This is my first internet comment about bicycling ever. I'm 52 and started commuting about a month ago. I didn't know I was going to be a bicycle commuter when I bought the bike but I knew after my second day of riding it. In fact, the first place I rode my bike was 6.7 miles to work. It changed everything about my work day. I can't believe how important this has become to me in just a short time.
Funny, the last bike I owned was a Murray bought at K-Mart 20 years ago. It never saw much action. Before that the last time I rode a bike was the day before I got my drivers license. Ha!
Somehow I knew this was going to be big for me when I bought this new bike.
It took only the first or second day before I knew I was going to be a commuter. Immediately, serious conciderations for the logistics of commuting came up. Many of which have been mentioned here.
If you want to encourage somebody like me a month ago to commute by bicycle, you would have to show me how to keep fresh cloths at work and how I was going to change into them. How was I going to protect my bike from thieves or vandals? How do I get lunch to work? Spend $5000 to encourage someone like me to bike commute? Tear down the barriers of commuting that separate pleasure from burden.
Darned pleased to be here ya'll!