Commuting - 1,000 mile mark yesterday

I'm so proud of myself, I have to tell someone (who cares). :D

Yesterday, Sept 27, I passed the 1,000 mile mark bicycle computing this summer. I zeroed out the odometer before my first ride to work on June 1.

My commute is a mostly level 8 mile trip each way on suburban streets. I'd say at least half of that is on quiet residential streets. I do have two dicey intersections to deal with, and a mile or two of busy 40 mph rush hour traffic (but with decent shoulders). There's one 100 yard section I'll walk on the way home to avoid getting squashed- it's a short, steep hill, narrow , with potholes, no paved shoulder, on a turn, with a constant stream of cars in a hurry to get home.

Anyway, I've come a long way (literally and figuratively) from my very first ride to work.

First, I've gotten into shape. My first commute was slow in very low gears. The slightest incline was reason to down shift further. Now I might as well ride a single-speed and enjoy powering up the few hills I have in a higher gear, just to get the heart pumping, especially on the way home. (Although I'm NOT a fast rider.)

I've learned how to dress, and how to deal with work clothes. First day I rode dressed for work. :eek: Now keep some essentials (shoes, ties, sports jackets) at work, and have learned to roll up and carry my pants/shirts/socks to and from work, etc. I've worked out the "How to clean up?" and clothes storage issues quite nicely.

I've enjoyed putting together a commuter bike. It's a 8 or 9 year old Trek 720 hybrid. Added fenders, rack, bags, changed the handlebars to drop-downs, replaced the chain/cluster, added better tires and fixed the brakes, added an audio system (!) and so on.

I figured out a good route to work, using streets I never went down once in 15 years of driving to this job.

And so on...

Cycling to work 2 or more times a week has become an important part of my life. I hope to keep it up for at least a few more weeks until the cold/dark makes it less enjoyable. (But are cold/dark just another two obstacles like 'clothes' or 'fitness' that can/should be overcome?) It's not always easy to get started, but the mental/physical benefits are tremendous. Once you do it 40 or 50 times, it's as easy as, well, falling off a bike.

I've been an occasional reader of this forum for the last few months, and have found it to be a source of encouragement, knowing I'm not the only one cycling to work. (I rarely see any bicycles except those ridden by children on my commutes to work.) Thought my 1,000 milestone was a good time to offer some words of encouragement to other would-be commuters.

Oh yeah. I just turned 49, and had open heart surgery to repair a leaking valve about 18 months ago. I rode a fair amount in my teens and twenties, but until this year, it's been just a few short trips each year on the local bike trails.

congratulations. Excellent accomplishment!

Congradulations! I hit a big mark for myself 2 days ago as well. Yay us!

haha, I would have expected more people to have just come in your thread and been like:

"<------34057493857 miles"

I'm not one of those people, because I haven't even been riding while I heal up.

Congratulations man!

Hence the reason I omitted what my mark was. One needs to be polite from time to time :D

1000 miles is a good monthly average. :)

Congratulations, keep up the good work.

It does make you feel good to see what one can do and have done.

Good job! Next assignment, bike through the winter. It's a lot easier to stay in shape than to get in shape.

What an amazing lifestyle change!

Nice going!

great!
keep it going!!

Great accomplishmentt . . . if you keep it up, cycling won't be just a hobby or a sport to you . . . it will become (and maybe already has) and integral part of your life.

Good for you.

Added a audio system? Like what? Gun taping speakers to the bike? :)

Got a photo of your audio rig setup?



Zero_Enigma

Way to go "Cycle2Work". I see you too have found how much fun it can be to commute.

I had open heart surgery myself, about nine years ago, (i'm 50) and I commute 14 miles (round trip) every night for the past three years. The only time I dont ride is when it's lightning, or there's a bad thunderstorm. I see you found what works for you, in your commute, and thats great. Keep up the good work, and maybe your post will inspire some would-be commuters to give it a try.

Congratulations!!!!!

a

Great work, you're well on your way.
When I bought my bike in May a few years ago, my goal was to put 1000 miles on it before year's end. To my surprise I hit 1000 miles well before that, in fact in about the same amount of time you have. It's a good feeling to surpass your goal well ahead of schedule. Keep it up.

Good job! Keep it up!

(But are cold/dark just another two obstacles like 'clothes' or 'fitness' that can/should be overcome?)

Dark is, for sure. Get a good light (I use the Light and Motion Solo, it's where "good lights" start, IMO and is just enough to be decent).

Cold, that depends. I haven't yet made it through the winter. I'm going to try, tho, my first year actually "trying." If you'd like to keep up with my progress and you can stand to read about cooking and other blather in the process, check out my blog. I'm going to be blogging what works and what doesn't over the coming months.

Congrats on your milestone! Think about it for a minute. Did you ever think that you could say you rode 1000 miles on your bike on the way to work? How many folks can actually say they've even ridden 1000 miles in their life? On this board, a ton. But in the general USA populace? Not many. Pretty cool, if you ask me!!!

Oh yeah. I just turned 49, and had open heart surgery to repair a leaking valve about 18 months ago. I rode a fair amount in my teens and twenties, but until this year, it's been just a few short trips each year on the local bike trails.

I don't know about your winters so can't comment. But mine have very few bad riding days. We can dress for the temp and lights for the dawn/dusk. The only hinderance is when the roads are narrower because of ice or snow.

I am a zipper club member also. (Actually they glued me back together after my tripple).

Good for you and happy to see another commuter. The next 1,000 will seem even bigger. After that you will have so many miles behind you it won't seem so amazing. But then at the end of the first year of commuting when you realize how many miles you have ridden you will be amazed! Keep rolling along.

I did my first winter, snowstorms and all, with a DIY 20W halogen. $10 for the parts to make the light, $15 for the battery (SLA). I also bought a rear strobe from All Electronics for $8 (same place I got the battery). I had a 12V car battery charger which will work for SLA batteries, but if you didn't have one that'd be about another $20 (for a small charger, I had a 1.5A "maintenance" charger).

It worked totally fine and I'd have no problem riding with it again. I treated myself to an HID and love it but the halogen was fine too and lots cheaper.

Congrads. While there are many high mileage types in the bike community. Try tell a non-cyclist your yearly mileage. Usually their jaws drop. Even in 1/2 a season (if you don't count winter) it is easily possible to accumulate enough miles to ride 1/2 way across the NA continent.

The greatest thing about 1,000 miles is that it shows you have found a new friend in cycling. Here's to many, many thousands more! :beer:

keep it up!!!

'grats. I looked down the other day to see 500. I commute a shorter distance and its been rainy this summer.

The cold and the dark are both easily overcome obstacles with the right amounts of clothing, lighting and reflectors...I'm still working on the rain.

This morning the radar looked like crap, it looked bad outside, but halfway through the drive to work it cleared up and I started cussing, cause this isn't the first time this has happened to me.

I think I should invest in a disposable rainsuit or two and just get the hell out there every morning then tear it off once things clear up. (Lightning incidentally, isn't something I'm worried about...lots of trees/lights around me and I haven't heard of many lightning strikes in this state/city as long as I've lived here)

Last year, I rode "whenever rain wasn't forecast"

This summer, I switched to riding "whenever it wasn't raining when I looked out the window"

I quickly realized riding in the rain isn't so bad (I kinda like it if it's just a shower), so now I ride "unless ridiculous thunderstorms happen."

I have seen lightning hit within 20-50 feet of me 4 times in my life. Although you might feel safe with trees around... I quite literally saw a pine tree explode when hit by lightning, within 20-30 feet of me. Scared the heck out of me, to be honest. I try not to ride when nasty thunderstorms are predicted (the kind like yesterday where tornados and hail are the rule, not the exception).

Anywho... Rain isn't so bad. The feet wet thing is annoying, but fenders help that. I'm still working on waterproof shoes.

congratulations, I should be joining you in that same milestone next week. I'll repost when I do. I cant wait.

878 commuting miles for me so far. I should join you in two or three weeks and I look forward to it!:)

Great accomplishment. I'm a similar rider--I really love it and it is all about getting in shape and staying in shape. Drove in 3 days this week and I'm thrilled about it.

My excuses have been lots of travel and golf. I had about 150 more miles on last year at this time. I'm not too far off.

My advise regarding rain--ride in if it isn't raining at that moment. Don't worry at all about the forecast for the ride home. Look at it, so you can decide on bringing a rain coat. If I didn't ride in because of possible rain for the ride home, I would rarely ride in (live in Cleveland, OH). If you have fenders, rain on the way home is no big deal. I kind of enjoy it.

I have the same approach with winter. Snow and ice on the road are bad, but if it's clear on the ride in, I'll do it. You can dress for the cold. I rode in 13 times in January (best month of the year so far)--just 3 in February, 6 in March.

Glad this thread got bumped. I've been riding the same route for over 4 years, but got a new bike in early June, and my first bike computer around July 1. When I got home today, my odometer read 1,006 miles. For a variety of reasons, I've really enjoyed having the computer. Although I misplaced the computer for a about 2 weeks at one point, it's still neat to see the odometer pass 1000.

As always, a tip of the helmet to the VLCC members. What wasyour milestone DataJunkie?

1000 miles / 20 mpg X $2.50 gal = $125.00

That's depressingly low actually. Shows you, on a per mile basis ignoring a lot of other costs, how inexpensive driving is in the US.

However, $125 is also roughly the amount of monthly parking here. Alternatively, from where I live, the T would be $3 a day, or about $180 in 3 months.

A thousand miles was my first milestone in commuting and you should be proud. Congratulations!

Don't compare yourself to some of the guys on this forum. Some of these guys are running 150+ miles per week....every week. God Bless 'Em

This year I am taking on the cold weather (I live in Madison, Wisconsin... which really, is not much different from, say, Chicago)

The cold and dark can be intimidating -- especially if you have more of an urban commute with traffic and whackos. Figuring out the clothing issue is a trick. Base layers (you can find them cheap, like at tailwindtees.com) and an outer shell, pluse some sorta balaklava are key. I'm also lining up an older Fuji, fixed up as my bad weather rider... so I can retire my Jamis for the winter (it's my touring bike too)

After the change the clocks, it's a bit lighter in the morning. I have less problems with dark in the afternoon... after all, I'm heading home. The dark in the am can be a mental challenge

Good work!

by the way... there are TOO MANY intagible costs (behond gas $) wear and tear on car, mental wear and tear of driving, if I have my car, I"m liable to do many mid-day errands, running mileage up, etc. And of course, there are the 10 pounds that I've shed in the last 8 months, and more wellness pluses