Excuse threads??????
 

I read all these threads where "I live 4.2 Miles from work" and have this reason for not riding ? :cry:
I would love to be that close to work (may get my wish) Just drive the available routes, pick one get you some lights and some way to carry a few things make a test run on a week end get up get on your bike and go to work, and count yourself lucky to live close enough to ride some of us Aren't that lucky
Ok I'm through ranting now
Roy

Shhh! Keep it a secret, man! We don't want other bikes clogging up all those roads ;)

Its funny. All of the distance excuses were blown out of the water once I did it a couple of times. Now, I can actually get to work/campus faster by bike than driving due to the archaic parking situation for students on campus. It takes me about 26 minutes to knock out the 6 mile ride to work or class, but more like 40 minutes if I drive and park my car the mile or so away from the office.

After that, it was no longer an excuse, it was a baseline. I've since extended my route home to be about 10 miles instead of 6 :)

Try commuting 56 miles a day.:notamused:

I'd love to try it. I'd hate to do it every day ;).

I remember--just a few summers ago--taking two months to find the courage to do a 4 mile commute.
Now I think nothing of setting out on a 30 mile round-trip ride...an hour before sunset...in the middle of winter...with snowflakes in the wind.

This isn't something worth bragging about. I'm just letting you who are new see how much an old dawg can change after he finally starts bike commuting.

If you think people are weird about excuses on the commuting forum, try the "living car free" forum. Talking about a touchy subject!

If I have to choose between sharing the road with nincompoops in cars, or nincompoops on bikes, i'll go with bikes any day of the week.

my commute is 80 miles round trip; easily the longest in the office. i work for a transit agency which provides free transit access via our id badges. hardly anybody uses this perk.

so 5 days a week i roll in on my bus/bike commute and give the "slackers/cagers" a hard time. spite is a motivating factor in my commute. last week i took it to a whole new level by foregoing the bus completely and riding straight home.

One of our customers at the shop rides 100 km / 60 miles a day for his commute..

pooped out
 

I only have to ride three days a week so its not too bad but at my age, it takes the day in between to recover. At the end of the week, I am tired. :o:notamused::twitchy:

That's crazy strong. Isn't that about what pros in full training mode do? I wouldn't think much more than that...

When I started seriously commuting, the RT was 13 miles....After a year, I moved further away, and the RT went to 18. It stayed there for four years, until I transferred locations within my employer company. Now, for the last two years, it's been 4...straight distance, which i only do in foul weather or when I'm carrying bulk. Otherwise, I take any of several 'scenic' routes, which go from 8-18 RT.

I'm looking at another transfer, which will put the new commute to 14+.

I first did it because I had to, no choice. Now, I wouldn't want to do anything else!

Had a conversation just today w/ an older gentleman (65, he said), who was proud of walking more than 2 miles to a local record shop, and also riding his bike that far. I didn't have the heart to tell him about my ride to the next county to visit my mother some years ago....

I was averaging 60km a day at this time last year... this guy blows me away.

Did I mentioned that he must be in his late fifties ?

my commute has gone the opposite direction. when i first started bike commuting, i was in boulder doing 30 miles RT, through the winter, up hills bothways, etc.

now my "commute" is 2 miles RT on flat land. hehehe. it a fun little sprint thats almost over before it starts, but still enough time to break a sweat in the summer heat.

I am between 15.5 and 17 miles away (depending on which sub route I take) which makes for a 31+ mile commute across Houston that also passes through the very busy Memorial Park Parkway corridor. Both these factors make for a tough everyday ride. Especially considering that I have to be up at four in the morning to ready the bike and get into my gear. I feel fortunate if I can pull it off between two and three times a week. I have almost absolutely no problems commuting to my weekend job which is just 2 miles away and I do it every chance I can.

So Plumber Roy unless you have plans to come here to Houston and show me how it's done and please stay off my back.:notamused:

I'm not talking about commuting 30-40 miles I'm talking about people making excuses when they live under 5 miles I have a 75 mile round trip wouldn't you like to be under 10 mile round trip
Roy

The test run on the weekend can lead you to have a false idea of the traffic you will face.

All what threads "where 'I live 4.2 Miles from work'"? I think you're making this up.

Ok, here's my rant:

My commute is 34 miles, including a few hundred yards of an unmarked hiking trail which I need to walk on. The return leg is at night - I leave about 10:45 PM. 24 miles of my commute is on roads. Some of those roads are hilly. I fractured a rib in a fall on tour five weeks ago, and I'm only getting back on the bike now. All my conditioning seems to have melted away.

Are those enough excuses, or do I need more? :)

Yeah this is another one of those all these threads threads when there are actually very few of those threads.

It's not an excuse, it's a reason.

That bike commuting makes sense to you is good; it doesn't need to for everyone. There are plenty of things everyone chooses not to do that others choose to do. You make your choices on reason and opinion. Saying they give "excuses" implies that they should be doing riding. Who are you to decide or think what others should do? Your determination their reasons are excuses isn't fair.

Would it be great if they chose to ride? Of course.

Door to door performance ... it is where is at.

Specially saturday morning ... all the lights on the main road are green since there is little to no traffic.

I am still a little bit happy when my wife drives which means she drives our 3 yr old to her preschool which means I don't have to pull her home up the hill in the trailer in the afternoon after they bike down the hill in the morning.

Mine is 10 miles each way. Last week, I drove in 1 day since I had a appt that I couldn't be all sweaty for, so I took the opportunity to drive my bike route exact to compare. Driving was around 10 minutes faster-that's it.

Now, I have no problem with people who need to drive to work, or even those who want to drive. It is the people in those groups that despite need or want, still cannot seem to operate a motor vehicle properly!

As for the 'excuses', well, they are not mine, so I sleep at night ok, thx.