How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

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g-boaf
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby g-boaf » Wed May 09, 2018 10:52 pm

apollo95 wrote:
cancan64 wrote:So Friday heading home, last part is a nice downhill with a right turn near the end which is on a blind corner... going down I get to speed limit, then indicate to turn then apply brakes in case a car is coming up but this idiot ignored all and just passed me... lucky I wssnt indicating to turn into a driveway or a car was coming up... I guess if you can afford a half a million dollar car you can afford not to give a rats about anyone else
Looks to be a winker in a Bently Continental Coupe that over took you there!
Typical high roller who think they own the road!
Kuffwit!
RR Wraith instead - the car those Bentley drivers dream about, but is out of their league. :twisted: Bad thing is Wraith is usually customised heavily so it's very easy to find who the owner is. There aren't many that are alike.

Mind you I've had a Wraith driver give way to me when he didn't really need to, very courteous. :o

Tonight it was all the bad drivers in regular cars passing too closely, but I wasn't on a commute ride. Unfortunately I have to do a detour on busy roads since Prospect Dam wants to close their cycleway gates at 4:30pm on the dot, well before I even get home. Even when I move in a few weeks, it still won't help much.

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cancan64
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby cancan64 » Thu May 10, 2018 10:25 am

I was passed again yesterday on the same street but this time by a crappy cheap car...dont know how they slipped into the neighborhood.

There is a smal climb before the decent so I am guessing they are going to pass me when my speed is still slow and by the time the get next to me I am at speed... I just hit the brakes, have been passed on a blind hill here and a car was coming the otherway and the driver then ran into me to do less damage.
Will start going the other to my street which is a pity, have a great view of the harbour and city going down the bit
“Some say he isn’t machine washable, and all his potted plants are called ‘Steve’.

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Tequestra
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Tequestra » Fri May 11, 2018 11:46 am

Whoa I am dizzy! I am puffed! That was a ride orright! My first real ride for the month, even though it was the full-length Short Ride (<5km) to The Beach and The Shops. 29*C forecast for today and 31 for tomorrow. What a late Indian Ocean Summer this is turning out to be. It would be a crime not to do The Beach on a day like this.
(When I got there, not another parked bicycle to be seen at the racks, sadly.)

Surprisingly, after a couple of weeks off, with no more than a few quick trips down to the local shop practically across the road, (don't even need to pedal at all for that 200m), I managed to keep over 29km/h all the way over The Big Hill, which is a record and I don't know why. All I can think is that I did a bit of a warmup and pedalled down my street at the start for a couple of hundred metres, and then coasted for the next 100m before beginning The Big Hill, so perhaps the extra warmup is what made for the improvement of around 1km/h over my previous best pace up that hill.

Hardly any cars at all went past me this morning, and those that did were most courteous and each and every one of them left me the entire left lane, passing in the right lane as any sensible halfwit would naturally have done anyway. It is nice to know that the average intelligence of the average motorist is on the average incline lately. Cynicism is meant in humour because I am dizzy and puffed having just got home. No offence to motorists intended. You were all most well-behaved today, so thank you for your kindness to vulnerable commuters.

There were more cyclists around this morning than usual. Two on the way to The Beach, and then another two on the way home. None who passed me and only one whom I passed up The Big Hill, but she was on the footpath so I saw no need to warn her of my arrival. All in all, a quite uneventful commute this morning. That is because everything went well, so please understand that 'boring' is good. Boring works.

I can never remember if it is the dopamine or the endorphins or whatever those academics are calling it this month but there is a noticable improvement in mood after a good hard slog on the pedals. It is quite a bit like being stoned without the need for any kind of herbal assistance. Yes, it does cost more to feed oneself when one exerts oneself on a tredley, but it has just occurred to me by the same token it costs less to make oneself happy if one can get that high for free. If my fellow motorists continue to be so kind and courteous, reducing the degree of risk associated with cycling in the city, then it would seem financially viable to adapt the weekly budget for less herbs, less beer, more potatoes and more pedalling. I want to sing a little song to myself now. I wrote it a long time ago but the lyrics are still most relevant to a moment like this. Here are the words:

"Happy happy happy happy,
Happy happy happy happy,
Happy happy happy happy,
Happy-y-y-y-y-yy-yy-yyy."

Have a Happy Friday!
Viva le Tour Electrique' !!!

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Tequestra
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Tequestra » Tue May 15, 2018 11:50 am

Happy Tuesday All! I hope I haven't turned everyone off the idea of commuting since last Friday. Maybe the weather here in Perth is not shared across the continent this month. We're enjoying the very best of global warming over here with the 1962 record high for May in Perth just topped by 2.7*C last week, and the offshore breeze is blowing strong this morning.

It was still not the most enjoyable ride today; not like the last one. Exactly the same route for exactly the same reasons; The Beach + The Shops (<5km) and the traffic was just as unfrightening as last Friday, with one notable exception: A two-stroke moped that passed me fairly close just as I was starting up the Big Hill. I got a really good couple of lungs full of lawnmower-mix just at the start of the ride, and that seems to have ruined the fitness from that moment on. I can even feel it now, 85 minutes later.

It was not exactly a struggle to breathe, but it was noticably harder on the lungs and legs all the way up all the hills ever since. Maybe a lack of training over the past month. Maybe the prescribed-burns that the sanctioned arsonists are still lighting up all over the scarp that blows all the smoke out to sea overnight and then back in to shore the next morning, although my asthma is better today than it was last week. I think mostly this morning's respiratory regression was mostly due to the two-stroke moped that smoked up my air all the way up the Big Hill.

There was a near accident in the carpark at The Shops, and it would have been technically my fault, perhaps, as there was a raised speedhump/walkway (unsigned) across the private property, and two men were walking across this raised walkway from north to south right in my path, but I did not see them until I was around 1m away from the first bloke, and didn't see the other fellow until I had already ridden past him.

I was heading east and the Sun was rising in my eyes just over the rooves of the single-storey shops along the left (NE). The facias of these shops were totally in shadow, and so were these two dark-clothed, bearded men. They must have walked out quickly, right at the time when my eyes were looking into the Sun. I must remember to ride slower into the Sun in that carpark in future, because it could have been quite a disaster. As much as I feel guilty, I wonder whether they would have walked out on a delivery truck like they walked out on me this morning, as it is more than just a walkway on private property. It is also a roadway, so it could be debatably construed as suicidal to walk out across a road into peril just to prove some incontestable legality (private property). At least no one was hurt and at least one of us is wiser.

Nothing else to report about this morning. I had a nice chat to a lady walking her dog at the end of the shared bike path, after I tooted her from 15m away, on the way down the hill, and then called out "Morning!" from around 5m away, to which she jumped suddenly to the left and cried out, "Oh!, Sorry!" which was not quite the intention of my greeting, so I stopped and explained to her that I have learned from experience to be careful not to scare pedestrians, and she said she thought that was a good idea. I don't think her poodle really understood.

Have a nice week and I hope the weather improves over east when those southern winds calm down a bit.
Viva le Tour Electrique' !!!

fergy1987
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby fergy1987 » Thu May 17, 2018 8:07 am

Well I just finished my first ever commute to work - 21km into the Brisbane CBD along the Western Freeway Bikeway.....I hate that Jindalee Bridge hill :P

Lessons learnt - Don't overpack! Backpack was full to the brim with a spare set of clothes to ride home, toiletries etc....Need to just leave all that cr@p at work I think :P - It was like I was packing for a small trip away!

Thankfully work has some great End of Trip facilities which make it a hell of a lot easier, but will definitely be bringing in clothes on non ride days!

My apologies to everyone I got in the way of along the Bikeway and Sylvan road :P Hopefully I didn't hold too many people up! But an enjoyable trip none the less! Looking forward to the ride home :)

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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Thu May 17, 2018 8:15 am

Nice one fergy. I commute that way daily. I hope to see you on the commute sometime for a chat. And Jindalee Hill Isnt that bad. You get used to it

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bychosis
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby bychosis » Thu May 17, 2018 9:00 am

fergy1987 wrote:Lessons learnt - Don't overpack! Backpack was full to the brim with a spare set of clothes to ride home, toiletries etc....Need to just leave all that cr@p at work I think :P - It was like I was packing for a small trip away!
Ha ha. yes, welcome to commuting. I used to pack my clothes daily but over the years I've travelled lighter and lighter. I do bring in clothes on drive days when I can, and leave all the other guff in the locker at work - very handy. Sometimes it is a bit unpleasant donning clothes from a sweaty ride in in the afternoon, but it's not really that bad.

Enjoy it, a ride to work is a great way to start the day.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Thu May 17, 2018 9:11 am

bychosis wrote:
fergy1987 wrote:Lessons learnt - Don't overpack! Backpack was full to the brim with a spare set of clothes to ride home, toiletries etc....Need to just leave all that cr@p at work I think :P - It was like I was packing for a small trip away!
Ha ha. yes, welcome to commuting. I used to pack my clothes daily but over the years I've travelled lighter and lighter. I do bring in clothes on drive days when I can, and leave all the other guff in the locker at work - very handy. Sometimes it is a bit unpleasant donning clothes from a sweaty ride in in the afternoon, but it's not really that bad.

Enjoy it, a ride to work is a great way to start the day.
I take a back pack two days - Monday I take 2 days clothes and 3 days food. Thursday I take 3 days clothes and 2 days food. It allows me to enjoy social rides on the way to work the other days without a back pack. On wet days I take in additional clothes so I have plenty of spares. Shoes, toiletries remain at work. Towel get swapped over weekly. And as with bikes, n+1 works with clothes and towels. Having spares at work is very handy. Leaving a spare tube (spare tyre too) at work is handy. I also have a full tool kit and work stand here (including floor pump)...
Drive to work days? What the hell are they?

fergy1987
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby fergy1987 » Thu May 17, 2018 11:01 am

jasonc wrote: I take a back pack two days - Monday I take 2 days clothes and 3 days food. Thursday I take 3 days clothes and 2 days food. It allows me to enjoy social rides on the way to work the other days without a back pack. On wet days I take in additional clothes so I have plenty of spares. Shoes, toiletries remain at work. Towel get swapped over weekly. And as with bikes, n+1 works with clothes and towels. Having spares at work is very handy. Leaving a spare tube (spare tyre too) at work is handy. I also have a full tool kit and work stand here (including floor pump)...
Drive to work days? What the hell are they?
That is quite the regime you have going there! - I think that's what I need to work on, just the organisation. I figured pack a bag the night before and good to go, but it really needs to be packed in order of what you need at a given time...digging through my bag to find a bike lock in there somewhere at the bottom when I could have just chucked it on top for easy access and little things like that.

I might have to invest in some of the locker hire services we have here and just do a weekly run of clothes.

There definitely is something to be said about commuting to work though - Sitting at work today just a lot more relaxed after avoiding the crowds on trains and ended up at work earlier than I am usually here. Legs are a bit tired at the moment though :P

jasonc
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Thu May 17, 2018 11:10 am

Bike lock stays at work. As do shoes, towel, toiletries, spare clothes etc.

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bychosis
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby bychosis » Thu May 17, 2018 12:44 pm

jasonc wrote:Drive to work days? What the hell are they?
Yeah, I'd rather be riding each day, but other lifestyle choices preclude it. Kids is a big one. Can't leave home late enough or get home early enough if I ride on the days my wife works.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

Milpool
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Milpool » Thu May 17, 2018 2:38 pm

This is my first full week of riding, usually only do three or so days, depending on commitments. Usually after the third day I'm a bit stiff but after the fourth I'm still feeling good. This morning was also my first early run, I usually leave around 7 but I had to leave at 5:15 so that was a new experience. Need some clear glasses, that morning air made me cry the whole way.

I just need to sort a better backpack, need to find one that breathes a little better instead of making my back sweat

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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Thu May 17, 2018 2:57 pm

Milpool wrote: Need some clear glasses, that morning air made me cry the whole way.

I just need to sort a better backpack, need to find one that breathes a little better instead of making my back sweat
Photochromic sunnies are the go. Work all year round
I have a deuter cross air 20exp back pack. There's ventilation between the be and your back

fergy1987
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby fergy1987 » Thu May 17, 2018 3:07 pm

Milpool wrote:This is my first full week of riding, usually only do three or so days, depending on commitments. Usually after the third day I'm a bit stiff but after the fourth I'm still feeling good. This morning was also my first early run, I usually leave around 7 but I had to leave at 5:15 so that was a new experience. Need some clear glasses, that morning air made me cry the whole way.

I just need to sort a better backpack, need to find one that breathes a little better instead of making my back sweat
I bought some Tifosi sunglasses with 3 different lenses. They go great - the low light ones especially are really quite good and have you covered when the sun starts coming up. I've only used the clear lenses once when it was basically pitch black but when the sun rises you're screwed.

As for a backpack, I'm loving the Deuter Race Exp Air - has a rigid style back that pushes the bag off your back to keep the sweat down to a minimum as there is a gap between your back and the bag

jasonc
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Thu May 17, 2018 9:22 pm

Milpool - look a one with this air system
https://www.wildearth.com.au/buy/deuter ... 0301732210
If I was replacing mine, that's what I would buy now as I love mine

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DavidS
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby DavidS » Thu May 17, 2018 10:07 pm

fergy1987 wrote:Well I just finished my first ever commute to work - 21km into the Brisbane CBD along the Western Freeway Bikeway.....I hate that Jindalee Bridge hill :P

Lessons learnt - Don't overpack! Backpack was full to the brim with a spare set of clothes to ride home, toiletries etc....Need to just leave all that cr@p at work I think :P - It was like I was packing for a small trip away!

Thankfully work has some great End of Trip facilities which make it a hell of a lot easier, but will definitely be bringing in clothes on non ride days!

My apologies to everyone I got in the way of along the Bikeway and Sylvan road :P Hopefully I didn't hold too many people up! But an enjoyable trip none the less! Looking forward to the ride home :)
I don't drive to work so I take clothes every day, luckily I can work in jeans and a shirt so not too heavy and easy enough to transport.

I reckon shoes at work (I have 2 workplaces so 2 pairs of shoes), leave toiletries etc at work in fact just buy them near work, towel should last a week, spare socks for wet days are light and essential. It is all doable.

I see little point in shoving a pack on my back - can you fit a rack and panniers? So much better. I also keep spare tube, tyre levers, multi-tool and lock in a saddle bag, no searching around necessary.

DS
Allegro T1, Auren Swift :)

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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby RobertL » Fri May 18, 2018 9:43 am

Milpool wrote:This is my first full week of riding, usually only do three or so days, depending on commitments. Usually after the third day I'm a bit stiff but after the fourth I'm still feeling good. This morning was also my first early run, I usually leave around 7 but I had to leave at 5:15 so that was a new experience. Need some clear glasses, that morning air made me cry the whole way.

I just need to sort a better backpack, need to find one that breathes a little better instead of making my back sweat
I see people below recommending photochromatic sunglasses, or ones with swappable lenses (which is what I have).

I also know a guy who went to Officeworks and bought a $5 pair of safety glasses just for riding early morning/early evening on his commutes.

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cancan64
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby cancan64 » Fri May 18, 2018 10:18 am

Photochromatic glasses for me... saves switching glasses when the sun comes up
Shoes and belt stays at work, towel lasts a week, just dont smell it on a Friday and the rest I cart in everyday. Also keep tubes at work so if I puncture in I have a spare going home plus a full change of clothes in case I forget something
“Some say he isn’t machine washable, and all his potted plants are called ‘Steve’.

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Tequestra
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Tequestra » Fri May 18, 2018 1:03 pm

cancan64 wrote:Photochromatic glasses for me... saves switching glasses when the sun comes up.
I might have to do some research on these photochromatic glasses to avoid near misses at sunrise in future. I have never heard of them before, so thanks.

Today's long ride (<10km) was boring with regards to the traffic. I like boring rides the best, but they are not much to write home about. I met a lady cyclist on the way home. I was waiting at a red light, at the left of the right lane, because the left lane was marked with arrows to indicate left-turn only, not that there is any left arrow on the traffic lights, so the left-turn-only arrow is quite pointless. I guess someone at the council drew the arrow on the road and someone at Main Roads did the traffic lights, and they lost each other's email addresses.

Anyway, she pulled up on the left beside me and called out a sort of friendly, if negative greeting, "Don't you hate that ... ride all that way and the light goes red?" and I paraphrase but that was roughly what she said, shooting the breeze, being friendly. I meant to be friendly back to a fellow cyclist, and I rather think I failed, because I agreed with her out of courtesy, (red lights do have some use in the city), but couldn't help remembering the discussions here so by-the-book and was unable to resist the urge to politely let her know that she shouldn't be in that lane unless she was turning left. I figured she wasn't turning left or she would have hopped onto the footpath to get around the corner and miss the red light altogether, and as poor a reason for my judgment that may have been, she did indeed ride straight through and follow me for a couple of hundred metres because I could see her in my rear-view mirror. I wish I had been more friendly and saved the useless comment which achieved nothing except to discourage her from talking to other cyclists at traffic lights. If the lady in question is reading, I am sorry. I did not mean to be impolite about the road rules like that. I should have thought before opening my mouth.

Today's ride was significantly more comfortable than Tuesday's Short Ride (<5km) with that blasted two-stroke mix in my blood all the way, and I managed to maintain that personal best 28km/h up the Big Hill. That endorphinic euphoria that blessed me on the Friday two weeks ago has not arrived now though. I just feel exhausted. Happy but exhausted, and not over the moon about it like after that one. Possibly because that was the Short Ride and not so taxing on the old man stamina like today's Long Ride (<10km).

I have been wise and made sure to only buy one bunch of broccoli for breakfast, so that will force me to have to take another Short Ride on Tuesday to buy another bunch of broccoli for breakfast on Wednesday. Modern life takes so much careful planning thesedays, doesn't it?

Yep, a boring ride today. Boring rides are the best if you want to grow old.
Have a Happy Friday and a Good Weekend.
Viva le Tour Electrique' !!!

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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Fri May 18, 2018 1:26 pm

Got to ride with jules21 this morning. Am sure there will be a few more rides together in future. Showing him the routes of Brisbane

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cancan64
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby cancan64 » Mon May 21, 2018 10:57 am

last 2 months have been my lowest km's since I have been tracking on strava. With having a broken bike so km were down and then getting hit so km were down now that all is close to normal I am finding I am unmotivated to pick the km up...My contract is finishing next week and only 2 jobs have come up in the last month in Auckland but heaps back in Oz so this week I need to get home for skype interviews.
I am lucky I am still holding 3rd place in the commuter challenge.
This morning I was late leaving as I didnt get anything ready over the weekend, but was a magic Autumn morning ... may pull my finger out tomorrow morning
“Some say he isn’t machine washable, and all his potted plants are called ‘Steve’.

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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby jasonc » Mon May 21, 2018 11:31 am

Great pic cancan
Edit: I saw 6.6 degrees this morning. It's getting colder

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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby Lizzy » Mon May 21, 2018 11:40 am

6.9 celsius at the outset today, needing full headlights for the first few km now.

Had my first swim meet as an adult yesterday and must have still had a little residual pumped-ness going on, as I found myself going a good bit harder than normal in patches.

Very tight lower back and left ham though, and restless-leg (far in excess of my lifelong default fidgety-leg setting - same as my dad so it's in the genes I guess :| )

There was some kind of seabird brawl going on just south of Canning Bridge - like a feeding frenzy except none seemed to be catching anything - just converging en-masse and tearing around making lots of noise. Maybe it's their Schoolies week or something ...
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bychosis
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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby bychosis » Mon May 21, 2018 12:12 pm

Love your descriptions Lizzy! Always a good read, thanks. :)

Nabbed a commuter cup point this morning. Wasn’t going to rush, but couldn’t resist. Think he got a bit of a surprise being passed by a flat bar bike but there was no chase and he must have turned off earlier than I did. Still, a point is a point.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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Re: How was your commute ... today, yesterday, last week ...

Postby find_bruce » Mon May 21, 2018 6:03 pm

Yet another Tue for me today & its only Monday. Sad to think that my pathetically slow commutes are performance enhanced

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