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

[Summernight]

I had an interesting obstacle on my commute this morning -a car in the bike line negotiating its way around two coffins lying in the left hand lane of Loftus St at the top of the hill at Wellington St.

There was a guy in a suit waving traffic around them, and a van with it's back door open on the curb a little further up, which I presume the coffins fell out of.

Remind me not to use that funeral transport service when I die...

[Lizzy]

I had an interesting obstacle on my commute this morning -a car in the bike line negotiating its way around two coffins lying in the left hand lane of Loftus St at the top of the hill at Wellington St.

There was a guy in a suit waving traffic around them, and a van with it's back door open on the curb a little further up, which I presume the coffins fell out of.

Oh dear Lloyd Welp, I'll have to remember that next time I think I'm having a bad day ...

[KonaCommuter]

Yep, 7am start in Nth Sydney, coming from Dural.

Wow, long commute

26km, which is only 5km longer than my old Marsfield to City commute. It seemed long when I started, but it is a pretty good ride on mostly quiet back streets. The first 4 min is the hardest part as I have to climb New Line Rd. After that it is pretty cruisy (and hilly)

26km's?


I'm thinking of moving and that'd be the commute one way. Not sure if I'm ready for 340km a week

[clydesmcdale]

Slow roll home after feeling pretty sorry for myself after this morning's crash and slide leading to a pretty large amount of skin lost, some bruising to the upper thigh/hip and a very sore shoulder with limited movement. On the codeines tonight, disappointingly take tomorrow off.

So pissed the camera was off.

[rheicel]

Commute vid for today. Nothing much, just wanted to flood YouTube as much as I can, lol

[queequeg]

Rheicel: At 54 seconds - the give-way dilemma: There are markings on the shared path you are riding that indicate that you should give-way to the cars (the dotted lines crossing your path), however I also noticed that whoever drew the paint lines also decided to keep the solid shared path markings continuing over the intersection as well which makes it confusing as that could indicate a stop sign for cars (which, if I'm looking at the thumbnail of the video correctly there is a red stop sign for the cars that indicates that they should be giving way to the shared path). If there were no dotted lines crossing your path then I'd say the cars would have to give-way (they are crossing a road-related area and this forum has established that in most places cars entering roads have to give-way to pedestrians etc. on the road or road related area). Due to the stop sign, I believe the black car should have given way to you. But I'm sure someone else here will have a differing opinion. :

Thanks Summernight. There is a stop sign for cars before they can enter the shared path. I will just always let the car go, as I think even if I have the right of way, in a collision situation, we(cyclist) are always in a disadvantage.

The dotted line is not a give way line, it is the guide line so the cars know where the lane is. There is a stop line and stop sign for the cars before the shared path, but 9 out 10 cars ignore the sign and drive directly out onto the path without looking.
They are currently demolishing the shell service station on the site, which will be replaced by a 20 storey residential tower. Hopefully they'll fix that stupid driveway at the same time!

[queequeg]

Wow, long commute

26km, which is only 5km longer than my old Marsfield to City commute. It seemed long when I started, but it is a pretty good ride on mostly quiet back streets. The first 4 min is the hardest part as I have to climb New Line Rd. After that it is pretty cruisy (and hilly)

26km's?


I'm thinking of moving and that'd be the commute one way. Not sure if I'm ready for 340km a week

Umm, that is my commute one way, but 52km per work day is 260km a week. Do you work 6 days?
The legs get used to it!

[DavidS]

I still think your name tailwind describes your luck with wind

If only it were so...looks like the wind going to be all over the place today...and the BoM radar looks scary

Yep, quite a day for weather today in Melbourne. Got a bit of rain on the way in. Had to go between workplaces in the mid afternoon and rode in jeans and a shirt, luckily very little rain. The trip home had wind going all over the place and some rain. Down Beach Rd the wind is always stronger so I really cop it!

Clydesmcdale that looks nasty. I hate the painted lines in the wet, much trepidation crossing them.

Going out straight from work so I'll miss tomorrow's weather as I'll be on the train. We'll see what Friday serves up.

DS

[TailWind]

Commute back yesterday afternoon was in moderate rain all the way, took almost 2 hours in the wet and windy conditions. Surprisingly, I wasn't totally drenched, just somewhat damp. Boots held up fine this time, and the Ground Effect Stormtrooper jacket did its job.
A fresh Marathon Plus is now on the rear, let's hope it lasts a bit - this is my 3rd new rear tyre in about 6700km.

Looked at the radar this morning, and Melbourne looked to be seriously wet again, so got out early, straight into light rain, which continued all the way into the CBD.
Had a moment when I came across a fallen tree across the Darebin Creek trail - saw it quite late and had to take emergency evasive braking and swerving action onto the grass to avoid it.
Despite the constant rain for over an hour, I felt quite comfortable and again was only damp, rather than soaked, when I arrived in the CBD.

[VRE]

The motorists of Melbourne demonstrated yet again this morning why so many people start bicycle commuting, then give it up. The continual harassment in the form of unnecessary horn use, verbal abuse, deliberate close passes, etc. (all of which I got this morning) would discourage a lot of people from continuing to commute by bicycle, and so they would give up and return to other modes of commuting .

[gretaboy]

Yesterday arvo a big storm front came in...I was watching it closely on BOM as it was coming from where I had to go. Was a close call really, as I was leaving the office I could hear the rain on the roof and had myself resigned to the fact that I was going to get wet going home, despite seeing sunshine in the distance. Luckily for me, after 500 metres or so the rain stopped and all I had to contend with going home was seriously wet roads. This of course caused the leggings, booty covers and shoes to get wet, which in turn caused my tootsies to become quite cold.

This morning was wet roads still, but no fog. Shoes got wet again and it seemed the longer I rode the colder it got. The bike is absolutely filthy, crud is thick, will need a good clean this coming weekend.

##Edit: Forgot to mention..had serious motivation issues this morning..due to weather. I was struggling with the thought of going out into the wet cold world on the pushie. Luckily for me, the car had bugger all petrol and I am in some riding "challenges", all of which forced my hand to harden up. Initial part of the ride, first 15 k's wasnt the best but I slowly warmed up to it after that.

[jasonc]

wet roads, warm enough for summer gear as it has been all week.

[find_bruce]

My toes were a bit cool last night, might be time to go to long sleeves

[FuzzyDropbear]

Last night was the first commute on my old roadie project... Wet and rainy with steel rims, unfortunately that meant no brakes. haha, what an intro into roadies, oh well, took me back to my childhood, foot on the back wheel braking and slide it like a penguin.

After this mornings commute I've finally cracked 10,000km on the bike(s), took 2.5 years (roughly) but got there. So that means I've gotta have my 10k party (in which all participants must arrive on a bike), my Shogun is sitting on 9,200km so I'll have to have a party for that too... any excuse eh?

[Summernight]

The motorists of Melbourne demonstrated yet again this morning why so many people start bicycle commuting, then give it up. The continual harassment in the form of unnecessary horn use, verbal abuse, deliberate close passes, etc. (all of which I got this morning) would discourage a lot of people from continuing to commute by bicycle, and so they would give up and return to other modes of commuting .

Yup, after having a good motorist experience yesterday I got the usual this morning.
I had the 'get out of my way, bloody cyclist' honk. And this was after the car had pulled alongside and had a clear lane as I'd finally reached the separated bike lane on Albert St and was moving left to get out of the vehicle lane and enter the bike lane. The female passenger gave me the death stare too. I mumbled about them needing to read the road rules.

Then there were two MGIF idiots who just HAD to floor it to pass the cyclists to stop in the red light line of traffic 20 metres up on Collins St. One car even had to stop half in the tram lane because I was claiming the lane but he just had to pass to get 10 metres not in front (because I reached the traffic queue just as he did). And the 2nd guy went well over the 40kph speed limit (as I was doing 38kph at the time) just to get in front of the couple of cyclists and get stuck behind 3 or 4 cars at the lights as we all sail past all these cars in our little bike lane and slot in front of the first vehicle. Why? Why Mr Mercedes?

On a good note I had a considerate motorist actually wait for me at an intersection instead of trying to floor it to turn right and get in front of me. Kudos to them.

Last night: Noticed a cyclist who came to the front of the queue on Collins near Exhibition had a hole in his full length knicks right where 'the Sun don't shine'. I was tossing up whether to tell him or not. Decided not to at that point and just sat behind him trying not to stare when he got up out of the saddle.
Then he went through the red light at the top of Collins and Spring St (not a it's-about-to-turn-green red light but a I've-been-red-for-a-while-and-will-be-red-for-a-little-while-more red) and then he also went through the redder-than-red pedestrian light on Macarthur St while I was still waiting for the red light on Collins and Spring. So I caught up to him on Albert St as he turns right into Albert like I do, passed him about halfway down Albert (as I had to wait for another light on the corner of Albert and Macarthur) and I try and tell him "You have a hole in your pants" to which he replies "On ya love". So I'm a bit nonplussed at that response to what I said, so I think 'Okay he hasn't heard me' so I turn my head around and say it again but clearly he wasn't listening and just looks blankly at me.

Anyway, I get to the Hoddle St lights and there is a cyclist already waiting at the lights so I dutifully slot in behind him (even though I know I'll most likely be passing him 30 metres after the intersection). Then 20 seconds later Mr Holier-Than-Thou goes past me and stops alongside and a bit forwards of the first cyclist waiting at the lights. So this first cyclist, being a polite man, lets him go first when the lights change, only for Mr Holier-Than-Thou to proceed slowly, wobble over the whole bike lane and show exactly why I passed him previously. So then I have to pass both the polite cyclist in front of me and this slow cyclist. What was the point, Mr Holey??? Yes, I am a girl, but please don't be condescending to me and think you're faster when I've shown you differently. Oh and YOU HAVE A HOLE IN YOUR PANTS WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE...

[queequeg]

Not having a great week. After giving my bike a total overhaul on the long weekend, I forgot to reset the limit screws on the rear derailleur, so with a new crank and cassette, it was just a tiny bit too generous. Shifting to an easy gear for the last steep climb to my house, the chain went into the spokes. Damage: 1 broken, 4 almost broken, 4 borderline. Replaced them all, went to pump up tyre and found new inner tube had been punctured by the nipple of the broken spoke, no doubt from the bullet like effect when spoke tension is released suddenly. So, new tube as well.
Riding to work this morning I then notice my front wheel is wobbling quite badly for no apparent reason. I couldn't see much in the dark so I pulled over and checked all the spokes to see if any were loose....and found one had broken off at the flange on the non-disc side. Must have happened last night. What are the chances of spokes on the front and rear going at the same time?

[rheicel]

Not having a great week. After giving my bike a total overhaul on the long weekend, I forgot to reset the limit screws on the rear derailleur, so with a new crank and cassette, it was just a tiny bit too generous. Shifting to an easy gear for the last steep climb to my house, the chain went into the spokes. Damage: 1 broken, 4 almost broken, 4 borderline. Replaced them all, went to pump up tyre and found new inner tube had been punctured by the nipple of the broken spoke, no doubt from the bullet like effect when spoke tension is released suddenly. So, new tube as well.
Riding to work this morning I then notice my front wheel is wobbling quite badly for no apparent reason. I couldn't see much in the dark so I pulled over and checked all the spokes to see if any were loose....and found one had broken off at the flange on the non-disc side. Must have happened last night. What are the chances of spokes on the front and rear going at the same time?

Mate, let me know what type of wheels they are, I can loan you some if I have a similar set in my garage.

[rheicel]

This is how my commute to work goes this morning!

[KonaCommuter]

Umm, that is my commute one way, but 52km per work day is 260km a week. Do you work 6 days?
The legs get used to it!

Google maps reckons my commute would be 30km each way. But to be honest I'd probable catch the train in to work (still have to ride from the station) then ride home. And yes, I do work 6 days a week with the last day a real beast physically. Hmm, on Saturdays I should be able to take my bike on the return leg...

[warthog1]

This is how my commute to work goes this morning!

I'm loving the music on your videos there Rhiecel . Had to watch them again for the music

[rheicel]

Today's commute to home was a breeze.

[rheicel]

I'm loving the music on your videos there Rhiecel . Had to watch them again for the music

I am just putting random music, whatever Windows Movie Maker is giving me.

[warthog1]

I really liked that first one, gave the commute a very different feel, go windows movie maker

[Summernight]

My bike is dirty...

All this semi rain (not heavy stuff- just constant drizzle) is really kicking the gunk off the road and onto the bike and my overshoes on the commutes. Boo.

[queequeg]

Not having a great week. After giving my bike a total overhaul on the long weekend, I forgot to reset the limit screws on the rear derailleur, so with a new crank and cassette, it was just a tiny bit too generous. Shifting to an easy gear for the last steep climb to my house, the chain went into the spokes. Damage: 1 broken, 4 almost broken, 4 borderline. Replaced them all, went to pump up tyre and found new inner tube had been punctured by the nipple of the broken spoke, no doubt from the bullet like effect when spoke tension is released suddenly. So, new tube as well.
Riding to work this morning I then notice my front wheel is wobbling quite badly for no apparent reason. I couldn't see much in the dark so I pulled over and checked all the spokes to see if any were loose....and found one had broken off at the flange on the non-disc side. Must have happened last night. What are the chances of spokes on the front and rear going at the same time?

Mate, let me know what type of wheels they are, I can loan you some if I have a similar set in my garage.

It's all sorted. Replaced the busted spoke without having to remove the tyre.
Had a small snag when two of the rotor bolts refused to budge, and I ended up stripping the head on them

after a full frontal assault with a chefs blowtorch, the bolts were pried loose with pliers and unscrewed.

Front wheel is now good again. It does help when you have a drawer of spare spokes on hand for mini-Disasters!