Except that you exhale c02 and fart (at least I do). :p

Although the C02 produced by a cyclist is carbon neutral since it came from a renewable resource - I exhale and put CO2 in the air, which is consumed by plants, turning it into carbs, which are consumed by me, and so the cycle continues. Same thing applies when I drive my biodiesel powered car - net CO2 emmissions are 0.

????

Commuters own yellow rain jackets and wear them much too often for their own good. These people are called "YellowJackets".

Oh, the vagaries of language.


a 'dedicated' commuter is someone that studies the art of riding with traffic and outfits themselves and their bikes studiously with their own proper blend of best equipment and dashboard accoutremants. a 'dedicated commuter' can define "AirZound", "blinky", explain the myriad benefits of "wicking fabrics".

You see the differing levels of proficency in runners for example. some people go for a jog, some people are RUNNERS.

Same with backcountry skiers, there are people out for a toodling ski in the woods, wearing blue jeans, perhaps, and then there are the BACKCOUNTRY SKIERS.

If I ride with coffee it's commuting, If I have water in the "coffee holder" it's riding my bike.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...g?t=1212074788

I commute far more than I ride my bike.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I guess I commute in the morning, and ride my bike home.

Unfortunately not. Modern agriculture is heavily oil dependant. All we can claim is that we use less oil than car drivers.

Someone who rides to work or commutes to work on a bike is probably travelling less than 15 miles.

Anyone who rides further than that, is a cyclist.

The next step up would be "professional cyclist." To qualify for this rank, you must alter the testosterone levels in your blood with an artificial substance.

If you're going with the long tail approach, just owning a bicycle isn't carbon neutral (tires, production of the steel/aluminum/CF/<insert frame material here>, shipping of bicycle from manufacturer to dealer, etc.).

I think the OP is talking about how you see yourself and how others see you. When I drove to work by car, it is how I got to work. I got no pleasure from it. It is just how I got to work. Many people ride to work or take the bus/train/walk for no other reason than that is how they get to work. Now I commmute by bike, I do it to save money, trainning, for the "greeness", to meet people, for fun, etc. Either way it is still a commute to work.

The bike is a machine, designed as a labor-saving device originally. Is it riding to work if the bike makes it easier to get there in a timely manner and using less energy than walking, or is it uh exercise if the bike makes it harder to get there and uses more energy (from your body) than driving?

Interesting topic...


I would say that commuting is used when it is used for getting to and from work.

Other wise I would say "ride"

OP does that sometimes. Plus it was getting kind of late at night. That's why it's nice to get others' perspectives. :)

I think the commonality in these discussions so far is the element of intentionality. That element of intentionality could be introduced due to distance, starting with when the word came into common usage as peoples' "rides to work" started becoming longer on average. But shorter trips can also be done to varying degrees of intentionally, especially given than even short trips on a bike can be more complicated by weather, luggage, and other factors than the same trips by car, thus taking more preparation. In short, both distance and intentionally can play a factor in how formally people regard a bike to work.

Well I wouldn't be so sure about that. I do have lot of emissions from the engine of my bicycle, especially after a nice mexican meal or some fries :D

The only problem with all this analysis is that you haven't shown any evidence of an evolution in general usage from "ride to work" to "commute". You yourself may have gone through such an evolution in your personal riding, but I don't see anything to indicate a wider trend.

Isn't commute same as going to work ... Riding to work = going to work = commute according to Einstein's theory of relativity :d

Yeah.

I just ride to work. Just like i would do for pleasure, but in traffic.

I've been riding my bike to work for the last fourteen months. I dive to work or take the train if weathers really crappy. If someone asks I say that "I ride to work". I've never used the term "commuting" in regards to bicycling or the nearly forty years I've been driving. It seems just another way to categorize people. As for me I'll be " riding to work".

Correction: I don't "dive" to work. I wish I could it would be a lot easier than pedaling!

I don't see that there is any harm in calling people who bike to work "commuters". It takes a few less keystrokes or tongue manipulations than calling them "people who bike to work", so it's simply a convenience. As well, in any discussion of tranportation options or engineering, using a formal term like "bicycle commuters" gives us a certain legitimacy. "People who bike to work" are just a bunch of people, but "bicycle commuters" are an important population to be accomodated and respected!

I bike to work so am a part of the bike commuter group and identify with that commuter group when speaking "officially" as a representative (whether to the city, local groups or friends sometimes). But usually it's "I bike to work" if in a casual conversation (then it's the reaction of "every day??!!" and into commuter representation mode). Sometimes people who know me confuse bike with "moto" thinking I motorcycle to work every day - and need to be corrected (bike vs moto). It can get confusing sometimes. Some of my friends have just started "biking to work" and I wouldn't call them bike commuters yet and they don't yet identify with that term.

I'd argue that I don't "ride my bike to work" or "commute by bike to work". I just "go to work".

Another +1.

It's utilitarian to ride your bike to "do things", including getting to work. A commute is a form of a specialized utilitarian ride, which I've always interpretted as several miles. I am always somewhat surprised when someone tells me that they bike commute but only travel < 1mi each way, are they saying that they would have driven that distance otherwise???

What if you are biking to a local CSA...?

Commuting is the process of travelling between one's place of residence and regular place of work. Students who are enrolled at a college or university but who live off-campus are also typically referred to as commuters; institutions that have few dormitories are called commuter schools in the United States.

The word 'commuter' was originally used for travellers paying a reduced or 'commuted' fare for an advance-purchase rail season ticket valid for a fixed number of days, weeks, or months. Such tickets usually allow the traveller to repeat the same journey as often as they like during the period of validity: usually, the longer the period, the cheaper the cost per day.


Wikepedia


I don't distinguish transport mode. At the end of the week, I might remember whether I walked or paddled one day, but the bike and truck trips don't register. Just going to work. Transport mode choice depends on weather, other errands, and need to carry things. If I get a trailer I'll be able to knock one of those off the list.

IMO it seems that the OP has gone through an evolution in his personal (new age) connotations/associations of various terms to fit his personal thinking about bicycling. Not a problem and makes for interesting BF chatter. I personally wouldn't extrapolate those personal definitions too far.

My opinion is that commuting is done on a consistent regular basis and riding is when you do it on a whim with no expectation to be anywhere at anytime.