joeyduck

Haha. I wish it was that easy, I have tried that; too often.

I just need to swim about twice a week for a month and I will be golden.

jrickards

The primary reason for me is that I just like riding my bike. I've been riding bikes to school and work since I was 11 or 12. The other primary reason, although it doesn't have to be achieved by biking, is fitness: when my dad was my current age, 54, he had a heart attack, my goal is to cruise past age 54 in good heart condition and be in shape, at retirement, for some long bike tours.

Secondary reasons:

It saves money: my sons use the cars most of the time so by not using them much, I can pawn all the fuel costs (and oil changes) on them.

I also want to be a model for my sons, teaching them to keep in shape and also that you can ride a bike to work.

trailmix

Bike riding is fun.

spare_wheel

What motivates you to drive?

jrickards

Shopping at Costco

wphamilton

I think it keeps me alive. That's a little dramatic, but I was starting to get old at 48 and now at 55, not so much. More energy, more strength, more alive.

treadtread

My son is four years old. A few days ago he spent the day with me in office. He was really disappointed that we were driving and not cycling. So in addition to the savings, fun and fitness, that's another motivating factor - teaching him that a car isn't the only means of transport.

FBinNY 

I find that shopping at Costco by bike creates tremendous sales resistance, since I'm limited to what I can carry. Twice a year or so, I do a major run for the big stuff, riding my bike there, loading up on paper towels, cat litter and the like and call a cab to take the stuff home. I have an arrangement whereby the driver takes all the stuff and dumps it in my driveway, while I ride home.

bmthom.gis

I do it because:
1) I find it fun. The endorphins come and shower me in a happy mood
2) Each day I do it I save over a gallon of gas
3) I like beer. And food.
4) Even though riding my bike makes my commute over twice as long, I still spend more time with the family, since I am not seeking a group ride in the evening.
5) Weight loss. Down 15 pounds from when I started. 15 to go. Did I mention I like beer and food?
6) Saves wear and tear on my car. It's getting up there in age and mileage and I want to prolong its life as long as possible

I don't always feel like getting out there (and I do still drive to work a day or so/week), but I know that once I get about a mile or so in, I never regret being on my bike.

7) I'm pretty sure some of the office girls have checked me out in spandex. I'll take it

essiemyra

What motivates me to ride is I need to get to work. I do have a four wheeled vehicle, but I really enjoy me two wheeled vehicle much more. So I use the one I enjoy more, therefore I ride my bike to work.

no motor?

I hadn't seen that before and it's hilarious! Thanks for sharing.

spare_wheel

As a dink I have no problem doing this but by bike...but it's certainly more difficult for people with more mouths to feed.

miggy_smalls

For me its getting my exercise in while not feeling like exercising. If I have a destination like getting to and from work then I dont have that drudging feeling like I'm working out. Plus I love it while im doing it and its gotten me to explore some parts of my city I've never noticed before. I wish I could commute everyday but its harder when I have 2 kids to take to the sitter on some mornings. I have a trailer but I think it'd be a tad too far for them to be couped up in and I'd have to drive through some pretty heavily trafficked areas than I'm comfortable subjecting my 3 and 1 year old to.

For my next goal, I want to go as long as I can commuting when the cold weather starts creeping in. WI winters are no joke.

Walter S

I don't get paid to stay home. It's way faster than walking!

m3rle

Burning more calories and less carbon
Breathing, releasing endorphins
Benefit from all the time and money spent building bikes
Using the bike paths

ill.clyde

+1 ... I'm only 41, but I don't think I look that old, and I know I don't feel that old.

I also like what's been said about being an example to one's children. I know my son sees it and takes note.

LDier

If someone at work asks me why I ride my bike to work I often say "Someone has to save the planet."
i'm only half kidding when I say it. Regardless of the environmental aspects. If more people rode bikes to work and for errands the streets world be a lot safer to ride bikes ( with less cars).
Also it is a great stress reliever. When I ride home the stress kinda melts off.
I'm the only one in my office that bikes to work. I also don't have to worry about parking spaces and my car getting smacked into by a door like they do. Also their monthly gasoline bill has to be much greater than mine. Plus I love to ride.

Mark Stone

41 is old??!? Just kidding - but what you say is true. Bicycling, commuting, makes us look and feel younger, at least in my experience. I remember when my younger sister got injured, and I was pushing her wheelchair out of the hospital. A nurse walked up and said to her "I see that your son will be taking you home . . ." She got angry. I just kept my mouth shut.

Todzilla

Above all else, fitness. Not a gym rat, so I need a convenient way to get exercise
Environment - want to compensate, at least partially for energy consumption elsewhere
Money savings - some weeks I don't drive until the weekends
Commute beauty - I have a gorgeous, bucolic route
Technology - I love the feeling of a piece of highly refined, minimalist metal underneath me as I fly across asphalt.

ClipClop

I am very new at commuting by bike every day, but I like it and will continue to ride for the following reasons:

1. Getting exercise without feeling like I'm forced to do it (and being able to indulge a bit more than if I weren't exercising)
2. Faster than very good public transport here - 12-15 minutes vs. 25-30 minutes to work
3. Mobility and independence. We don't have a car, and I used to have to depend on public transport to get to places, or asking my OH to reserve a ride-share car and make sure he has time when I need to go. Now, for many places close to where I live, I can just get there by bike.

bluegoatwoods

I bicycle daily for many reasons: health, conserving fossil fuels, it makes me feel good, etc,. Many of the same reasons that are in this thread.

There's another reason. I really, really like being out and about in all kinds of foul weather and thinking to myself, "Oh, heck....this ain't so bad".

Being a bicycle commuter, I carry different clothing for different conditions. Of course. And that means that rain, snow, wind and stuff like that is just not a problem. I'll adjust my clothing to conditions.

It's delicious to watch my fellow employees walking out to their cars nearly crying over how miserable they feel while I'm feeling pretty darned comfortable.

I'm fairly well known for cleaning the snow and ice off the cars of the ladies at work, telling them to get in and warm up the car. They think I'm some kinda saint. The truth is that, while I am trying to be nice, it's just not uncomfortable for me. I'm dressed for it.

Most rain is just not a problem for me at all. I feel good riding in it. True, there's some rain/temperature combinations where I'm either going to be too warm or too cold. I could fix that by carrying more of the appropriate clothing. I don't go that far, though. I've found the combo that takes care of most conditions.

Most 'bad' weather feels very good. My 'outdoor' season lasts about 10 1/2 months. In a typical January I often don't ride very much. But that's because of safety, rather than comfort.

I guess I'll add something about health benefits. Every year my insurance company sets us down and takes blood samples, weighs us, measures our waists, and so on. I often get comments like, "Whatever you're doing, just keep it up". My doctor, being a bit more circumspect, recently said, "You seem pretty healthy".
My numbers (cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, and so on, are always right in the 'normal' range.

The photo in my avatar is about 5 years old now. I still look like that at 54. Without the bike, I promise, I'd have a big, round mid-section with spindly arms and legs. And I'd be getting close to a stroke, heart attack, invalidism or something like that. There's no doubt about it.

I've always maintained that the automobile was a great invention and that it is the right tool for some jobs, but being in one every single day is a very bad idea.

You'd think that health experiences like mine and some of the folks on this thread before me would convince everyone to do it.

DVC45

Nice weather and the bathroom scale.

KenshiBiker

Ouch! That had to hurt . . . your sister. Hopefully she's able to laugh at it; maybe even take inspiration from your example.

As for me, I ride for a lot of the reasons mentioned. Primarily it's the health thing: 2-1/2 years ago, the doc said if I didn't bet my BP numbers down (and lose some weight), he was going to put me on meds. That was the wake up call for me. Got some new biking shoes (continuing foot problems had kept me off the bike for over 10 years, which was part of the problem), dusted off the old bike, set it on the wind trainer and started pedaling. Got my weight down, got my BP down, got more energy, saved gas, saved the environment, etc. It's come at a cost though. I've been riding so much that last year I was able to finally justify ordering my dream custom bike - not that there's anything wrong with that.

harshbarj

Cost is the #1 reason. Not having to participate in the daily rat race that is driving and parking is another. Laughing at co-workers when they complain about parking fees and who is going to get that weeks free parking pass.

Sharpshin

I only live two miles from the school where I've worked for 25 years, so even when I DID ride a bike I couldn't really call it "commuting", hardly broke a sweat, hardly had to worry about bike maintenance; even a creaky, poorly shifting bike would do just fine.

A year ago I told my wife I was going to ride my bike to New York over the following summer. Seemed like lunacy; 2,000 miles at least. To prep I started taking longer detours to work... seven miles one way at first, then ten, then twelve, finally started to limit out time-wise at eighteen and twenty five miles one way. Longer miles also meant having a good-running bike was important, so I began to learn about bike maintenance and refurbishing the fine old bikes I had.

Here's my victory photo from late July, 33 days and 2,000 miles from home....



At 57, I discovered I still had athletic abilities I had no idea I had, and feel MUCH better on days when I ride. So now its part of my lifestyle, for as long as I still can.

Mike