I suffer from insomnia as well. I slept well last night, but I'm 50-50 on sleeping well vs. poorly. When I'm restless, I typically sleep about 2 hours, and this can go on for 3-4 nights in a row.

I feel regular exersize helps a bit, but my real issue is my mind racing with a range of topics, and I just can't stop it.

But I don't stop commuting because of it. I've still got to take on the day and get some energy and clear my head.

A couple of things help me. I drink a cup of chamomile tea before bed, and it helps a bit. I try to go to bed at the same time every night. Also, I turn on a small fan for background noise.

I've been falling asleep to talk radio or sports since I was a little kid with a transistor radio under my pillow.
It still works well as long as I'm listening to a game or Coast-to-Coast...but the political talk has gotten so fringe and stoopid that I gotta shut it off when that crap is on.

i would imagine that most bike commuters here who are car-free (like me) still have a plan B to get to work in a pinch. i suppose there are some car-free folks who live out in rural areas that have no public transit what-so-ever, but most of us car-free people live in more urban/suburban/town environments where there's usually a bus route somewhere nearby at a minimum. yeah, it might take a while, especially if you have to do some wacky bus-transfer-bus-transfer-bus multi-stage transit commute, but it can usually be done.

for me, i ride my 30 mile round trip commute the vast majority of the time, but if i wake up and there's a thunderstorm going on outside or a foot of freshly fallen snow, i have a very easy train ride to work that only takes a little bit longer than biking. if i ride into work and the weather takes a turn for the worse in the afternoon, i can either try to wait out the storm, or just throw in the towel and ride the train home with my bike (the CTA lets bikes on trains after 6:30pm, so i just have to wait around at work for a little bit and it all works).

i would also like to add that now that i'm heading into year 4 of daily bike commuting, i rarely get sick anymore (knock on wood). some of that has to do with the fact that i'm taking better care of myself overall (eating right instead of the old pizza & beer diet of my 20s), but i have to believe that the 100 minutes of daily cardio that my body gets simply going to work and back has helped boost my overall health and in turn helped to keep my immune system firing on all cylinders.

I'm a car free fellow insomniac, I quite a while ago went to the doctor to get help with the sleep, as far as biking goes, I ride 7 days a week generally at least 10 miles a day, yeah sometimes it sucks, but I think about it this way it could be a lot worse. I don't have any options for getting to work as I have to be at work before the buses are really running ( I could take one and be 15mins late) so basically I just buck up and ride, have I rode sick-yup, have I rode injured-yup, there really isn't any condition I haven't rode in, with, on. The longer you do it the easier it gets.

In the Summer, I try for 4-5 days/wk commuting, regular work week is 6 days. Late Fall, through early Spring, my bike commuting get's pretty sporadic. We still have one car, wife works at home, and public transport would turn my rural 40 min auto commute/1:15 bike commute into a 3 hr public transport epic with a couple miles of walking thrown in for good measure. So I use the car when it is too cold (20 deg F or less), too stormy, or have to do things like pick up my son at his mom's house.

Regular exercise and sleep hygiene will help with insomnia.

As for commuting. My commute is 20 miles round trip. I do it because I can, because it's cheaper than a bus pass, and its more fun. I like bombing down hills on my aero bars in 53/12 just to see how fast I can go. I like the workout. Weather, hell I live in the PacNW. You ride in the cold, wind, rain, snow, sleet, hail, sun (it is rare but it does make an occasional appearance). The bus and mass transit are there for the days when there is ice on at the 900' elevation which is where i have to go.

Also I have found that I am less sick than when I would take mass transit. Getting out in the air clears the sinuses and makes you breath.

Start biking, quit griping, and take some Valerian Root. You worry too much - this comes from a fellow disturbed sleeper.

MacTeacher: I think that's what it comes down to. If riding is your only option, it's your only option. You either ride or stay home. In those scenarios you listed it may not always be pleasant to ride, but it's certainly doable. In a lot of cases it's not as bad in reality as what your tired mind thinks it will be.

I guess I've just been lucky there. There was one time only that I've felt healthy enough to ride but stayed home because I was still taking some medicine, but otherwise if I feel well enough to ride I'm good enough to go to work.

I can always get into work, which is 7/8 of the battle. Sometimes it takes longer coming home...

do those of you who always ride "NO MATTER WHAT" because it is the only option available (other than a 3 hour walk) still ride in the middle of severe thunderstorms with lightning bolts shooting all about?

i can understand the whole "strap on a pair and man-up" mantra when it comes to severe cold, or wind, or rain, or whatnot, but i've never messed around with lightning. am i just a wussy old scaredy-cat for not enjoying being outdoors unprotected when lighting is all about?

We don't get too many thunderstorms in boise but I'll still ride through them, unless I actually see lighting touching down at that point I'll find some shelter.

I ride every day but I don't DEPEND on it. I have a car and drive it if I need to, like when picking up large/heavy stuff, etc.

I used to ride regardless, but I've changed a bit and now won't ride if there is more than about 2 or 3 inches of unplowed snow on the ground.
Tired: If I'm tired the best thing I can do is to ride. If I drive in I'm pretty much useless all day. Cycling wakes me up.
Sick: I'm much healthier and take less sick time when I'm riding daily. I've never used up all my sick time since I started cycling, but I do have the option of working from home.
Overslept: I don't really have a work schedule, my boss just wants my work to get done.

EDIT: I have no idea why my posts are suddenly all bold. I'm not doing it, promise. It's just happening.

When's the last time your house was struck by lightning? It's 30 feet tall and probably has grounded wiring all through it. Now what are the odds of a 6 foot tall moving object getting hit?

If I lived in Florida where the lighting was striking many times a minute, I'd probably think twice about it, but I live with the same exact weather as Chicago, and the lighting just isn't that bad here.

Even when I'm at home in a thunderstorm I tend to stand on the porch and enjoy it. Thunderstorms are one of the coolest shows around.

One con about living in Florida. all the lightning today scared me

If the weather is too f'd up to ride, I drive - I'm not in some bike pecker size contest. Thing is, in some cases if the weather is too bad to ride, it's also too bad to drive and I just stay home. ;)

I have occasional bouts of insomnia. Riding is usually better for me. It really wakes me up in the morning. If I start to get drowsy just after lunch I'll jump on the bike for a quick 1-mile jaunt and I find that revitalizes me for the remainder of the afternoon.

I've also found that taking the long way home and getting in 25 miles after work helps me feel nice and sleepy by the time 10pm rolls around.

probably the last time we had an electrical storm roll through. i live in a 60 story skyscraper. tall buildings get struck all the time. though now that donald trump built his flashy new 90 story tower one block over with it's giant 300' tall lightning rod, ummmmmm, i mean "decorative spire" on top, my building is probably getting struck less often these days.




i don't know the odds, but they're probably pretty small. however, lightning still freaks me out and i won't ride through a thunderstorm.




likewise, i ride the train when the weather cuckoo, but my lightning question was directed to those who have no option other than a bicycle to get to work. (ie. car-free people in the middle of nowhere with no bus, train, taxi, or other transportation services available).

If you are really tired, try a few things:

1. get an upright bike, you can find an old 3speed on craig's list for cheap. These are more fun to ride, I feel like Mary Poppins, or that pig in the Geico commercial yelling "weeee! weeee!"

2. ride slower, enjoy yourself. you'll be awake because your body knows it has to be alert. but trying to have fun will help.

every time I feel like not riding and don't I regret it. Every time I decide to ride anyway it makes me feel a lot better when I get to work. Just keep trying.

As far as insomnia, I often read to fall asleep, it takes my mind off things (if racing thoughts are a problem). I make sure to read fun light stuff at night, nothing that will get me excited or thinking. Yoga is starting to help, just the focusing on ignoring everything but your breath helps me calm down.

I don't depend only on my bike, but that is my preferred commute method.

A couple of things (assuming that your ride is not ridiculously long & your bike is in decent shape): As has been mentioned before, the more that you commute by bike, the more you will commute by bike. Same thing with any other form or tranport. It's a change, so it takes some getting used to. I don't ride in the winter, so come spring-time, I don't ride as often as I do in the fall because I'm not used to it. I need to get up earlier, leave earlier, pack, etc. In the fall, after I've been riding all summer, I will ride more often, even when the weather is colder than in the spring, simply because I am used to it.

2-Insomnia can have a lot of causes. One of them might be lack of exercise/poor diet. If your problem is not something that is an actual impbalance (Ex: it's caused by diet, exercise, stress, etc) the physical exertion of cycling should actually help. If you don't get sleep, then you're tired one day (Obviously don't do this if you truly can't keep your eyes open) make the effort to get up early & ride to work. When you get home, you'll be so beat that you should have no trouble going to bed at night. Once you are tired at night, insomnia shouldn't be a problem, and you may find that you feel better all around.

Don't take this the wrong way, but some of your issues sound more like excuses for not riding. Insomnia may or may not be a legitimate reason not to ride, but bad weather & sickness should not be happening all that often. If it's raining on the way out to work, or if they are predicting massive stomrs throughout the day, I won't ride. But the weathermen are incorrect often enough that the threat of rain later in the day does not deter me. And sickness should really not be a problem more than a few days a year. If it's more often that that, you may want to look at the causes. Same thing with working late, most of us have days when it's like that, but if your job is regularly requiring you to work till 2 in the morning, then come back by 8, that's a whole different issue. All in all, those reasons not to ride shouldn't add up to more than 1-2 months of the year, which leaves plenty of other days for riding.

In reality, you may just not like bike commuting, which is fine. Lots of times, we want to do things becuase we feel like we 'should'. If you try commuting & after a month or so are still coming up with reasons not to ride every day, then I'd probably shelve the idea and do something else. If you already have insomnia, no sense stressing yourself out about something else.

I ride to work almost every day year round, but I also have an understanding boss who says it's okay to work from home when the weather is really bad. As for chronic insomnia, I have that too, but it's far less severe on days that I ride.

Although I love thunderstorms, I'll take shelter when lightning is close by. Most severe storms pass quickly enough that it's not a big deal.

Don't beat yourself up over it. My goal is to bike commute 4-5 days/week but I average about 3.5 days year-round. If I don't set my goal at riding nearly every day, it's too easy to talk myself out of it when I just feel like sleeping in. However, I generally don't ride when the weather is bad (heavy rain, snow, sleet, etc.), when air quality is poor, when I have errands to run or need my car at work.

Bike commuting every day is hard. The varying weather conditions can be tough, and the wear-and-tear on your body can take its toll. That's one reason why I don't feel bad about driving on rainy days, etc., because I figure those are my recovery days. I also take advantage of my driving days to bring clean clothes and food to my office and bring home dirty laundry.

It's part luck and part typical weather pattern. Thunderstorms are usually short lived. They're not all day events and they usually happen later in the day after the atmosphere has heated up. I can't think of a time when I've had to deal with a severe thunderstorm on the way to work. Thunder yeah, but not lightning bolts shooting every which way.

Having a Thunderstorm happen on the way home is more likely and I'll avoid them by leaving early if it starts to look ominous, or just wait it out.

I stopped making excuses :).

MAKE it convenient. Have your stuff ready by the door or garage or wherever you keep your bike.

Read the weather report at night and in the morning, and know what clothes are appropriate for the various possibilities today. Bring at least an extra pair of socks, because you don't want wet feet all day.

The more you do it, the better you'll learn what clothes work.

Most of all, it takes a commitment to do it. If you just try it as you've been doing, it will seem like a losing proposition. If you say you want to do it, you'll do it. MAYBE you'll learn it's not for you, but that doesn't seem likely unless you have a long way to go or you have a lot of things or people to carry. And you'd be surprised what you can carry if you really want to. I towed both of my kids in a trailer until the trailer held 180 pounds (82 kg), above the recommended max. This takes commitment, though, because the equipment is expensive.

I now use a kiddie trailer for groceries, etc. I still have a car, and I'm working myself towards a "car-light" existence, not car-free.

That actually makes it easier. I haven't ridden my bike in three years! I started commuting again yesterday cuz my car broke down and money is tight. We make sure that my wife's car is in good working order, she picks up the kids, so now neither I nor my wife* have an excuse and am happy about it.

* every other day she'd call me at work and ask me to pick up the kids. Since I love doing that, I always said yes. Now we have no choice :)