Help! I've fallen off the commuting wagon....
 

Several years of owning an electric car, doing doctoral work, construction debris in my workplace locker room/ shower, busier schedules for my tween boys, and increased stress at work have basically taken bicycle commuting out of my life. I miss it, and so does my physical and emotional health.

Needing some motivation and support to get back to it. 2009-2012 or 13 were great years for me personally, and happen to have been big time bicycle commuting years for me.

New bike!

So what's stopping you now. It sounds like you actually want to do it, which is often the biggest hurdle. Has the family schedule settled down yet? Are your boys into cycling at all? If you could engage them in some kind of bike racing on weekends, you'd have lots of motivation for riding yourself during the week.

stepping on the scale again after the new year always motivates me LOL

I go through ups and downs with commuting as well. mostly the foul weather and my pure flabby laziness keep me off the bike, and I always feel crappy when I stop. Try to get back into the swing slowly. Ride your bike to the store or restaurant first. Take 20 minutes around the park on a Sunday - it might give you the itch come Monday morning!

Just pedal. Do what I do, leave my car at work, pedal home. In the AM, the only way to get to work is to pedal. Works for me.

Pick a day, say Feb 6th for example. That is your start commuting day.

In the intervening time, get your gear together and stage both the home end and the work end.

Feb 6, just start doing it (again)

do it, you need street cred :D

Thanks. All helpful. I like the arbitrary start date idea. That's what got me started in the first place. Lent, spring 2009. Gave up driving. And I'm not even Catholic...

Right on!

I can't imagine a better bike than my current ground-up retrofit 26" Dahon folder turned into a 2.1" wheeled fendered drop handlebar-ed multi modal urban marauder, though. An upgrade from bar ends to different shifters might be cool....

:thumb::thumb:

Although in New Haven, March 15 may be more realistic, depending on your determination to ride through winter conditions.

You could set an example for your tween boys.

The odds of the tween boys getting the message you think you're delivering is quite low.

When I was a kid we walked to school. 3 miles. In a blizzard. 20 below zero. Uphill both ways....

And we didn't even have to.



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZhdEsTmwcQ...1600/weird.jpg




Honestly, don't be disheartened... the message will still be delivered. It will just hide subliminally, for years or even decades, until it pops up and delivers the payload. Lead by example, nevermind what the tweeners make of it today :-)

The key to getting back on the wagon is to stop thinking about it and just do it.

I know that jumping into a 5 days a week routine may present issues based on distance, weather, a place to wash/change, and so on, so put that idea on the shelf do the moment and just stick your toe in to check the water.

Start with one day/eek, based on the weather forecast or just every Friday. Ride in, and make a ride of it on your way home so you're having fun. Or get creative.

On of my friends has the smartest take on bike commuting. He joined a carpool group. He bought a rack for the driver's car, and does the short bike ride rides to his house, and from his job to work in the AM. In the evening he enjoys a nice ride home. However, if the weather is bad or he's just not in the mood, he can bike to the car and car pool home.

he's just one example of how a bit of creativity can make bike commuting into a joy rather than obligation.

So, it's all good, no issue of changing at work, and all the rides are good ones with no pressure.

Start with a day and see how it goes. If you think it wasn't so bad then try it again another day. If you hate it and it basically reaffirms your decision to stop in the first place, then don't force it. It's not for you.

Seriously, don't over-think it. You can't focus too much on the future. Focus on the present. As they say, one day at a time. One ride at a time.

Prepare to ride to work one day. Get your gear together and lay it out. Pack your stuff the night before and leave it by the door. Pick a route ahead of time. Get up early so you can give yourself plenty of time to get there. See how it goes.

a 2.1" wheeled fendered drop handlebar-ed multi modal urban marauder

That.

This is probably a tough time weatherwise to start commuting again in CT. However, it's a great time to start getting all of your gear together, your bike prepped, etc. Have everything set so that you're ready to go when the weather starts improving. I ride and bike commute year-round, but our weather is much milder in NC. Nevertheless, I often miss more riding days due to weather in Jan and Feb, mainly due to rain, sleet, snow and ice. We are having a mild winter so far, but I've already lost one week due to a sleet storm and a few other days due to cold rain. However, I've still managed to log 193 miles YTD, which is better than nothing.

I started bike commuting about 10 years ago during "bike to work week" here, with the goal of riding on dress-down Fridays. I enjoyed it so much that I started riding 2, 3, 4 and sometimes 5 days a week. I generally don't ride on days when the weather is lousy, but I've still managed to rack up more than 40,000 miles bike commuting since 2007.

As others said, "just do it."

Routine, Routine, Routine. Get in the habit, stay in the habit.......it must be a priority for you and your time use must evolve to the point you will be upset if you miss your "routine". Now get started!!

The biggest reason why I don't ride into work some days is due to the weather. Here in Az it has been really Wet this jan, the next 5 days are supposed to rain. So I take my motorcycle on those days since I have the rain gear. If I had rain gear for the bicycle I would be taking that. However, I buy myself new gear when I can afford it but try and be reasonable as well.

Keep us posted on your first ride in!

If Boba Fett can do it, then so can you! :thumb: Seriously, if your schedule allows, then give the cycle commute another go. Just be realistic about the snow and other bad weather days and take them off accordingly. New bike is always nice, but those of us on single income with kid need to keep ridin' what we got. If schedule with the kids is tight, then maybe the wife can play chauffeur for them? :D

i agree with this ^^ and with [MENTION=4635]hockey[/MENTION]. you just need to do it and stop thinking about it.

i would also recommend committing to 2x a week. then bumping that up in 3 weeks time to 3x a week. then again to 4x a week, then 5x a week. slowly getting your body used to it by slowly upping the days per week is going to help you physically deal with the change. schedule it in and just do it, stop thinking. good luck and enjoy...!

and don't make excuses for weather unless your ride is over 10-15 miles one way. weather happens and you can bike thru it and it will be fine. it will still be more pleasurable than driving.

You, too? I came down with my annual winter cold right around Thanksgiving, and as usual, it took about a month before it was out of my system, just in time for my company's winter shutdown. I bought myself a ScanGauge over the break, and it's made driving more interesting again. When I can achieve 30+ MPG on a trip in the Subaru -- in the winter -- I don't feel quite as bad about driving.

I'll get back to the bike thing once the freezing rain stops. ;)

And it folds...


http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...psfpo4mbei.jpg

This build didn't work -- the Sora shifters got switched out for a mountain triple and bar ends. Sora went on the road tandem!

Whatever motivates you to get back to riding will make you wonder why you waited so long. I've been bike commuting for years, but only on days when it's dry out and my schedule allows. Which usually means not riding outside for a couple of months during the winter. It always is kind of painful when I resume, but the pain fades pretty quickly as I get back into the habit.
I got my annual cold shortly after the first of the year, and am just now starting to feel better. I rode yesterday and today, and the ride in yesterday was brutal when you factor in the couple of weeks off I had, the illness, the cold and the maintenance I've been putting off so I can keep riding. But the ride home was much much better, and I knew I wouldn't have felt this good if I drove.

Take inventory of your obstacles. Work and grad school and marriage and children are legitimate pulls on your time, so the question is how to balance them. It's not easy. If you have to drop your kids off or pick them up or be back home in time to be with them, the bike commute could be tricky to fit in, *IF* it takes extra time compared with your other commuting mode(s). But you can work it out if you want to. Maybe it's weather. Maybe, for example, if you promise yourself you'll head out on the day it will remain above 45ºF all day. In that case, watch the forecasts, and while you wait, get the bike and gear ready to roll out the door.

I have studded tires and winter riding gear. Time, energy, and motivation are the principal obstacles. I'd say I'm depressed; this is both an obstacle and a reason to ride! :)