On Wednesday, summer made its first tentative appearance in the Pacific Northwet. Earlier in the week, I was sleeping under fleece blankets, and then suddenly it got warm, for two whole days! So, yesterday, I wore my new Keen Commuters in, and took the long way home. I stopped at a favorite park of mine, on the lake shore, and went in up to my knees. I thought I might catch hypothermia for a moment, but got used to it, and enjoyed the view of snowy mountains in the background.

When I left and continued on my way home, there was a horrible traffic jam - one of the worst I'd ever seen. I took a flat route, which took me by the university stadium, and there must have been a game. I stopped for a moment to watch, and people were moving about one car length per light cycle on this road, and there were no escape routes. It would have taken about two hours to get home if I had been in a car. And that would have ruined my evening. Instead, I hopped on the MUP and kept my speed at a respectable 15 to 22 mph.

I bike to and from work because I enjoy being on my bike, so it's not that I need vindication. But seeing the horror that my bike saved me from kept me in a good mood. Do you folks ever have moments when you're especially happy to be on your bike?

I'm happiest when it's a beautiful Friday afternoon and I leave work early to ride the long way home through scenic fields and farmlands with the snow covered alps in the background... just like today. Today's commute was simply perfect, like cycling in a dream.

Good story. Gratitude for the things we have around us is a lost art in today's culture. Nice.

honestly I can't think of a time when I'm not happy to be on my bike.

Early Spring or late Autumn when the air is crisp.

I ride by this everyday because the only routes home are major roads that cross the oh so backed up 405 freeway and have on-ramps. It always makes feel great to know I don't have to be stuck in that crap

I commute by bike every day; rain or shine (or snow). The best days are obviously the sunny ones (like today), although I also get some odd satisfaction of rolling through town when it's pouring down rain and everyone looks at you like you're crazy.

I'm more happy riding when I reach inside the residental area. I recall the time when I was in the resident neighborhood away from traffic on my bike. I left works early that day and took mostly quiet back road. It was summertime and school were out. As I pedal in a snail pace pass this one house, there were two girls strolling around on their bike near their home. When I approach them, they started to follow me and pretended like we were in a race. A short distant later, they giggle and stop to turn around heading back home. Moment like this would not have happen if I was driving.

Nicely asked question, Seattle Forrest.
It's tremendously gratifying to be riding on an expressway overpass, say, about 5:15 pm. Cars inching along below as far as the eye can see.
Also, any sunny, not-too-hot Sunday afternoon. The city streets are a meanderer's paradise.

Fall and Winter. I'm from Ohio but now live in Tennessee, and I've never been a big fan of excessive heat.

Hey SeattleForrest.. thanks for the post. First off, my sandals which I bought in April are being eaten by my pedals . So I need some new ones.
Are the KEEN sandals for clipless or platform?

Yes, I am not good in traffic jams when I am in the car. Even though the time it takes me on a bike about equals driving when the traffic is really, really bad. But still riding is soooo much more fun than sitting there and not being able to get home.
Part of my route (driving or cycling) gets me past a "restaurant district" here, but you can smell the scent of the dishes much better on a bike. Makes me want to get home even quicker...

Summer has it's benefits, no doubt. But just the other day we had a horrible thunderstorm, with tornado warning. That's a big no-no for me on a bike. So I had to stop at a store and wait it out. There's no other season where the weather could be quite as prohibitive (thanks in part to very good snow-plowing here in the city).

This morning would be one. Nice fresh morning, little wind, I could feel the temperature difference in areas that had been receiving sunlight. Seeing the deer at the side of the path and having her completely ignore me as I talked to her cycling by. Having the robins get upset because they have to fly off the path before I get there. Listening to the cacaphony of noise from fighting birds under a bridge, seeing the smiling people on bikes and walking.

The only thing that makes it better is when I see and / or hear about a horrendous traffic jam and all those poor little people trapped in their metal cages unable to exert ANY control on ther lives while I ride along, deciding to take different routes "because I can", going the speed I want to go.

I'm happiest when traffic is so bad that it's practically stopped and I can ride right through the middle with the motorcycles. (lane splitting is legal in California fyi)

Ironically, every now and then ( on a long weekend ride ) I go by I-405, too ... but a different section, about 1,000 miles north of you.

My favorite days are when I want to go biking, and if I didn't bike I wouldn't have time to do it...and the temperature is nice. :-)

My second favorite days are in the winter when I've been cooped up inside and I finally get to go out and bike at least. It's not as nice as summer biking, but it's so much nicer than staying inside or any other winter activity... :-D

I think nearly every day is my favorite. I get fresh air and see the world from a different perspective. Blues Frog

When it's cool, under 70 degrees and there isn't a hint of a pending rainstorm.

I'll have to wait for October-November for that one in Florida. In the meantime, it ain't all that bad. Most days it's under 78 degrees when I leave in the morning. I haven't had to ride in the rain in the morning - yet!

Yep, schadenfreude is one of life's greatest pleasures

When are you happiest to commute by bike? For me, it's the morning. There's too much traffic after lunch.

Sunrise, when the sky is rainbow sherbet colored, the urban roar is at minimum volume, the air is cool and all the road ragers are still asleep. I especially love this time of day in the Fall when the smell of leaves is in the air.

I also like the first snow. The cold air is energizing.

On my ride home today I spotted a great horned owl come down out of a large tree streak across the bike path and dive into the tall grass 10 feet away. I stopped and watched it pull apart the small rabbit it caught. Last week I encountered a large angry snapping turtle sunning itself in the middle of the trail. Earlier in the spring it was an angry rattle snake that scurried away as soon as I stopped to get a closer look. Last fall it was a beaver in the stream munching on a small tree trunk.

I really enjoy being able to ride the bike path through the forest observe nature around me without disturbing it. You just can't see that stuff in a car.

In the evening, after a summer storm, an hour or two before the sun goes down.