Please give me your details on biking to work

[Lordosis]

I’ll bike when it’s zero degrees or 100 degrees, will even bike with six inches of snow on the ground at 3am. But biking in the rain? Hard pass.

It was a warm rain. It was a balmy 50 this morning!

[burritos]

I love your enthusiasm but I would not pay for the pay to do it. Not yet anyway...

Do you have a lamp for nighttime or just ride blind? I was thinking about going for a ride after the kids get to bed but it is still dark and my neighborhood has very sparse streetlamps. But by next month it will not be an issue when it is light past 9

Kamban I do not like the cars passing by. It is very uncomfortable and could end in disaster. This is a real risk and I am aware I am taking it.

I am lucky it is only a 45mph road not a 55 but even still the cars come whizzing by. Also way more traffic then I ever noticed before. Did not seem like much when I was driving.

I have a mounted light on the front. Rear light on the back. Sister got me a livall helmet with has rear lights. I also attach a blinking light hanging on the back of my backpack. Once when I was on the left turn lane, a lady pulled up to the right of me and complimented me on my lights. Used to be scared of the cars whizzing by me, you get used to them.

[Lordosis]

I have a mounted light on the front. Rear light on the back. Sister got me a livall helmet with has rear lights. I also attach a blinking light hanging on the back of my backpack. Once when I was on the left turn lane, a lady pulled up to the right of me and complimented me on my lights. Used to be scared of the cars whizzing by me, you get used to them.

Sounds like you are lit up like a xmas tree! I will do some investigating to increase my illumination.

I feel that the discomfort I feel is normal and protective. I hope I do not get too used to it...

[burritos]

Sounds like you are lit up like a xmas tree! I will do some investigating to increase my illumination.

I feel that the discomfort I feel is normal and protective. I hope I do not get too used to it...

Fast forward to the 1:17 mark to get a visual on visibility comparisons.

[Lordosis]

Okay I went to go home and had a flat. That sucked. I will add bike pump to the list of things to bring with me.

[Lithium]

Okay I went to go home and had a flat. That sucked. I will add bike pump to the list of things to bring with me.

get this one

https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Bike-Tool-Presta-Schrader/dp/B019V1PW92/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=Bike+pump&qid=1620188023&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFYQ1BQR1FZNlQzT08mZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA1OTU4ODUyNTU5Sko2N1FVUzZIJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0MDAwMzkxTUJMOVQxRDlCUjFBJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

also gator skin tires are your friend

[burritos]

Okay I went to go home and had a flat. That sucked. I will add bike pump to the list of things to bring with me.

I had a pinch flat close to home.(tire not inflated enough, see post earlier in this thread 4/30/2020) Biked home flat. Also had 2 thorn flats on consecutive days. Actually it was one thorn but failed to take it out and only replaced the tube. Those were early in my commute so I had to make the call of shame to for my wife to pick me up. She was happy the first day(#savior complex). The next morning she was annoyed(#stupidhusbandsyndrome).

[BruinBones]

I once had a flat one late afternoon on a solo, after-work ride about 10 miles from home. No problem, had a spare tube handy and was soon back on my way. Another few miles and the spare flats out, too (no thorns, etc., in the tire). No more spare handy this time. Still no problem, I enter a nearby gas station and buy a can of Fix-A-Flat. Spray it into my tire tube and the material just starts jutting out all sides of the rim and tire, which remained flat. So, I then just try and bike home with the rear tire flat. It’s getting dark, and there are still 7 miles and 2 more hills to go, so I stop at a bus stop. After a half hour wait, I suffer the ignominy of racking my bike to the front of the next bus, and board while fully dressed in my lycra, helmet, and cleats. It took another half hour to get to my stop, still a half mile from home, which I walked the rest of the way with my bike carried on my shoulder.

[Tim]

I once had a flat one late afternoon on a solo, after-work ride about 10 miles from home. No problem, had a spare tube handy and was soon back on my way. Another few miles and the spare flats out, too (no thorns, etc., in the tire). No more spare handy this time. Still no problem, I enter a nearby gas station and buy a can of Fix-A-Flat. Spray it into my tire tube and the material just starts jutting out all sides of the rim and tire, which remained flat. So, I then just try and bike home with the rear tire flat. It’s getting dark, and there are still 7 miles and 2 more hills to go, so I stop at a bus stop. After a half hour wait, I suffer the ignominy of racking my bike to the front of the next bus, and board while fully dressed in my lycra, helmet, and cleats. It took another half hour to get to my stop, still a half mile from home, which I walked the rest of the way with my bike carried on my shoulder.

Does Uber allow a bike?
Glad it wasn’t on the commute TO work.

[Eye3md]

Any of you having problems with flats need to consider going tubeless. Small punctures, like a tiny nail or thorn, will seal right up. You can keep a spare tube, and CO2 with you, but you rarely need em. About the only thing that takes you out would be a sidewall cut.....and even this can be temporarily fixed on the fly if you have the right things with you.

[Zaphod]

Okay I went to go home and had a flat. That sucked. I will add bike pump to the list of things to bring with me.

You absolutely need lights, theyre cheap now and very good. At least a good front light and tail light, I do love the helmet burritos ritos mentioned. You need to also bring a spare tube, 2 tire irons and while you could bring a pump a co2 gun thing is cheaper and all that stuff will fit nicely into an under the seat bag.

I dont/wont ride on streets anymore, just increases your risk way too much. In the dark is the great great majority of incidents. Get a decent bike, even cheap bikes now are very very good. You dont need a racing style bike, just a compact front and 10-12 gears in back hybrid/commuter comfy thing.

[Bjornsleeper]

As someone who bikes to work frequently I highly recommend SmartWool undergarments. My standard attire involves wool underwear, wool T-shirt, wool socks, and wool shorts. If you share a locker room with colleagues they will thank you for choosing wool over the smelly hyper marketed synthetic de jour.

[funkmstr47]

Biked to work most days of residency. Had showers on site but I rarely needed to use them since it was downhill going to work (coming home, that's another story...). Also fortunate in that I only have a very small stretch of road that I ride on and otherwise there are dedicated bike paths all the way to my destination.

I didn't buy much in terms of equipment starting out. I use an old mountain bike I've had forever since winter here is rough and the roads would be nearly impassible on anything else in the snow. I usually would go three times a week and drive in once to drop off a fresh pair of "just in case" clinic clothes and pick up anything dirty from my locker. I used an old hiking daypack I've had since med school, which works perfectly well to carry the basics. I usually will keep a patch kit, bike multitool, and anything I need for the day. Would also highly recommend high-quality lights - my state requires a forward and a back light if you ride on the roads at all after dark - mine are both USB-rechargeable.

As for crashes, I've wiped out exactly twice, both right when I started biking. The first crash was from taking a corner too fast with my feet in the wrong position and the second was from a freak mechanical issue where one of my wheel skewers was loosened in a theft attempt and popped off as I was riding. Now I make a habit of doing a full once-over of everything before each ride.

[Lithium]

In 15 years, I have a lot of war stories. One time in residency, I ran straight into a telephone pole (don’t remember why I wasn’t paying attention). Another time, I was biking with open toes shoes and my big toe hit a curb. Really lucky I didn’t break it. Suffice it to say I was a moron back then... most of what I’ve learned comes from the school of hard knocks.

My profile photo was taken in Southern France. I was just getting from Town A to Town B every day by asking Google what the best route was every day (turns out that works a lot better in England than France). Because I had places I wanted to see and none of the tour companies had a schedule that really fit. Well, that day the route took my tour bike with a 30 pound pack through about 20 miles of mountain bike terrain. I had a flat, but I was prepared. The problem was my tube was a Schrader valve instead of a Presta.

I really thought about just leaving that bike in the forest, but I took an Uber 45 minutes each way to the nearest sporting goods store for the right tubes and somehow bushwacked my way out of there. Then I got to ride on the Riviera on the lowest gear since my derailleur was shot before coasting into Nice around 10pm.

I think at this point I have enough good stories, so I’ll stick to the designated routes next time I go back there.

[burritos]

You absolutely need lights, theyre cheap now and very good. At least a good front light and tail light, I do love the helmet burritos ritos mentioned. You need to also bring a spare tube, 2 tire irons and while you could bring a pump a co2 gun thing is cheaper and all that stuff will fit nicely into an under the seat bag.

I dont/wont ride on streets anymore, just increases your risk way too much. In the dark is the great great majority of incidents. Get a decent bike, even cheap bikes now are very very good. You dont need a racing style bike, just a compact front and 10-12 gears in back hybrid/commuter comfy thing.

When I talk with mountain bikers many have(as I have had) an anxiety with cars. This danger is real and proximate but can be mitigated with good street awareness. On the flip side, many pure cyclists have a nervousness of MTBing. They worry about riding over irregular terrain with obstacles and crashing on mountain trails. Also legitimate concerns, as all my wipeouts have been on trails.