commuting

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by tcklyde
What an awesome ride! I'm constantly stopping at lights (or running them and keeping an eye out for traps -- Cambridge, MA cops ticket bikers constantly) and always regret getting to my office right as I'n getting into the office...

I used to work with a guy who road every day, no matter what the weather. I honestly have no idea how he did it -- Boston weather can get pretty ugly in the winter. I took one spill on the ice near heavy traffic and decided the subway is a perfectly fine option on snowy days...

Hey neighbor! I am in Medford, near the Somerville line. Last year I was working in Boston and caught the bike commuting bug. It is about 9 miles each way to South Station. Now that I am working in Marlborough, I started thinking "can I do it?". I was worried about traffic, but I sat down with a map and found some excellent routes over back roads that only add a few more miles to the trip.

Unfortunately, I messed up my knee last wednesday, so I am going to have to take a break for a few weeks :-(

I have never gotten a ticket in Boston or Cambridge, that would be a drag!

Traffic tickets on a bike....here that would be considered maximum mega-bragging rights, especially if it was a speeding ticket. I'd have the damn thing framed and would dine out on the story for weeks.

I spent the better part of last summer trying to trip the police department's mobile radar trailer....but have never **quite** made it. 🙂

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by tacomee
Man, I totally understand about the ice! It's only icy here two weeks out of the year at most and I can just barely keep riding. 3 months of snow would be way too much. I also seem to crash on the snow every year-- but becuase drivers here in western Washinton State are whimpy snow drivers who stay off the roads, it's just me riding really slow on a junk bike-- except for all the little [censored] kids chucking snowballs at me.

My favorite part of my commute is racing kids on BMX bikes on these dirt paths down by RR tracks--

ya snow and ice is the worst invention ever, so useless in my opinion. if i couldnt be in california for the six weeks off in december january between semesters (yup i said six weeks, neener neener) i think id go nuts. the other bad thing about the east is summer t storms, but fun to run in at least so i guess not so bad.

I ride 8 to 10 miles each way on either my Bianchi Veloce or my IBEX Alpine (when I feel like getting off the street) wearing bike shorts and bike shoes with a backpack or panniers.
Up hill both ways and headwinds coming and going. I go through city streets to golden gate park where I take trails if I am on my mountain bike. Other times I take the longer route through the Presidio which is a beutiful ride along the coast with the goldengate bridge and the bay and the Bay Bridge to Pac Bell park. I don't usually ride when it rains but I am putting togaether a beater to ride in the rain and for short trips.

I used to cycle to school everyday, i did that for 4 years. Each way involved cutting across two huge valleys and it was so tiring, by the time i left school though i was doing it really fast and when i got to school i wasn't sweating at all, i used to race my maths teacher somedays, he lived about half a mile from me and he used to drive and get stuck in loads of traffic so i used to beat him 😄 . Now though i am at Uni, the only times i cycle are to get food and visit people, i try and do some training rides at the weekend though. I ride a Giant XTC SE4, but for the first two years of riding into school i was on a rickety, old Reynolds 531 bike, very fast but it did hurt my back a lot when i went over potholes with my bag full of books🙁

I never thought i would become one of these people but could you please take a sec to fill out my survey!? I need it for my degree project in industrial design....would REALLY appreciate it! cheers!!!

surveymonkey.comT9K93DJOpen ↗

I ride throughout the winter. The tires I'll be using this winter have some 244 studs each. First winter was almost snow free, but with occasional icy patches. Tires with 106 studs did OK then. As long as I was able to see that I was approaching an icy patch, even that modest stud count was enough to keep me upright. Those tires had two shortcomings:
- the tread pattern did really poorly in soft snow
- not enough studs to deal with rutted snow and icy ridges

Next year I ran 160 studs, somewhat wider tires. Did better in snow conditions, but sluggish on bare ground. Still not enough to deal with ruts and ridges.

Then on to a pair of 288 studs. Heavy, sluggish beasts. Did fine in snow, when I dared let enough air out. Did rather well in ruts and ridges too.

My hope for the 244 studs I'll be using this winter is that they'll be a bit less sluggish on bare ground (they're narrower), while still have about the same rut/ridge capacity as the 288. The 288s will go on my MTB, and I'll just grab that bike if there's a lot of recent snow.

Honestly, my limiting factor is recent snow.
"Dry" conditions, I have one hour +/- 5 minutes each way, 2-4 inches of mushy snow on top of that will easily add 30 minutes. They tend to be beautiful, epic rides in an otherwise abandoned urban landscape, but beauty isn't everything. Getting home with some time to spare is quite nice too.

Biggest fear is flats.
I'm one of those who'll sweat every time my heart gets going - no exception.
I've heard all the nice theories of starting out cold/underdressed etc, but it ain't working.
For my regular ride it's a manageable issue, not much bad can happen an otherwise healthy chap in an hour of exposure. But having to stop - then it turns nasty.The soaked clothes will begin to cool, and getting back to temperature just isn't doable. This is assuming that I'm able to retain enough dexterity to manage the repair in the first place, which is far from certain.
I've even experimented with an airless/airfree tire which I studded, but the "rubber" turns so hard in cold that I'm concerned about damages to the wheel.

We'll see, at worst, there's taxi.