How many folks have created a fake commute for themselves when working from home during this pandemic? My wife and I are fortunate to have a small second home out of town and were able to migrate there as soon as both our jobs went full remote. I'm glad I brought my bicycle with me and it's been an indispensable part of my fitness and sanity regimen.

Just for fun, here's a commute I took in NYC just before we left for our house: .

And here's a fun descent portion of my fake commute: .

wow, like night & day!

You do that too?
I tend to "commute" at lunch time as the weather is better. But the good thing is that there is no traffic here - every ride is like sunday morning.

I just dropped the cursor on parts of your commute videos. The first drop on the NYC commute had you ringing a bell to warn people stepping off the curb. People...sheesh!

I'm riding 2/3rds as often, and about 2/3rds the total commute round trip. It's a little bit of finding the motivation, a little bit being on call with unpredictable hours, and a little bit weather.

Luckilly I love riding, so I don;t see a total cessation.

Here are two rides from the past week.

Since getting laid off last month, I do a 16 mile ride that 80% mimics my old commute route several days a week.

Why do I mimic most of my old route? It's the closest continuous off street path to me, and it's a pleasant ride through a linear Greenway that parallels a canal.

When I've been out of work, I couldn't do without physical activity as part of the routine. Best of luck landing another gig soon!

I used to commute to and from work twice a week averaging about 50 miles. Now I ride 15 to 18 miles every morning averaging about 100 miles a week.

I do not think about the morning rides as fake commuting though. The extra riding is helping with the stress, and the morning is a lot more comfortable time to ride in Florida due to the cooler air temps.

The road traffic is less, but it appears that most drivers are going a lot faster. I see a lot more people out walking and biking while I ride through the neighborhoods. Drivers do seem to be more bike-friendly. The multi-use trails are packed with people walking, running and riding bikes. Most of the trail users are not used to sharing the path with others, so I no longer frequent bike paths.

Another new thing is that almost everyone now says hello!

Be safe!

...what my parents used to call "The Drainage Canal". I guess it is now called "The North Shore Channel".
Here's a photo of the channel at Devon a "few" years ago...



Best of luck to you, Steely!

Commuting for Beer
After my firm's sixth week of virtual work, I've realized that I haven't yet been successful in creating an optional routine that builds biking into my daily ritual - perhaps when the weather improves around here that will happen. I'm kinda grieving the loss of those nasty weather commutes that characterize half the year around here.

In the meantime, finding errands that add urban biking miles is what I have, plus my thirst for local beer. Have you found yourself seeking out curbside beer pickup in your town?

Yesterday, at the tail end of a 20+ mile "commute", I stopped by Lamplighter in Cambridge , which used to be site of my VW auto mechanic "Metric Systems".

Afterwards I was happy to replace the few calories that I burned up by drinking some of the cargo. Prosit!


Lots of customers, widely distanced with sidewalk markers.

They fixed cars here, now they infect beer with yeast


Back home with the takeaway

Ha, I had to look that up! In short, I like them. My bike is a Ralleigh Technium that's had a bunch of new stuff thrown on, but the only thing I've done to the handlebar and brakes is keeping up with bar tape and brake pads.

The extra levers are kind of neat, I think, and they don't get in the way. I find them useful for mild, slow speed braking and mostly just on the front. When I need to really slow down, I have to use the primary levers. They really need the wheels to be true and the calipers adjusted close, because there's quite a bit of flex from these extensions and so much of the pulling force is not transmitted to the pads.

Dang, sorry to hear about the layoff Steely Dan .

When I retired last summer I kept doing the commute for a few weeks, but as they got later and later in the morning I just stopped. I keep saying I'm going to start again, but not until this thing is over, but that won't be for a long while.

I find it really helps to have a little variety in the work-out. I try to alternate between cycling and pilates. When I'm done beating myself up with one, I look forward to the other and things switch again

Looks like you were also able to cut your commute to less than half the time!

Sad, isn't it? To be fair, my second video skipped over the slow climb up before turning around and blasting down the hill.

Hope to start a longer loop soon.

We have lots of trails in the area. So instead of commuting to work I go a pleasure ride every morning. I try to start by 6:30 before the crowds pack the trails.

I have done this! I am on day 57 now of "fake" commuting. I actually have taken up mountain biking during this time because riding on the MUP/bike lane from my house to work and back every morning sounds kinda boring. I live really near a really legit MTB park so I have been riding in to it at about 6am, riding up to the top of the hill and back down the other side, then home again.

I may incorporate these newfound mountain bike trails in to a few commute detours per week when this is all over, then we'll find out if I can do the same climbs and steep rock rolls and rocky descents with a laptop on my back!

I rode to my office today. tested using a car lot 1/2 way between home & office. it was weird rolling into our baron parking lot

Whoah! You have royalty where you work?

Is a baron a royal? Or just nobility?

Good question.

Great, now I need to dig out my books on royalty and titles.

I have been riding almost every morning before I start working from home. Anywhere from 7 to 16 miles along our trails. Depending on weather, mood, tiredness and whatever. Especially the sunrise fake commutes can be beautiful. I am also using my bikes more and more as a shopping vehicle.

So many that they have their own parking lot!

I went to my former office today on my way to a longer ride. E. 42nd St in Manhattan is deserted, and Times Square was too. I would never even think to ride on 42nd St all the way across town in the past but it was mostly empty today. I got in 36 miles altogether.

oh man that’s once in a lifetime stuff. you gotta do that again & take video, before all hell breaks loose again