Well today was my first ever commute into work. I absolutly loved it. I hadnt planned on doing it till tomorrow but for some reason my alarm clock went off and hour early and i said what the heck ill bike. Watching the sunrise was simply awesome. No incidents happened no angry motorist or anything it was great.Cant wait till im able to do it 2-3 times a week

Most of the time my commutes are trouble free and enjoyable. Of course, you generally only hear about the negative encounters.

it was great. 9.2 miles one way. Got to work in plenty of time to freshen up and stuff. I am officially hooked on biking now. My only complaint is that i didnt start biking sooner

Heart felt congrats!

Excellent!
You know, for as many complaints as there are on this forum about things breaking or angry drivers, there's way more days that go well for us.

My felictations on your bike to work... now try to get home!

So how long did it take you to go 9.5 miles? ( I do my 7.5 miles in about 25-30 minutes) What took you so long to start? What kind of roads? And what kind of walmart bike?

Congrats in joining sanity. Now you need to review all those snappy answers to stupid cager questions.

Enjoy the secksy legs. That's why i do it.

Sweet...welcome to the club!

Rockin

Virgin no more! Seriously, the first time really is eye opening. You are on to something for sure!

... Brad

If you read my blog found in my signature below this post, or any other commuter blogs a few of which I link to from my own, you'll see that there's very little talk about motorist incidents. I know on my commute, weather produces far more gripes than anything else.

Congrats! The more you do it the better it gets - I keep rediscovering that every day!

ok details yall (yess yall im from the south)

9.2 Miles distance
Time 45 min. with getting stopped by a train
A few big hills to start with , last 3-4 miles are pretty flat hwy
I did it tuesday just to see how long it would take me but that was my day off and i was just seeing if i could.
Bike is a Mongoose XR-75 from walmart.
I ride with a camel back, pump, patch/tool kit, LED blinkie on the rear and a headlight up front, my iPOD shuffle and some other misc. stuff

I feel refreshed after doing it today to. I started just for exercise but now i am getting were i just enjoy riding. Im starting to find ways or try to find places to ride. Everywere i have to go now im just thinking "what time would i have to leave to get there on my bike". Thanks for all the help and tips guys.

Who ya calling a toady?

Anyway, a great start, it will be hard to stop, trust me.

Al

Congratulations on your new way of life. Soon you will be looking for different routes to make your commute longer and dread driving cars. And after a while you'll be looking at a newer body on the mirror.

(You can drink more of it now that you're exercising more!)

Just a fair warning... I started with a bike similar to yours, a Next PowerX. I was actually considering the Mongoose just like yours. My wal-mart bike broke after about 350 miles (less than 2 months of riding). I ended up selling the carcass of that bike on Craigslist and getting a used mountain bike from my bike shop for $100.

On my PowerX, practically all the bearings started going out, and the rear suspension got trashed, too. Eventually, the rear wheel bearings failed to the point of actually spitting metal pieces all over the place. I was about 230 pounds at the time, which was part of the problem, but not all of it. Just don't be surprised, nor discouraged if your bike starts to fall apart. Start saving all the money you'd spend on gas and you will have a "backup" fund if your bike ever takes a turn for the worse.

Again, welcome to our world.

oh yeah i have already went to the LBS and started looking around

Congratulations!

Not to hijack your thread, but, I am also a new commuter. Started in Sep 06, after winter storing my sportbike which I used for transportation. Anyhow, I have now covered over 2600kms since I started and March will be my record month (600+kms). I have got to a point where I am seriously thinking about selling my sportbike as I have no desire to use it for commuting. I have also started to take the long way to work. The health benefits are amazing, you can enjoy food, I question the $$ saving though, as most of my savings go into 'accessories' for the bike and clothing ;-) (merino wool is your friend). I would also encourage you to get a decent bike. I had a walmart-type bike initially when I started but then invested in my current commuter. It made the experience so much better! Now I dream of new frames/components, and century rides...

Welcome and enjoy the new life style.

Excellent! (Great name too).

Have you looked into Rideshare programs that pay you to bike to work or anything like that? My county has a program that pays $2 / day. I use that to treat myself and my bike to something new every month.

yeah BlkGuitarRedCar = all 5 of my guitars are black and every car i owned is red...kinda wierd how that works out, i didnt do it on purpose. never heard of a rideshare program here but thats pretty cool. right now i have been spending money on bike stuff but i figure on into it ill start saving money. biking give you a whole different outlook on stuff. i noticed things today that i have never seen around here.

well the ride home was wonderful. only had one horn honk from a minivan just layed on the horn passing me even though they was in the opposite lane from me....crazy drivers

Good for you!!!
Best way to see the world is on two wheels.

Don't worry about the Wally World bike. If it works for you, right on.

Just got a black guitar myself, my first electric (fun, fun, fun,).

Stay upright

Winnipeg, Canada (cold, wet spring)

I started off commuting with a Wal-Mart special as well. In my case it was a Roadmaster Mt. Fury mtn bike. It worked just fine, though it was a bit small for me. It was just enough to really get me into the cycling world though.

I now have a nice Trek that I use for racing and fun rides, and an old Schwinn Varsity as my commuter and ride around town bike.