I carry less keys.

My car goes unloved/unmaintained. (I'm working on that, even if its unused I should still take care of it.)

I fight the urge to use hand turn-signals in crowded grocery stores.

I'm smiling when I arrive @ the office.

I'm becoming my own bike mechanic.

The roommates call me "crazy" more often than normal. (So what if its below freezing in the AM? I don't have to scrape a car window! Who's crazy now?)

Exactly! Sometimes I just have to close my eyes and force myself to relax. Husband is a good driver, it's just I'm not used to speeds much over 35 mph (on a downhill).

That plus I used to love riding the bus, now I think it's painfully slow and it's insanely difficult to just stand for 15+ minutes waiting for the next one to show up...I constantly think things like, "In 15 minutes I could ride from work to X street and be almost halfway home...."

I have something very weird, and I'm not sure if it's related to my commuting by bike/not being in a car that much anymore: I started to get frequently motion sick when sitting in the car and my wife (or others) drive.

I get motion sick if my mom drives now, but that's mainly because she is a terrible driver.

+1

I started driving the speed limit (not the +5 or +10 that's standard).

Some how there way too many bikes in my garage.

I'd recommend one of these:

http://batterytender.com

(Not to de-rail the thread, but requiring a vehicle battery assist is one of those weird changes caused by commuting!)

bump ;)

Interesting thread to bump back up to life. I'd say the weirdest thing is I gave a bar tender at the local watering hole a bike headlight as a tip (he rides his mountain bike to the bar when he works but didn't have a light (or any other safety gear for that matter)).

Yeah, I once gained 5 pounds when I started riding to work. I also lost about an inch off my waist at the same time.

The weirdest thing that has happened? Well, before I started commuting by bike I was care-free, had brown hair, taught skin and was single. But now after bike commuting I have adult kids, grey hair, I'm single again but there are a helluva lot more candles on my birthday cake. Weird I tell ya.

My arms, legs, face, and neck have very distinct tan lines. Lily white where the Jersey/shorts sit and dark brown everywhere else. Its downright odd having a shower and seeing that 2 tone skin.

+1 - I have become much more organized and less likely to procrastinate. So riding a bicycle everywhere has actually saved me time because I started using it more efficiently.

I also have started to forget I have a car, sometimes. If I have an errand where I have to take it (like to get the oil changed or put gas in it) I'll sometimes walk past it and towards the storage she where my bike is.

much more organized. and more likely to go into work early (6am or so).

i've had no change in weight, and only a slight change in calorie intake when i started commuting... but my sleep dropped from seven hours per night to six hours per night. that's an extra seven hours per week of awake time! an extra 2+ weeks per year!

i'm saving about $130/month on a bus pass. oh, wait, i'm spending about that much on upgrades and accessories :( but it's still more fun than riding a bus :). and i can almost always get in or out of the city faster by bike than waiting for a bus.

i'm dealing with a lot of crap in my life, and if i wasn't on the bike a few times a week i'd succumb to depression and be somewhere between useless and suicidal.

+1 on looking at a phantom helmet-mirror.

When driving, I have to keep remembering to slow down for the speed humps here. They are about 8" high and gradually sloped so I can sail over them when riding. They really launch a car though.

-G

more money in the bank account. legs have gotten stronger, pipples on my face. my backpack is starting to stink. I still look at gas prices just to see what people are paying to drive there cages

No weight loss, but a slightly smaller waist so far. I can breathe again, and I'm getting muscle in my legs as well - and the "puffy" butt. I only ride (round trip) around 11 miles a day,...but it's a start & it's helping.

Now, I don't have anything too strange to divulge,...except coworkers always asking the same questions over and over again. And it's ALWAYS the same people. But, that's more of an annoyance than something strange.

PS: my legs are too damn ugly, so I'll never shave 'em!!! :roflmao2:

I gained about 15-20 pounds since starting, which wasn't a bad thing. Except that I wonder sometimes what the hills are like if I was at my earlier weight ...

But the oddest is how my driving has changed. It's hard to put your finger on it, but the priorities are shifted on the moment by moment decisions. Being happy to go slower in the right lane instead of zipping around and moving in, being more smooth and compliant with traffic, that sort of thing.

Almost all the changes would have seemed weird to me when I started. I used to commute long ago when I had no car. So in a way, I have reconnected with a more youthful self that seemed like another life. That's kinda weird.

The route on which I commute by bike is one that I also DRIVE frequently after work. When I get home on my bike and then immediately take the car out, I often forget which mode of transportation I am traveling by. One day, I actually considered sneaking onto the sidewalk for a couple of feet to get around a car stuck behind another making a left turn. Then I realized I was in my car!

I like the spandex warriors even less as a commuter than as a driver.

I also can never find mmy keys in the rare occasion that I use my car. After doing 30 miles a day for the last
2 months I feel just great overall.

My commute is from the south shore of Long Island, NY, to the heart of Brooklyn. I take the "beach route" - I.E. along "The Rockaway's (barrier beach) heading into Brooklyn over the Marine Parkway/Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.

On September 11, 2001 my view of the Manhattan skyline changed forever. It's a rare moment I don't stop on the bridge, at the same place I took the picture, and just contemplate how much things got changed that day, including the sign right behind me on the bridge, as I took the photo that says "No picture taking of or from the bridge", or some such.

So that's the biggest thing that changed, I suppose. The view is still terrific.

SB