Are you in Belfast? How common are bike commuters there? Here in NYC, I think more than 1% of commuting trips are by bike. That sounds tiny, but cyclists are very visible compared with the millions who travel on the underground subway trains. Cycling has become more common here in recent years. It is so common that seeing someone wearing or carrying a helmet while NOT on a bike no longer turns heads. I can go wherever I go carrying a helmet, and this tells people how I arrived, and no one raises an eyebrow anymore. That's a change.

So if you become a bike commuter, you will be among the people who cause this change of attitude. I think if you stick with it long enough, you will see the change I've seen.

The weather can be a hindrance, but it's also possible to build techniques for dealing with it as well as for building a tolerance to it. We also have a pretty bad climate here. Winter is cold-ish and wet and windy. Sometimes we get snow and ice but less frequently now that the climate has changed. I ride all through the winter. I don't ride every day, but I ride every month and at least one day a week for all but one or two weeks. Here, the coldest week is usually the third week in January, and I might skip riding that week.

I keep track of what clothing works in which kinds of conditions so that am prepared for most kinds of weather.

Other side, Londonderry! There are actually a lot about. It's gotten to the point sitting at home, looking out the window in the evenings one or two will pass by in the hi-vis / helmet on. When I go for walks at lunch time in the city I also am passed by what I'd say is more utility / commuting cyclists on the shared paths. I always joke with my gf "those people are living my dream!" haha Also, this is much more positive than a decade ago where you'd see groups of brightly coloured road cyclists (real enthusiasts!) or the odd school kid on a bike.

I'd say our climates aren't too different. Same here, often dull, cloudy and raining with varying wind. This time of year does tend to have the most nice days, so I'm hoping even the less-nice dull and summer showers would be a nice soft launch to the bad weather and some not too expensive gear investment (as needed) to cope with it.

IF.. I could make this work, and IF I can keep it up throughout winter (January / February is actually more tough than December here) I'd love to invest in a serious machine with battery power.

I used to get caught up in trying to find the perfect bike, trying to justify it (usually by trying to justify selling the car) and ending up with a list of cycling clothing in the hundreds with no real experience of the materials / brands etc. These made me fed up thinking about it all and giving up over the years. This time it's... hands cold and wet? Today I'll buy some gloves - one step at a time.

Sheepskin gloves are amazing, and Im guessing you might be able to find them without much trouble in your part of the world? Our hands all different, but for me the same pair was good from well below freezing to I want to say 50ish, in all precipitation conditions, even left out accidentally in the rain near freezing while working all day.

Mine is about a mile each way but people still thing I'm weird for going by bike. It's often faster biking rather than driving!

A mile by bike is weird? Where are you? Driving and cycling seem like too much trouble for that distance. I would probably walk it.

I go to two different gyms, one is seven miles away the other is 1/4-mile away. Obviously I ride my bike to the 7-mile gym, but I walk to the 1/4-mile gym, because it's just too much of a trouble getting the bike out for a measly 400-meters.

Which did get me thinking. Would I walk if it were a 1/3, 1/2, 3/4 or a whole mile away...I don't know the answer to that question.

Although, on two recent occasions I have gone to the Ace hardware for things to fix my garden hose. That is a 1/2-mile away, so I jogged it, but that was not on a continual basis, but if it were I'd probably just keep jogging it, but what if it were.....




:foo:

I wouldn't walk more than one city block if I had my bicycle available, not even for a Camel!

I just started commuting 3 miles to and from my shop a few weeks ago and I’ve lost 4 pounds! Gonna try to work up to 12 miles a week…

When I did work in an office and commuted, it was 5 miles each way. Mostly flat with downhill section at the end so I didn't get too sweaty. Coming back there's the hill to tackle but I'm in less of a hurry. I wore smart casual, didn't change clothes or showered.

Much of middle America considers the idea of walking or biking for transportation as extremist.

In a past economic downturn, a colleague told me in a shaky voice that in the new economy there would be no tolerance for such frivolous activities as bicycling to work. He felt, evidently, that in serious times, serious men drive serious V-8 powered mustangs the 1.5 miles to work.

Yes, I'm quite aware. I lived in suburban New Jersey for many years. I visited a client's home in the evening, and it got late. I told her I was walking home, and she wouldn't hear of it. It was just under 2 miles. Walking that distance was unthinkable. Maybe she thought it was dangerous or a cruel fate. It was a safe area in a fancy suburb. Such is America.

One day in March we had a late snow during the night. It was nothing, an inch or more which melted off the roads in the morning and left a little to see on the grass. I rode to the bank where the tellers are used to seeing me on my bike. In the lobby 10 or 12 people were yammering about the weather (as if they'd never seen snow in Michigan). When I got to the teller she said, "I feel so sorry for you, having to be out in this weather on your bike!" I said, " I could always drive my car if I want."I could hear my feet on the carpet as I left. They were dumbfounded that somebody CHOSE to ride a bike.

Marc

That's hilarious. The US is such a big country that one could easily lose sight of how different things are in different places. In NYC, that would never happen because bike commuting is common. We have mass transit covering most of the City, and fewer than half the households have one car.

I lived in suburban New Jersey, and while a lot of people knew I rode my bike many places, they also knew I had a car.

So I have not encountered people who think that riding for transportation is a sign of desperation. I know they exist, though.

Or impoverished

18~20km

Do you do it every day? I had a 21 km commute, and I did it only one or two days a week. I'm in New York City. My other way of commuting is on the subway train. Cycling takes me a little longer, and it requires more preparation.

I would like to ride the 10 miles to work, but it's a dangerous enough trip in a car. People are horrible drivers here.

We're a hybrid work environment, so I only go in a couple days a week. The other days I get up and ride ~22 miles and end up back home at my office. I don't know if that counts.

It counts if you think it does.

40 miles each way. We do have showers and I leave shoes, jeans in a locker and the laptop in the office most (but not all) days I ride. Probably do it twice a week when the weather’s good.

There’s also a train line I can hop on for part of the journey if I feel like it or the weather is worse than expected. I avoid rain if I possibly can.

~25-30 km each way, depending on a specific route. (Riding the same shortest route every time is boring. And the shortest is not always the safest.)
About three days a week: Tue, Wed, Thu. Monday is for bringing a fresh load of clothes (and the laptop) to the office, Friday is for taking them back home to launder. Can be done by bike though, when I'm in the mood...

I ride in my cycling attire, i.e. bib and jersey. Nothing commuter-specific, nothing extra on the bike. Everything that I need for work is stashed at the office. I'm lucky though to have a gym with showers in our office building.

5 miles roundtrip; faster than taking the train (Chicago). Ha.

5 miles. got it easy

Mine is about 7 miles round-trip in Chicago, because I do most of the distance on a train...
1) Ride a mile to the METRA; fold the bike.
2) Relax for an hour.
3) De-train, unfold, ride 3 miles to work.
The return trip is a mile shorter.
I've done this for over 20 years, year-around. Studded tires in the winter. Now "partly" retired, I do it twice a week.
I actually have made the entire trip by bike a few times; once on the folder so I could say "I did it", and a couple times on my road bike. It's the "Bike-to-Work Century". (Not sustainable!)

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2cae7badd3.jpg
"Fair Weather" Bike

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...92fe0a0db.jpeg
Snow Bike

I have a new job and therefore a new commute. It's a little under 4 miles each way. I feel very lucky. It's also scenic, in an urban way, including the Brooklyn Bridge.