This.

1) Because I can
2) Save money on public transport
3) Improve my health/fitness

Self-sufficiency. Also fitness and sanity. But mostly I ride for the same reason I don't have credit cards: if I can't do it myself, do I really need to do it?

Because I wasn't old enough to drive at the time. ;)

I ride simply to upset car drivers: because I am a malcontented communist luddite who is hostile to technology. If I can add 30 seconds to their trip or irritate them by my mere presence, then my job is done.

(To hear SOME people telll it.) :D :D :D

Started by cycling to college because it was quicker than the bus and $1 cheaper. I now do it because I still have two legs and can. More in part for fitness and an ever growing dislike of having to drive. I just do not fancy the very low temperatures.

Oh shucks!

When I was 14-15, I was riding all over the place, reveling in the pure joy and freedom cycling gave me; it was a release that I'd never experienced in my younger years. After stupidly turning to cars, I tried repeatedly to recapture that feeling over the years that followed.

After I turned 40, a job circumstance put me in a position to pick up commuting and utility cycling again. I WAS able to get the passion back this time, and I've never looked back! I even sold my car!

(BTW, I voted the last reason on the poll list. The poll listed other good reasons, but they were all a distant 2nd.)

After I began bicycle commuting, I realized that driving a car to a spin class is the definition of insanity.

I like to ride my bike more than I like to drive my car.

My Jeep gets really crappy mileage, so I save a ton of money by only driving it 1500 - 2000 miles per year instead of 7500 - 8000 miles (which is what it would be if it were my daily commuter).

I got a job that was too far to walk to from my house. It was simple as that.

I was getting lazy and fat and it seemed like a pretty good way to get some exercise. Running is out due to a frigged up leg, ironically received while driving home from work.

Once I started, I discovered that my stress levels went waaaayyyy down.

Eventually it became fun.

I now take pride in the fact that I get to work and back with a pretty small environmental footprint.

And I enjoy when people see my bike at work when it's 28 degrees with flurries, or dumping rain, or 100 degrees and saying, "You rode TODAY?!!" with an incredulous look on their faces.

I keep doing it because I fell in love with riding.

I always rode a bike as a kid but stopped doing that in college. Being a poor college student and later a poor college graduate, I always had crappy cars and most of the time my car was either out of order or out of license plates (for a variety of reasons) and I relied on public transport and a pair of good shoes. Then one day, this fantastic blonde started began working at the same place I was working and she always rode a bike to work so I bought myself a cheap Trek to impress her. Now, 15 years later, I have 5 bicycles, ride almost every day to work and even better, the fantastic blonde hasn't kicked me out of the house yet...

+1 Great story! :thumb:

+1

I can't say, really, what made me start. I guess it was simply because I liked to ride.

In more recent years I have definitely come to dislike driving.

Been cycling since I was 5 and 40 years later it's still a joy to get on the bike. Commuting simply allowed me to ride more.

I commute to get time in riding my bikes. My wife was complaining about the time I was riding alone but wouldn't join me.

I commute because the 240sx i dumped $5k into doesn't even work, and because it's fun of course.

Cycling has been part of my life for almost 50 years, I grew up when it was normal for kids older than 6 or 7 to ride around the neighborhood unaccompanied by adults. Riding to high school and commuting to jobs later on was just a natural outgrowth of that. Besides, it's fun and good for all the other reasons listed in the poll.

Initially (in 2000), I had a beat-up '89 Civic that needed to be on the road less because I didn't want to replace it. I was also kind of a chunk (expected of a sysadmin, I know, but still not healthy). So I bought a bike and started riding to work. I replaced the car (with a '00 Tacoma) a few months later anyway, but it would sit for weeks at a time as the addiction had already started. Pretty soon, I was going most everywhere by bike (dates, jobs, church, everything but Home Depot). FF to 2007 and my new wife and I decided to sell the truck after a trip to Europe. I also don't like paying for gas/insurance/maintenance/parking/etc., it's a heck of a lot of fun, and cycling is only slightly slower than the train (but probably faster than the bus).

But the original reason was to spare the Civic and lose some weight.

I commute by bike because I enjoy riding my bike. It's fun and it brightens my mood. Good exercise too. I also see stuff that I would miss in a car. Plus, it makes me feel self-sufficient, which I like. Makes me feel like a kid again too, which I also like.

I could get to the office on my schedule (vs. the bus) and didn't have to pay for parking (downtown).

to get to the other side

I started riding to improve my cardio health. I started riding to work just to see if I could do it (rush hour and all). Plus, I never was able to accept the going rate for cars, car insurance, tags, etc.

Imagine this same poll for motorists. I don't think there would be quite so many love stories.

If I was going to choose between the multiple choice above the closest option would be the last, however it was not really a decision, nor was it fantastic; it just was.

Understand that I was born into a culture where and when it was just the thing one did without thinking about it or rationalizing -- like walking or eating.

You had a place you needed to go -- to work or up to the shops -- and you went out and climbed on your bike. Everyone did it. There weren't many cars (perhaps 3 in my whole extended family for instance) and they were used for special occasions. Otherwise, everyone rode their bikes to work -- which might have been to labour on the production line at one of several bicycle factories in my home town.

This was only 40-odd years ago, in the UKs Midlands (which have since, like NA, been overrun by car culture).

When I moved to Canada, I just continued with my preference for two-wheel, human-powered transportation. It is only lately that I have become an advocate rather than just an enthusiast.

Reminds me of a Zen koan that I'll modify for the sake of this thread:

Before realization, ride a bike; after realization, ride a bike.

I enjoy riding my bike to work. Its 2.5 miles there so no need for a car. It would be faster in a car.

I almost wished your post had the Indian with the tear rolling down his check in the background. Al Gore would so proud.