Commute to work

[Mark B]

trapdoor2 wrote:

Mark B wrote: ...I was nearing the climb back into Redlands and caught sight of a roadie in my mirror, working hard to catch me. I dropped him on the climb and never saw him again.

Now, now Mark. You should know from BROL that you must caveat that statement with, "by 'roadie' I mean a geezer on a comfort bike, towing a trailer." We all know that these Silvio things don't really climb at all. :x If he had been a Cat 1 rider on a Bacchetta, you would have been toast. :twisted:

If there's one thing I've learned from BROL, it's to stay away from BROL. :roll: Actually, I haven't learned that too well, because I keep wandering back from time to time. :?

I could have had videotaped footage of me pulling away from Lance Armstrong hisself and some of those yahoos would only point out that I was gritting my teeth, demonstrating my over-expenditure of energy in controlling the pedal-steer inevitible on a "swing-boom" bike and as mentioned in the chronicles of all the great HPV racers that have attempted to race "swing-boom" bikes. Oh yeah, the handlebar was moving side to side, as well! :lol: :lol:

Mark

 

[trapdoor2]

Mark B wrote: I could have had videotaped footage of me pulling away from Lance Armstrong hisself and some of those yahoos would only point out that I was gritting my teeth, demonstrating my over-expenditure of energy in controlling the pedal-steer inevitible on a "swing-boom" bike and as mentioned in the chronicles of all the great HPV racers that have attempted to race "swing-boom" bikes. Oh yeah, the handlebar was moving side to side, as well! :lol: :lol:

Yeah, I find it most amusing. "...oh, but Lance would have caught you at mile 380 after your energy stores went negative from all that swinging about...!" I esp. like the fact that having one's boom swinging back and forth adds sooo much distance to the ride.

I envy y'all's ability to commute. I have to be home every day at lunch so until that little task goes away, I'm stuck. After that, I'm off and running. It is an easy 6mi to work...with two 20mi "after work" rides starting from my building every week. The big boss is in his mid 70's and leads the 'fast group' on both rides. I understand that one passes him at your own risk, he is evidently a hammer!

 

[Mark B]

trapdoor2 wrote: The big boss is in his mid 70's and leads the 'fast group' on both rides. I understand that one passes him at your own risk, he is evidently a hammer!

My boss is a cyclist, as well, which makes it nice. He understands if you're late because of a flat, or something like that. He also appreciates the size of sack it takes to ride that much.

Mark

 

[Mark B]

I've been commuting enough this year that it's usually hard to get worked up enough to bother with a ride report. Besides, if I posted commuting reports very often, they would get pretty boring.

Yesterday was quite warm, well into the nineties, so I suspected it might be a nicer commute this morning that usual. I was not disappointed. The thermometer said 65 degrees, where I have been commuting in high forties to low 50's. With that temperature, I was able, for the first time this year, to ride to work without the aid of arm warmers, leg warmers and all that crap. For that matter, I broke out a sleeveless jersey so I could impress all the homeless people in San Bernaghetto with my "Cruzbike guns"! :lol: :lol: I also wore my Shimano sandals so I can get my summer tan going. I actually wore sleeveless/sandals yesterday, so now I have my hybrid tan working; a fairly dark sock line and a lighter sandal tan to compliment my darker sleeved tan and lighter sleeveless tan. The thing I've been looking most forward to losing the *.* warmers is; the time savings getting dressed. All that stuff takes time to put on and take off. It saves a bunch of time to just ride naked. :shock:

The ride in was nice. I did get a little chilly going across the Santa Ana River wash. I thought for a minute I may have jumped the gun with the summer attire, but rode out of the chilly spot and was quite comfortable the rest of the way.

I got another opportunity to ride my short cranks and give the comparison. Again, I was impressed with the short bursts of quick speed you can acquire, but it's becoming more and more evident that as fast as they wind up, they only wind up so far and that's it. I'm becoming convinced to order me up a set of the Forza 165s and give those a go.

Hope you all have a great day!

Mark

 

[JonB]

Mark B wrote: I've been commuting enough this year that it's usually hard to get worked up enough to bother with a ride report. Besides, if I posted commuting reports very often, they would get pretty boring.

maybe it would. But then i can provide a commute report. I now has schwalbe Maraton plus infront, but only Maraton rear. However i filled them with lots of air, and it rides faster than ever. However the suspension is harder :-/

 

[Peder Torgersen]

On Friday on my ride home on my Sofrider for the first time ever for me I passed a truck driving in the same direction close to home. The road is narrow, many curves and the load was very wide so he had to hold a low speed. My speed wasn’t that high but it was new experience.

Peder

 

[JonB]

none commute report. I just finished a 2 hour ride of about 45 km. I had an average pulse of 154, and a top of 180. What kind of pulse are you guys cruzing with?

 

[Mark B]

JonB wrote: none commute report. I just finished a 2 hour ride of about 45 km. I had an average pulse of 154, and a top of 180. What kind of pulse are you guys cruzing with?

Even though I probably should, since I am nearing the age of the geez, I never track my heartrate. I stop just shy of my chest exploding. :shock:

Mark

 

[WhiteSilvio]

JonB wrote: none commute report. I just finished a 2 hour ride of about 45 km. I had an average pulse of 154, and a top of 180. What kind of pulse are you guys cruzing with?

Hi Jon,
When riding with my usual DF group, with some stronger riders on the front, and on the flat, we roll along at around +35kph, sometimes 40plus with a bit of a tailwind. At those speeds, in the draft of the others, my heart rate is 145-150. If I go on the front for a while I have no trouble getting my heart rate up into the low 160bpm,s. I generally back off if I'm heading for 170 as this can produce the "exploding chest" syndrome. (A bit like one wafer-thin after-dinner mint in effect; nasty )
But my heart rate is limited with age. Supposedly I should generally not be exceeding 166 bpm, but I have done for short periods, usually less than a minute or two.

I'm guessing your in your 30s?? So you should have an extra 20 or so heartbeat maximum "up your sleeve". {General guide for max HR of 220-age (in years)}

For normal riding, 25-30kph on flats, on my own, say 24-5kph average with hills, I sometimes won't see much over 135bpm. On these rides my average cadence is usually around 80rpm.

Regards, John R.

 

[Mark B]

I feel so.... inadequate. I don't track any of that stuff, I just ride my bike.

Mark

 

[Peder Torgersen]

I have never monitored my heart when riding. But today I should have on a very quiet road where you aren’t allowed to drive through unless you live there I met a dog on a long leash the road was blocked. The man didn’t see me or expect me and I was able to stop. I could feel my heart beating real hard do you think that equipment will withstand a shock like that? :roll: :lol:
It was a beautiful morning clear blue sky no wind. I had no problems stopping but I‘m going to upgrade the Sofrider and mount a front disk break.

Peder

 

[teacherbill]

Mark B wrote: I feel so.... inadequate. I don't track any of that stuff, I just ride my bike.

Mark

What time of the morning do you usually start your trek to work? Because I am notoriously early for everything, I leave at 0515 to be at school by 0600. The Burger King has "Joe" ready when I pass by. One of these days I will master drinking and riding.

 

[Mark B]

teacherbill wrote:

Mark B wrote: I feel so.... inadequate. I don't track any of that stuff, I just ride my bike.

Mark

What time of the morning do you usually start your trek to work? Because I am notoriously early for everything, I leave at 0515 to be at school by 0600. The Burger King has "Joe" ready when I pass by. One of these days I will master drinking and riding.

I leave the house at between 5:00 and 5:20. I start work at 7:00. This allows me time to shower/shave, have breakfast #2 and such before I get crackin'.

Mark

 

[Peder Torgersen]

Kristiansand the biggest city in our area (50 km from Grimstad) had a lot of rain in short period.
http://www.fvn.no/lokalt/kristiansand/article697752.ece
We also got rain but not that much I did have to use rain cloths on my ride home yesterday.
This morning when I left for work it wasn’t raining but after 2 minutes it started so I stopped and put on my rain cloths.
I always have them with me on my Sofrider and this time of year they are often used.

Peder

 

[Mark B]

As most of you know, I try to ride to work three times a week. The last few weeks have been tough. We had a trip to central California one weekend, my wife had pretty major surgery the next week, so my commuting miles really suffered the last few weeks. The change in weather has been all-of-a-sudden, too and this morning my thermometer said 47 degrees!

I always underestimate how long it takes to put on arm warmers, leg warmer and all that crap. I decided against toe warmers, didn't think it was cold enough to warrant long gloves. I was wrong about the gloves. :shock: Who knew that exposed skin and aluminum brake levers got so cold when it's 47 and you're rolling 25-30? At some point, the fingers just go numb, but there's always the concern about snapping off a frozen finger or two on a downshift. :shock:

Besides the error in judgement regarding my fingers, I got a late start hitting the road and was right at the cusp of where I usually make the call to abort the misson. Instead, I pedalled down the street in search of commuting Nirvana. By the time I dropped down into the wash, hitting speeds in excess of 30 mph, my fingers were freezing. We all know the drill, the answer to a brisk temp is a brisk pace to heat the body up. That's all well and good, but the fingers are the last darned place to get the excess heat. Anyway, I forced the pace so I could get to work in good time to allow for a liesurely shower and change before assuming the position.

Maybe I should mention I was riding a fresh rebuild of my commuter bike. There will be more details forthcoming, but the chain had worn out, as had the cassette and some other parts on the commuter. I had a pretty decent gruppo laying around with even like-new rubber on the wheels! So, I basically completely rebuilt the entire bike and this was the shakedown cruise. Most people would opt for shaking down a new build going around their own block, or at least within walking distance of home. Not me. I take off on a 20 mile ride in the cold and through some of the more undesirable areas of San Bernaghetto!

So, we're running late on a new build, freezing our a$$ off through the ghetto, not a worry in the world. I'm on an open stretch of road, nothing between me and the next stop light except for that friggin' chihuahua that appeared out of nowhere, complete with his bug-eyed deer-in-the headlight look. He's ready to poop, I'm ready to poop, each wondering which direction the other is going to take. Fortunately, we both guessed correct and I continued along my hurried, freezing and now damp in the back of my shorts way.

I didn't make up a whole lot of time, but I got to work in plenty of time, had no issues with the bike. I even managed to avoid running over a wayward chihuahua and my fingers thawed out, eventually. All is well!

Mark