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I have been commuting by bike since Feb 2011 and it was 15 f degrees on my first day. The cold did not stop me that day nor has it stopped me since. I don't go below 10 f degrees. The ice and snow on the road stop me due to the hill at the end of my commute where I take a left turn and fear for my life. Also I find life has been getting in my way of cycle commuting this year. While my husband was having radiation I could not bike commute as I did not have enough time to fit his health care and my work. Now I am working 9 hour days so I can work half a day Friday's making me more tired. I try and commute as much as possible as I love riding my bike.
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Originally Posted by noglider
(Post 21071593)
New York City traffic has reached a crisis level in recent years. I've been back here for only six years, and the crisis developed since I've been here. At the same time, the subways are working much worse in the same period. As a result, the only mode of transportation that has a predictable travel time is bicycle. A lot of bike trips that New Yorkers make are not fun, but they suck less than all other modes of travel. The radio news (WNYC) did a story about this, as it is doing a series about commuting on all modes. Lots of people calling in weighed in about how bike commuting is the only reliable way. The amount of time a trip takes by bike today is the same amount as it took yesterday. The variation of travel times by other modes is mind-boggling. If you have a long car drive, it could take more than an hour longer than estimated on some days. Some commuter train rides take two hours longer than estimated. Of course, a bike commute can't replace a trip of great distance, so I'm lucky I don't have to travel many miles, but I often have to go five or six miles in the city, and even if I have to traverse some very harrowing intersections, I'd rather not take a car, taxi, bus, or subway.
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During the summer it is off and on. Florida weather brings heavy rain July-August from 3 until sunset, at least 4 days out of 7. Winter only gets down to upper 20s, with not as much rain, so most days there. My other factor is my running. Right now am building speed for a half marathon, so I try to time speed work with rainy days so I don’t bonk out on the ride in. The plus side is longish rides of mid effort in the evening really help loosen you up.
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Guess folks like to commute once they are used to it. Thanks for the replies. Be Well, Bluesfrog
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Originally Posted by mcours2006
(Post 21022754)
I try to commute by car as much as I can, but when there's snow or freezing rain, I take the car. This year I drove the car a total of 15 times so far. Rain doesn't bother me as I have a shower and clothes dryer at work. I'm still trying to figure out a way to keep my feet dry in heavy rain. My commute is 12 miles one-way. If it was half that distance I wouldn't let the snow or freezing rain bother me either.
A co-worker clued me into VeloToze neoprene shoe covers: VeloToze cover . I ride with clip-in MTB shoes and these covers have held up much better than expected and keep my feet dryer than any other cover I have tried. |
I’m working up to commuting only by bike, but I still take a car now and then. My goal is to sell the car after I can demonstrate that I don’t use it anymore. Of course, I wiped out on my last commute by hitting some snow. Now I’m in pain for a while as my body heals. Hasn’t taken away any of the motivation to ride though. Even a wipe out on a bike is better than riding in my car to work, and I’ll continue to ride year round, regardless of the weather (if I can).
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I don't stop riding in winter even if it means riding in the dark. In fact, it's quite usual for me to do my whole 30km commute in the dark from start to finish during winter.
I have also done my commute after a snow as long as the road was cleared. In the summer months sometimes I have also ridden in the rain. Won't do this in winter though. |
Different bikes for the commute
Originally Posted by Amt0571
(Post 21271669)
I don't stop riding in winter even if it means riding in the dark. In fact, it's quite usual for me to do my whole 30km commute in the dark from start to finish during winter.
I have also done my commute after a snow as long as the road was cleared. In the summer months sometimes I have also ridden in the rain. Won't do this in winter though. It's only an 8 mile flat commute. This time of year, it's typically in the 40's in the morning. It's been a hectic holiday season, and I feel like I'm exhausted. I usually ride every day. Recently I broke a spoke nipple on my SS commuter rear wheelwith over 8k miles on it. Still haven't fixed it. So I started to ride my really heavy cargo bike, and it feels like that was a bit of strain for me. Most of the more than 30 years of this commute I rode a double or triple chainring road bike. Became tired of shifting and even developed a mild tendonitis shifting the front derailleur. That made me switch a drive train to SS for the commute. No regrets. People at work have no idea how nice it is to ride everyday. I never try to explain it. It hardly rains much here, so I don't know, but my rule is that if I'll be soaked by the time I get to work, I'll drive instead. I've arrived home soaked and cold many times. That's not so bad. I |
It's nice to have the luxury of driving, particularly when you have a cold/flu.
When I was car free, my colds would tend to linger for weeks because I still had to get to work. Back then I was riding 15 miles (one way), and even though AZ winters are pretty easy, it's still cold enough to be pretty miserable when you're sick. |
I guess since the choice was between public transport and bike I never felt like I had to ride 100% of the time. If I had to drive a bike-able distance I'd ride almost all the time. Since my commute since I've retired is from my second floor bedroom to my first floor computer, I'll walk. The bike is on the trainer next to the computer. I just did an hour of the Sufferfest.
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Originally Posted by Archwhorides
(Post 21270744)
I feel lucky because it's too expensive to park where I work, and public transit takes too long (and is also somewhat expensive), so I have one more incentive to stay on the bike in all conditions and don't mind experimenting with foul weather gear.
A co-worker clued me into VeloToze neoprene shoe covers: VeloToze cover . I ride with clip-in MTB shoes and these covers have held up much better than expected and keep my feet dryer than any other cover I have tried. If it's raining cats and dogs and I have to be in a meeting or hearing with a suit on, I'll usually drive that day and pay the day rate for parking, but otherwise I'll ride every day year round. |
Originally Posted by Notso_fastLane
(Post 21273149)
It's nice to have the luxury of driving, particularly when you have a cold/flu.
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Archwhorides, thanks for the tip about Velotoze. I might buy a pair.
I recently did a trail ride at 34ºF where I fell and one foot ended up in a stream. I was wearing plastic bags over my socks, and my foot felt the cold water, but after a minute, I could tell that I wasn't cold or wet, so that worked out. |
I've commuted by bike off and on since I was 7 years old. I'm 51 now. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2003, I've commuted full time to 2 different jobs. One was 6 miles round trip and my current job is 10 mile round trip. I feel lucky to be able to do this, since I'm not sure how I'd bear up in freezing temperatures and snow/ice. You winter commuters of the midwest and east coast have my respect!
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I stopped using my bike to comute when I got my first car at 18, 45 years ago. I never seriously considered going back to it for regular commuting.
But since you brought the subject up it got me to thinking. There were many days after my shift at a local restaurant washing dishes and doing other chores that I really did enjoy the 5 -6 mile ride home except in a storm or on a nasty winter day. Even at 1:00 am. One of my fellow workers used to ride a bike the 10 miles to factory I retired from every day. No amount of snow or extreme cold could stop him. He was so fit, his extremely low pulse and blood pressure had the factory nurse ready to send him to the hospital. At 280 lb he went though a road bike every year. Funny, I never pictured a diehard cyclists being 6' 4" and 280 lbs. |
Originally Posted by xroadcharlie
(Post 21274246)
There were many days after my shift at a local restaurant washing dishes and doing other chores that I really did enjoy the 5 -6 mile ride home except in a storm or on a nasty winter day. Even at 1:00 am.
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Four years ago (my last bad cold), I was so anxious to get back on the bike that I started riding to work (in the cold and the dark) as soon as I could. That cold recurred three times.
This year, my wife had the flu and I had sinus problems. Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe I'm learning, but I'm driving the car for the rest of this week and maybe through the rain that's predicted for the first part of next week. Driving to work reminds me why I like to bike to work. |
Originally Posted by pdlamb
(Post 21275503)
Driving to work reminds me why I like to bike to work.
I didn't always feel this way. When I was single I had a WRX and a crotch rocket and drove and rode like a hooligan. Then in my early 30's I had a BMW motorcycle and did a few long tours. This was around the arrival of the iPhone, and the rate of texting was going up, making the truckers, formerly real pros, now really frightening. When we got married and a house I got rid of the bike and got a small truck, that was... ok. At least it was a pretty blue. Now I have a metallic-invisible colored crew cab F150 that we got to tow our travel trailer. It's no pleasure at all to drive and I've got no pride of ownership. I treat it as something I just have to use once in a while. My wife wants me to trade it in for something that I like better, but there's nothing else that can do its job that isn't just like it. And my opinion of other drivers just goes down and down. Sometimes I feel like the self driving cars can't come soon enough. |
Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
(Post 21275616)
Sometimes I feel like the self driving cars can't come soon enough.
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I know what you mean about colds/flu and biking. I always (now that I have the option) drive 1 day more than I think I need when recovering from a cold.
And it serves as a good reminder of why I prefer to ride: I work on a military base, and it's almost exactly 5 miles from my driveway to my office. If I drive, it takes 12 minutes to get to the traffic, then 20-30 minutes sitting in traffic waiting to get on the base. When I bike, it's almost exactly 30 mins door to door, and traffic doesn't affect me. |
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I was a year-round bike commuter for about 5 years - 8 to 10 miles one way. Always enjoyed the start and end of the day with a bike, even when the conditions were terrible. Being in Minneapolis, it took a few years of 3 season riding to build out my kit to handle the worst of winters weather (dark, snow, ice, sub-zero temps).
Now I work from a home office, I get out to ride nearly every day, but now I have more options to ride when the weather is nicer and the traffic is lighter and/or routes with light traffic. I miss the daily commute, but enjoy the current situation too. |
Re colds and flu: A lot of times if I just have a cold, a gentle ride into work will actually make me feel a bit better (assuming it's decent weather). My rule of thumb is that if I'm too sick to ride to work, I'm too sick to go in and I should just go back to bed.
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Originally Posted by caloso
(Post 21276035)
My rule of thumb is that if I'm too sick to ride to work, I'm too sick to go in and I should just go back to bed.
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Originally Posted by xroadcharlie
(Post 21274246)
At 280 lb he went though a road bike every year.
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