about tomorrow mornings ride with the 2.5 group. Going to get really killed I suspect

From BOM

A strong cold front is approaching from the west and is expected to affect the
Southwest District late afternoon and extend to remaining parts including the
Perth Metropolitan area in the evening. Widespread damaging winds to 100
kilometres per hour may result in damage to property. In isolated areas locally
destructive gusts in excess of 125 kilometres per hour may cause significant
damage or destruction of property. Thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are also
possible with the passage of the front.

Probably should be careful particularly when riding to Freo.

Conditions are expected to ease overnight but showery and windy weather should
continue ahead of the passage of a stronger cold front on Saturday evening.
FESA State Emergency Service [SES] advises people to secure loose objects, move
vehicles under cover and stay inside away from windows. If caught outside find
shelter away from trees, powerlines, storm water drains and streams. Boat owners
should make sure their boats are securely moored. Take extra care on the roads
as flooding is possible.

And you are going riding? Might want to make an entry in my lost perspective thread... viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16828

[mikedufty]

Had my first wet commute for a while going home last night. Actually very pleasant as the rain stopped quite quickly, and south of the river everything was dry. Still have a nice coating of fine white sand all over the bike this morning.

This morning I took the motorbike due to the forecast. Filtered through grid locked traffic all the way up Orrong Road to the GFF, which I later discovered was due to a motorcyclist killed there at 5:30 this morning. Makes you think, maybe getting wet and mucky on the cycle path in the rain is not so bad.

[casual_cyclist]

Had my first wet commute for a while going home last night. Actually very pleasant as the rain stopped quite quickly, and south of the river everything was dry. Still have a nice coating of fine white sand all over the bike this morning.

This morning I took the motorbike due to the forecast. Filtered through grid locked traffic all the way up Orrong Road to the GFF, which I later discovered was due to a motorcyclist killed there at 5:30 this morning. Makes you think, maybe getting wet and mucky on the cycle path in the rain is not so bad.

I got stuck in a bus on Orrong Road for 20 mins this morning. I ended up bailing on the bus and walking to the train station and catching a train. I was late to work and annoyed about the hold up until I found out a motorcyclist had been killed. I felt embarrassed for being so annoyed. It reminded me as a driver to watch out and as a cyclist to be careful. Take care out there everyone.

[Aushiker]

G'day

Aborted commute to Fremantle tonight. Was all good riding until around Canning Bridge, when the rain hit and hit hard. Visibility was really bad for a fair bit of the riding from then on.

I got on to Point Walter Road (after the climb) and found the rear drifting around. Thought I would try pumping it up but it only lasted about 500 metres. In the meantime, I had got my second torch out of the saddle bag when I stopped to pump up the rear and them managed to not zipped up the saddle bag properly and dropped my keys on the road. So actually grateful that the tyre went down quickly as I realised what had happened. Had to back track in the rain to find them.

I then started walking looking for somewhere half decent (a street light that actually put out some light would have done the trick) to fix the rear flat before giving up on that idea and rung Anne to see if she could pick me up. We had to go to the airport so I knew trying to do a repair in the rain etc would push the time envelope a bit.

Anyway she agreed to come and get me and I continued walking, only to get to a well lit shopping area (off my normal route). Could have fixed the bloody flat after all, but might have still be late

All up, cut my commute short by about 8 km, but it was good to get out of the rain and cold and into the car. Wind was really picking up nearer to Fremantle too.

Andrew

[nickobec]

Just the 2.4km commute to the train this morning, nice little ride, the exceptions a couple of drivers doing silly but not too dangerous things.

Ride home from train at 1830 was a different story rain was not too bad, except the headwind made it almost vertical.

[mikesbytes]

Rode from Sydney CBD to Bass Hill (Dunc Grey). After Olympic Park you hit wide quiet flat roads, perfect for cycling and don't see a single other bike, must be a cultural thing

[Aushiker]

Rode from Sydney CBD to Bass Hill (Dunc Grey). After Olympic Park you hit wide quiet flat roads, perfect for cycling and don't see a single other bike, must be a cultural thing

Something to do with the neighboured? (I don't know Sydney...)

Andrew