Summer Bike-To-Work Challenge II (Page 7)

Way to go guys & gals.

tj - you're an inspiration!

welcome, looper, just pick a target goal for the summer and start riding.  I'm not too particular about what constitutes "Work".  Wherever you go, whatever combination of round-trips, one way trips, public transit, etc. works for your situation is fine, as long as you ride, run, or swim some portion of the distance.

 name         goal  progress

bopper        50     10
camy          48      6
comet the dog 40     15
edeller       50
Episcopit     45     14
jashac        50      7
jcjsc00       50     10
jellogal      50
looper
love2run       ?      2
Offthegrid    40      2
sunnys        50      1
tc681         40      2
tim_edwards   50      5
tjtryon       24      7
tkbslc        50      3
willgetfit    50     10.5

One more commute for me and it was an adventure!  I'm cruising along, making good pace.   I'm about 10 miles from work when I hear this clang of metal and then a big whoosing sound.   I'd run over something and got an instant flat.   I figured it was just a normal flat, so I repair it.   As I am pumping it up, I notice a huge balloon of tube sticking outof the side of my tire!  My tire had been sliced pretty badly.    I pumped it to about 60 psi so that the tube didn't poke out too far, but I knew I was going to be in trouble.   It lasted a few more miles and I was stuck.  Tire was dead.  I'd popped my spare tube now.   So I decided to wait for the bus.   Took out my bus pass only to realize it expired In may (i.e. yesterday).   So I hobbled down the street barefoot (I have road shoes and I can't walk in them) and tried to get some cash for the bus with my debit card.  Nobody would give me cash.   I finally sorta patched the tire by putting 2 patches inside the tire, 1 on the outside and then patched the tube.  This turned it into only a slow leak.  So I had to stop every 2 minutes and pump my tire back up.    It was getting pretty bad and then I saw the bus coming up.   I just played ignorant of my bus pass being expired and he let me on.    I then had to walk 3 blocks barefoot to work.      Now I just need to find me a spare tire so I can ride home    Just funny I have never had anything like this happen on a saturday training ride, it is just when I need to get to work for an early meeting/ 

I might switch out to spd pedals and use my MTB shoes in the future.   I can't walk even 1 block in my road shoes.   I may even put my toe clips back on and wear my running shoes.  I could have run/walked the last 5 miles with my bike......

Learned a new trick today that might come in handy.  If you slice your tire, like I did today, you can use a dollar bill folded in half as a tire liner.   It is supposed to work well enough to get you where you are going.   I also heard a foil wrapper (like from a power bar) can work well too.   So I guess I am going to keep a few $1's in my seat bag.  If the dollars don't fix the tire then I can use them for the bus.     I am going to make sure I have at least some kinds of shoes I can walk in with me.   I left my work shoes at work. but they would have been better than nothing.    Maybe some super lightweight flip-flop sandals in my backpack would work too. 

Strangely enough, I am still looking forward to my ride home today!  I found a cheap $10 tire to use until I can order a nicer one online.   I am probably going to go with 700x25 or 26s for commuting.   The 23 are brutal on the rough roads near the city. 

Hey Tim and the rest of the bike commuting gang,

I was out for a few weeks, not logging stuff well, but making little notes about commute #? of 50.  I just updated my logs now and am at 17 of 50 so far.   

Commuting is great fun, but I think my desk job (or rather the chair I sit in) is killing my back.  See my log for details and drop inspires if you can relate or feel so moved.

I hope you're all feeling more mobile and happy in the lumbar region than I am today!

Cheers, -Sunny