Commuting - Why do you commute ?

Besides the fun of being on two wheels, I commute to hog miles, transportation, and to be the best rider I can possibly be. So I treat my almost every commute as a training session, at least 2 or 3 times a week, the other days I just cruise along, tempo riding just for the fun of it, which at the same time are recovery days.

How about you ? Notice, that the POLL doesn't include the fun factor because is already understood that bicyling is fun, at least for us bikers ;)

Corsaire :)

Well I commute because I need to lose weight and get some exercise to help with my high blood pressure. More and more though to save money over buying gas is also a compelling reason. Regular just hit $2.09 a gal here and I am seriously thinking of selling my car all together, if I didn't have a 3 yr old that needs to go to Drs apts and daycare in the winter I would do it I think. I can take him on the trailerbike in the summer but wouldn't do that to him in single digit temps in the winter.

I voted "Just commute for some, fitness/transportation but no real training"

The main reason for my commuting is the fitness aspect. It is the easiest way for me to get some exercise. I also like to keep the the miles off of my truck, especially now with gas around here at about $2.12 a gallon. I have found myself riding more to the store and a few other places. The transportation aspect is becoming more of it.

Like you, maybe a couple days of week I will go all out on my commute, but most days it is a low impact ride.

I commute to support my beer and pizza habit :D

The workout and that I still can.

I started commuting 3 years ago after 9/11 . I figured oil was the cause of most of our woes in this world.

I commute because it's the only real exercise I get all day. It's also almost as fast to ride as to drive and it's remarkably cheaper. And, as TheDL said, there's more money left over to buy the beer that I earned (or at least feel like I earned) by commuting.

You forgot political and/or enviro reasons.

I started commuting 3 years ago after 9/11 . I figured oil was the cause of most of our woes in this world.

It's actually greed and intolerance, but oil is a good conduit for it.

Admittedly I started riding because I got sick of worrying about my car being parked in a public lot all day. Nothing ever happened but I'm clinically obsessive-compulsive about door dings and/or people mucking with my car. (Stage 2 Subaru WRX.)

But it morphed from that into, "hey this bike commuting stuff is fun", and now I'm thinking about selling the car, which collects dust in my garage and gets driven a few miles maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks. Our other car is an Outback and is also used purely for recreation. (Wife telecommutes.) No need for 2 cars!

I commute because I can't stand public transportation. It sucks and it costs too much and who want to be inside a bus in the middle of a summer day? Certainly not me. I can get wherever I need to go faster by bike that I can by bus, not to mention I don't have to look at idiots all day, a trip by bus noramlly takes around 40 minutes I can do it in around the same time and most times even faster.

Oh, yeah: what about : for fun!

Oh, yeah: what about : for fun!

The FUN part is already implied, read OP.

Corsaire

The FUN part is already implied, read OP.

Corsaire


Oh, yeah...sorry, skimmed, then forgot!

I started bike commuting because of training. I found that if I had to ride the bus home to get my bike, it was more likely that I'd just plop on the couch and never get back outside. So, I'd usually just take a long detour home. The great thing is that if it's a hard day, you can just hammer as long as you want and if it's an easy day you can just take a nice spin directly home. After awhile it just became so natural that driving or taking the bus seemed so lame.

And now that I have kids, I hoard every mile I can get my hands on. Even if I just get a 4 or 5 mile detour on the way home from work, it adds up so I can still make a 100 a week.

Because I want to live.

DanO

Because I don't own a car.

I commute because it's the only real exercise I get all day. It's also almost as fast to ride as to drive and it's remarkably cheaper. And, as TheDL said, there's more money left over to buy the beer that I earned (or at least feel like I earned) by commuting.

It's not so much the money saved that supports my beer and pizza habit but the commute (~37mi. round trip) that lets me eat that stuff and keep my "girlish" figure.
:)

Well I commute because I need to lose weight and get some exercise to help with my high blood pressure.

Same for me. That's why I started. When I first took my bp 2 summers ago, I got real scared (it was VERY high). Now it's going down. Keep at it, you'll feel better.

Because bikes are far superior than any other form of transportation. Duh!

To get to work and back.

Al

I live so close to work, I would be stupid for driving.
I commute for fun, for health, for the environment, for my wallet...

I just like to ride my bike.

I voted "Just commute for some, fitness/transportation but no real training"

The main reason for my commuting is the fitness aspect. It is the easiest way for me to get some exercise. I also like to keep the the miles off of my truck, especially now with gas around here at about $2.12 a gallon. I have found myself riding more to the store and a few other places. The transportation aspect is becoming more of it.

Like you, maybe a couple days of week I will go all out on my commute, but most days it is a low impact ride.


$2.12 a gallon?? You lucky dog! Here in Socal, you can add 20 cents per gallon to that on a good day!


I started riding to work (14 miles each way) one day a week last summer, just for the fun of it. Now I'm training for a Century and hope to ride at least twice a week and save some $$ to boot!


Sheldon
OCR2

Riding a bike is cheaper??? ....I'm doing something wrong.... but my bike is worth $2600 so far, and I still am working on it.

Riding a bike is cheaper??? ....I'm doing something wrong.... but my bike is worth $2600 so far, and I still am working on it.

Well, I'm told cars can cost even more than that! Plus you have to pay for fuel. Pancake batter is cheaper than gasoline and you will get more miles per gallon!

For the ride. It's prettier. It's slower. It makes me faster. Time well spent. Money well spent. To pick up beer, my liquid of choice over gasoline, which doesn't smell as good (but does burn better). Gotta fix something, so ride it. 10 miles each way, nice round numbers for nice round wheels. Commute it or lose it. Cheers.

I ride for fitness and also for stress. My boss is a maniac and I need the stress relief. Also because I have a recumbent and recumbents are just too much fun not to ride.

$2.12 for gas? Add 20 cents and you've got So Cal prices? In Santa Barbara I've seen a few stations where they're too chicken to put that 3 at the beginning, so they hold back that 1/10th of a cent.

Riding a bike is cheaper??? ....I'm doing something wrong.... but my bike is worth $2600 so far, and I still am working on it.

Yea, but my car is worth more than that and is a piece of crap. That's not including >$25 of gas a week I have to spend for the 40 mile round trip to work. Cutting out half of that by biking is totally worth it on a purely economic basis.

I also commute because I need to lose about 30 pounds and I refuse to go on a diet.

I have a long commute, so the more I can do it, the better my base miles will be.

hey Corsaire,

I like to because...

Started commuting years ago, cause it seemed logical, both for my health and I felt great in the mornings - I'd go in about 5:00 am. I mean every day, in spite of weather. We didn't have showers; didn't matter thought cause I worked alone most of the time and since I was married, I wasn't trying to impress the girls.

While attending school an added incentive was no parking hassles. Later, when I started racing seriously, work was a jump off point for training rides.

sun

at first it was because I wanted to get rid of a junker car, and 1]motorcycles are too dangerous and 2]electric bikes are too boring

Now, it is because I love it. It is the right thing to do. I am saving 1]the environment 2]money 3]myself from diabetes and obesity and stress 4] and protecting my ability to eat what I want to.

AND IT IS FUN. I know you said that, but I just have to say it again.

It's actually greed and intolerance, but oil is a good conduit for it.
Agreed. I even started a website about cutting back on oil use (see sig). The forum rules on advertising probably prevent me from saying anything more about this, except the caveat that it's not quite ready for a lot of public use yet and so I haven't officially "launched" it, but you're welcome to look it over and give me feedback.

An alternative to single-occupancy car commuting had been something I'd wanted to do even before 9/11, but that, and moving closer to my office shortly afterwards, was the catalyst that pushed me to try bike commuting. Frankly, if the public transportation was decent for my route, I'd probably do that more, but it's not. (From one suburb to another, 5 miles, 10 mins by car or 20 by bike, would involve two city busses with a change downtown, for over an hour of bus time!) I used to live about 16 miles away, out in the country where the rural roads are mostly shoulderless and on which cars travel at 50+ mph. This is one aspect of rural living that makes it problematic for bike commuting, as has been discussed elsewhere on these forums. Most of my co-workers are in this situtation.

The fitness is a good plus, and I know that my cardiovascular fitness has improved since I started. Oddly, I have actually developed high blood pressure, which is the opposite of what should happen, but it runs in my family and I'm approaching 40, so my doctor feels it's just a coincidence.

We have also decided to cut back to one car, since mine also now sits in the driveway most of the time. Getting to be not worth the registration, insurance, and maintenance for using it once every other week or so. As soon as the snow melts a little more!

I'm just starting to commute with my bike this year, I'm just waiting for delivery of the bike, and for some warmer weather. I have a few reasons, many of which I told to my wife so that she'd let me buy a new bike for commuting:

1) Work is only 4km away. What's the point in taking a car for this short distance?
2) When I was riding my bike to school (several years ago) I felt great. I don't feel so great anymore. I want to feel good again. I want to lose a few pounds, build strength and endurance and just get more exercise.
3) I complain a lot about all these cars (esp. SUVs) crowding the roads, idling, polluting, etc. I decided not to be such a hypocrite anymore.

OK, so those are the big 3. I'm also looking forward to making 'holier-than-thou' comments about my bike commuting, but I'll try not to be a snob about it. ;)

i refuse to buy a car, insurance, and gas!

For me it's about training, but also stress reduction and freedom. In a city like LA or Seattle going anywhere is all about parking and traffic. On most days it is faster and way less stressful to get around the city by bike. It ruins my day if I have to drive to work or to the gym. Our second car is a beater Jetta, and I have 3 bikes that I maintain so the saving money argument might be a bit tenuous. But if I only drive that car once a week it will certainly last a lot longer which will save me money in the long run.

One year my car sat in front of my house for six months and didn't move. Then on a day that I was to pick up my son at school, I took it to work. A drunk came up the street that day and wiped out the two cars that were always parked just in front of mine. The neighbors thought I had planned it.

I owned that '65 Corvair for another 10 years after that.

sun

I'm just starting to commute with my bike this year, I'm just waiting for delivery of the bike, and for some warmer weather. I have a few reasons, many of which I told to my wife so that she'd let me buy a new bike for commuting:

1) Work is only 4km away. What's the point in taking a car for this short distance?
2) When I was riding my bike to school (several years ago) I felt great. I don't feel so great anymore. I want to feel good again. I want to lose a few pounds, build strength and endurance and just get more exercise.
3) I complain a lot about all these cars (esp. SUVs) crowding the roads, idling, polluting, etc. I decided not to be such a hypocrite anymore.

OK, so those are the big 3. I'm also looking forward to making 'holier-than-thou' comments about my bike commuting, but I'll try not to be a snob about it. ;)


EDIT: I forgot to add

4) Gas is more expensive now than I can remember in my 22 years on this planet. I doubt it will go down much.

The reasons for my commuting, though I am unable currently (will be starting full time again soon), are plentiful:

1. Save the earth
2. Save money
3. Thighs of steel (should never be overlooked).
4. With young chidren at home, the only time I have for a workout.
5. Most importantly, the feeling at work. Not only do I feel great, exhilarated actually, at work for the first few hours, but the rest of the day I look forward with childlike anticipation to the ride home, as opposed to the dread and gloom of thinking of the auto commute through ornery traffic, bottlenecks and exhaust fumes. A bike path through golden fall foliage, or along the surging spring creeks, makes a day at the office a little more bearable.

I am going to start commuting next week to get exercise, lose (more) weight, and keep my sanity. And, in SoCal, to save a TON of money on gas. I'm also getting jealous of the landscapers outside! Plus, dammit, I love to ride.

I am reminded of this story:

A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"

The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the student, saying, "You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do."

The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path." The teacher commended the student, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."

The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, 'nam myoho renge kyo'." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."

The fourth student answered, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings."
The teacher was pleased and said, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."

The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle."

The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, "I am your disciple."

Bikes ROCK!! :D

I ride my bicycle because global warming sucks. I also get where I'm going faster than the cars.

I ride because it's point A to point B transportation that:

is fun, as is already understood, as opposed to driving which is boring.

is good exercise. I feel better in general and because of this I've also noticed an increase in my productivity at work. I also haven't had as many colds this winter and the ones I have caught are not as severe and clear up faster.

at this time of year and with the direction I ride, I can watch the sunrise on my way to work.

is a great stress reliever.

saves me money. Since I've started riding again I've cut the amount of fuel I buy for the Land Cruiser by over 75%. I don't particularly buy into any of the enviromental "end times" negative attitude.

Additional miles/exercise, save gas money, pollute less, good for the soul, pisses-off motorists who are too busy stuffing Egg McMuffin in their pie-holes to actually pay attention to driving.

I enjoy the sense of moral superiority it brings. Plus all the practical reasons everyone else has.

i like to ride. most of the time. but i ride all of the time because no more car. is better this way. johnb you will be happy with out it. maybe you can trade it in for a mango?

saves me money. Since I've started riding again I've cut the amount of fuel I buy for the Land Cruiser by over 75%. I don't particularly buy into any of the enviromental "end times" negative attitude.

ok. we can make hypotheses and test them experimentally, or we can just vote. who wants voting?
voting it is!

Yeah, I agree... reality is soooo depressing!

Actually, it's not. The idea that humans have anything to do with global warming is just Eco-Lib fantasy.

Canadian scientists, Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick have debunked the mathmatical error made by geoscientist Michael Mann and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts.

http://www.uoguelph.ca/%7Ermckitri/research/fallupdate04/update.fall04.html

Actually, it's not. The idea that humans have anything to do with global warming is just Eco-Lib fantasy.

Canadian scientists, Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick have debunked the mathmatical error made by geoscientist Michael Mann and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts.

http://www.uoguelph.ca/%7Ermckitri/research/fallupdate04/update.fall04.html

global warming and pollution are two different things. pollution makes people sick. some die.

global warming and pollution are two different things. pollution makes people sick. some die.

Yes, now this I agree with. :beer: