Commuting - What got you started -- and what kept you going?

I've only come back to bike commuting recently, and probably wouldn't have dived right into it were it not for a lengthy transit strike. The strike was about 4 months long, and lots of people took to their bikes during that time, although I'm not sure what proportion of people actually kept on.

I think there are lots of people who have tried cycle commuting, but I'm not sure why some of us decide to keep doing it, and some of us decide to stop. I do think there's often some kind of "hump" many of us have to get over before we're truly hooked, and not everyone decides that they need to get over it. So:

I'm interested in hearing what helped you decide to begin cycle commuting -- and what initially kept you going, especially during or after times where you might have been discouraged or tired or unable to ride, or just in a position to choose something else that seemed more convenient, more pleasant, or more necessary at the time.

Why did you keep doing it? Your reasons for continuing to commute by bike now are probably a little different from the reasons that kept you going earlier -- but that's just my guess. I'm especially interested in the reasons that mattered when cycle commuting was still relatively new to you, and other options were still pretty fresh and attractive in your experience: what helped you get over that hump?

Fat programmers.

When I was in high school, I did this summer camp, and one of the things they did was they took you to see people who did things you thought you might be interested in doing when you "grew up". So naturally I went to see the programmers. Eeww. I promised myself that I would never be an obese, Doctor Pepper can stacking, cave dwelling, computer-generated art loving programmer.

Anyway, staying in shape was no problem when I was younger, but when I got out of college and got a job I realized that I would start getting pretty unhealthy if I didn't start moving around. So that kind of made me actually start riding to work. I was helped by the fact that the weather here is wonderful almost all the time.

andy

Quite simply my love of biking. I can think of nothing worse than not getting my daily fix.

Originally posted by aturley
Fat programmers.

...So naturally I went to see the programmers. Eeww. I promised myself that I would never be an obese, Doctor Pepper can stacking, cave dwelling, computer-generated art loving programmer...

andy

I'm a programmer and do not resemble any of these things. I'm not obese, never stack Dr.Pepper cans, do not dwell in a cave, and I think computer generated art has no soul. Remember one exception negates the stereotype. :-)

Originally posted by hunterseeker
I've only come back to bike commuting recently, and probably wouldn't have dived right into it were it not for a lengthy transit strike.
I would like to say it was for my health. Maybe I thought it was.

But I distinctly remember having to give up my car to my wife.

What got me over the "hump?"

The Matrix. I took the red pill.

;)

(And those hills give me a rush, man.)

I knew it was the only way I would get in shape for the big ride I wanted to do later that summer.

It all started with a hospital stay...ok, here is the short version.

Went to the hospital.
no insurance.
got out and bought Huffy to get back in shape.
Lost 30 pounds over the summer.
fell in love with cycling.
Bills to pay.
Truck repossessed.
oh well, who needs a car anyway.
used car payment money for new Cannondale road bike.
All bills paid off.
Bought GT mountain bike.
didn't need a car anymore.
bike commuting is freedom.


:D

I've always been quite keen on commuting but as I get older and slower, it gets harder.

What keeps me going just now is you guys "sob, sob" ...group hug..., and I'm in the lucky position that I now feel guilty when I don't cycle.

I think I reached 30 and realized that puppy fat had merged seamlessly into middle-aged spread and decided I needed some exercise. As someone who apart from walking found exercise a for-letter word I was a bit stuck as what to do, particularly as I couldn't see that I had much free time to do it in. My wife had mentioned the idea of getting bikes for going out on a Sunday afternoon, one of my colleagues cycled into work on a daily basis, and some how I came up with the idea of cycling.

Since giving up riding when I was 9 or 10 (had a nasty fall) I'd only been on a bike once in the last 20 years on an afternoon ride on a bike trail whilst on holiday when I was 14 or 15, but I thought it couldn't be too difficult...

I've never had a car (tried driving lessons at 18 and hated it) and don't miss it.

I think the odd day I catch the train and am reminded of how unpleasant massed school children are helps keep me cycling in.

Richard (who confesses to cheating and only cycling some of the way this morning, and joining the train for the rest)

Well, as much as I ranted about the bad quality of bike paths in and outside cities, it is conducive to cycling ..

Where I live at the moment some 40% of all transportation is done by bicycle, which would have made it eligible as the 'Bicycle City' of the Netherlands if it wasn't for the dire state of the bike paths..

Another city close-by with more money and asphalt bike paths got the honour instead. Apparently they see # of bike paths as a measure of quality.

But everybody rides the bike.... INSIDE THE CITY THAT IS!

My commute to the elementary school was longer than to the secondary school. Some 15 minutes compared to 7 minutes if I remember well. Everyone came either by bicycle or foot.. I cannot remember than ANYONE ever was brought to school, bar some pupils that were a bit sick perhaps and couldn't cycle. In winter those from far away (some would come from places at 15K distance) would catch the bus, but many would still prefer to cycle because of the infrequency of the bus .

Afterwards my 'commuting' distance was always short, just to the railway station. Only when I started studying in 1987 I would cycle a bit further to the nearest station at 10K and leave the bike parked. Most others though would think that 10K is too far and take a bus. As soon as students received a free bus & rail pass in 1992 (dang I graduated that year) they massively stopped cycling and hitch-hiking home, but mobbed the public transport system.

It's still like that... very few folks ride to the railway station and I never see hitch-hikers anymore :-( Apart from cycling, I'm an avid hitch-hiker (abroad) and this is a bad situation as mostly former hitch-hikers give rides to current hitch-hikers.

To make another very long story short.. everyone has a bicycle here, everyone uses it for inner-city transport, but any distance over 5-10 K is considered to be TOO FAR AWAY to ride. People do start liking to ride recreationally in the forests e.g. for which they buy a twinny load for the car, load the bikes and go to a trail...
But commuting is a rare thing.. when I worked at a distance of 7K, I was the only bike commuter between 4 able-bodied men.. all had lame excuses.
1 said he practiced martial arts 3 times/week so didn't have time to commute by bike (fair enuf)
1 said that when he rode the bike he'd be all sweaty when at work and he didn't like to spend the time to shower (perhaps I'm a pervert or perhaps I don't shower enough?)
can't remember the arguments of the others, but the one from my own city just said he was too lazy.

So, while most people may commute inside cities (good situation!) it drops to perhaps 10% outside cities.. and probably even further when the distance is over 10K still a better situation than in other countries..

And we have the flattest country on earth!!!!

Ivana

Although Ive always ridden, I never commuted in London. It just never occured to me. After a few years of taking the underground, I just got fed up with behaving like cattle. I dredged out my bike and just rode it. The first few rides were terrifying, but I learnt to plan a better route very quickly.
What kept me riding was the sense of freedom . Every ride was an adventure and I could explore the city on my own terms. The health benefits were a nice side effect, and the money I saved was useful. Like many beginers, I was loath to spend good money on good cycling equipment.
Now its just what i do. I dont need a reason to keep cycling, any more than I need a reason to breathe

Originally posted by Richard D

I've never had a car (tried driving lessons at 18 and hated it) and don't miss it.

Never had a car! An adult who "never had a car". Can you imagine?

See that, my fellow Americans? If our European cousins can do it, so can we. Let's be inspired by Richard D and our other global friends and, if only a little, bust loose from the culture of automobile dependancy.

Originally posted by fietser_ivana

Where I live at the moment some 40% of all transportation is done by bicycle

But everybody rides the bike.... INSIDE THE CITY THAT IS!

Ivana

Oh, my GOD! A message from Ivana in Nirvana.

Check this out, my fellow Americans, "40% of all transportation is done by bicycle in the Netherlands">

Oh, so THAT is why we have legs; for mobility! Eureka, legs aren't just for walking to and from the car anymore!

I know some people who use their legs so little, they could consider having them removed to lessen the weight and get better gas mileage.

Originally posted by fietser_ivana

So, while most people may commute inside cities (good situation!) it drops to perhaps 10% outside cities.. and probably even further when the distance is over 10K still a better situation than in other countries..

And we have the flattest country on earth!!!!

Ivana

I can second the fact that the dutch don't travel outside cities much by bike.

I remember being lost once (sometimes dutch cyclepath signs are designed to confuse) asking a dutch guy on a bike where Leerdam was and he said "It's five hours on a bike , I think", when in fact it was only 30km away. He had no conception of how long it would take to get there by bike.

Mike, I never had one either.. albeit I do have a drivers' licence.
Getting to learn how to drive is very expensive here.. prior to 1 exam you need some 30-40 lessons which were already 20$ each 20 years ago.. so will easily be 40$. So, just 1 exam will put you back nearly 2000 USD. It took me 8 exams (a lot , but not unexceptional) to get the license.. with 10 lessons in between. So that was an additional 4500 USD.. I would guess that about 1/3rd of the examined pass their first exam.. 3 to 4 is quite normal.
I know at least 10 people who never took driving lessons, among which a family of fairly fanatical cyclists.. 2 of 3 kids never took lessons (only the oldest) because they didn't fancy driving..

Yet, while I was fantasizing about how I'd get a license plate with my initials (we don't have free choice) when mine would come up, I always considered it a waste of money to have a car. I would frequently drive my parents' car though.
Since then i could have had 2 cars for free but politely declined.. the taxes are very high, even when you don't drive at all.. and I feared that it would make me start driving a car too much.. by then i was already in the fanatical cycling mode..

Ivana putting a perspective to why a lot of people don't own a car or even have a license.

The Netherlands sounds a bit like Japan. Everyone cycles the few km to their railway station, or around the city centre (on the sidwalk, not the road). They dont go far or fast, and dont or can't mix with cars on the road.
Both these countries have a dense pattern of developement. I dont think you can successfully encourage mass cycling, if you build low density cities. If people live close to there they want to go, you dont need space bewteen them to place your cars. When 1/3 to 1/2 of city landspace is devoted to cars, destinations get pushed further apart.

Originally posted by Richard D
I think the odd day I catch the train and am reminded of how unpleasant massed school children are helps keep me cycling in.

Richard (who confesses to cheating and only cycling some of the way this morning, and joining the train for the rest)
I understand, but I don't count it as "cheating" anymore.

I found out that I am not yet strong enough to maintain 140 mile weeks continuously, without burning out. I need to be creative by alternating 28 mile days with non-cycling days, or by shortening my rides by hopping the train.

My goal is to improve my endurance to handle the full mileage on a continuous basis, but for now, I have to settle for 70-mile weeks, on average (sometimes more, sometimes less.)

Yes, the train is my friend, sometimes! (I get to recuperate and sometimes do a little walking...)

:beer:

Started for weight loss/fitness then fell in love with cycling. After only a couple of months I would shudder in disgust at the thought to NOT riding to work, 22+ miles round trip, regardless of the weather. After more than a year, the last thing I think about at night is looking forward to riding my bike in the morning. While at work I am looking forward to the ride home. My only distress about riding is being forced to choose which of my three lovely bikes to ride each day.
Regards,
Raymond

RAGBRAI got me started. I decided to train for it with my 8 mile commute to work. After the first ride I was hooked! I've done several RAGBRAIs since, both on my single and with my wifey on our tandem. Bicycling can be contagious!

What got you started?

Right after college I did not have the money to buy a car, so I saved up a couple of hundred dollars and bought a Hardrock. I still have that bike 8 years later.

And what kept you going?

Now that I have been out of school for a number of years, I finally have a good job, and have managed to save up a nice little nest egg. But, I still can think of enough reasons to warrant the purchase of a car. Cycling is just too much fun and great exercise.

I started commuting to work 10 years ago to get fit, lose weight, save gas, (we could only afford one car at the time) and do good things for the environment. All noble things I think.

I've found as I get older the winters with early darkness, snowy roads, freezing temperatures, wind and ice scare me and I avoid commuting as soon as the time and temperatures change.Call me a wimp. I still stay fit by exercizing at the local gym to keep the aerobics in some sort of shape and the weight down.

I plan on commuting for as long as possible. I'm fortunate in that I have a less than 8 mile trip (round-trip with my shorter route). If I had a job in the downtown (I'm in a suburban area) I don't think I could do it since the distance would make it a close to 30 mile trip.

I do it because of the sense of freedom, fitness and financial savings. I personally like my car, but the bike is so much more liberating. Most people at the local stores and coffee houses that I stop at on the way to work are always jealous of my commute. I've had a number of folks of all ages and genders compliment me and say nice things about bike commuting. They usually make excuses like:

Have to dress in business attire for work and would find it difficult to tote the clothes.

Live too far from work,

Don't feel safe in traffic

Every other excuse in the book.

I'm ready to get back on the bike.:p

My commute began with a vacation in Bergen-op-Zoom, the Netherlands. We went to visit my daughter who was working there for 6 months. We really couldn't afford the trip, so to hold costs down we rented a "treker hut" at a campground about 10 miles from BOZ. We did take the bus when we went to the train
station in BOZ to visit friends on Texel, and on arrival and departure. My husband had been very nervous about not renting a car, but by the end of the trip he was quite convinced that it had been the wisest decision of our trip plan. We biked around BOZ, Hoogerheide, Huijbergen, Ossendrecht, & Woensdrecht. We amused the locals by wearing our helmets and utterly confused them with our fractured Dutch. All of the people at the campground were amazed at Americans spending a vacation there and were touchingly concerned about our welfare. We loved biking around and seeing groups of retired people riding around chatting and laughing (probably at us), teenagers riding holding hands, and the wonderful freedom of riding a bike on Dutch highways and bikepaths. Having been raised on a Wisconsin farm, I was utterly thrilled with being in rural Holland and seeing "New Holland" farm machinery being driven thru small Dutch towns just like it was in my hometown. So when I returned, and the animal hospital I had worked at for 17 years was closed; one of the things I looked for in my new job was to be close enough that I could commute by bike. When I was sucessful, I referred to that being the CrMo lining to the cloud of losing my job. My commute is my playtime, my personal challenge time, a focused activity, and increasingly a defining part of my life.

Exercise, get my daily fix, avoid all the honking, dare-devil fools in their autos. From my less stressful bike lane, I experience the idiocy of the daily auto commute in their race to jockey one car length.
I take great pride in adding up my mileage in mile log and seeing if I can beat my previous record. So far I have saved about 7,000 miles from being added to my Jetta odometer.

I've always had a bike of some sort or other, mainly for recreational cycling, although I did commute for a year or so when I was in the Air Force and newly married, my wife (now ex) needed the car to drive out of town daily.

I started riding out to where I work occasionally just for a ride, and then realized I could actually ride TO work.

Over the last few years it just built up 'til last year I rode far more than I drove. It was helped by having another guy at work who is a fanatical rider, presently the Provincial MTB champion in his age group, who became our cycling "guru". This fostered a sense of competition, to put on mileage, which helped too. My commute was at the shortest, 32km roundtrip, although I usually put on at least 40km. I've since moved, the distance is now 40km one way. I did partial commutes until the weather turned last fall, and I'll probably start out doing that this spring, but I definitely plan on riding the whole distance at least a few times.

What keeps me going? Fitness, and that sense of being able to do something for myself, being different from most others, saving money and doing something for the environment.

And as many others have said, I'm hooked on cycling just because I love doing it.

For me it is a need to experience the world as fully as possible... to feel the cold, the hot, the wind, the sun. To have a life more interesting, and less conditioned. Every ride is an adventure, not just a ride, and I treasure those adventures.

Manderax
I ride. I fall down. I get up.
Meanwhile, I keep dancing.

Originally posted by HardBall


I'm a programmer and do not resemble any of these things. I'm not obese, never stack Dr.Pepper cans, do not dwell in a cave, and I think computer generated art has no soul. Remember one exception negates the stereotype. :-)

Oh, I agree. I mean, I went into programming and found (much as I had suspected) that not all programmers were this way. But I still think back to those guys from time to time as a warning of what could happen. I also should mention that this was in Kansas City, which consistently ranks in the top 10 of the fattest cities in the nation.

Hm . . . maybe I really just bike to work out of a mixture of fear (of getting fat) and a sense of revenge (my parents never let me bike outside the neighborhood). Oh yeah, and because I enjoy it.

Wow, I sound really likable right now.

andy

aerobat. Sounds like yours and my commute are about the same distance. Mine is 26 US miles.But I work 12.5 hour days. I have to be at work at 6am, so when on day shift very difficult. You start at 9 am or something. I commute on midnight shift. And ironically, I sleep in late the day I commute and feel the most rested and energetic of the work week. ( 3 days normally)
40 km I think to be quite a committment ! How does this committment effect your work day schedule wise. When do you have to leave and get home from work.
I feel cheated on days I can't commute on bike.

Originally posted by fietser_ivana

And we have the flattest country on earth!!!!


That wouldn't necessarily be a favourable sitation for me personally.


Originally posted by mike

Never had a car! An adult who "never had a car". Can you imagine?

Nor have I ever had a car, and I don't intend to start now.

Originally posted by mike
I know some people who use their legs so little, they could consider having them removed to lessen the weight and get better gas mileage.
:eek:

This is too wierd. I had this same thought the other day.

In a flash, I pictured people being voluntarily amputated, both legs, and mounted into a curious device that blends man and machine in a permanent marriage. All this, of course, mounts easily in the front seat of the car.

(Bad idea, Mike. But what's that got to do with anything, today?)

:D

I started to bike commute as a result of quitting my job at a local supermarket while I was in college. To help keep me in school, I found a job doing data entry at a local trucking company. The main problem was that the trucking company was located in the middle of nowhere. Since I didn't have a car, I used my brother's ten speed to bike commute to work. Back then I didn't use a helmet or lights. Yikes!

I quit later when I finished school and got a job in New York City. I got doored by a minivan and that was it for me. In 93 I was laid off and couldn't afford my car anymore. It was a junker anyway. I had the car towed away and purchased a folding bike and began bike commuting again.

End of story.

My employer - a school - has photographs taken of all students and staff at the beginning of each year. Two years ago my photo was REVOLTING - I looked like my face was ready to burst out of its skin. To begin with I started getting up really early in the morning and doing 40 mins before driving to work. This then became an hour, and finally I was ready to do the 22 km trip to and from work (i.e. 44 round trip). I started commuting in October 2000, and by October last year I had gone from 106 kg (about 16.5 stone) to 87 (just over 13.5) - and without any dieting.

One of the interesting moments of the early morning sessions was when a weather front came through as I was on my way home - 100 km/h cross winds to lean into!

Last October I was cleaned up by a van (fractured to collar-bone and pelvis) and during the three months away from the bike put on another stone. This, of course included the Christmas period, which made it even worse. I'm three weeks back into the cycling, and the scales are starting to go the right way again.

One unexpected result is that if I start to get a bit peckish during the day, I can't hop into the car, go to the local shops, and buy some junk food. (And I also leave the butter off my sandwiches.) So I'm not only saving petrol, I'm also saving snack money.

Beavers

Originally posted by cyclezealot
aerobat.40 km I think to be quite a committment ! How does this committment effect your work day schedule wise. When do you have to leave and get home from work.
I feel cheated on days I can't commute on bike.

cyclzealot - You're right, that will be a committment, and I don't think I'll have the time to do it every day, but I will certainly do partial commutes, and hope to do the whole thing every once in a while. My dayshift starts at 07:45, so I'd have to leave home about 05:30 at the latest,(probably earlier) depending on winds, to have time to shower etc. when I get there.

My evening shift ends at 22:00, so it would be a long day by the time I get home.

Another good reason for always taking a bicycle when there's a bus available (apart from that you're faster) is that an encounter with a wooden beam that hit my forehead gave me a tremendous headache every time I took a bus... all these roundabouts, corners and incompetent bus driver made me nauseous every single time.. for nearly a year!

Ivana

I started riding because I hate taking public transit! The hords of loud annoying school kids, people ploughing you over to get a seat, waiting for the subway that is always pulling away just as you get there and dealing with what seems to be a yearly fare hike. So I started riding and two months later got hit by a car. The thing was that the whole time I couldn't ride the only thing I wanted to do was ride! Without even noticing I became totaly addicted. I must be because now I even ride when anyone with any sense would not. For example in the winter when it's below zero. Now I want to start doing some races and tours, I guess there is no turning back now!!

I started to ride a bike 45 years ago because the bus fare was "a penny ha'penny" and we didn't have that sort of cash to splash around!

I took myself off to the local dump and rooted out old frames and things.

At 16 years old I had a collection of 5 hybrids, my favourite was a fixed wheel 103" gear with no brakes.

I now sit in my wife's car and do my pedalling in my spare time with a nice racing bike and Lycra shorts 'n things.

Originally posted by Betsy Girl
I started riding because I hate taking public transit! The hords of loud annoying school kids, people ploughing you over to get a seat, waiting for the subway that is always pulling away just as you get there and dealing with what seems to be a yearly fare hike. So I started riding and two months later got hit by a car. The thing was that the whole time I couldn't ride the only thing I wanted to do was ride! Without even noticing I became totaly addicted. I must be because now I even ride when anyone with any sense would not. For example in the winter when it's below zero. Now I want to start doing some races and tours, I guess there is no turning back now!!

Hey Betsy-Girl--
your story sounds a bit like mine, although my more recent bus rides in weren't precipitated by a nasty run-in with a car (:eek: -- sorry to hear about that).

At least part of the reason I stuck with riding in to work once the bus strike ended was because I had a big hate-on for the transit system -- no way was I going to be grateful to them for coming back after 4 months of sticking it to their ridership (it was an ugly strike, and it hurt a lot of people [not me, so much, but I had a bike and I could ride]; worse, in the aftermath of the strike they cut services while considering further fare hikes).

Once the buses did come back, I noticed that whenever I did choose to take the bus, I always felt kind of jealous of those I saw riding their bikes, off to wherever they were headed, under their own power. Meanwhile the buses would often as not be late, full of wet, tense, jostling people, smelling of wet clothing and body odors and too much perfume. Worse, it's fairly common for morning buses to be so full that they just drive right by without stopping for the lines of people waiting, or still worse, stopping just ahead of the stop, dispensing people but taking off before others can try to get on. I think it makes people tense, being crammed up against so many others, and people try so hard to ignore others that they close up, doing small unkindnesses to each other like pretending not to see the older person who would probably appreciate the seat, or not moving closer to each other (when there's definitely room) in order to make space for those who would otherwise be left stranded at the stop.

When I started riding at the beginning of the strike, I missed the fact that on the bus, I could play on my palm pilot or read or do a little preparation for the day ahead. Now, several months later, any bus ride in convinces me how much I'd rather be coming in on my bike. I'm feel significantly more tense on the days I don't ride -- I can actually feel the tension in my jaw.

So it's funny, but it seems like the times I don't ride provide me with the most powerful reminders of why I keep riding.

-Cathy

I had been a recreational cyclist for years, and wanted to start bikecommuting, but didn't for various reasons... uncommutable roads, 20 miles to work. Eventually we moved to a location that was close enough to my workplace that commuting became reasonable. The potential of bike commuting was actually one of the factors in choosing the new location.

Cycling to work afforded me more freedom, since we were a one car family (2nd cars are awfully expensive when they're just a convenience), seemed good for environmental reasons, and since I was already a cyclist, and the commute only 5 miles each way, wots not tuh like? :confused:

It's been a great way to add base miles for conditioning. I can deal with cold (a relative term, coming from someone living in a pretty moderate climate), but still wimp out if there's precip. :(

When I was able to commute, it was my boring a$$ job that got me to start biking in. We had a shower and I had my own set of keys to the office.

It gave me a reason to go to work.

That was back when I was riding a couple hundred miles a week anyway. These days, if I get in 50 I'm doing well and I sit and dream about the day I can bike commute again.

Do it if you can.

I grew up in Dallas TX which is a _car city_ and i rode a bike as a kid but never thought of it as transportation b/c you had to cross big 3-lane-in-each-direction roads to get anywhere and i wasn't allowed...

At age 14/15 I discovered my dad's old 10-speed in the back of the garage and starting riding and figured out i could commute to school (about 2 miles) instead of waiting for my parents to drive me or walking. and I fell in love with bicycling - i starting riding everywhere - to parties, football games, etc. i loved it! but the only problem was that i was 15 and peer-pressure-influential and cycling was NOT cool because 'only cars are cool'... so as soon as i got a driver's license i bought a car and never saw the bike again (no idea what ever happened to it - my dad probably sold it) :(

then, for my 1st year of college my parents decided i was not allowed to have a car -- i think they did it more for the 'experience' than the money, and wow am i glad. So after unsuccessfully trying to convince my mom to let me buy a motorcycle, i suddenly had the idea of a bicycle and bought an old racing bike for $180. even before going to college, i had already started riding almost every day and then commuted to class and virtually everywhere i went. lots of college students ride bikes a little, but i rode A LOT. within a few months i joined the cycling team and started racing... i would say that was probably the start of my life as an 'athlete'...

i went home to Dallas one summer to work and found the city to be so unfriendly for cycling and no longer surrounded by cycling college buddies but high school car addicts and my bike mostly sat in the garage - and was stolen!

A few months later when i needed transportation again (i had had my parent's car) i bought a motorcycle and i was sans bicycle for a while. a few years later i borrowed a friend's mountain bike one day, and wow, it was fun!! So i bought a used mountain bike ('89 Stumpjumper for $300 - this was '92 or so) and started trail riding. eventually i started riding my bike instead of the motorcycle for short trips...

Well, i took a few years of more and more recreational bicycling and less and less time on the motorcycle and then i started commuting to work. finally, i decided to sell my motorcycle to afford a better bicycle since i never rode it anyway...

Since 1996 I have commuted by bike about 90% of the time - 2 separate times i worked over 50 miles away from my job and had to drive :( and now location and distance are important factors in choosing where i live and work (as well as a bicycle friendly community).

I love riding and it makes for a great start and end for the work day --- and compared to the days when i drove to work when it just made me grumpy and stressed and irritable from traffic, i love the feeling...

then there's the physical aspect: my commuting miles are an integral part of staying in shape. In my case, I do lot's of sports (mountain biking, running, triathlon, volleyball, skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing, mountaineering, ski touring, backpacking, etc.) so it's not as if i'd be fat or out of shape if i didn't bike commute, but every little bit helps --- i look like: if have a 30 minute bike ride to work instead of 15/20 minutes in the car, i'm geting 60 minutes ride time for 20-30 minutes out of my day! that's 'free' training time i wouldn't have if i drove!

i've commuted in the 100F humid summer days in Houston TX, the rainy winters of Portland Oregon and the cold (sometimes 10F/-10C) snowy winters of Massachusetts and Munich Germany... i've rarely had to ride below 10F/-10C or in more than 1 foot of snow... but with the right gear (i have studded snow tires, neoprene showcovers, etc.) i've never had much problem with the weather --- although i must say i dislike cold rain just above freezing far more than snow - i hate the choice between riding in rain pants or getting wet...

yes, i occasionally take the train or drive (mainly if i'm feeling sick or it's really rainy), but if i miss more than 2 days i go crazy b/c i just love being on the bike.

as i ride my bike, even if i have to endure unfriendly motorists or strong winds or rain, i am happy - and i see the car commuters and i think how lucky i am to make the choices i do to be healthy AND happy with a side benefit for the environment

i think it's unfortunate in the US (and Germany's pretty similar too) that the car is the cultural king - bicycling's great but it just doesn't generate the money that car sales and use does... so it doesn't get the advertising dollars and get listed on the top of average Joe's wish list - but it is on mine!! i hope that other kids out there also get the exposure to cycling (and not just recreational riding) that i was lucky enough to get... or that other adults re-discover bikes from when they were kids...

i guess my hope is to continue commuting as long as possible (like when i'm 70). Also, it seems like if i were to ever get as busy as some other people i see i would still have my commute time to work - no matter what, i'll always have to go to work and no one can take away my bike ride to work! (i have a friend who's divorced with a kid and doesn't have much free time and he was so excited when his new job was 25 miles away rather than 10 because he knew he would get 30 miles more per day!)

So i guess i bike commute for many reasons:
1) i love bikes and cycling and the feeling of freedom
2) it's 'free' training time and physical activity (most alternatives like driving are sedentary)
3) it offsets the lows of work - work begins and end with a ride!
4) it makes me happy and healthy

--Nathan
Munich Germany since May 2001 (formerly Portland OR, Massachusetts and Texas)

Welcome to the forums, I think you'll like it here :)

Richard

I had to get into work on a weekend. On a lark, I decided to ride my bike. I budgeted myself a half-hour longer to make the trip than the bus ride normally takes. (Yes, laughable I know, but bear in mind this was before I had any cycling experience.)

Imagine my shock when I discovered I had made the trip faster than the bus took.

I felt as if I had discovered some great secret.

Perhaps equally importantly, I found the bus loathsome. At last I was free.

Commuting every day led to more serious riding over the years.

I'm in my 40s and a little overweight. On top of that, I had a cholestoral test, and the results were VERY scary!:(
I've tried going to a health club, but I find it rather artificial using the exercise machines while listening to obnoxious music over the speaker system.

I've tried bicycle commuting in the past, but since I worked in downtown Seattle, I wasn't sure I was up for it. But I've been doing it about a month and am loving it! I'm in a better mood the instant I get on my bike, and I find I have more energy during the day and feel better emotionally.

There are a lot of bicycle commuters on the route I take which makes it feel safer, and drivers in Seattle
generally are considerate to bikers, although there is a recent incident of a kid (17 yrs old) pushing a bicyclist from behind while going by in a car.:mad: (he was caught and they're deciding how to charge him).

I even enjoy commuting in the rain (as long as it's not pouring).

Jim L.

hi, I'm new here although I've been checking out the boards for a few months

I've been cycling on and off to work for about 4 years and my distance travelled has increased from about 4 miles each way to about 10 miles each way as my home and work locations diverge

we just moved last week and I no longer have the easy out of a metro ride because we are now at least a 30 minute walk to a metro station as opposed to 3 minutes before so I'll probably be cycling almost every day from here on in

I LOVE biking and whenever I ride I always wonder why I haven't been doing it more often - I have the pleasure of riding through a national park for most of my journey to work which is just as well because the drivers in DC are a bunch of rage-filled, vindictive you know whats! Its really quite scary being on the roads during evening rush hour - its especially annoying as far as I'm concerned because being a DC taxpayer I feel I have more right to be on the road than all the MD drivers trying to run me off it! but now I'm ranting.....

....so I'll stop

this is a great board - keep posting everyone - I'm taking some bike maintenance classes at the end of the month so I'm looking forward to getting active in the maintenance section

Niall

Originally posted by jimlady
I'm in my 40s and a little overweight. On top of that, I had a cholestoral test, and the results were VERY scary!:(

Jim L.

Jim, if it's any encouragement at all, I'm also in my 40's, was a little overweight, and when I had mine checked it was 240. Not terrible but not good. In one year of eating better and some serious mountain biking, it was reduced to 168. No meds. It can be done. Stick with it!:)