When can you call yourself a commuter?
 

I have been commuting for about 3 weeks. I was just wondering when I can officially call myself a commuter? Is there a right of passage I have to go through? Do i get a secret decoder ring?

In 3 weeks I have:

Taken my truck keys off my keychain.
Watched a hawk pick up a snake right in front of me.
Almost got hit by a car.
Started to scoff at using my truck for any errands less than 5 mile distance.

What has the BF done to me?

You are a bike commuter. You ride your bike to work.

Miller84, You are looking for rules where there are none. No rights of passage, no secret decoder ring.

You ride to work and back once, you are a bicycle commuter.

Good to hear you'er having the experience though. Welcome to bicycle commuting!

Rick / OCRR

There's no club. Call yourself what you want.

You're a "bike commuter" if you ride your bike to work. But only riding to work or school is "commuting", if you're looking for rules. LOL

I figure each and every time I ride to and from work or school I am a commuter.

Don't lie to him. He hasn't been inducted into the Super Secret Fraternal Order of Freds yet.

Your first challenge is fit 16 headlights onto your handlebars.

When you get a job. Otherwise, you are just riding around.

^ This is what I was looking for :thumb:

I no longer have a daily commute as work is 32 steps from my back door and on some days, I can work in my pyjamas from where I sit now.

I commute to and from the bike co-op although that ride has been shortened considerably as we just opened a new location which is only a few km away... I still strive to make sure I ride a minimum of 20 km a day and do make trips back and forth to the girl's school and the frame shop is a nice 100km return trip but with more things moving back and forth between that shop and mine will need to use the car more.

You don't have to ride your bike to work - hell, you don't even need a job - to call yourself a commuter. It's not like the police are going to check up on you...

I'm going to be "THAT GUY", but you have to ride to work or school to be a "bike commuter". Otherwise it's just riding. Nothing wrong with that, but you're not a bike commuter unless you regularly ride to your place of employment or school.

the first day when you got back on your bike to go home, that's when you became a commuter. If the snake thing was a requirement there'd be very few commuters out there.

If you have asked yourself, it's 34° when you wake up, do I wear the winter gloves, fleece beany and wool socks? Or perhaps that 45° morning with cold rain and 15 mph winds, do I put the hood up on my rain jacket. If you didn't ask yourself do I drive today, then you are a bike commuter. For me it's also when I look over at the bridge on Interstate 95 and see I am riding faster then they are. :-) OOOOh yes, I am a bike commuter. OOOOh yes, I can have have that apple pie for lunch.

It was 17 when I joined, you youngsters don't have any idea how easy you have it.

Honestly, I was going to say the first day you rode to work or school. We don't need no stinking badges here, call yourself whatever you want. but keep riding.

When your co-workers come in shaking their umbrellas and say " you ride in today?" and you smile.
Love their eyerolls...

now.

Sure. You need to ride your bike to somewhere like work or school (any others?) to be a bike commuter. But the OP is already a bike commuter; he's only asking what you have to do to call yourself a bike commuter. And the rules are a bit more lax on that.

I live in Florida if I saw these temps for more than 1 day a year I might fall over.

This was a tongue and cheek question as I only have 3 mile commute into work, although I am trying to use my bike more and more for errands and such.

No doubtr about it, you are a bike commuter. But you are not yet a "seasoned" bike commuter. For that, you will need two to three years of daily bike commuting that includes riding in cold weather, rain, snow if possible, and icy roads if possible, and not getting clobbered in traffic thru your own error. That's the on-bike portion. There's also an oral exam. You must be able to answer questions such as, "where do you leave your bike so it doesn't get stolen?" "where do you take a shower?" "what's the best system for getting clean clothes to work?" and "what's the fastest route to get to work, and what's the quietest/safest route?" (Look, we gotta keep out the rif-raff!)

Once you're comfortable with all that, and when you have demonstrated your ability to replace a punctured tube in cold rain in under 15 minutes (the clock starts when you roll to a stop and stops when you're back on the bike with the tire inflated), then you become a Bike Commuter First Class! This honor, plus $2, will buy you a cup of coffee...

Luis

Once you get through hurricane season and get hit by car, you can upgrade to "Super Commuter"

First rule of bike commute club is....

Technically you don't even have to ride to work or school to be a commuter.

Commuter: One that travels regularly from one place to another.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/commuter

When you know both sides to the backpack/pannier, mirror/no mirror, roll/fold, LBS/nashbar, bike path/street, mtb/road bike, how do I clean up at work questions and can give the valid points to both sides.

There's a qualifying exam administered by the NFBC.