Originally Posted by lphilpot

Before -

• Get dressed, get gear, etc.
• Get the 70 lb. 3-bike rack out of the carport and put it on my wife's minivan (which means moving my car out of the carport so I can get to the stored rack; her minivan has a 2" receiver, my car doesn't)
• Get the bike out of my storage building, air up, etc. and put it on the rack
• Drive ~20 miles across town to where I ride
• Unload the bike, etc.

Ride.


After -

• Reload the bike on the rack
• Drive ~20 miles across town back home
• Unload the bike and re-store it
• Remove the rack from the minivan and re-store in the carport
• Put the car back in the carport
• Shower

All told, that can eat up an hour both ways, more or less.

Sometimes I occasionally ride directly from my house, but I live in a small "non-connected" neighborhood that opens on a busy multilane highway which tends to have very trashy shoulders (glass, etc). As a result, I rarely ride directly from my house. I wish I could, but I'm a bit hesitant particularly after having an aquaintance killed on that very highway not far from where I live (while cycling) several years ago. As time goes on, I'll probably ride more "locally", but the other location is in every other respect vastly better*, so I usually drive there. My neighborhood itself is only 0.6 miles completely around it, so I'd have to ride round and round, over and over, which doesn't appeal to me.

* Considering my current "state of ability". Hopefully as that improves my choice of routes will open up.