32 bike commuters

sbhikes

This morning on my 8.5 mile commute I counted 32 bike commuters. It was just an ordinary day. A Thursday morning, between 7:15 and 8am, in November on an unseasonably (according to the weather man) cool day. Yesterday I saw 23 bike commuters on my way to work.

I did not even see all the regulars I see. I also took note of the people themselves. A lot of them were older, not many were college students, most wore regular clothes and were clearly on their way to a job, not out recreationally or on their way to school. I only counted people who were going somewhere. I didn't count parked bikes or the little kid with training wheels or homeless people's bikes in the bushes.

How many bike commuters do you see on your way to work?

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Cassave

It's nice to know that more people are riding, somewhere. I haven't seen ANY increase in bike commuters in my area (San Fernando Valley) even with $3+ gas.

mmerner

I saw 2 this morning. Thats above average for my 8 mile commute.

joejack951

I saw 1 this mornng. I usually see 1. Once, I saw 2. I cheered :)

scarry

I only saw one, and he was going the wrong way.

Please, God, $5 gas, please.

chipcom

1-3 this time of year

chocula

How many bike commuters do you see on your way to work?

Between zero and two, not counting me.

noisebeam

This AM I saw zero.

I drove to dinner yesterday evening and saw two. One on a bent with excellent rear lighting and reflectors taking a NOL, the other with no rear light one, but fumbled to turn it on at an intersection, but gave up as the light turned green, it was well past sunset, they knew they needed the light but didn't care enought to actually turn it on.

Al

o-dog

I see alot of people riding bikes around here

unfortunately, 90% of them ride on the sidewalk

noisebeam

unfortunately, 90% of them ride on the sidewalk
Here it is closer to 99% during commuting hours. On weekends with clubs and rec riders out it is more like 80% on sidewalks.

Al

I-Like-To-Bike

I see alot of people riding bikes around here

unfortunately, 90% of them ride on the sidewalk
Would you prefer 100% of zero bicyclists riding where you think they should?

I see no other commuting cyclist today, yesterday or any other day whenI do my daily 24 mile R/T commute

LittleBigMan

This morning on my 8.5 mile commute I counted 32 bike commuters. It was just an ordinary day. A Thursday morning, between 7:15 and 8am, in November on an unseasonably (according to the weather man) cool day. Yesterday I saw 23 bike commuters on my way to work.

How many bike commuters do you see on your way to work?
Dang. :D

Santa Barbara must be a magnet for bike commuters.

I don't ever count bike commuters, but I usually see a handful each day.

The notable ones are those I actually talk to. I recently talked with one guy who works down at Fort McPherson whose been at it for 15 years. Another neat guy is the Yellow Bike mechanic (he rides a Yellow Bike.) It's fun to meet people!

Mike, who runs a local bike shop down here, is a bike commuter, but his route takes him away from me. But since I frequent his shop, we get to chat a bit.

tulip

I can't count them all. There are alot. I once counted 21 women bike commuters on my way to work.

genec

I see quite a few... my route takes me past a college. I did not count though.

rainbikey

I saw four on the Mertle Edwards Bike path in Seattle. It was 6:10 am, dark, windy and raining (hey, it's Seattle). I also saw two rats and one mouse.
The numbers of riders comutting drop way off after November 1st. Kindy lonely.

Treespeed

Here in Los Angeles I see between 1-2 other bike commuters, and on average 4-5 sidewalk commuters. But since it's been a little colder, in the 60's, I haven't seen any of the other commuters. It just cracks me up to hear folks talking about how cold it is here.

But on the other hand it makes me really frustrated and sad when I see so many of the sidewalk cyclists riding without lights. Of course many of these people can barely afford the bike they are riding, let alone the extra luxury of lights and batteries. It's been a long time since I've had to choose between maintaining my bike and buying food. You would think with all of the subsidies for roads someone could come up with some money for free lights for some of these folks.

Better yet would be if whoever built these low end bikes put generators and lights on them instead of useless dual suspension. Of course it's easy to sit here and tell others what I think they need, but I still think bike makers need to take some responsibility for not offering any other options. I certainly didn't see these sort of crap bikes in Europe.
Until then I'm going to look into starting a non-profit to get lights to some of the riders down here instead of just vacuously *****ing about it.

-Marcus.

linds

But since it's been a little colder, in the 60's, I haven't seen any of the other commuters.

Weenies!

:)

Treespeed

Weenies!

:)

Tell me about it. It is sunny and at least in the 70s here today. I'm going swimming at an outdoor pool here soon. I'm just afraid of turning into one of the lightweights if I spend too much time down here. :D

DCCommuter

They have been thick lately. We've had unseasonably good weather. In the evenings in particular I sometimes run into bicycle mini traffic jams on popular routes. I feel like I'm in China.

bullethead

unfortunately in the three months I have been commuting I've seen 1 person who looked like he was commuting, maybe three people who looked like they were out for a ride.

aluckyfiji

5-bikers/day going to class on campus, there is one other guy that I sometime see out by my house who has a nice rig with lights and everything
stats for the five bikers
0-helments
2-low air in the rear tire (sub 20lbs)
0-lights but still have the factory reflectors
3.5-huge backbags low on their backs (below the saddle)
4.5-on the sidewalk
0.5-riding against traffic

Roody

I commute a 3:00 PM, so not many commuters at that time. On my morning ride I saw about 12 to 15 people riding. I didn't know I was supposed to ask them if they were commuting, so I didn't. None were riding in the bike lanes because we don't have any bike lanes. Somehow, that didn't stop them. They found their way without any help from Big Bike Brother. :D

genec

Say Roody... where is the middle of the mitten and what kind of population and traffic density is there at that location?

lilHinault

Santa Barbara would be ideal for bike commuting, the whole town is maybe 5 miles long, and 20 MPH is hauling ass, since the traffic is often dense, and the roads designed for slow traffic. Go faster than 20 MPH and you're tempting fate. Very nice place too!

chipcom

1-3 this time of year

I should explain my own situation better, since this thread seems to be related to another.
While I only see 1-3 this time of year, I see more during the summer and many, many more when I am downtown. My commute goes from semi-rural to suburbia, the majority of commuters go from suburbia to downtown. I am on the road between 6am and 7am - most places work days begin at 8 or 9, so there might be more on the road then I imagine. Half of my commute is on a parkway that has a MUP running parallel to it. Of the commuters I see, this is where I see all of them. I'd say half ride the road, the others ride the MUP. Downtown, the vast majority are on the road, with only a few on the sidewalks, which are packed with peds. There are no MUPs, BL or BP downtown.

Roody

Say Roody... where is the middle of the mitten and what kind of population and traffic density is there at that location?
Lansing, Mich. State capitol, Mich. State U., Oldsmobile and GM auto plants galore for 102 years now, car lover's paradise. Metro pop. is about 200,000 (?). I live in center city with narrow lanes (our streets were paved when S.D. was still a Spanish mission :D) and lots of cars. But traffic is slower here, so it's very bikeable. I ride in the suburbs at times, with scarier roads and fast traffic like you're used to, but of course not as many of them (I lived in San Diego for a while).

chocula

Of course many of these people can barely afford the bike they are riding, let alone the extra luxury of lights and batteries. It's been a long time since I've had to choose between maintaining my bike and buying food.

I try to remember this point when I get frustrated at the guys on X-Mart bikes with no lights. Failure to use lights cuts across all demographic groups in my town. I regularly see people riding expensive road bikes at dusk or after dark without lights. They've obviously spent plenty of bread on their bikes and cycling costumes, so they can afford lights. I have little patience for these folks.

Better yet would be if whoever built these low end bikes put generators and lights on them instead of useless dual suspension.

Excellent point. Automakers certainly couldn't sell cars without headlights. Even if they did, law enforcement agencies would prevent their use on public roadways after dark.

Dchiefransom

Time of day of your commute is a big factor in how many others you see riding. After I'd leave the office to deliver mail, I'd see lots of people riding around on bikes. I'd see more obvious commuters going home after 4:00 PM than I would see in the morning. I never noticed many others commuting on their bikes when I'd leave home at 4:30 AM.

Erick L

I saw none yesterday morning and one at 11pm... against traffic, on the sidewalk and no lights. He went right past a freeway-style intersection. I think he was lucky not to get hit.

I saw 5 cyclists this morning, perhaps 2-3 were commuters. Funny since it was more cold and windy than yesterday.

5 or 6 is usual when it's warmer. Pretty good considering I commute at odd hours. When I come back from the night shift (~10:30 am) and the weather is good, there are dozens of cyclists on the bike path part of my commute, and well over a hundred in the heart of summer.

egonlou

I was thinking about this yesterday morning on my way in. I didn't meet up with another biker until mile 7 of my commute. numbers two and three were in the next mile, then I lost count.

slagjumper

Well I usually only see 2 or 3 commuters on my 12 mile one-way trip. But today I stopped and had some coffee at a place that overlooked a main secondary route through a business district. While sitting there, I found that about 1 cyclist every 5 minutes went by! So sitting there I saw about 12 between 5-6pm.

I was thinking of handing out pamplets to the commuters. I could hand out stuff like the addresses of the city officials, local orgs and other important information. Seems like the commuters also need to be quantified so that the city and state planners can make the best informed decisions about new bike facilities.

Dchiefransom

kuan

On my 5:30 and 7p runs at night on Luce Line trail in Minnesota I see 3-4.

We'll see how many I see when the snow starts flying.

JohnBrooking

I was excited this summer when there were at least 2 new regulars that I saw a couple of times a week. It also got so I'd encounter 2-3 other cyclists a week on my 5-mile commute, although not the same ones, so I don't know if they were regulars or happened to be there that day. Now that's it's started getting cold (40-50's F), I haven't seen any others for about a month now. (Wimps!)

natelutkjohn

I saw 1 this mornng. I usually see 1. Once, I saw 2. I cheered :)

Same, but the cheer, the commuters I see I are on the wrong of the road, no lights pre-sunrise/sidewalk riders... I wave and am glad that they are out, but I don't cheer their method. I wish I saw 30 some odd commuters every morning...

rajman

I ride for 35 minutes against traffic along the main bike path in Calgary. I see anywhere between 30 - 50 bikes going the other way, plus about 10 or so people walking, depending on the weather.

VintageCommute

I haven't seen a single bike commuter since I started biking to work one month ago. There are two to three commuters in my company, but never encountered them while I was riding.

Dallas, TX isn't a place for bicycle commuting.

LittleBigMan

I haven't seen a single bike commuter since I started biking to work one month ago. There are two to three commuters in my company, but never encountered them while I was riding.

It's funny how it seems like there are no other commuters on your route, then one day you leave a few minutes late or early, and run into one of them. I came across a guy on my route one morning when I left early (around 5:40 a.m.) and we talked. Turns out he's been riding this route for years, just a few minutes ahead of me.

kb0tnv

I saw two this morning. It was probably because it was more like 30deg. F and not the 19deg. F that was the temp earlier this week. I enjoy seeing them since it keeps me reminded that the area that I am biking through is safer! The more cyclists the safer the activity for all involved! More drivers are aware of you!

Keep Cycling,

TrevorInSoCal

I usually see between 0 and 2 other riders not counting myself.

The funny thing is, if I ride my motorcycle to work instead of cycling I see *more* riders. This is largely because I live about a mile up the street from a local GIS software company, which is one of my town's largest employers. Commuting there from anywhere in town would be about anywhere from a 5 to 30 minute ride (It's a fairly small town.), which explains why I see more riders, when leaving my house on my motorcycle at 7:30, than I do when I leave on my bicycle at 7:00.

I have an hour commute, to an area of a neighoring city with virtually no other business presence other than the tiny little ghetto-office-park that I work in.

-Trevor

bullethead

I usually see none. I saw a guy once with blinkies who looked like he might turn into a regular, but no such luck. It was the only time I have been able to say "left". I got passed once this summer by a roadie. Unfortunately(?) I see few cars in the AM never mind bikes.

michaelnel

I seldom see other bike commuters except at the train station where bike/train commuters are converging on the station or diverging from the station.

There are two guys I run into frequently though, and we usually ride together for a while until I peel off to go to my job (they both continue farther). One really really tall guy on a folder (looks strange, but he moves along at a really good clip) and another guy on an Ibis Hakkalugi. We chat a bit at stoplights, they seem like nice guys.