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

[jasonc]

Step one: commute once!

+1

[g-boaf]

I commuted twice - today. In to office and back. First time since early 2022 I think.

Short way both directions (11km each way) because I was in a hurry.

[bychosis]

Last week i commuted 4/5 days. First time I've done that many in a week in quite a while. Nothing too exciting. Darker mornings have pushed back my work hours a little do there been a glut of school kids on the trails. Varying levels of reaction from jumping out of the way to complete oblivion.

Made it home on Wednesday with about 10min to spare before an almighty storm hit. Was watching it and not sparing the horses.

Couple of days I shortened my home bound route and was reminded how much more pleasant avoiding cars is. Well worth a longer route home to stay away from arvo traffic.

Chose to drive on Friday to rest my legs in prep for a decent Park Run effort on Saturday which may have paid off with a 5th best time and best time in 5 years.

Today it's gonna rain but I rode in this morning anyway with a few drops from the sky but no rain. Depending on his much rain this arvo will determine how much bush trail is included for the home stretch.

[bychosis]

Yep. It rained and continued to rain this afternoon. Left all my gear at work and braved the trails. Plenty of water on the trails but not a lot of mud for the most part. Couple of little creeks were a lot deeper than usual, including one where my foot got dunked to ankle deep at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Last bit of open power easement was very nuddy with the top layer of clay sticking to the tyres and then flicking clumps everywhere.

Thoroughly enjoyed it once I got wet even if the drivetrain didnt.

[jasonc]

A couple of interesting events at work lately. Our bike cage isn't great but it is functional. A few of us have put pool noodles over the bars. So we are protective of our spots. One of the guys who has done this has had his spot taken. The solution - there's a couple of abandoned bikes in the cage. He now locks one of the abandoned bikes in his spot.

Tonight leaving work the roller door was broken. So cars were stuck. I turned around, went up through the lift and out the front door. Rang my old boss when I got home. He was still waiting...

Update on the poor security of the bike cage at work. Got this in an email last night (building names changed to protect the idiocy):

• The roller door to the carpark at Funny House One and Two will remain closed at all times except between the hours of 7:00am – 9:30am weekdays. All vehicles (including scooters/bikes) must swipe when entering and exiting the carpark. There is to be no tailgating. Please also ensure you are waiting for the roller door to completely lift before entering or leaving.
• Security has been engaged and will be onsite daily between 7:00am – 11:00am. Security have been requested to ensure all individuals are swiping their access cards when entering and exiting the carpark, regardless of whether you are in a vehicle (car/bike/scooter) or on foot.
• The bike / scooter cage door is being improved for functionality and security, this will include perspex glass and a door alarm system which will sound if the gate is not closed properly. For those staff that use this facility, please ensure the gate is being closed securely when entering and leaving each time.
• The lifts in Funny House One will now require swipe access to gain access to the lower ground and basement levels. This has already been implemented within the Funny House Two lifts.

[zebee]

So once you enter you can never leave?

[jasonc]

So once you enter you can never leave?

Was previously named hotel California
It's swipe access to exit

[bychosis]

So once you enter you can never leave?

Was previously named hotel California
It's swipe access to exit

So they are using "security" to enable access tracking to make sure you put in the full hours?

[jasonc]

So once you enter you can never leave?

Was previously named hotel California
It's swipe access to exit

So they are using "security" to enable access tracking to make sure you put in the full hours?

nah. it's multi-tenant buildings. we have timesheets for recording our times

[jasonc]

hit by a car this morning stopped at a red light. I'm ok. rear wheel is buckled. (Uber) driver stopped

[Lizzy]

Sheeeesh jasonc this is no darn good, not what I want to see logging back in after 19 years or whatever its been

Won't whinge (much) about my ride then, tired after swimming training

[find_bruce]

Glad to hear you're ok jason - no doubt the Uber drivers response was "It's not my fault cyclists never stop for red lights so I was taken by surprise"

[jasonc]

i wasn't listening to any excuses. the video has what happened

[Retrobyte]

That sucks, but good that you are unhurt. Beggars belief that a car can hit a stationary object if the driver is actually looking ahead. Assume they were on their phone choosing their next pickup?

How fast were they going, Jason?

[Retrobyte]

Mixed bag of weather in Sydney this week but I commuted 4 days in a row. Got wet on the ride home Monday and today on my day off the bike needs a major clean and lube. I put the mudguards on after Monday but there's still mud caked on the frame from riding on the shared path through a park on my commute where there is a lot of work going on above the path, so any rain means the path becomes covered in mud.

[find_bruce]

Son's school bus got cancelled so a late start for me - man it was getting warm

[jasonc]

Mixed bag of weather in Sydney this week but I commuted 4 days in a row. Got wet on the ride home Monday and today on my day off the bike needs a major clean and lube. I put the mudguards on after Monday but there's still mud caked on the frame from riding on the shared path through a park on my commute where there is a lot of work going on above the path, so any rain means the path becomes covered in mud.

time to join the chain waxing cult

[zebee]

That sucks, but good that you are unhurt. Beggars belief that a car can hit a stationary object if the driver is actually looking ahead. Assume they were on their phone choosing their next pickup?

How fast were they going, Jason?

Happened to me twice on the motorcycle (well different motorcycles)

One was the guy reckoned he was changing the station on the radio, and the other was the famous "foot slipped off brake onto accelerator".

[g-boaf]

I feared a storm today so left a bit earlier and continued working once I got home. Good choice because it did storm.

However it was pretty warm - something like 35°C. Nothing I’ve not ridden in before though.

I have been commuting on the Cervelo S5 because of the threat of rain. It’s a better bike for rainy conditions with disc brakes.

[g-boaf]

Twice this week did my old style 50km afternoon commute. It’s about 550m elevation.

Happy to do that - but I think the gates will soon be closing early at Prospect Dam so completely useless for many people.

Also last rant, the shared path on old Windsor Rd is rubbish with all the slow road crossings. You lose ages standing there waiting.

[Mububban]

Commuted 3 days this week on my road bike, and after another day of dodging smashed glass and broken concrete sections on the footpaths I ride on to avoid peak hour roads with no bike lane, I've finally ordered some smoother tyres for my dual sus MTB. I'll still ride the road bike on its 28mm tyres, but leading into winter my neglected MTB can also be used as a commuter with mudguards. 5kg heavier and easily spun out gearing, but much more comfortable, and much more robust for kerb hopping and dropping.

I got ~41mm Schwalbe Marathon Greenguard tyres with a reflective sidewall strip, $50 each. Should arrive by the end of March.

[Mububban]

Commuted 3 days this week on my road bike, and after another day of dodging smashed glass and broken concrete sections on the footpaths I ride on to avoid peak hour roads with no bike lane, I've finally ordered some smoother tyres for my dual sus MTB. I'll still ride the road bike on its 28mm tyres, but leading into winter my neglected MTB can also be used as a commuter with mudguards. 5kg heavier and easily spun out gearing, but much more comfortable, and much more robust for kerb hopping and dropping.

I got 27.5 x ~41mm Schwalbe Marathon Greenguard tyres with a reflective sidewall strip, $50 each. Should arrive by the end of March.

[bychosis]

After 2 weeks ago commuting 4/5 by bike life conspired against me and this morning was the first commute back, unless you count 3km back home from dropping the car off for a service befroe driving other car to work.

Last MTB commute was very muddy so I'd given the bike a good wash down and forgot about lubing the chain and instead fitted some lights because it's dark on early mornings now. Crunched the chain all the way to work. It's now had a quick coat of Canola spray in prefeeence to wd40 to get back home with a little less noise.

Will be taking the MTB route a bit easier this arvo after my brother got airlifted to hospital after an MTB trip gone wrong on Friday. He's got a long road of recovery ahead, but is in relatively good spirits and good hands. Don't need two of us injured on the family.

[jasonc]

Will be taking the MTB route a bit easier this arvo after my brother got airlifted to hospital after an MTB trip gone wrong on Friday. He's got a long road of recovery ahead, but is in relatively good spirits and good hands. Don't need two of us injured on the family.

that doesn't sounds great

time to join the chain waxing cult. no issues with lube there.

[bychosis]

Will be taking the MTB route a bit easier this arvo after my brother got airlifted to hospital after an MTB trip gone wrong on Friday. He's got a long road of recovery ahead, but is in relatively good spirits and good hands. Don't need two of us injured on the family.

that doesn't sounds great

He was quite lucky. His partner followed down the trail and heard him calling out, otherwise might have been stuck a lot longer. The police interviewed his partner and said something along the lines of "interviewing incase he dies and they need to report to the coroner"

time to join the chain waxing cult. no issues with lube there.

Maybe, but it sounds like proper work when 20 seconds for rock and roll apply and wipe off has worked well for years. Just need to remember to do it after the chain has had a bath.