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

[jasonc]

got a call on the work on call phone as i started climbing coot-tha this morning. wasn't impressed

[g-boaf]

Annoying getting stuck at traffic lights in Westmead. My bike wouldn't activate the light sequence. So I ended up walking across with the pedestrians and taking the very bumpy CYCLE PATH and weaving around the pedestrians who prefer to walk on the cycling path instead of the path next to it with pedestrian symbols painted on it.

Bit windy too, headwind for most of the final part of the ride. But no rain, got lucky there.

[jasonc]

forgot to put my saddle bag back on after doing some maintenance the other day. got 6kms from home when I realised. So turned around and went home to get it. sadly that means I missed the group ride.

[find_bruce]

Saw a fellow commuter with a nice rack & a 6 pack ... of donuts. Had me wondering how many donuts per km?

[jasonc]

damp roads with a bit of drizzle again this morning.
bruce - the answer is either too many or not enough

[bychosis]

No commutes last week. Back on dually today. The sun is getting up very late, so I left late as well. Will need to stay back a bit today to make up for the late start and fit lights for tomorrow so I can get away on time.

Got surprised as a commuter on a roadie passed me with ease up a hill. I wasn't working hard and felt like he flew past. Rarely see other commuters out.

[jasonc]

wet yesterday afternoon. wet again this morning

[bychosis]

Great weather here this morning. Cooler autumn weather mornings headed for a sunny day.

A spoke broke this morning. Initially thought my recent brake repair work had failed, but no. Twisted it arpind an adjacent spoke and continued on. Quick look at lunchtime showed no chance of an easy repair. Disc rotor will need to come off and the tyre and rim strip to get the nipple out. It broke at the threaded section. Probably change tyres while I'm at it now. Front to back and new on the front. The rear is almost done.

Trip home was good. Stopped to try to get a photo of the land mullet that seem to be frequent visitors to one section of trail but it turned and went back bush before I could get my phone sorted. Unfortunately someone has been putting sticks and logs across one section of trail close to home. No idea what they think most of them will do as majority are very easy to ride over. If I had more time I would have cleared a few off. Will save that for next commute.

[g-boaf]

Back still feels a bit funny but not as sore as it was end of last week.

I dislike the cooler weather now - much prefer riding in higher termperatures.

[jasonc]

wet yesterday afternoon. wet again this morning

wet yesterday afternoon and wet and drizzle this morning
what's that saying about a wet week?

[bychosis]

Back on flat bar commuter today. The 28mm gatorskins I installed on the weekend were so much nicer to ride than the 23mm tyres they replaced. Took a lot of buzz out of the road feel. Now to work out optimum pressure.

The commuter bike hasn't had a lot of kms in the last couple of years which I'm starting to rectify otherwise I would have been on bigger tyres a lot sooner. 23mm was what I had at build time.

[CmdrBiggles]

Day 5 of our biking trip to the NE of Victoria, based in Bright. Glorious calm, sunny clime, the colours of autumn are a cheerful change from every day boring blue sky and green trees, and clouds and rain and the general tumult of the stormy time we were last here (7 to 9th January) are now a very distant memory. No denying the autumn mornings are a lot cooler, crisper (read: cold!)than those in summer (when in January all of us were tossing and turning in our tents in 30°c humidity during the night!!). The aroma of woodsmoke is something I remember from my early years in country Victoria.

Rides aka ("country commutes"!) so far:

1. Bright to Buckland Valley bridge end-of-tarmac, 22.4km (turnaround; none of us are on gravel grinders, but skinny roadies). Quick caffeine hit in Porepunkah. Free applies by the roadside from growers. Quiet, rolling road, friendly locals, views. Beautiful rest stop on the grassy banks of the Buckland. A cool in the morning, sweaty hot sun on the return around noon.

2. Bright-Harrietville alpine trail; winding 26km gradual uphill; fast return trip was on the wide, open Great Alpine Way, a few local drivers, big rigs heading up to the alps and even a cold-store semi roaring up the road. "A refrigerated semi!? Here!?"

3. Three of our group completed the Bright to Wangaratta railtrail, buffeted about a little by a S-westerly breeze. Hitched a ride in the bus coming from Wang back to Bright. The trail is excellent, but exposed in many places. Surface non-descript, varying from black tarmac to white seal.

4. Bright to Wandi Pub for dinna last night — but of course!
7.4km one way, half the group along the Bright to Wandi trail (in darkness by 7.30pm), the other preferring the constant uphill with traffic of the road.

5. Short ride this arvo somewhere local (prolly just a caffeine stop by the Ovens) before beginning the pack-up.
Having arrived last Saturday late, long before Easter (and prices are about to skyrocket for everything from petrol to campsites), we have no wish to share the pleasant, relaxed environment we have lapped up with noisy, nosey, nefarious Easter holiday makers from Big Town, and we will be leaving tomorrow am for the trip home south.

My TCR now sets the road behind on fire with a mega-bright Lezyne Strip Pro 300 lumen rear light.
Woohoo! "Can you see me now!?

[g-boaf]

I got in dry today, it started pouring later on.

Not sure what happens this afternoon for the ride home.

[jasonc]

had my first ride with no threat of rain this week. still had wet roads this morning. might even be dry roads this afternoon...

[Lizzy]

Chilly ride in on the ebike this morning. Infrastructure guys at work have put in a charge point next to the bike racks, Dog bless 'em ... so I'm charging her on the firm during the day instead of on my own grid at night - happy days!

Came past a nasty looking crash in Leederville, a big group had stopped to render assistance and comfort a very distressed rider ... they had all the help they needed, so I walked past carefully and kept going but gads, even nearly 2yrs after my crash the sight of her made me wobble a bit Not that I lacked empathy before, but it was a stark reminder of how it felt

[Mububban]

Very comfortable! I put some 40mm slicks on my dual sus MTB and rode it rather than my road bike on 25/28mm tyres, and naturally it's slower but far more comfortable. The poor thing barely gets ridden on trails so it can get some use as a commuting alternative to the roadie.

[Retrobyte]

After 2 weeks off the bike with a lower back strain, I finally get the all clear from the physio to ride again, and now I have a head cold so am working from home to not infect others. Oh well, maybe this weekend I'll get a ride in

[bychosis]

Tuesday commute to work was normal. It rained a fair bit during the day so got to get good and muddy on the trails home. One section along under power lines has a lot of loose gravel that gets caught in the clay they flings off all over. Also stopped to take a quick video of splashing through a little creek that's normally only 30cm wide but was out to about a bike length.

Yesterday commute route 2 on commuter bike. Felt quick and strata tells me 2nd best time on a couple of segments with PB from 2018. Homeward was a bit less pleasant with a southerly headwind.

Chickened out today with heavy rain predicted.

[find_bruce]

Picked the low hanging fruit today - I'm the "local legend" of a 7km strava segment, having ridden it 3 times in the last 90 days

[bychosis]

Winning!

Just checked one segment from yesterday arvo. I've got a little way to go having done 5 and the legend is at 167! The wallsend -glendale tramway track. It's a rail trail and popular with commuters, but I think I'd like a bit more variety than a couple of times a day.

[jasonc]

Beat the rain home but I had a leak in the rear tyre. The gravel bike is tubeless so I cleared out the gunk and chucked in a tube

[g-boaf]

Frustrating diversions due to the damage caused by the heavy rain last Friday and Saturday morning, paths totally under huge amounts of mud and debris.

But at least I know which way to go tomorrow.

[g-boaf]

Bit wet this morning in Sydney and an overnight storm. Still rode as it was fairly dry apart from standing water.

The bike is now quite dirty.

[g-boaf]

And the commute home started dry, then 3km away from destination got drenched. Heavy rain, lightning, thunder but no hail fortunately.

[Retrobyte]

A few highlights - swarm of pidgeons, vicious tiny dog, cyclist using phone while riding, pedestrians on the wrong side of the shared path .....