milestones, anniversaries.... who pays attention anyway?
 

I realized at some point in the last couple months that I have now had the same commute --riding my bike five miles to the train station, taking a train for an hour, then riding another bike to my office-- for twenty years. Pretty sure I started in February or March 2001. When I started, it didn't seem like a life-changing decision or anything, I just tried riding my bike one day in stead of taking the car, and I never went back to using the car.

20 years! Amazing how much has changed in that time.

I rode my teen MTB a lot around the desert in the early-90s time frame but only occasionally to school. It is a big exurban school district. My junior high and high school were both on the other side of a mountain range and flood control dam. It was too far, or seemed that way. Five miles one way, and one really steep climb on the return leg (which in years since has been re-graded and given bike lanes).

I rode that bike all over Purdue, too, but never very far, or on a schedule I thought of as a commute for a job.

From start of career in 2001 til 2011 I lived in apartments, and had a dog, so my cardio exercise time was spent walking the dog. By quitting time her back teeth were floating. It would not have been fair to her to have any other plan that kept me away longer or didn't let her run. I moved in 2007 to Folsom which is way better for bike riding than nearly anywhere, and rode around some.

I can trace bike commuting to 2012 and buying a house with my gf (now wife). The dogs had a yard to pee in and didn't need regular walks. Around then I also read "Just Ride," and rebuilt my Dad's Paramount, which led me to Bike Forums for help. Also to bikes as a hobby and ownership of some nicer ones.

Reading the thread title I thought this was a continuation of a ride your age thread in a different part of the site. My response was going to be, "How old are you anyway? How do you know if you don't track birthdays?"

But 20 years on the same commute? Congratulations! I only started bike commuting about 15 years back, but I've gone to four locations in those 15 years (all at the same job).

It is amazing that neither bike got stolen. Congratulations!!

I began commuting exclusively by bike in 2007 once our youngest entered kindergarten at a school just down the street from where we live and, thus, I didn’t have to either do daycare pickup or drop off each day. Before then, I bike commuted probably three times a week on the days I didn’t have to do day care pickup. That wasn’t a long commute—a bit more than 5 miles each way. In 2011, I changed to my present job and have a shorter commute: about 5 miles round trip via the most direct route. It’s an urban commute with lots of cars, pedestrians, and cyclists, but I can make it in 20 min at a steady pace or 15 if I’m in a hurry. It’s also short enough that I can do it in any conditions, rain, snow, or shine, without undue discomfort. Also realized about 5 years ago that my wife and I didn’t need two cars, so I sold mine (though I still use hers fairly frequently, but not for commuting). I’ve found that a short commute is a great test bed to try out a new bike build or some new piece of kit, and that even just 20 min twice a day on a bike is essential as a stress reliever or contemplative time. I’ve been working from home much more during the pandemic though gradually increasing the number of commutes per week. I also don’t track my commuting miles; I’ve tried, but then would regularly forget to turn off my Garmin watch at the end of a ride. Not worth it to me.

astonishing human endurance! you deserve to celebrate!

24 years commuting by bike for me. Same job site. 3 bikes, 2 different homes.

I think about 5 more years of work before retirement. But cycling will continue.