Driving to ride

[Renault78law]

Do you drive to ride? I typically drive 25-40 minutes each way to ride near the beach. I'm affraid of riding in the street in my neighborhood...too many idiots behind the wheel. Also, since I live in a metropolitan area, there no open roads around here - there's a light every couple of blocks. Just doesn't seem enjoyable, especially when I have to constantly clip and unclip. However, I notice that it is often difficult to squeeze in a ride with the added driving time. Should I suck it up and just ride in the street, or should I continue driving to ride when I have the time, or maybe I should get a trainer/rollers? Sigh, what do you do?

[Guest]

I don't drive, but I'm considering getting a buddy and taking a train out to the west side of Illinois for further riding. I don't see anything wrong with it...

Koffee

[OregonBound]

Originally posted by Renault78law
Do you drive to ride? I typically drive 25-40 minutes each way to ride near the beach. I'm affraid of riding in the street in my neighborhood...too many idiots behind the wheel.

If you live in the US, take one of the Effective Cycling courses offered by the League of American Cyclists. It will teach you how to safely mix with traffic and can do a lot to make it less stressfull and frightening.

Paul

[SipperPhoto]

I typically drive to my club rides... it is about a 25 minute drive... I guess I could ride there... but it would make riding home after a 50 mile ride truly suck... since it is all uphill back to my house... other than that, there are plenty of places to ride around my house, if I'm just by myself


Jeff

[Chris L]

I don't drive, simply because I don't own a car (and have no desire to get one), although I did get a train to a ride last weekend.

[heresy]

I occasionally drive to the Rose Bowl. When in San Diego, a friend and I often drive to the coast (inconvenient 15-20 miles by bike).

[Grendel]

Some of our rides begin well out in the coutryside, meaning about 45 minutes to an hour's worth of driving, so I drive. Speaking of which, I just bought a new bike hauler -- a Honda CR-V. My bikes fit perfectly in the back and it's surprisingly fun to drive.

[nathank]

when i lived in the US i "drove to ride" for about half of my rides - mostly longer out-of-town rides on the weekends. in town (local club road rides, local trail rides) i would ride through town to ride - of course that was only 2-10 miles (yeah Portland is awesome). it makes a good warm-up as i can ride my own pace before meeting the group.

in Germany i have no car. on the weekends i take the train to the mountains to ride or ride with someone occaisonally.

as far as riding in the streets - yeah, learn how to do it and you'll make better use of your time. if you only ride 1-2 hours but spend more than 30 minutes in the car you're really wasting time. riding in the streets may not be the most fun, but the danger is exaggerated and the "effective training" time greatly extended.

for longer rides (say that special trail or a big club ride 40 miles away) you pretty much have to drive -- as the US has virtually no decent train service :(

P.S. bike commuting is the "secret" way to really get in a lot of extra training miles/time! without biking to work i would never be able to find enough time to train like i want - over the last 6 years my commute has been 20-40 minutes one-way, twice a day, 4.5 times per week, so an extra 40-70miles/week!

[Richard D]

Originally posted by Chris L
I don't drive, simply because I don't own a car (and have no desire to get one), although I did get a train to a ride last weekend.

Ditto - I sometimes catch a train

[druhl]

I enjoy riding the Youghiogheney River Trail - a rail to trail. Fifteen minutes of driving gets me to three or four different access points.

[Shannon-UT]

Yes, I do drive to the trails. The trails are up the canyon a bit (20+ minutes), so you would need a good part of your day if you're going to ride your mountain bike to the trailhead. This doesn't work out for after work rides.

There is a trail just out of town, just up the canyon, that is 1/2 mile from my work. I'm thinking of riding my bike to work and going right after work and stashing my work clothes in the office and pick them up as I ride home. That would take alot of preparation, and I'd have to go alone, because my husband and friends don't ride until 6pm-ish after work.

I know that road riders in my area leave right from their homes for a ride. Within 3 miles you're out on country roads.

[Stubacca]

I normally drive to go mountain biking, but most of my road riding by myself starts from home. For some of the longer rides, I'll meet buddies at a convenient location for all - nothing wrong with it in my book. :D

Originally posted by nathank

P.S. bike commuting is the "secret" way to really get in a lot of extra training miles/time! without biking to work i would never be able to find enough time to train like i want - over the last 6 years my commute has been 20-40 minutes one-way, twice a day, 4.5 times per week, so an extra 40-70miles/week!
Dead right on this one! My commute adds 25-35 miles per day (depending on what route I choose and how energetic I feel on the way home). It's a great way to get 'free' exercise and time on the bike.

[sebring]

I'll drive to different starting points. Otherwise, I would need to be able to ride well over 100 miles to accomplish where I've gone. Nothing worng with it. I drive to all my club rides too.

[shaharidan]

i drive to ride, wish i didnt have to, but its difficult to get a good work out right near my house, and if i rode to and from my favorite workout area i'd have to get up at 3 am instead of 4am. like i said it would be nice if i dint have to, but i dont see anything wrong with it.

[Pat]

Well, if it is reasonably close, I ride to the ride. Or I just start from home and ride however many miles I am going to ride.

But if it is a ways, I drive. Most rides start pretty early in the morning and riding 25 miles in the dark on roads I am not really familiar with doesn't seem like a good idea. Also, our local club rides can be pretty intense so it takes fresh legs.

[~LongRider~]

The city I live in just won an award for being one of the most cycle friendly cities in the state. There are cycling lanes on many of the roads here. There is a network of riding trails that begin very close to my house too. The trail is 18 miles one way. I can ride straight from home, up the trail, get off at the local lake, ride around it, get on the trail, and come home, without needing to drive. It can easily be 40 miles. There are some killer hills along the way too. One is about a 10% grade for a mile or so. Other areas are very flat. It's a great place to ride.