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Lone commuters.

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Old 06-15-06, 02:26 AM
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Lone commuters.

Is there anyone in here that has the feeling they're the only bike commuter in their immediate area?
I feel I am all the time.
But, it's a pretty good feeling, sailing out among the seas of cars all over the road.
I actually feel like I'm dominant over all of them.
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Old 06-15-06, 05:20 AM
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I feel alone too but then I leave my home at 5:00 AM. It's different riding back though.
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Old 06-15-06, 06:08 AM
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You know the weird thing? Tons of people here commute, we all work and live in the same area, and all have to be at work at the same time. For some reason, 4 out of 5 days, I don't see another bike rider.
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Old 06-15-06, 06:27 AM
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I have a similar experience to Pigtire - I leave home ~6:00AM, and see no other regular commuters on my 15 mile ride into work. The ride home at ~6PM is busier - both cars and more bikes, but no other cyclists that I see regularly.
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Old 06-15-06, 06:34 AM
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not here in beantown!
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Old 06-15-06, 07:01 AM
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Maybe once every 3 weeks I'll see another rider and then, half the time it's not even another commuter, just a roadie out for an early evening ride.

36 miles round trip in metro ATL. You'd think I'd see more commuters.
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Old 06-15-06, 07:05 AM
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I do get that feeling in mid-January oftentimes.
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Old 06-15-06, 07:25 AM
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Lonely Commute, but with "friends"

I commute from Cape Coral, FL into Fort Myers....25 mi R/T.....I have been doing this about 4 out of 5 days a week since January. I have seen 2 other commuters twice during this entire time.......but I have many "friends" on the trip....4 sets of Burrowing Owls, 1 set with 3 young, the other three are still on their nest, I think.........1 set of Ospreys, 2 adults and 1 hatchling, who is now flying....and about once a week, coming across Veteran's bridge on the Caloosahatchee River, I stop and watch several Dolphins....occasionally see several Rays at the surface, and every evening, I have flights of 2-3 Pelicans flying alongside side me on the mile long bridge....
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Old 06-15-06, 07:41 AM
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Not this time of year. I feel like one of a multitude.
One morning I counted 1 commuter in the first 15 miles and 30 in the remaining 13.
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Old 06-15-06, 08:12 AM
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Originally Posted by purple hayes
Maybe once every 3 weeks I'll see another rider and then, half the time it's not even another commuter, just a roadie out for an early evening ride.
same
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Old 06-15-06, 08:13 AM
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I rarely see anyone that looks like they are commuting and only see another person on a bike - going the correct way on the roadway about once or twice a week.

I see people on sidewalks and going against traffic all the time.
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Old 06-15-06, 08:17 AM
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wait til gas gets up to about 6 bucks a gallon.
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Old 06-15-06, 08:23 AM
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I see tons of other commuters when I'm in my car, but only a couple when I'm riding. I'm guessing it has to do with leaving much later when I drive in, but I always have the urge to yell, "Hey! I do that too...!"
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Old 06-15-06, 08:26 AM
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Originally Posted by brunop
wait til gas gets up to about 6 bucks a gallon.
I'll believe it when I see it.


...not the fact that gas won't get to $6, because I believe it will, but that $6 gas will make people bike commute.
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Old 06-15-06, 08:33 AM
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I believe cyclocommuting will be low on the alternative forms of transportation list.
Mopeds, motorcycles, mass transit, van pooling, etc will all be more popular due to how active the average american is.
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Old 06-15-06, 08:35 AM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
I believe cyclocommuting will be low on the alternative forms of transportation list.
Mopeds, motorcycles, mass transit, van pooling, etc will all be more popular due to how active the average american is.
sad. is that why there's so many fat folks?
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Old 06-15-06, 08:41 AM
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Originally Posted by bentstrider
Is there anyone in here that has the feeling they're the only bike commuter in their immediate area?
I feel I am all the time.
But, it's a pretty good feeling, sailing out among the seas of cars all over the road.
I actually feel like I'm dominant over all of them.
With decades of cyclocommuting experience, I can tell you that the feeling is always there. In the summer (late May and early June) I see a few more people but when winter gets here, all I hear is the wolves howling in the wilderness Except on Bike-to-Work Day (Denver's is a month late because it used to rain buckets in May), then it's like going to church at Easter and Christmas. Everybody gets out their bike and is just as pious as hell! They get to feel good about doing something for the environment, they get rewards for doing a ride one day a year, and us suckers who do this day in and day out have to keep from running them down And then, because they all rode in on their bikes, they all leave early because they are tired. Poor babies.

I hate Bike-to-Work Day!
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Old 06-15-06, 08:41 AM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
I believe cyclocommuting will be low on the alternative forms of transportation list.
Mopeds, motorcycles, mass transit, van pooling, etc will all be more popular due to how active the average american is.
I'm in favor of all of these means...although it would be nice to share the road with few more bike commuters every now and then.
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Old 06-15-06, 09:01 AM
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
I hate Bike-to-Work Day!

You and me both.
My wife signed me up for it
I don't need any special events or recognition. The fact that I am 5 lbs out from my original goal to loose 42 lbs is enough for me.

That and automatically being lumped together with the once a year commuters is annoying. I bet the bike rack on my bus will be full. yay
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Old 06-15-06, 09:35 AM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
You and me both.
My wife signed me up for it
I don't need any special events or recognition. The fact that I am 5 lbs out from my original goal to loose 42 lbs is enough for me.

That and automatically being lumped together with the once a year commuters is annoying. I bet the bike rack on my bus will be full. yay
Heh... I'm in the process of convincing my boss to ride in on bike to work day... even offered to ride from Colfax and Wadsworth out to his place in Golden to meet up with him for the ride in to work (Near I-70 and Brighton Blvd)
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Old 06-15-06, 10:05 AM
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Nevermind me. I'm a tad cranky.
The good side is that my promotion went through. The bad is that I am now insanely busy.
ugh
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Old 06-15-06, 10:14 AM
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The other day I saw 74 bikers on the 17 mile ride to work. All but a dozen was over a 3 miles section of the ride where I cross the St Lawrence river
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Old 06-15-06, 10:31 AM
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Heh, we have zillions in NYC. However, when I would commute up to Westchester, I'd NEVER see anybody else between towns at least. Maybe in a town, and there was one semi-regular who took the train up when I did to ride to work like I did but for far fewer miles (both did bike-train-bike, get it?).
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Old 06-15-06, 10:50 AM
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I see quite a few cyclists here in town, but not at work. There are now something like 700 employees in my office, on a daily basis I may see a handfull of bicycles on the rack. In town I'll see people all bent over on their road bicycles because they're wanna be.....er that is triathletes in training. But I don't think they're riding for transportation
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Old 06-15-06, 02:37 PM
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I am the only commuter I know of. I can count on two hands the number of other byciclist I have seen in my year or so of commuting.
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