Author Topic: April Cycling Challenge 2018  (Read 3149 times)

jordanread

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April Cycling Challenge 2018
« on: April 01, 2018, 01:59:53 PM »
The cycling challenge for April 2018 is up and ready for you to start (or continue) riding!!
If you logged miles last month, and selected "Remember Me" on the form, you have been added to this month's sheet already.

If you didn't log miles last month, or are a new participant
Click here to fill out the form.
You can access the sheet directly at this link.
I can manually grab your historical data too, so if it's off, just let me know.  If they aren't there within a day, or you have any other issues with the sheet, hit me up via email, Google+ Hangouts, PM, or just comment on this thread.
You can also join the MMM Strava Group for additional metrics and motivation. Happy Biking.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2018, 04:42:11 AM »
Lost my steam last month, got sick of riding indoors but then the weather and my schedule stopped being as conducive to riding outdoors, and when it’s around freezing I vastly prefer walking for exercise to biking.

Good luck everybody!

Imma

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2018, 03:18:18 PM »
I'm excited for this month!

 I had set a goal of 275km for March and 300km for April, but I already did 307 in March! And that's without any fun rides, just going from A to B. I'm going to try 325km for April (that's May's goal) but who knows, I might hit 350.

M5

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2018, 03:53:58 PM »
I'm excited for this month!

 I had set a goal of 275km for March and 300km for April, but I already did 307 in March! And that's without any fun rides, just going from A to B. I'm going to try 325km for April (that's May's goal) but who knows, I might hit 350.

Awesome! Exceeding mileage goals always makes you feel great!

ohyonghao

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2018, 06:54:11 PM »
This quarter just started and its a much lighter load of 18 credits instead of 23. So far one week in and I've kept up some good cycling exercises, including commuting to school. I go to two different campuses, both built on top of hills with 12% gradient approaches. Makes it fun going home though!

My goal this month is to balance cycling and school. This shouldn't be too hard as my commute by bus is longer than by bike, so there's added incentive to ride.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2018, 06:09:08 AM »
This quarter just started and its a much lighter load of 18 credits instead of 23. So far one week in and I've kept up some good cycling exercises, including commuting to school. I go to two different campuses, both built on top of hills with 12% gradient approaches. Makes it fun going home though!

My goal this month is to balance cycling and school. This shouldn't be too hard as my commute by bus is longer than by bike, so there's added incentive to ride.

Plus, unless your bus commute lets you get some extra work done, I found when I was bike commuting that I was much more alert because of the morning cardio/adrenaline dump.

ohyonghao

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2018, 09:52:57 AM »
My goal this month is to balance cycling and school. This shouldn't be too hard as my commute by bus is longer than by bike, so there's added incentive to ride.

Plus, unless your bus commute lets you get some extra work done, I found when I was bike commuting that I was much more alert because of the morning cardio/adrenaline dump.

There are two options for my public commute, bus then light rail, or shuttle then bus. The shuttle is owned by the school, has WiFi, and doesn't make any stops. I find that one I can get some work done on the laptop, and the bus route seems to be less crowded than the other option. For the bus and light rail option there are a lot of turns and stops which make it less than ideal for working on the laptop, so I tend to read instead.

I have found that the ride to school makes me more alert. What I'm generally doing is either riding to school and reading at home, or reading on the bus and riding on the trainer at home. At least that's the plan, I'll see how workload affects things this quarter. Sadly school work takes priority over training.

Morning Glory

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2018, 06:19:32 AM »
Hi all, I would like to join this challenge but I am waiting for all of the snow to go away first. Maybe in a week or two.

TrMama

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2018, 02:02:15 PM »
I'm back! Bike commuting's been on the back burner for the past month while my daughter recovers from a broken ankle. It was fairly badly broken and DH and I weren't comfortable sending her to school on the school bus. So I've been driving the kids to school in the am and DH picks them up in the afternoon.

She got a less restrictive cast last week, so we're trialing the morning bus this week and that means I got to bike!

Bonus is that I finally figured out how to change the rear derailleur cable myself so now my bike runs great for the low cost of $2.50 instead of the inflated $80 tune up fee the shop charges.

Morning Glory

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2018, 07:41:15 AM »
Hooray, I finally got on the bike yesterday to go to a work meeting. 8 miles round-trip. Beautiful weather.

lexde

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2018, 01:33:09 PM »
This weekend I did a dry run biking to work. It was terrifying. I’m not sure that it’s a good fit for me right now. I’ll keep biking to the grocery store on weekends but riding downtown when half of the drivers are on their phones is really daunting. Any advice?

jordanread

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2018, 01:49:30 PM »
This weekend I did a dry run biking to work. It was terrifying. I’m not sure that it’s a good fit for me right now. I’ll keep biking to the grocery store on weekends but riding downtown when half of the drivers are on their phones is really daunting. Any advice?

I'm not sure where you are, so not sure exactly what you are dealing with. When I am downtown in my town, it's a tight fit, and drivers are distracted. Every time I've gone there, I've found that taking the entire lane helps. Of course, being super visible (lights/high-vis gear/reflectors/etc) is a given. If you are unpredictable, drivers can't go back to their phone. Honestly though, you only need the person right behind you (in each lane) to be paying attention.


fatcow240

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #12 on: April 24, 2018, 02:50:09 PM »
I just found this thread. Joining.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2018, 08:00:49 PM »
I'm back! Bike commuting's been on the back burner for the past month while my daughter recovers from a broken ankle. It was fairly badly broken and DH and I weren't comfortable sending her to school on the school bus. So I've been driving the kids to school in the am and DH picks them up in the afternoon.

She got a less restrictive cast last week, so we're trialing the morning bus this week and that means I got to bike!

Bonus is that I finally figured out how to change the rear derailleur cable myself so now my bike runs great for the low cost of $2.50 instead of the inflated $80 tune up fee the shop charges.

They aren’t willing to just do the cable install? The closest LBS to me would charge about $15 labor to do that job, but some of the others ones definitely want to push the general tune up than taking smaller jobs. Though this time of year everyone is slammed, it’s usually a multi week wait for any sort of work.

This weekend I did a dry run biking to work. It was terrifying. I’m not sure that it’s a good fit for me right now. I’ll keep biking to the grocery store on weekends but riding downtown when half of the drivers are on their phones is really daunting. Any advice?

Any specific concerns? Are there routes you can take that are more bike friendly even if less direct?

Some of the comfort level comes with experience, some of it comes from understanding what makes a street good for cycling. I often feel safest on big arterial streets with a bike lane and least safe on a narrow side street, even if that side street is quieter.

TrMama

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2018, 11:19:49 AM »
I'm back! Bike commuting's been on the back burner for the past month while my daughter recovers from a broken ankle. It was fairly badly broken and DH and I weren't comfortable sending her to school on the school bus. So I've been driving the kids to school in the am and DH picks them up in the afternoon.

She got a less restrictive cast last week, so we're trialing the morning bus this week and that means I got to bike!

Bonus is that I finally figured out how to change the rear derailleur cable myself so now my bike runs great for the low cost of $2.50 instead of the inflated $80 tune up fee the shop charges.

They aren’t willing to just do the cable install? The closest LBS to me would charge about $15 labor to do that job, but some of the others ones definitely want to push the general tune up than taking smaller jobs. Though this time of year everyone is slammed, it’s usually a multi week wait for any sort of work.


Now that I know how to do it, I'll probably never take it in again. A new cable is $2.50 and it takes all of 5 minutes to install and reindex the gears. For some reason I thought changing the cables was some mysteriously complicated procedure (or at least the shop lead me to believe so), but it's really not.

I bought two cables, so the next time I blow one out I'll be able to get the bike back on the road within 10 minutes of getting home; instead of having to drive it to the shop and losing an entire day of bike commuting. Or, more likely, I'll do it when it starts making that creaky noise that precedes it's failure. Even better. With gas at $1.55/L ($5.48/ga) I'm extra motivated to keep the bike on the road as much as possible.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #15 on: April 25, 2018, 08:01:10 PM »
Yeah, it is a pretty simple job. Slightly more complicated if it’s rusted to the sleeve (I’m blanking on the correct term) and you need to replace the sleeve as well. I had to do that after my second winter of commuting.

Kmp2

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #16 on: April 27, 2018, 04:45:06 PM »
This weekend I did a dry run biking to work. It was terrifying. I’m not sure that it’s a good fit for me right now. I’ll keep biking to the grocery store on weekends but riding downtown when half of the drivers are on their phones is really daunting. Any advice?

I took an urban bike course, they had us bike on progressively busier roads throughout the day. It was awesome! I learned a lot about the rules, common collision stats and common driver errors and how to recognize them early and what you should do. (Defensive biking 101)



Hurray, I got the studs off, and a bike ride in today, it was my first in almost a month. I was quite the spectacle on the cargo bike with my now 5 year old on the back and towing her bike @ 37 weeks pregnant! We only did a flat 3k, and she did bike most of it on her own... just not the uphill part. Well I would only call it a hill in my condition, more like a slight increase in grade. Thank god cargo bikes have super low gearing.. I was in the granny gear.

Here is hoping some exertion and a bumpy bike ride kick start the getting baby out process!

jordanread

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2018
« Reply #17 on: May 01, 2018, 11:38:38 AM »
New Challenge is up!!

This particular challenge comes to you from a balcony in Cancun, overlooking the ocean.