My first commute...

[quickag]

I live in Grovetown...I work in Blythe. Yesterday I decided that I was tired of being in the grey area when going on road/MTB rides (too fast for the new guys...too slow for the fast guys) so I did some math.

It takes me 45 minutes to drive to work.

I can cover the same distance in 1.5 hours on my bike.

The routes not necessarily the best (Grovetown/Ft. Gordon/Hephzibah), but I've ridden in much worse traffic in Japan.

Three tail lights...a bright flashing headlight and I roll out at 0600. Cars give me plenty of room due to my ridiculous flashing rear end.

And how often do you get to see the sunrise? If you're on the fence, do it. It takes some planning and an understand work environment, but I feel like a hero today.

[dgaddis1]

Riding to work even just a few days a week has made a HUGE impact on my riding. HUGE. I can ride further and faster than ever before. It's a great way to fit saddle time into your daily routine without it costing you much of your day. Compared to driving, riding takes me an extra 45mins round trip. That 45minutes buys me an hour and half on the bike. Since I started commuting on the bike some I've more than doubled the number of hours I get on a bike every month.

There's no substitue for saddle time.

[beckyl]

I love to hear about folks getting to commute. Nevin and I swear by it and there is really no other way to get such a good base, plus it saves money and the environment. It's win-win-win. We are blessed to have the towpath and Greeneway as well as plans in the works for more safe cycling options. There is really no excuse to not commute if you work downtown because no matter where you are driving from you can always park at a trailhead and ride in even if it's a little out of your way. Here are a couple pics from this past March. Oh, and reflectors are good, too, as you can see in the pics:

[wooglin]

Nov 20, 2012 10:02:07 GMT -5 beckyl said:

Oh, and reflectors are good, too,

This bears repeating. Reflectors are actually more visible at a distance than blinkies. Also, the up-and-down motion of reflectors on pedals or on the backs of shoes are typically the first thing a driver recognizes as "bike".

[seenvic]

D - I wondered how you managed to stay with that group of fast riders on the 80 miler the other day. That is great that you have stepped it up a notch. Good for you.

It seems like I have been on an 8 or 0 stretch for a while. Either 8ish miles of 0ish miles. With too many of the 0ish miles days of late.

But 8 and 0 on the same day, making 80 miles. I got some work to do.

[dgaddis1]

Nov 20, 2012 11:22:23 GMT -5 seenvic said:

D - I wondered how you managed to stay with that group of fast riders on the 80 miler the other day. That is great that you have stepped it up a notch. Good for you.

I kinda sorta stayed with them. They always slowly rode away from me, then I'd catch them at the SAGs. I don't think they beat me to the SAGs by much though. I was super happy not to have to ride any of the road sections solo, other than a short section coming out of Modoc. But yeah, commuting has for sure made me stronger and fitter. No cramps on Sunday, even did a crappy wheelie in the Wine parking lot at the end of the day. Looking forward to seeing how the Snake goes...

Yes, relfectors are good. My bike is all sorta taped up. You can get 3M Scotchbrite reflective tape on Amazon for pretty cheap, and it works great. I've even added a bunch on my helmet. Silver/white viewable from the front/side, red viewable from the rear. Silver on crank arms too.









Some of the helmet lighting up on a night MTB ride.

[crockpot2001]

Good on ya! I too got back at it today. I work where other live so I am going against traffic and using the Greenway to get to work.

Might hit the pump track on the way home since I rode my MTB. The fat tires slow things down and help take the edge off the dropping temps. Plus, I can ride in the grass if needed when riding Austin Greybill road where texting is mandetory.

[quickag]

Ok...I lied a little bit. It has nothing to do with fitness...it's a ploy to get my wife to let me buy one of these for commuting:

konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=rove

[brianW]

If I get a school transfer, my wife has already mentioned I can get a cyclocross bike to commute on. The gas savings in a year would basically cover the cost.

Becky, Nevin, do you ride Furrys Ferry/ Evans to Locks or park at the Head Gates?

[beckyl]

Brian, I hope you get that school transfer so that you can commute on a new 'cross bike. We park at the Pavilion and ride in from there. FF on this side of the river scares the *!?% out of us. Too narrow and too many people with their heads up their you-know-what. I think Kozlowski is on FF some because he rides door to door (he's a show off) but we'll wait for him to speak up on this. I can't sing the praises of commuting enough. We may be able to put a dollar value on how much money it saves us but we cannot put a dollar value on the intrinsic rewards.

[dsquaredmsquared]

I have to cross Washington and Fury's Ferry roads.

[beckyl]

Snap! So Koz only "crosses" Washington and FF roads. ;o)