JohnBrooking

Every once in a while someone brings up a point of view that goes something like "back in the day, we didn't know it was called commuting, we were just riding our bikes to work." Even now, as someone who runs a "bike commuting club", I see plenty of people who I suspect would not say they are commuting, they are just riding to work. It makes me wonder about the that word, commuting.

What does it do, to put a label on the activity? It makes it easier to talk about, but maybe it is offputting to some people. Is "bike commuting" seen as something that only people who are really into bikes and wear the special clothing do, whereas "regular" people (non-hobby cyclists) simply "ride to work"? Would the "ride to work" contingent consider "bike commuting" to be a term used exclusively by those who already cycling recreationally, a club that maybe they don't necessarily belong to?

More to the point of my club, is there a relationship between whether or not you call it "commuting" or "riding to work", and whether or not you are interested in celebrating it as a worthwhile activity and meeting others who also do it? Maybe people who would just say they "ride to work" do not see it in such idealistic terms that they have any desire or need to join a club for it and meet others; it's just another means to the same end, like driving a motor vehicle. Or maybe they're just not as social. Or maybe they're only biking because they lost their drivers license. Or maybe they've been doing it for so long they just don't see a need to talk about it anymore, it's just something they do.

I don't really have a point, I'm just putting down some thoughts. You?

ShadowGray

Or.. it's just a new-age term. Commute, green energy, pre-owned vehicles, insurgents, etc. Just new ways of saying old things.

notfred

Putting labels (words) to ideas is called "language". In the English language, there's a "label" of "commute" that corresponds (according to the dictionary) to the following idea:
"to travel regularly over some distance, as from a suburb into a city and back"

If anyone is offended by this whole "words are used to represent ideas" idea, they should give up talking.

ok_commuter

I occasionally rode my bike to work when I lived in PHL b/c it was less than a mile from my house.

Now that I live 7 miles from work, I commute by bike.

Now that I think about it, I think I'm going to ride my bike to work tomorrow instead of commuting. I wonder if it'll be funner?

DataJunkie

I call it a training ride with a crappy destination. Other days it is a recreational ride with the same irritating destination.

People like to label things. I suppose it is a commute but I will call it what I want.
To me a commute is something involving a car or mass transit.

st0ut

Becuase riding and commuting are unique to each other...
1 recreation ride doesnt have to worry about making sure the luggage will kill the laptop..
that if you are working late do you have your lights.
commuters have to deal with cages when the cages are at the MOST aggresive.
thats why there is a thread for Commuters

gmule

I would call riding to work an activity you do sometimes. Commuting is every day

st0ut

+1

knobster

I think anything that gets you to work is commuting. Skateboard, car, scooter, feet. It's all the same.

mesasone

Er... insurgent is not some new age term. It's been in use for centuries. I don't really think commute is either.

ironhorse3

I hadn't thought about that before, but there is a difference. If I just went out the door and hopped on the bike and rode until I got to work and everything worked out, that would be a ride to work scenario. But, instead, I will check the weather forcast, pack a change of clothes, try to foresee other errands that I might need to make, integrate other exercise appropriately. Also try to develop a rhythm, habits to make this efficient, safe, fun and practical. In a car a lot of these issues come down to merely whether to carry an umbrella or not. So I think my situation is what I'd call commuting.

RT

Riding my bike to work makes me look forward to going to work. It's commuting no matter how you slice it, but the destination is really irrelevant if you enjoy the ride.

viclavigne

This is part of what defines commuting, doing it on a regular basis. Distance is involved too. Nobody would call it commuting to work if you only have to ride/drive 1 or 2 blocks to get there. But if the distance is sizable enough that it makes a difference how you arrive, I guess you would call it commuting.

I ride my bicycle 2 miles to work every day. 2 miles is not a big thing, I could walk it if I wanted to.
If it was an 8 mile trip I would probably call it bicycle commuting.

Dzrtrat

I see it as a defining term, I ride my bike, I'm a commuter. I think the term, commuter, is more utilitarian, or at least thats the definition I hear in my head when the other voices are quiet. When someone says I commute or I'm a commuter, I see racks, bags, lights, a well planned route, and someone who trys to avoid the same obstacles that I do.

sauerwald

It is going to depend on context. When in a group of mostly non-cyclists, I might just say that I ride a bike to work, but when I go into a bike shop for something, it helps to identify myself as a commuter since that tells them a lot about what I am going to be looking for quickly and easily - they will know that I am not going to be interested in saving half-a-gram when I am looking for tires, and if I need to have work done on the bike, they know that asking me to leave it for a week or two is not going to fly.

Similarly I am a serious amateur photographer - and I describe that activity differently depending on if I am talking to other photographers or to the general public. In this forum I am most likely going to simply say that I am a photographer, but on the APUG.ORG forum where I also hang out, I would probably describe what I do as LF (Large Format) photography.

cooker

The word "commuter" initially came into common use during the post WW-II suburban boom, and referred to people who lived much farther from work than the more familiar inner city dwellers, and travelled a long distance by car or train every day.

Ironically, many bike commuters would not be commuters in that older sense, since we often live closer to work.

lil brown bat

+1. OP is kind of going off into the semantic weeds, methinks, assigning connotations and denotations to words and phrases, when in fact there is already a distinction in the language. Leave bicycles out of it: consider the difference between, "My commute was pure hell today," and "I took the bus to work today." The former implies whatever method you usually use to get to work, the latter implies an unusual occurrence.

DataJunkie

Hmm..

Then I never commute via bike, train, bus, or car. Mainly since I work from home Tues and Thurs.
Perhaps sometimes should be changed to regularly.

rhm

Yeah, I think that nails it. Also, there's the phenomenon of the "commuters," a herd of people who migrate daily from some poorly-defined Point A (in my case sub-rural NJ) to a different poorly defined Point B (NYC) at the same time ("rush hour") and back. Anyone who joins that migration, whether by car, bicycle, "commuter train," or whatever, is commuter.

Moskau

In Icelandic there's no specific word for this, we just say 'bike to work'.

I can sort of see why some might feel there's a difference depending on how you phrase it. Commuting is a more kick ass word than simply riding, some might feel it's added pressure if you commute.

jpdesjar

I pedal to work.

cooker

Yep. I mentioned earlier that "commuting" referred originally to people who travelled a fair distance to work or from another municipality. However in North America now, so many people live far from work and roads and trains are so congested, that it's kind of assumed everybody has an arduous trip every day.

So in 1960 someone might have asked a co-worker "Do you live near work, or do you commute [ie from somewhere else]?"; but now they are more likely to ask "how do you commute to work?"

jpdesjar

Some days I want to commute right by work.

harleyfrog

And I ride a zero emissions alternative fuel vehicle.

charles vail

I do a partial bicycle ride to work three days a week and only put in 54 miles total, otherwise it would be a grueling 168 mile week with half of it over treacherous roads. I only work three days out of the house so it works nicely for me. I ride my bicycle because I enjoy it and I need the exercise plus I save about $40 dollars of diesel per month. Am I a 'bicycle commuter' or do I simply ride my bicycle to work? I'm not in a group or club but part of my route is on a multi use trail so I see a bunch of cyclists, most of which are out for a 'training ride', as evidenced by their lack of baggage plus I rarely see them in inclement weather.
Admittedly, it would be nice to ride with someone once in a while but usually I am pressed for time so I just get on and go.