Start my fourth week commuting!
 

So, I'll give you the somewhat quick story. I loved my car. It was a 2009 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI and it was my commuter car. It took me to work and back during the week and was great for taking the kids around on the weekends to the beach, sports, park, Del Taco; wherever.

Well, it finally decided to die and was as much to fix as it was worth. So, I had to say goodbye to my little TDI and sold it. I used the money as a down payment on a new car for my wife and took her stinky,kid infested SUV. I decided it wasn't worth it to drive her old SUV beast to work every day and had to figure out a new plan.

So, the following Monday I got on my mountain bike and rode down to the Metrolink train station about 5 miles from my house and hopped on! No idea what I was doing and was a little nervous that first morning, but I met one of the cycling regulars on the train who helped this newbie. A co-worker who is an avid cyclist commuter got on on the next stop and showed me the ropes to getting to work and what dangerous streets to look out for.

So after a week I decided I loved it and bought a better commuter bike; a Giant Escape 2 along with an Osprey backpack to put my work clothes and lunch in. After just finishing my third week, I can honestly say I DO NOT MISS MY CAR! The freedom of commuting is awesome and has made me more relaxed. I also get to ride my bike every day instead of being another car on the congested freeway.

So cheers to all the commuters out there! It's a hard thing to break out of the "I need my car" thinking, but once you do, it's amazing.

Lance

Welcome to the world of bike commuting, Lance! It only gets better. And your winters will be pretty mild with rain and a bit of colder weather. Keep up the good work!

Nice job man!

Did you type that correctly - a 2009 Jetta? You used up a car in just six or seven years? Damn.

Sweet! You can also throw your bike on the back of the old SUV and not worry about roughing up the car. As far as gas mileage, I like to tell people I found a device that quadruples my mpg...my bicycle, because I ride 4 days a week.

Welcome to bike commuting! I've been bike commuting since a move in February meant less access to public transit, and I've been kicking myself that I didn't start earlier.

Haha yeap. My second VW that died just after 100k. This one had 116k on it and had an issue with the high pressure fuel pump system. Got that fixed and then had exhaust manifold issues and the diesel particulate filter needed to be replaced....which is not cheap! Although I loved the car, I will never buy a VW again :)

As far as commuting; I just submitted my paperwork to get my corporate monthly train pass from my work for pre-tax dollars. They also reimbursed me for last weeks metrolink 7 day pass through the OC Rideshare program. So many perks, I wish I would have started doing this years ago!


Next on the list is fenders before "Storm Watch El Nino" starts.