I'm trying to collect some data for our cycling advocacy group, Sudbury Cyclists Union and because our group is currently quite small, I'd like to poll a larger group, you guys and gals.

There will be all kinds of problems with the way I collect the data and while I can think of a couple, I'm sure you can think of more but I'm just going to leave it as it is. Essentially, what I'm looking for a count on is the number of trips you've made on your bike this week (let's say, Sunday April 24 to Saturday April 30 inclusive) and for what purposes. I'm just looking at broad categories for this survey.

So, I am considering 3 categories of cycling: commuting, shopping and recreation.

Frequency of trips is defined as each continuous, single purpose trip is 1. So if you cycle to work, that's Commuting:1. If you stop to get some groceries on the way home, that also is Commuting:1 because the purpose of the trip was to "get some groceries on the way home from work". If you ride to the pharmacy to pickup a prescription, that Shopping:1 and the ride home is Shopping:1. If you ride to the park with your kids so they can play with their friends there, that's Recreation:1 and the ride home also is Recreation:1. If you're on an out and back training ride, even if you stop for snacks or the bathroom along the way, that's Recreation:1. Each day on a bike tour is Recreation:1.

If you don't mind (like the commuting mileage post) adding your username and counts of rides this week for each category, this would be great. I'm only looking for information for this week, it will not be continuous. You can post for today and tomorrow based on what you anticipate doing, that's fine.

Please Reply with Quotation so at the end of this thread, I can see a list from everyone's contribution. I'm not looking for names at all so you can just put "Me" or whatever but your username will enable you to know if your contribution was added.

Many thanks for participating.

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jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2

jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
wphamilton: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2 (very short), Recreation: 2

jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
wphamilton: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2 (very short), Recreation: 2
mcours2006: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 2; Recreation: 0

jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
wphamilton: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2 (very short), Recreation: 2
mcours2006: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 2; Recreation: 0
RubeRad: Commuting: 8; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 2

(details not for pasting forward... Commuting normally would be 10, but yesterday was Take-Your-Kid-To-Work day, and I have three kids. I can only fit 2 of them on the bike rack. Tonight and tomorrow is a short bike tour. Tomorrow's itinerary is to ride from Pizza Port San Clemente to Pizza Port Ocean Beach, vi Pizza Port Carlsbad and Pizza Port Solana Beach. Since it's more like a tour than a shopping trip with multiple stops, I called that "Recreation: 1"

OP, I think your categorization/counting scheme makes sense, and it seems to be working already)

jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
wphamilton: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2 (very short), Recreation: 2
mcours2006: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 2; Recreation: 0
RubeRad: Commuting: 8; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 2
Steely Dan: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 0




i almost always combine my shopping errands with trips home from work.

and i got no time for recreation these days with a newborn and a toddler at home.

Hah, with 2 kids and yourself on the bike, I'm tempted to triple those numbers!!

Well even though that's a joke, that raises an interesting point. Do you want to count all-family rides? Like if a 4-person family rides to the park together, is that Recreation: 4, or are you only interested in the 'primary' cyclist in the family? Would it still be Recreation: 4 if 1 or 2 of the kids were hauled in a seat or trailer?

jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
wphamilton: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2 (very short), Recreation: 2
mcours2006: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 2; Recreation: 0
RubeRad: Commuting: 8; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 2
Steely Dan: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 0
ThermionicScott: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2

For the week of April 24-30, I did a really short ride on Sunday, and plan to do something Saturday. My club meets on Wednesday nights, but since I join up with them on my way home from work, I'm accustomed to counting group rides as part of my commute.

I think I would say that a bike plus a trailer is a single vehicle and also a tandem is a single vehicle but a Dad on his bike with a kid in a child seat and an older kid on a tag along and an even older one on a separate bike would constitute 2 vehicles so Recreation:2 (if that is the purpose).

How do you define a training ride that happens to start or end at work? For example, several times a week, I leave my house, ride to the office parking lot, drop off my backpack in my bike locker, ride to meet my training partner and ride our workout, then ride back to the office to start my workday. Other times, I ride from the office to my house, taking a long detour to complete an interval set.

I don't know what I would consider the primary purpose of these rides. They have two equally important purposes: I need to train and I need to get between the house and the office.

OK then, my Recreation: 2 would be x3 because it's me, my wife, and my son together. Unless the point of your survey is for individuals only to report for themselves, rather than their whole families.

A couple of questions. Is the laundromat shopping? Which category is a church service? How do I count combo trips if there's at least some significant detour, like going a few miles out of the way on a commute to stop by the bank or a store?

I'm trying to get a sense of the volume of bike riding so, yes, you can report on others and if your wife has cycled at other times this week, you can include that too.

I would say, laundromat is shopping and I would add going to the doctor/dentist also simply because, on their own, they aren't for commuting to/from work, nor are they recreational. Church, yeah, shopping (for forgiveness, LOL). If the side trips didn't happen, as they won't always, and the remaining purpose is commuting, then, I'd say commuting is the answer.

Ok, then.

Commute: 9 (Yes, odd number; I get a ride on Tuesday evenings to spend time with my kids.)
Shopping: 6
Recreation: 2

I do something similar in the summer: the shortest distance from home to work is 5km but I generally ride a 20km route for extra fitness and when I need to, a 42km route (I once did 55km but it has to be a good ride to be able to get into work on time for a quick shower beforehand).

Let's say that because you end your morning ride at work and you begin your afternoon ride from work, let's just call them commuting.

Just out of curiousity, if you "participate" in the commuting mileage thread, do you split the commuting/training portions of the distances or do you consider it all training or all commuting?

Ah, wait a sec, here's an option. Given that you commute to work and then go for a training ride, let's call that 2 rides with different purposes.

jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
wphamilton: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2 (very short), Recreation: 2
mcours2006: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 2; Recreation: 0
RubeRad: Commuting: 8; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 2
Steely Dan: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 0
ThermionicScott: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
me: Commuting:6, Shopping:0, Recreation: 2

Also might want to post a pointer to this over in Utility Cycling for the folks that have non-commute utility rides as more of a focus.

I don't participate in the commuting mileage thread. I mostly consider it training that ends at work.

I go to the bar for happy hour many afternoons, is that commuting or shopping?

Well, it can't be recreation, that's for sure!!

If you're meeting friends, it is shopping, if you're meeting current/former co-workers, then you're commuting.

jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
wphamilton: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2 (very short), Recreation: 2
mcours2006: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 2; Recreation: 0
RubeRad: Commuting: 8; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 2
Steely Dan: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 0
ThermionicScott: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
rfmarotti: Commuting:6, Shopping:0, Recreation: 2
lasauge: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2, Recreation: 2


I ride to work 5 days a week, go for a recreational ride each of the 2 days off work, and typically make 1-2 incidental shopping trips on my days off (I do go to grocery stores more often, but that's generally just a stop on my commute, not a separate trip).

Its Both so I got 'all of the above' covered..

jrickards: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
wphamilton: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2 (very short), Recreation: 2
mcours2006: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 2; Recreation: 0
RubeRad: Commuting: 8; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 2
MrsRad: Commuting: 0; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 3
JrRad: Commuting: 1; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 2
Steely Dan: Commuting: 10; Shopping: 0; Recreation: 0
ThermionicScott: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 0, Recreation: 2
rfmarotti: Commuting:6, Shopping:0, Recreation: 2
lasauge: Commuting: 10, Shopping: 2, Recreation: 2

I included my wife and son. My son riding his bike home from school (7mi) I counted as commuting.