Gary in VA

It's been an interesting first two weeks of commuting. Things that I've noticed in my short time of riding to work.

1. You get to know your route really well in a short amount of time. Where there is glass, garbage, rough pavement, etc.

2. You see a lot of stuff in the gutter you never would have noticed before. Like the flat belly of a turtle with all 4 of it's legs sticking out of the flat shell.

3. You can see improvement in a short amount of time. My commute is 95% hills so it's either uphill or downhill. I'm taking one of the longer uphills a couple gears higher now.

4. You can actually be awake at work in the morning without coffee.

5. You can arrive home from work relaxed because of the ride.

6. Drop bars really are nice for commuting. I'm a long time MTBer and was really pensive about riding drops but after one day of riding them I was convinced.

7. It really helps to have a wife who is behind your commuting 100%.

Podolak

#7 is THE single most important thing you can have going for you, if you are married that is.

WickedShark

Yep this is a big one.

HuffyMan

The smells, the smells.
Those rotting carcasses are just a blip on the horizon in a car but an olfactory assault on a bike.

JR97

ditto to all of the above.

thdave

I got going at this without the wife's support. She didn't much comment on it except to say I'm coo-koo for doing it. Now, years later, she's supportive. I wouldn't say she's proud, but she feels this has done me good.

bhop

#4.. I still need it.. *shrug*

Kotts

The spousal support (women cyclecommute, too) is very important. I found that after a while my wife went form worrying I'd be hit by a car to, ...uh..., appreciating the effect the additional excercise was having on me.

CACycling

Gotta agree with all of these. My wife has even gotten up early to ride with me on part of my commute several mornings (Yeah, I'm really lucky!)

But there are also the bakeries, restaurants and strawberry fields.

recumelectric

I notice many restaurant smells on my rides. Sometimes it just kills me to wait to get home and eat.

I also notice the temperature changes when I'm going by a small lake or a canal. It's nice.

In the summer, I notice all the sprinklers spraying the sidewalk and street. (In the winter, I view this as waste. In summer, I view it as a public service for cyclists. )

I notice how radically different homes and lifestyles are from block to block. There is one place where I cross from fancy 1 acre horse properties to total ghetto mess just by crossing the street.

I notice other cyclists, foot scooter riders, walkers and people waiting on the bus. I am often greeted by other folks on the street. It's a nice experience that I never get in a car.

Last night, I was thinking that it's like a secret world out there, available only to those willing to use their feet. ...People in cars have no idea.

apricissimus 

I don't encounter roadkill on my commute so that never occurred to me. Yuck.

Pig_Chaser

But they make great wind direction indicators

harleyfrog

+1,000,000 My wife has told me, time and again, how proud she is of me.

zoltani

I agree with all of your points.

For me it's the smells also. Every neighborhood smells different, and you would never notice it in a car. Thankfull, i don't see too much roadkill except for the rare dead pigeon.

harleyfrog

I'll add one to the list: Sights you see that you wished you had your camera.

I was glad to have my camera handy when I saw this:

BroadSTPhilly

My wife just appreciates the money it saves us.

Rodeo

Am I the only one who has put coffee in their waterbottle? I did two days ago because I was running late. It was kinda strange queezing it out of the bottle into my mouth.

FredOak

A) Finding things you didn't know where there...

I've started to expand my ride and gone into areas that I normally don't, can't or never really get to look at speeding by in a car. Discovering new businesses, shops, etc.

B) How bad drivers really are because you have to pay so much more attention.

keithm0

During the dry season, I commute on my mountain bike through the Redmond Watershed, usually via the Tolt Trail, Collin Creek Trail, and Powerline Regional Trails. I love the varied terrain, the sights, the smells, almost everything. OK, maybe not the horse poo on the trail, but everything else...

Tsuru

the wife support is awesome.... now she's cycling more and more, which helps fund my need for more improvements. She's so proud and impressed! It's a nice feeling...

annc

It's great to have a sag. Does your wife drive behind you everyday?

Gary in VA

With a bullhorn barking out instructions about my poor bike handling skills. ;-)

AdrianFly

LOL.. and to think I was afraid to admit I did that in fear of... you know.. revealing my Freddish side.

When I'm firing shots of Coffee during those rides it reminds me of those new Caffiene bikes they've got out these days with the mug holder.

As for smells.. well.. Carcass has been a popular one lately.

bhop

It was really hard to get going today, so I mixed a can of Red Bull in with my Gatorade bottle this morning....just after finished pouring, I remembered that Red Bull's slightly carbonated.. whoops.. every time i'd pop the sport top, it'd kinda 'poof' out a little.. hah..

nahh

#1 for sure. i know exactly where the gravel free area of hte road is that shoot from middle of the road back to bike lane going around a construction site. it's only about 1.5ft margin.

rough road bothers me more now since i go over the same spots day after day now. and i pick my way across it much more because if i get a flat i'm late to work.