If I may enter the conversation with my thoughts as a newbie commuter and also introduce myself. I just recently began commuting the 5 mile round trip from the subway stop to work and I just joined the forums.
In only THREE days of commuting the short distance I’ve realized just how much of a bloody hurry we as a society are in!!! Yesterday I saw people running up the stairs at the subway station...at the END of the day!!! They were in a mad rush to get to their cars. I’ve noticed the insanely mad rush people are in in their cars….it amazes me!!! I never saw it when I was part of that it in my own car. I’m glad I’m doing the bike commute…I had 30 minutes of riding yesterday. People at work laugh, but I see it this way: my total commute is 5 hours/day round trip (a combination of car, train, subway, and bike), but during that that period, I get my “30 minutes of daily exercise.” I’m thinking of it as more of a 4½ hour round trip. The bike time is “ME” time in the guise of getting to and from work. Granted, it’s not like a road ride with a club through the New Hampshire or Virginia countryside, but it’s better than NOT riding!
So I guess I'm in the discovery phase everyone else has probably gone through.
Anyway, thanks for indulging me.
Paul
(in Northern VA)