Commuting - Deal breakers

OK Guys, It's a weekday and you just woke up. What makes you wimp out and take the car/train/bus into work?

Gale force winds
Rain
Snow
All of the above
Too many beers
You did XXX miles at the weekend so you are still in credit
Got a book you just cant put down
You went ape at some driver and smashed his car in so you have to lie low
Sore from a previous ride
Losing interest

Hmmm... I usually don't get that un-loving feeling. If it's raining, I just put on the raingear. If it's snowing, I leave early. If it's windy, I take lower Wacker ;) . I guess the only time I leave the bike is when I feel like walking rather than riding, or when I have to meet up with my parents and I don't feel like getting the "you're gonna kill yourself on that bike!" lecture, usually accompanied by one of them crying as it's being said. *sigh*

I guess it helps for me because my jobs are all nearby so it's no biggie for me if I decide to walk. I just end up having to leave like 15 minutes earlier. Sometimes it's nice to walk- I have some nice, long sheepskin coats I paid good money for that are dressy, and I never get the chance to wear them, since I always ride and I'm covered in goretex.

Koffee

OK Guys, It's a weekday and you just woke up. What makes you wimp out and take the car/train/bus into work?

Gale force winds
Rain
Snow
All of the above
Too many beers
You did XXX miles at the weekend so you are still in credit
Got a book you just cant put down
You went ape at some driver and smashed his car in so you have to lie low
Sore from a previous ride
Losing interest

For me it's usually either 1) "too many beers", or 2)wanting to sleep in for some other reason. No good excuse, pretty sad really.

Gale force winds or too much work gear to pack. I smoke the transit around here, even have beat my driver friend to his house ( 3 mile? ) I didn't know he saw me downtown ( called on cell ) and got there first (routes) still, he was impressed! Oh ya, on a mtb!

When I was in college and the few years after that I never wimped out, because there was no way in hell that I was going to rush for a bus, then either miss it or wait around for it. The bike was the fastest way almost annywhere. I never thought about doing anything as stupid as wasting my time working,to get the cash to own a car that pollutes and makes the user fat and disconected from his environment.

I have since married, and my wife thinks that we must have 2 cars, so that the kids can be comfortably shuttled to wherever they need or want to go. In Summer we bike. In winter the rest of the family insists on driving.

Then there are those cold cold days that I wouldn't think twice about riding, if there wasn't a car sitting ready to spirit me away... I've already wasted the money on the stupid thing!

Lately I just ride my bike to get to and from, not for "fun"-- it's cold man. As for wimping out? When your car is 20 miles away that isn't an option.

I have to cross a bridge, so gale force winds would.

Also ice.

Unless I have a flat or other breakdown, I'll always ride, regardless of weather. Driving is too much of a hassle.

If I have to go right to the airport from work or drive to a distant client call, I will drive. That's the only reason.

Paul

For me, it's usually work-related: If I'm going to be in hearings all day or have to be at a meeting after work.

1) Its too bloody cold (like now) or 2) I have to haul something big or something of large quantity - such monitors or a car load of books or 3) Have to go somewhere after work that's far away -- or sometimes if its really really really pouring rain outside.

While I like to play in the snow on the bike, my commute route presents major safety concerns when the roads are icy and snow packed. So, that would be a major consideration for me.

Usually the only reason I drive in is if I need to drive somewhere straight from work (like today, interestingly enough) or in pretty rare cases unsafe weather conditions. Currently I am taking this route I have to take while a portion of the rail trail I normally bike is closed. It is less safe, and this is compounded by ice, wind and rain. But when the trail is open it will only be the need to drive off from work.

The only thing that stops me is if I just run out of time getting ready to go to work.

If it snows, it takes me one hour to bicycle commute - exactly. That means I have to be on my bike with wheels spinning no later than 6:00 AM. Sometimes that is hard to do.

Two things:

1. My Son. The roads and drivers around here are not nice enough to cart him to his school on my bike.

2. The Cold. It has been 15 below zero here for the past two weeks, and even if it were slightly warmer, The roads are a mess, and I do not have teh equipment to deal with the black ice.

If the roads are wet and the temperature below freezing, I'll get a ride in;
I'm not equipped for ice hazards.

If it's REALLY raining like a bastard, I'll get a ride in.
Dealing with all the wet slop and bundling up a dry change of clothes isn't
quite worth it for a fourteen mile round trip.
Not to mention the thorough bike cleaning afterward.

Haven't had to lie low after attacking a driver...
but I've considered the prospect!

I can think of only four things that could stop me from biking:

-First, if I need to cart something to work that can't be carted on a bike;

-Second, when the roads and trails are hockey rinks (I won't buy studded tires for 2 or 3 days a year, and it just isn't worth the risk of damage to me and my bike); and

-Third, cold below 5F (so far my equipment has kept me toasty down to 14F, so I assume another 10F would be fine); and

-Fourth, wind that would blow me off the bike (I can't change the laws of physics).