Originally Posted by
agarose2000
HATES:
1) Having to change out of bike clothes. God I hate this part. I feel like a homeless person when I'm changing from bike clothes to normal clothes in a bathroom.
2) Lack of secure storage for shopping, etc. - Shopping is severely limited by my lack of a trunk to store things. Of course, this comes with the benefit of not buying too much useless stuff!
3) Slow factor - In almost all situations for me, the bike is slower than my car. Even in hellacious LA traffic, I can only beat my car time by minutes. My bike commute is short, so it's not a big deal for me but for me, the car is undoubtedly faster, even with the parking hassle.
Simple solution for #1 and #3 - add an electric kit. The purist hate to hear that, but since I've been using an electric bike (bionx kit), I don't need to change into bike clothes (except when it rains... then I need the rain pants) and I get there about 20% faster on the same effort.
Anyway, my pros and cons:
PROs:
- Great for environment
- Promote bike commuting by just doing it
- Save on car expenses
- Get a consistent workout
- No more looking for parking
- Seeing other people as people instead of boxed in cars
- Smelling the outdoors
- Reduces stress
CONs:
- Getting flats
- Changing into rain gear
- Lack of large storage
- Finding routes for new distinations (it takes time to find the safest route)
- No music, no more car karaoke
- Can't eat a Whopper and fries while moving
- Golfing and bike commuting don't mix too well
- Dangers of bad drivers (texters, drunks, cell phone yakkers, inattentive Whopper eaters)
- It just takes more time than a car for the most part