+1 on the seeing a doctor comments if it's seriously regular insomnia. Oddly enough, based on my limited knowledge of sleep disorders, I often hear of regular exercise being a common prescription for people w/ sleep disorders. A good bike commute is just that... regular exercise.

As for your other questions, I ride in all weather. I don't have studs yet so excessively icy conditions force me onto metro, but otherwise I just ride regardless.

I ride through minor illness too. If I'm too sick to ride, I'm too sick to be at work.

I've been bikeless for almost two weeks. My life is way more boring w/o my bike commute. It takes a lot to keep me from it. Thank goodness I'll be building up my new bike this weekend and back in the saddle next week.

There is a seen in the Movie the Rock
Sean Connery says to Nic Cage

Losers said the tried
Winners get the Job done

Every time I think about wussing out I see Sean in my face...

I only wish I had weather radar and da intrawebz 30 years ago...I'd wouldn't have been caught in nearly as many thunderboomers!

Currently very sick and tired, and yesterday after work I rode to the grocery store. Once you really start it is just as easy to get on the bike, sick, tired, sore...and usually for me the 1/2 hour after my ride I feel my best and most energetic. Then I get around the bummer people and they all bring me back down to earth, so I start looking forward to the ride home. Start listening to books on your commute, it makes it a funner go sometimes.

I think you're making waaay to much out of this.

You just have to get on your bike and go. Reason for my initial start in bicycle commuting was my car breaking down. Was in the shop for a couple weeks, and biked every one of those days. Then, when I got it back, I was in the mindset of riding my bike everywhere. Only filled my tank a couple of times from middle of September to the end of the year.

Of course I've ridden through snow, rain, sickness, and exhaustion. It's not easy most of those days, but it's worth it for a multitude of reasons. You just need to push yourself.

Push yourself.

I've found that the key is to keep doing it and eventually you will get to the point where it becomes a habit... try not to berate yourself for missing days and I think it's a bit silly to ride if you are sick, stay home instead of making your co-workers sick... I know this isn't feasible for some people but especially if you have sick days stay home and get better.

If you skip a ride for whatever reason, just remember that tomorrow is a new day that you will likely be around for, so you can ride tomorrow if you can't today... just try to make sure you're riding more than you are not. I've found making my commute as enjoyable as possible makes me more likely to do it, even though I took long ways around busier but direct roads... slow down and smile on sunny days, stuff like that.

If you were to commit to commuting three or four days a week, you might find your insomnia decreasing. You might find your don't get sick as often.
I'm 42 years old, work as a bike mechanic standing on my feet 7 hours, have a 30 minute commute to work and 30 minute commute back home.
I'll throw out my recent riding schedule.
Thur. 3/24 no work, got in a 16-mile ride. Rode to a bike shop, picked up a frame, strapped it to a backpack, rode my bike with another bike on my back 8 miles home.
Fri 3/25 44-mile training ride.
Sat. 3/26 36 miles, short training ride, directly to work, commuted home
Sun. 3/27 no work, 60-mile training ride
Mon 3/28 30-minute commute to work, 30 minute commute home
Tue 3/29 24 miles, rode to interview for another job, commuted to work, commuted back
Wed 3/30 no ride, had a coworker give me a ride 80 miles away for a work-related training session. Commuters can be too smug cause there are times when motorized vehicles are needed.
Thur 3/31 28 miles, short training ride, directly to work, commuted home
Fri 4/1 30 minute commute to work, 30 minute commute home
Sat 4/2 51 miles training ride, work 7 hours, 30 minute commute home
Sun 4/3 30-minute commute to work, 30 minute commute home
Mon 4/4 13 miles, like you, couldn't sleep, got maybe 3 hours of sleep, commuted to work, worked for nine hours, commuted home
Today, slept like a baby for nine hours, no work, so I'll take the day off, don't do *****, sit on my butt, recover. Regular commuting by itself and in conjunction with training lets you get to know your body and it's limits. I hate to waste a sunny 80-degree days indoors, but I know it's time for a rest, and I'll reap the benefits of the rest.
Tomorrow I'll do a short training ride, work, commute home
Thurs, I have no work, so I'll get in 60 miles of training.

This isn't extreme by any means. There are tons of people older than me who work as much and ride more. There are people who work less, don't ride at all, and are constantly exhausted. My point is that in my experience, riding might increase physical fatigue, but there's a good chance your body will compensate and reward itself with quality sleep. I suspect there an element of the subconscious at work also. You put in the physical activity, you feel justified to sleep, and the sleep comes.
Try commuting five days a week for a couple of weeks as an experiment. See if positive changes come about. If not, see a doctor. I'm pretty confident even if he prescribes medication, he'll also suggest commuting on a regular basis.

A couple of times I've ridden because I thought the weather was too dangerous to drive. Once a few weeks ago we had ice on the roads, cars couldn't make it up the hill near home (including mine) so I had no choice but to get on the bike, which has studded tires and had no trouble.

You HTFU and ride. Also, sleep is my highest priority. The work you do in my field when you're tired is worth less than nothing.


You HTFU and ride.

Maintaining a sleep schedule helps avoid this, I think. Anyway, no insomnia here. Seriously, sleep, it's more important than your job. If you aren't saving lives, and these "skip sleeping for this" crap keeps coming up, and it's not going to end in 4 years, IT'S NOT WORTH IT.



I think you just aren't getting enough sleep.

* Rain: HTFU
* Slick: The right tires, and HTFU
* Cold: HTFU
* Thunderstorms: Wait for them to end, then go home. Cut off early if possible. Go in early if necessary. Or, cross your fingers, you're probably more likely to get hit by a car anyway.


Weather is obviously a regional problem with regional solutions. Our T-storms are generally 30-60 minutes, but other places have longer storms.

Yes. That's what "No matter what" means.

I confess I don't like hail--it stings--but I've ridden home in it.

I'll +1 the hail, it sucks.

when I'm riding a lot, I sleep GREAT!

sounds to me like your work is high stress and rife with late night projects.

as a teacher putting off grading a small stack of papers here at ten of nine, I get myself into that a little, but it balances out.

I agree with those who say just ride.

Riding is just so much faster, I have a ~4.5 mile commute each way and it takes me about 14-17 mins including stop lights. The bus takes 30 mins or more (I've ridden a bus maybe 50 times in my entire life) and by car it's probably 20 mins or more.

I am just fast on the bike. I'm riding a cheap $150(new at store) commuter that weighs like 35lbs, 700c rims and still manage to do ~25kph average (~15.5mph) including all stop lights and A LOT of traffic causing me to stop frequently. I'm guessing I'm doing 29 moving!

On a road bike I was a lot faster too. Get off your ass and ride, more people should do it.

My co-workers all look at me like I'm an alien, no one who can afford public transportation/a car would ever ride a bike in a third world country but hah, the joke is on them. They're miserable when getting to and from work and I'm all-out sprinting grinning like mad.

Ask yourself what it is you DON'T like about riding. Maybe your bike isn't fitted well, or maybe you're wearing bad clothing.

Particularly the case in freezing rain... you can have a bicycle with studded tires, but it apparently illegal for cars... too much road damage. However, there are many times when it really isn't fit for car or bike... and if possible a day off watching a nice movie or reading a book is the thing to do. :)

What is HTFU?

Harden The F Up. (Youtube - Harden the F Up (NSFW obviously)

I just ride. I ignore the alternatives (unless I break my hand and can't like last year). They normally cost more or take longer.

I have ridden home with a migraine which felt like someone was hitting me in the head over every bump, and of course riding makes your heart rate increase which also made my head pound.

As for thunderstorms - they aren't too common here, and the don't last too long. If there is one really close, I'll pull over and have a coffee. Most of the time there are other things taller around when you're riding anyway.

Are thunderstorms really dangerous to ride in?

I don't think I've heard of a cyclist getting zapped?

I don't ride everyday because I am lazy and in some cases I need my car for work during the day. Today was one of those days so I was planning on driving to work even though i would have rather ridden a bike since I was at a conference this week and didn't get any exercise. Anyway I went out to my car and the battery was totally dead. I texted my boss I was going to be late and jumped on a bike. I was able to borrow my wife's car for driving for work. Thats twice I have ridden my bike to work in the last 2 years when my car wouldn't start. Its nice to have a backup form of transportation. The bus takes forever here in Lincoln. I might be able to walk to work faster.

If you have issues with insomnia, you should get that looked at first. I think your QoL will improve dramatically if you fix that first.

What makes it easier to ride in? Well, my commute by bike only takes about 10 minutes longer each way than if I drive; that helps.

Regarding feeling sick, I find that a bit of exercise makes me feel much better. Helps relieve congestion due to allergies and colds. And, for healthy people, even strenuous exercise has no effect on the duration of a cold.

But the main thing that makes it easy, is that the thought that tomorrow, it won't be so easy. What if it rains tomorrow? Not as fun a commute on the road bike. What if I find out I need my car at work, to drive to a meeting? There goes a day. What if I get fat, get old, and can't bike to work anymore? That's what'll happen if I put it off for too long.

I rode in hail on my tour. I was glad I was wearing my helmet. I was also glad I wasn't riding my recumbent as that would have meant looking into the rain/hail/wind instead of keeping my head down.

I used to get sick or have allergies flare up everytime the weather changed.

In November I started eating raw vegetables and fruit everyday. Work has a cafeteria and I get a salad. At home I have mostly organic.

I haven't been sick or had bad allergies since.

As far as being exhausted, yes. I generally ride close to 100 miles on the weekend and my work commute is 34 miles round trip, so I am slowly building up. It doesn't help that I get home at 9PM on Monday and Wednesday nites, driving a car. But it just takes time to build up. But yeah, I'm not one to sacrifice sleep to ride my bike, but I do feel tons better anytime I ride my bike even if I don't get all the sleep I need.