I first started riding again six-and-a-half years ago (after a ~20 hiatus). My office location changed and I decided to try to ride to work. For two years I rode my bike to work most of the time. It was commuting that got me back on a bicycle, and during that time most of my miles were commuting miles.

My office location changed again, though, and while I remained committed to commuting, riding 16 miles one way takes a lot longer than 7 miles one way. Family commitments and other things demanded my attention during the time slot that I normally rode home, so I ended up switching back to driving to work for the most part.

It doesn't mean I've stopped riding. In fact, now I ride.... for fun. That might be a hard concept to grasp. I know that when I was riding to work, a lot of those rides were kind of grueling slog-fests into the wind, uphill, at the end of a long day. I don't force it now. If the mood strikes me, I ride to work. But mostly I ride for pleasure. I do probably about the same mileage per year (3000-4000 miles typically), and now most of my miles are at night with lights. I meet friends for rides or just ride on my own.

So if you get faced with the situation where riding your bike to work becomes a problem, don't sweat it. There's life after commuting.