Mostly tight time windows, such as an early morning meeting that starts just a short time after I can get my kids delivered to school or on the bus. Dinner dates with my wife can also be an issue since I don't want to show up at home all sweaty at the same time the babysitter arrives.

Other days I have errand appointments that would be difficult or very time consuming to accomplish without the car, such as taking a kid to the dentist and then to school.

I'll admit that rainy mornings deter me from cycling, but they don't happen as often as other issues.

MY commute is 17 miles one way. Sometimes I have early or late work assignments so that gets in the way. Usually I make 2-6 trips per week. If its below 10F of more than 6 inches of snow, sometimes I think twice about pedaling. I do a reverse commute, that is I leave my car at work and pedal home.

Nothing really "keeps me" from commuting but there are some discouraging factors. If it's raining hard, I'll rethink it. If it's really windy, windy even, I usually won't do it. If it's below freezing, I typically won't do it. But I also live 23 miles from home and while this is a healthy and fun ride, it is time consuming -- about an hour and a half one way. So really it's the time factor for me. That's a fair chunk of time out of my day... especially for a work day. But I wouldn't say these "keep me from" doing it.

My place of work has showers, but they are kept far from clean, and the extra time it would take out of my long and already full day.

I'll cast another vote for "weather".

I'm only 5 km from work, so it's pathetic that I don't bike more often. However, Calgary weather is variable at best, and -30 with conditions described as "ice crystals" at worst. My beater bike apparently won't brake when it's the slightest bit wet, and its 5-speed gearing makes the one hill between my house and work just that much more of a deterrent.

On the plus side, I will often run in conditions that I don't want to bike in, so it's probably good to force me to cross-train!

Kid logistics, usually. My wife is a consultant and therefore can usually structure her hours to get the kids to school and practices, but it occasionally falls to me if she has to meet a client in the afternoon or evening.

Simple: lack of a commute. I work from home. Meh. I run in the morning and ride at night.

And the other is if I HAVE to go to the office. . . it's 113 miles away. Not exactly a "commute"

What distance would your work commute be (one way), Visaliaipa?

It was headwinds over 20mph, but that tolerance keeps going up as I ride more. I found out that even 24 mph headwinds only added 2 minutes to my commute home last week, over the usual 6-10mph headwinds.

I am one good set of goggles away from taking my morning commute limit at no less than 20F to much lower.

With only 12-inches of moisture here a year riding in the rain is kind of a treat.

But it is easy when you only have to dress for 15 minutes of riding each way.

bi monthly trips to the airport in denver will never happen on the bike.

The only thing that strikes fear in my heart and keeps me from cycling is ice. I have a very hilly commute and when it's icy (thank goodness usually only for a day or two in the winter) I take the bus. Snow is ok, heavy rain is ok, wind is ok (well, up to 50 mph gusts - anything over that is not ok) not ice.

Other than that is appointments right before or after work to which I physically cannot get to via bike or the bus. Luckily, my dentist is the only regularly problematic one and he's awesome so I won't get a new dentist.

Dangerous conditions (fog, ice, etc.) keep me from riding.

I ride in pretty much any non-dangerous weather between a high of ~105 F and a low of 10 F. Too much suffering outside of that temperature range, although there are ways to deal with lower temps.

kid logistics..... his school is close to my work and when we can we commute toghether...but there is depending on the season: football, volleyball and basket ball practices and games. And the homework load is pretty ridiculous so after a hard practices getting the kid home adding another 5 miles of commute makes for a very tired, stressfull homework evening.

He is also a liittle leery of commuting after a couple of yelled obscenities and swerved at us twice with in a minute on the last commute we did

Hmm, after reading all the answers posted so far, I feel the need to qualify my response by saying I haven't yet actually begun commuting. It's my plan, but I'm not there yet. My excuse for right now, is fear.
Fear I'm going to get myself hit by a car in the limited amount of traffic that I'll have to ride in. Fear I'll screw myself up by riding a bike that's a size too small for me, or by not being fit enough to actually make the ride, or by not being a good enough rider (I'm a bit wobbly when I ride). Fear I'm going to be late for work due to a flat or other mechanical issue. Fear I'm going to be eaten by wolves, either four-legged or two-legged, on the way in.



All of these are addressable issues in one way or another, so, I'm working on it.

Start riding Tim of Fort Collins, we live in one of the best bike cities in the nation, sir. After your first ride fear will be replaced by fun, and after you get more experienced in traffic, more fun. Route planning around here is also key. Post up if you want some help with that. Several riders from the FOCO area on the boards here who would help.

I have limited amount of time to post here, but I wanted to get a note out anyway.

Just about every one of the excuses I have read here about why someone does not commute is, frankly, pretty lame.

Windy?? Really?, come on.

Cold rain?? Yea it sucks to head out in the morning when it is raining.

...more later...

Nothing keeps me from riding....except me. It could be weather, it could be the need to do errands with the truck, it could be that I plain just don't feel like it. oh, and zombies...I hate those guys.

Looking for a job is work. If you ride your bike before you look for a job, you commuted to work. If you ride again after you're done looking for work for the day, you commuted home.

My wife meets clients in the afternoon and evenings too. What a small world, we're both married to *******!






My wife is gonna kick my ass when she reads this.

I live in Upstate NY

1) My commute is 17 Miles one way, easy ride in (fun) BUT all uphill going home!! going home the ride is 1:25 Min, Plus It takes 30 min to get dressed / my bike packed after the office closes, (adds to commute time) . Often enough I need to run errands or have social obligations that just don't work with My commute home time wise. in a nut shell my total time on the home bound commute is almost 2 hours.

2) Upstate NY Weather has its problems, in winter both my routes are No good Bike trail is not plowed, the alternate 4 lane county route is too deadly (wicked heavy traffic ) snowbanks are high and wide (cant get off road in emergency or breakdown). also 17 Miles in cold, rain, nasty cold temps 10-40 Deg or snow storms even heavy winds is just not enjoyable. happens often In NY. late spring through Mid fall (early Dec) not too bad.

pretty even split between the two .

"John"

I made the mistake of driving my car a couple times in a few nasty snow storms. A coworker asked for ride home which I obliged, then she asked for ride to work the next day and so on and so on. I don't have the heart to tell her no (she's down on her luck a bit). But I really would like to get back to riding in to work everyday like I did last year. My shift is changing next week opposite hers, thankfully.

Its 7 miles by car route and freeway. Figure 7 to 10 miles one way by bike.

Distance was an issue for me, but since I got a folding bike, I've been able to ride at least part of the way in - depending on the day, I can either put the bike in my trunk or take it on the train, and then ride the last part in. It's been great.

almost always a schedule problem. With 5 kids at home, my wife and I need to plan out the "how to get the kids home". She is usually good about letting me try to ride to and from work, but I have been known to ride home from work to pick up a child one mile from my work 5 min later. Great gas savings to justify the bike purchase. I also may have meetings I cant get to early enough and wouldn't look good in cycling bibs. This happens to me about once a week. The days I drive I make that my resupply clothes and lunch, then take home the laundry and tupperware. I usually get in 80-100 miles a week.

Temperatures below -20 C. I just can't seem to get the clothing right for anything colder than that, although I'm working on it.
Spring thaw. It's actually easier to ride in January than in March here. Wet ice = conditions too treacherous even for studded tires at times.
Knee problems. Mine were damaged in a car accident some years ago and at least once a year I get a flare-up in the right knee. Last time it was from slipping on some ice and twisting it going down, that kept me off the bike for nearly three weeks.
Time. It does take slightly longer to ride, especially in winter, so if I wake up late I may have to forgo the bike commute.
Illness. I work in a sick building, or at least it seems that way. My co-workers always seem to have colds and even though I don't get as many as they do, when I got one back in March it was a doozy. Sick as a dog for nearly two weeks.

Commitments after work. Many days I have to be somewhere right after work and don't have time to bike home first. Next is weather. I don't enjoy commuting in rain, high wind or temperatures below 35 degrees - so I don't.