My Morning Commute

[dasgeh]

My commute this morning was on a bike I borrowed from my Dad. It’s a Raleigh R500 Sport — a 1990s aluminum road bike with (drum roll please) rack attachments! Wonderful husband set it up this weekend with a rack, and I this morning was my inaugural ride. It’s a similar geometry to my Felt, but a bit heavier, and the handlebars are WIDE. And it has a triple up front. I have no idea what to do with that. (To be fair, the big chain ring is HUGE, and looks like it’s never been used). It felt like cheating on my dear road bike. But the rack-and-panniers set up was awesome.

My Dad is 6′ and this bike has to be a 53 (sticker says MD but fits just like my 53 Felt). There’s no way this fits him. Plus, he has other bikes that do fit him. I may be “borrowing” it for a long time…

[jrenaut]

@Terpfan 61913 wrote:

Sounds like you’re making progress though. I felt the opposite this morning and was really dragging, but it was my first full week riding in like three weeks because I had been out for 2 1/2 weeks. It’s amazing how quickly your body gets used to not riding.

Yeah, two weeks of vacation eating fried pub food was not terribly helpful to my fitness level.

[consularrider]

@jrenaut 62012 wrote:

Yeah, two weeks of vacation eating fried pub food was not terribly helpful to my fitness level.

Ummmm, pub food! Does it come with beer?

[jrenaut]

@consularrider 62055 wrote:

Ummmm, pub food! Does it come with beer?

Sorry, thought that was implied.

[consularrider]

@jrenaut 62057 wrote:

Sorry, thought that was implied.

I see, the only dietary change was the addition of the fried food. And how come none of you are taking the bike with you on vacation? That is just so wrong.

[dasgeh]

Had to get to work early because of *big important meeting* (that’s keeping me from teleworking…) There were TONS of runners out on the path. And they were HORRIBLE. Completely unwilling to alter their stride/path/plan regardless of what was going on. Next time I have to be in early, I’m sticking to streets. Grrrr.

[Tim Kelley]

@dasgeh 62334 wrote:

There were TONS of runners out on the path. And they were HORRIBLE. Completely unwilling to alter their stride/path/plan regardless of what was going on. Next time I have to be in early, I’m sticking to streets. Grrrr.

You might say that they were even “taking the lane” and slowing down real traffic that needs to be on the path?

[dasgeh]

@Tim Kelley 62335 wrote:

You might say that they were even “taking the lane” and slowing down real traffic that needs to be on the path?

No. Doing things like turning into the path of others (peds and cyclists), passing a slower runner while a cyclist (who had called their pass, was acknowledge and gave plenty of space) was passing them. Other really crazy stuff. Oh, and dogs off leases.

[Tim Kelley]

@dasgeh 62337 wrote:

No. Doing things like turning into the path of others (peds and cyclists), passing a slower runner while a cyclist (who had called their pass, was acknowledge and gave plenty of space) was passing them. Other really crazy stuff. Oh, and dogs off leases.

Probably weaving in and out too? Cutting people off? Not waiting at red lights?

Don’t they realize that bikes are bigger and faster that they are and that they are putting their lives in danger?

[dasgeh]

@Tim Kelley 62338 wrote:

Probably weaving in and out too? Cutting people off? Not waiting at red lights?

Don’t they realize that bikes are bigger and faster that they are and that they are putting their lives in danger?

Are you really saying that complaining about runners literally running into other people on the path is similar to complaining about cyclists being on the roads? Are we not supposed to call out crazy Ivans? (To wit, I didn’t see a true crazy Ivan, just two separate crazy “I’ll turn off here” with no look into another person). I’ll call cyclists out for doing the same kind of stuff, but most cyclists don’t because if some of the collisions I saw had been two people on bikes, there would have been blood.

I also didn’t say they shouldn’t be on the path. I said I will take roads. Being around that sort of behavior is just unsafe.

[Tim Kelley]

Just saying that regardless of the mode, everyone needs to Be a PAL!

[jopamora]

Can yall hold on while I go make some popcorn?

[Tim Kelley]

@jopamora 62350 wrote:

Can yall hold on while I go make some popcorn?

http://imgur.com/a/0hNaU#0

[mikoglaces]

here’s the way to handle folks who get in the way when you’re commuting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCnir5KlXEw

[Tim Kelley]

[video=vimeo;27871705]http://vimeo.com/27871705[/video]

[Author]

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