commuting.

[bYuPride]

i'm working at an office that's finally close enough where i think will be able to commute during the spring through fall.. it's only 12-14 miles round trip. plus i've got one of my guys who works with me into riding so we'll go on a good ride every monday after work and one of my tellers may ride with us as well.. so i've got some questions that have probably been asked here in the past, but i'm going to ask them again anyway.. sorry!

1. which bike is better to commute? road or mountain? i probably won't ride when it's raining because i'm a wuss, so i don't think i'll need little fenders or do i?.. i'll probably buy some lights for the morning commute.

2. what kind of extra stuff do i need? i'll have a spare tube, levers, pump, etc.

3. i don't think i'll get too sweaty if at all in the mornings, because it's so short and there won't be much climbing involved i don't think. but my question is, is there a special back that i could put my clothes in? i've heard of paniers? are those like saddle bags? i may just have to make a closet of clothes in the conference room..

what other things do i need to know? i guess i could just start riding and figure it out on my own, but didn't know if there was some things i need to look out for or if any of you had any funny stories commuting to and from work..

[creekster]

Originally Posted by bYuPride

i'm working at an office that's finally close enough where i think will be able to commute during the spring through fall.. it's only 12-14 miles round trip. plus i've got one of my guys who works with me into riding so we'll go on a good ride every monday after work and one of my tellers may ride with us as well.. so i've got some questions that have probably been asked here in the past, but i'm going to ask them again anyway.. sorry!

1. which bike is better to commute? road or mountain? i probably won't ride when it's raining because i'm a wuss, so i don't think i'll need little fenders or do i?.. i'll probably buy some lights for the morning commute.

2. what kind of extra stuff do i need? i'll have a spare tube, levers, pump, etc.

3. i don't think i'll get too sweaty if at all in the mornings, because it's so short and there won't be much climbing involved i don't think. but my question is, is there a special back that i could put my clothes in? i've heard of paniers? are those like saddle bags? i may just have to make a closet of clothes in the conference room..

what other things do i need to know? i guess i could just start riding and figure it out on my own, but didn't know if there was some things i need to look out for or if any of you had any funny stories commuting to and from work..

Typre fo bike depends on the weather and your road. ALso, if you use panniers or want to avoid a bnackpack (which I prefer to do when commuting) you will need a rack and while your basic $6,000 carbon-kevlar wonder road frame will do alot, you will find that it has no braze-ons for a rack, so this might make your decision for you.

I use a basic Perfromance brand two headlight light for the front which serves me well, and two blinkies fofr the back. One is on my seat post and the other I attach to my clothing somewhere so that it jiggles (don't ask) thereby causing drivers to wonder what in the sam hill is on the road ahead (or at least that's my theory).

You might want to invest in one of those CO2 tube fillers. If you are late for work and you need to change a tire, nothign is as nice as putting one of those bad boys on and filling it in 1 point nothing seconds. Never try to patch a tube on a cimmute, btw, as it is some corollary to Murphy's law that the patch will not work unles you have lots of time to get to work. Instead, don't fight it, just clear the tire of any object and use a new tube, patching the flat one later at home to become your new spare.

At one job I used to get a bunch of dress shirts cleaned and boxed (as oppsoed to put on hangers) and leave a suit and a few pairs of slacks and shoes at the office, so I only had to acrry the delicates and personal items on the bike. Nowadays, however, I just thrwo it all in and hope I do't look too much like a bag person when I get to owrk.

Commuting by bike is very therapeutic, IMO. I encourage it.