sherbornpeddler

Commuter dream
We've defined the ideal commuter bike with everything but an enclosed cabin and motor.

If roads are kinda, sorta, getting better signage and space for bikes the cell phone, multi-tasking drivers are getting worse now that they text message.

Half of my 27 miles to Boston are stop and go city miles but I am only 5 miles to the train station.

The train accepts bikes only when commuters can’t use them.
No place to park a car or bike.

So, my dream:
I get to the train station.
Blink!
Coffee shop asks me breakfast sandwich or oatmeal with fruit in a cup?
Secure bicycle storage; is that the back of a bike shop, supervised and they could tweak what ever ails it or charge my light for the ride home?

A place to store clothes, shower, change and then drop off and pickup clean clothes at the laundry next door.

Blink! Blink! It is evening and got off the train with a friend’s goldfish, my son’s birthday cake, my company’s laptop and clothes from the dry cleaner. Can I rent a car, preferably electric just for the over night round trip?

What’s your dream?

unixpro

I have one very long hill on my commute. I want one of these: https://www.trampe.no/english/

Junkdad

my dream is to see more and more people joining me on the commute, and fostering goodwill.

sherbornpeddler

Man! That is wild. It is a huge example of listening to what commuter bikers want.
From what I've seen in Europe, most commuters ride some variation of 3 speed, fendered, uprights and don't exert too much. They wear suits.

In my neck of the suburban US, we laid things out for cars so my ride is longer.

buzzman

sometimes I feel like I'm living that dream. I've ridden my folding bike to Back Bay commuter rail station (folders are allowed on trains at all hours). I train down to Providence, RI get off in Providence. Ride up to the East Side, get together with friends, we all decide to head down to Pt. Judith for lobsters, I grab a Zip Car, we drive down to the shore have some fun, drive back leave the car, pull out the folder, ride to the train, train back to Boston, ride home, have a shower, have a beer and bliss.


One of my most blissed out riding experiences was in Switzerland where I'd rent a bike at a train station, where there was a bike shop and a great cafe, ride the bike on beautiful roads with bike lanes and paths then either leave the bike at the next train station or take it on any train with me but any train station would accept my bike so I could either leave it there or pick up another one just like it. Add real Swiss chocolate to any bike ride and it's pretty dreamy.

SouthFLpix

Bike lanes on every road. More public transportation in the form of buses and trains. A 'bullet train' (such as they have in Japan and Europe) running from the southern tip of Florida all the way to Georgia.

Danre

Business(es) idea?

lil brown bat

Maybe, but probably not. What would you pay for such a service, how many people do you think would pay the same, and what do you figure it would cost to operate?

BroadSTPhilly

Correction

FredOak

Here is my dream...

https://www.gbnrtc.org/planning/bikeped/
read the PDF...2008 DRAFT GBNRTC Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan

Nobodyetal

Tail wind.
Both directions.

modernjess

That people in cars will say. "I'm afraid to drive, there is just too much bike traffic on the road." instead of the other way around.

CACycling

and no flats!

girljen

Warm weather.
60s in the morning, 80s in the evening, sun both ways...all year long.
Everything else seems so much easier when the weather is good.

thebarerider

Tail winds both ways...that's something I can get behind. Or in front of.

HardyWeinberg

sherbornpeddler

Now we're dreaming!
Weather, tailwind, roads, accepting culture and accepting commuter train.
Folder or rental bikes. All are realities that would make up dream commutes.

Buzzman found nirvana if one works up a sweat.
unixpro found a city that keeps commuters cool.
FredOak's GBNRTC plan calls for rail acceptance, secure parking, education.
Danre and lil brown bat contemplate business opportunity.

I'm a work up a sweat type rider. If I managed the weather I'd still like the option of a health club or back room in a bike shop to shower and change. Like lil brown bat, I wonder the business case.

Blue Roads

That I keep on commuting by bike as much as possible, and in that line of cars I ride by at the end of the day, I convince two or three people that they can commute by bike, too.

HardyWeinberg: I've got a Surly Big Dummy -- it's fun and a great commuter. If that's your dream, buy one quick as they keep raising the price. You can buy one built from Xtracycle, and I've read where Surly will soon start selling them as built bikes with good components. Incidentally, your Big Dummy pic is of one of the early prototypes -- the current models have a sloped top tube.

Doohickie

My dream is to end world hunger by commuting on my bicycle to work.

Oh, and I want a Surly LHT to be part of that dream, if it's all the same to you.

buzzman

I feel really lucky when I ride in to work in the morning along the Charles River, watching the rowers, slalom through the geese, having the path to myself. When I arrive at work I swipe a card and a door automatically opens to a bike room with a reserved bike parking spot.

At the end of the day I meet up with my wife on my ride home and we ride the last 1/2 hour on the bike path home.

I don't have too many complaints when it goes like that. And yeah, I like a vigorous ride at least one way each day. I like hauling along sometimes and rolling along nice and easy other times.

Jim from Boston

I described the dream commute I live year round in my Introduction to bike forms:

Besides the commute as described above, I bring my bike into a secure area, and I have kitchen and shower facilities, and a coffee shop on site. Within about two blocks are nearby convenience stores, laundromats, dry cleaners, and a great barber, and I wear a scrub suit almost always, all day long.

My ultimate dream ride is to cycle the perimeter of the country with my wife and daughter riding the sag wagon (luxury RV).

sherbornpeddler

Jim de Boston: a coffee shop, a haircut. a reverse commute and a hybrid RV has got to = 42*

If everyone reversed commuted......
So how do us lemmings find "42" ?

* from which all meaning ("the meaning of life, the universe, and everything") could be derived