Originally Posted by macteacher

Im trying to commute every day and for the life of me....I just can't. Heck, im lucky if I can get 1 day a week in...and im just at a loss as how people do it on a regular basis. My average is 5 days a week but very often I commute 6 or 7 days a week due to the nature of my work. I've been doing this for so long I almost can't remember what it was like when I didn't. My current commute is 20 miles RT. This was a rare winter in that I missed a total of 8 days of riding and took the bus.

For those of you who depend on your bikes, what happens when you've been up all night working on a project? You only get 3 hours of sleep...how do you get up in the am to ride 30-60 minutes?I often leave work at 11:00 or 11:30 (like tonight) and have to be in fairly early- like 9 am the next day. I can occasionally fall prey to stress related insomnia when I'm in the midst of a really busy project (or multiple projects) I just ride my bike anyway. It's the best stress release I know.

What about when you get sick? You can't take every day off...eventually you'll have to stroll in to work ..possibly nursing a cough....how do you ride in? I don't want to jinx myself here but I rarely get sick. And I have one of those jobs that literally doesn't allow for "days off" or "sick days". When I am sick. I ride in, it usually makes me feel better.

What about if you've just had a rough couple of days and a bout of insomnia strolls into your life...then what?I just ride anyway. I sleep better when I'm riding.

What about just sheer exhaustion? Every once in a while I'll be at a location where my commute is more intense in terms of terrain (mountainous) than it currently is. In those cases I've opted to drive when I'm just exhausted (it was also a 30 mile RT) and the thought of doing the 1 mile 12% average grade at the end of the ride home was too much to bear. But here in Boston or when I'm in NYC the bike is better for me when exhausted than any of the alternatives.

I mean the list goes on, of things that happen to us that can make it difficult to get up every day. Many of you will say, well, I'll take a few days off....or the wife will drive me...but I guess im directing this to those of you who depend on your bike for work. You have no wife, brother, sister, dad, mom, roomate, neighbour to give you a lift.

I just end up taking my car..but what about those who have no car? or public transport takes hours to get to work. I wish I could ride in everyday but the reality is I can't.

Thoughts?

**edit** I forgot to add weather problems...such as high winds, thunderstorms...that's what kept me off my bike today..the possibility of thunderstorms that never materialized.I'm not crazy about thunder and lightning but I must admit I love my smart phone and weather radar. I can plan my ride better. When in an urban setting I'm less freaked about storms but choose not to ride along the river on the bike path if I can avoid it during big storms. BTW, the bigger danger in a storm may not be lightning but falling tree branches and the effect of blinding rain on auto drivers. I just rode in during a thunderstorm yesterday- a little freaky but it was okay.