Cycled in from Yarmouth today via Route 1 for the whole length. I thought the 30 degree temps. would be a problem but, no. I chose the right clothing.
0:46.48 minutes
14.28 miles
18.2 mph average speed
on the ride home:
0:41:41 minutes
14.15 miles
20.3 mph avb. S.
and that's on a Trek 520 with rack, panniner full of clothes, tool kit, water and light system. How fast would I be on a Felt?
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Cycle-commuting
I live 50 miles from where i work. The driving can be...well, long.
But this year I finally figured out a way to get some extra riding in and bike commute to work. So what I did was first remove the passenger seat in myToyota Tercel to get my bike to fit. This does two things: First, removing the four bolts to the seat was easy and WAY cheaper than buying a rack for the car. Second, if i take Trek to work, it is inside the car and safer from possible bicycle-theives.
Now with that done and lost of drive time to think about it, I realized that I could park my car in Yarmouth at a 'Park n Ride' commuter spot, and ride in from there. 14+ miles, about 45 minutes.
While the logistics are a bit more complicated than being able to go directly from home to work, it is very doable. The only things I must account for are extra time in the lot, getting the bike in, out, wheel on, bags and day stuff organized and the 45 minutes to get in, plus the 15 in the shower. But i got the parking lot time to about 10-15 minutes.
I also cant do this everday, because of equipment I frequently must haul for work. So one day at a job site would gobble up 3 days of ride time. That is a bummer but acceptable.
Anyway, last night was my first commute home in the dark. I have lit my self up with two rear blinky lights(Mars 3.0's) , two white foward lights: a Blackburn X3 as the main and a 3 led 'headlamp' attached to the fork (which lights the spokes up wonderfully) , and a tire fly on the rear valve cap. I also added a small blinking light on the rear of my helmet. As christmas tree like as possible.
It appeard to me that all the cars last night saw me and gave me my due space. The only thing i really worried about was flatting. and my concerns were amplified after mile 5 when i heard this glassy-clang sound under both wheels. Luckily though nothing happend. I made it in 46 minutes last night at 18.2 mph average. A decent speed. I have done it faster, I have done it slower. Im happy, plus i got in 29 miles in for the day.
Cool.
But this year I finally figured out a way to get some extra riding in and bike commute to work. So what I did was first remove the passenger seat in myToyota Tercel to get my bike to fit. This does two things: First, removing the four bolts to the seat was easy and WAY cheaper than buying a rack for the car. Second, if i take Trek to work, it is inside the car and safer from possible bicycle-theives.
Now with that done and lost of drive time to think about it, I realized that I could park my car in Yarmouth at a 'Park n Ride' commuter spot, and ride in from there. 14+ miles, about 45 minutes.
While the logistics are a bit more complicated than being able to go directly from home to work, it is very doable. The only things I must account for are extra time in the lot, getting the bike in, out, wheel on, bags and day stuff organized and the 45 minutes to get in, plus the 15 in the shower. But i got the parking lot time to about 10-15 minutes.
I also cant do this everday, because of equipment I frequently must haul for work. So one day at a job site would gobble up 3 days of ride time. That is a bummer but acceptable.
Anyway, last night was my first commute home in the dark. I have lit my self up with two rear blinky lights(Mars 3.0's) , two white foward lights: a Blackburn X3 as the main and a 3 led 'headlamp' attached to the fork (which lights the spokes up wonderfully) , and a tire fly on the rear valve cap. I also added a small blinking light on the rear of my helmet. As christmas tree like as possible.
It appeard to me that all the cars last night saw me and gave me my due space. The only thing i really worried about was flatting. and my concerns were amplified after mile 5 when i heard this glassy-clang sound under both wheels. Luckily though nothing happend. I made it in 46 minutes last night at 18.2 mph average. A decent speed. I have done it faster, I have done it slower. Im happy, plus i got in 29 miles in for the day.
Cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)