Ka_Jun

Have been off the rig this entire week. The only upside of public transport vs. riding in is the ability to read stuff during the commute, and...

that's it.

Hopefully back next week.

EKW in DC

I hear ya, my friend. Should finally get my broken spoke dealt with by the end of this weekend and be back on the bike next week for commutes. If it weren't for an affinity for crossword puzzles, which I can do on the Metro but not on my bike, I'd be going crazy. I can see parts of the trails I use to commute while I ride the Metro, and I see bikers on them, and I am so jealous and so ready to get back in the saddle. The day just isn't as good without the bike commute!

Ka_Jun

At least I know it's not just me, I sit on the right side of the bus so I can see the trail & count riders.

bhop

I commute by bus on Tue. and Thu. every week. My legs can't handle riding my bike 25 miles, 5 days in a row so I welcome the rest. I don't mind the bus so much since I don't ride it every day. Like the OP, I also like to get some reading time in, plus I get to skateboard down the big hill from the bus stop to my office, that's pretty fun. I like being around people on the bus, most people seem pretty mellow, but sometimes there are crazy people which can give you good stories for your friends. Sometimes there are cute girls, which is a plus as a single guy.. A couple downsides are if it's crowded, you have to stand, and it takes a lot longer to get to my destination than the bike, and then there's the people that smell like urine... yuck..

mavimao

During the winter there was no way I could commute on the 3inches of ice covering the roads. I took the bus.

Otherwise, I get to my destinations much faster on my bike than on the bus (especially here in Columbus...soooooo slooooooow)

lil brown bat

Could be worse. You could be riding the MBTA.

daredevil

Actually it can be done. You may be surprised.

and to the OP, I've been off for over 6 weeks because of injury, consider yourself lucky.

Andy_K 

Before I started commuting by bike I used the local light rail. I used to read between 30 and 50 books a year. Last year, my first full year biking, I think I read 10.

I do miss the reading time, but I don't want to switch back.

Andy_K 

One time I was riding the bus home from Portland, and this guy got on carrying a couple of garbage bags and sat near me. I was trying to stare straight ahead, hoping he wouldn't talk to me. (I'm very anti-social, not just with people carrying garbage bags.) He started talking, not necessarily to me, but just talking. After a minute or so, I noticed he was talking about how no one ever talked to him. Wow, did I feel like crap, but then I talked to him.

Another time, a guy got on the bus reaking of cheap booze and urine and sat next to me. He pulled out a book, called "Heroes of the Old West" or something, a children's book, and just kind of stared at it. I looked and saw that the page he was looking at was about Pecos Bill. I loved Pecos Bill when I was a kid. A little while later, he asked me, in a thick eastern European accent, if this was the 15 bus. It wasn't, it was the 20. I've thought a lot about that guy over the years, what his life must have been like up to that point.

Incidents like those are actually one of the things I like about public transportation.

HumdrumPG

+1

Actually, I don't think it's that bad. But then again, I've never used any other city's rapid transit on a consistent basis.

Yeah, the reading is welcome when I take the bus/subway, but it still can't compare with riding.

bkrownd

Hot bus chix. You can't chat up the hot chix commuting on a bike.

PaulRivers

...studded tires...they're awesome

PaulRivers

Yeah, but on a bike you get to see hot bike chics in spandex. Mmm...chicks in spandex. :-)

Quel

I try to ride at least 3-4 days a week, but it doesn't always work out that well and the rest of the time I'm taking the Metro (subway). Find that biking makes it so I look forward to leaving work, while on mass transit I'm just looking forward to being home. Either way its less than a 30 minute trip, but it's a big difference for the morale.

daredevil

but expensive for good ones.

JimJimex

+1

Only ride them when it's real snow or I need to read for exams.

JimJimex

Unfortunately I'm spoiled in my childhood by the Mass Transit Railway system in Hong Kong.
Imagine, it's soooooo good if you have ONE delay, it goes on to the headline, and free ride for the next day and everything.
So for me, the MBTA really, really, REALLY sucks.

Caspar_s

Ughh, I don't even get the reading time when I have to take a bus - I get travel sick if I try to read. Heck, we use it and cars so infrequently we tend to get travel sick whenever we're not on bikes.

Normally only have to use it if the plows don't get to the snow soon enough - foot of snow is way too difficult to slog through - especially when it's been rutted up by cars. Just can't get the momentum up to keep going. Then you get on the bus and nearly die from how hot they keep them.

KitN

NYC subways are pretty nasty, stinky, overcrowded, almost always delayed with constant construction taking whole train routes out of commission with little to no notification. It's a nightmare. So instead I ride my bike everywhere. No need to deal with that drama when I can ride my bike and get to my destination faster than the subway.

lil brown bat

I'm guessing you weren't riding the T during Thursday morning rush hour, then.

Scheherezade 

Public transport would be the far cheaper option for me (bus system is free for Uni students), but severely limits the flexibility of my schedule compared to hopping on a bike and going anywhere at any time.

ryanz4

I tried reading once in a moving vehicle. Didn't end too well for me. Got motion sickness.
But for me, if biking wasn't an option, I'd probably be walking most of the time and only occasionally taking a bus.

jbabic

This sounds like something a trickster might do. Do you suppose this rider was pulling your leg?

cyclezealot

It's a win win when you can use both.. Put your bike on the train or bus and say expand the distance you can bike commute from say.. 30 to 60 miles..

Ekdog

+1

I use a bike-train combination, and I like the opportunity the train gives me to be around people.