perhaps moving to a place with absolutely insufferable rush hour traffic could help you stay motivated to get on the bike every morning?

i only live 4.5 miles from my office, but there are 24 traffic lights on the route. that's an average of 5.33 traffic lights per mile. on single lane city surface streets where traffic backs up so bad that you often don't get through a light on the first cycle. it can take me over 30 minutes to get home in the afternoon rush, for only 4.5 miles! i bike that distance faster.

car commuting for me absolutely S-U-C-K-S. it is the most annoying kind of driving that there is. i would never describe it as "easy". it's a BIG reason why i rarely ever drive to work.

I used to have that. I lived in northeast Portland and worked in the western suburbs. I literally came home angry every day because of the traffic. That was before they built the west side MAX. When that opened, I started commuting that way. It took almost 2 hours to get home, but at least I was tolerable to be around when I got there. Eventually I accepted my bourgeois fate and moved to the suburbs where I work. On the plus side, that move is what made bike commuting a practical option.

For exactly the same reason, my wife finds road riding boring, and prefers MTB.

This works for me almost all of the time......

I'm not a particularly athletic rider, but I just enjoy being outdoors, and riding. I actually regret the days when I have to drive. Usually it's because I'm transporting a large musical instrument and have to go directly from work to a performance. Another pleasure is that my kids have gotten into the same habit, and they will be better off for it throughout their lives.

I gradually eliminated the obstacles, one by one: Rain, heat, cold, etc., over the space of more than a year. The last frontier was leaving my house in the rain. Now I just don't let it be a decision any more. I look at the weather, but it's only to plan what gear I need, with enough time to get it all together for my commute.

My preparations have evolved. For a few years, I always carried my rain gear with me, as if it was part of my bike. Now I'm willing to take a risk of getting wet, and I keep some old rain gear at work. I also have a much better sense for what I need to wear when it gets cold.

I'm pulling for you, too, [MENTION=111144]Andy_K[/MENTION]. I love my sleep and I do have some flexibility where I work as well, so I also have a bad habit of getting up too late to ride in. Let's get back on the wagon together! :thumb:

My biggest motivation in biking when I was still working was a simple one: I save x amount not owning a car and x amount for insurance/maint/etc. And don't forget that gas money we Canadians would love to have the USA's 4$ a gallon.

LOL - cracked me up!

$2.15/gal around my parts. But not cheap enough to make me want to drive.

Fun thread to catch up on. We have the one car family deal. My wife stays at home and home schools the kids, so the car is hers. But she can rescue me if weather is too bad for riding (pretty rare).

I ride because I like being outside and seeing things at less than 30mph. There are regulars in some neighborhoods that I wave or say hi to. If I don't ride for some reason I miss it.

Another possible way to motivate is to set some mileage or number of days goals. I like watching my weekly miles and year-to-date total grow. It still requires some internal motivation since nobody cares but yourself, but it can be rewarding. You could even reward yourself when milestones are met. Commute 500 miles and treat yourself to a movie or whatever.

You seem to be on a good streak already, but if that gets tough, then maybe do something like aim for 4 bike days with Wednesday off to have a break in the middle.

Your honesty about yourself is admired and a good step to changing to what you want. Good luck!

This isn't going to help you much...

But I commute everyday for 2 reasons:

1: I don't have a parking pass

and

2: Biking everyday means I can eat massive meals and I like to eat.

3: Biking everyday lets me have an excuse to own multiple commuting bikes.

There are 3 kinds of people in this world:

Those that can count

And those that can't.

I don't ride every day. I would like to, but between schedules and life, it doesn't happen. Sometimes I need to be at work ~7 am, sometime I know I'm going to have a late night. Sometimes my wife has to work late and I need to be home. If I lived closer to work, maybe it would be easier. 10 miles isn't far but it's 40 minutes of riding, or 20 minutes of driving.

I can definitely relate to this.

I mentioned earlier that I've adjusted my diet to try to lose some weight. Essentially my weight loss plan consists of four changes:

1. Track my calorie intake.
2. Stop drinking Coke throughout the day.
3. Eat a lunch-sized lunch.
4. Start eating breakfast. (See also: morning time management issues)

I'm not even certain that number three is necessary. Based on past experience I have a pretty good estimate for the number of calories I burn biking to work and back. I'm using a standard app that gives me a budget for calorie intake to lose 2 pounds per week. After adjusting for the calories burned commuting I'm having trouble using the full calorie budget every day. The first day of my "diet" I took my daughters to Five Guys for dinner and ate exactly what I'd normally eat. I didn't use all of my calories that day. If this sounds like I'm fooling myself, let me add that I've dropped 9 pounds in 10 days. That'll certainly slow down, but clearly what I'm doing is working. I think it's mostly the Coke.

:lol:

I initially had two, then thought of a third, and didn't edit.

I'm glad you didn't go back and fix it!

There are two kinds of people in the world:

1) Those who can make inferences from incomplete data
2)

Nice! It's been a long time since I've seen a new (to me) one of those jokes.

I have a T-shirt that says

There are 10 kinds of people:
Those that understand binary
And those that don't

I love that one, too. :thumb:

Well I drove the last 2 days instead of riding. Yesterday I didn't want to deal with 45 mph wind gusts on the way to bicycle advocacy project so I drove. Today I drove so I could do another bicycle advocacy project. But tomorrow I better be able to ride...

You drove to bike advocacy projects? :eek:

https://m.popkey.co/6bee24/6GJWk.gif

:p

I'm up to 10 straight days of biking to work and feeling great about it. Plus I've commuted on seven different bikes this month, so the extra riding (along with some nicer weather) is giving me a chance to spend time with some old "friends." :thumb:

I find the irony in that quite amusing.:lol:

I know, I know I found it ironic and shameful too. But I learned a long time ago that I just can't compete with the wind on those days when you could see small farm animals being blown through the sky and there just wasn't any good way to cover the ground I needed to do the other project. But I got to redeem myself by riding in the rain to work this morning.

Motivation to Bike Commute
 

I am new to Bike Forums. The motivation topic is interesting and I'll add my expereince. I am over 60 and a job change made bike commuting a reality. Using my very old mountain bike I started bike commuting last year in a half-hearted way. It didn't take too long to make some bike alterations but I was able to bike commute a reasonable percentage of my work days. However, this year I upped the ante and made several goals (minimum 1000 km, 40% of my work days are biked, and ride at least 2 days each month). For me, these are all reasonably attainable goals but not without effort and some discomfort. To date, I have reached half my goals and will probably surpass all three goals easily. I use a $50 bike speedometer/odometer to keep track of distance and time.

What has been interesting is how the time to work and time to home has changed as my fitness improves. In my case, this is a great motivator as I keep track of each ride on a spreadsheet and enjoy the fitness improvement trend. I have also learned, as others have noted, that a day without riding (usually because of work related travel) leaves me a tad cranky and wishing I was able to ride. I like the way my body has tightened up, I feel better, I am more conscious of my diet, and I sleep better.

So with a few new clothes to improve riding comfort I am committed to cycling to work. Cold temperature and rain has not stopped me. I suspect that heavy snows and treacherous ice and slush will have me back in a car but that should only be a couple of months. I like the challenge of regaining health, of convincing myself that I can manage bad weather, and that I can still bike even when I am tired.

Great to read what others have to say!

Cheers,
PT

I love riding my bike to work. That's my motivation to get up at 5 AM, feed and walk the dogs, and then prepare to ride. I love that hour-plus I spend on the bike before work. And, all day, I look forward to the nearly 2 hours I can ride it when I take the long way home.

That's all I need: a love for riding my bike.

Hey, I hear you. No shame in that. I'd balk, too, with 45 mph winds. That's not just difficult, but downright dangerous. I'll take the rain over wind any day.:)

Wind is not the real issue for me, it’s the wrong direction it is taking me (or my back ;-)