The forty mile commute to Manhattan
 

Enjoy reading this NY Times article here.

Link does not work on my end :(

Try this link instead.

An interesting article on cycling enthusiasts who do "enthusiastic" commutes from the suburbs into the city, i.e. high speed, very long distances, pace lines, etc. Lots of name brandname dropping in the article made it seem like it belonged on the fashion page.

I would like to see a follow up article on more typical NYC commuting cyclists wearing street clothes, are not racers, do not commute in pace lines or with an organized groups, and actually commute a reasonable distance everyday from their NYC home to place of business. Reasonable meaning not requiring an entire ensemble of specialized clothing to accomplish.

Well who's going to make any money off a thing like that?

That is hardcore. I had no idea so many people biked into NYC from more than 20 miles away. And a great way to keep a nice base of miles for the racers too.

The bridge that closes at night is curious. The bridge is THERE, but you can't use it. We have a ferry to cross the Mississippi River to/from New Orleans/Algiers that shuts down midnight to 6AM too. No bridge is bike legal. So if you miss the last ferry, you spend the night where you are. A real shame for our service industry people who don't get off work until well after midnight. Many more would commute by bike if the ferry (or a smaller water taxi) ran 24 hours. Housing is much more affordable across the river.

The guy, Christian, is a regular poster on another board I frequent.

One of the things he clarified there is that he rarely rides both ways each day. He'll bike in, take the train home, train in, bike home, and so on.

The bridge is the George Washington and they started closing it after 12:00 for pedestrians after 911. The Port Authority is worried of a terrorist attack which is highly unlikely on a bicycle. In fact, the 911 terrorists never rode bikes but drove in cars. Go figure.

I've done all of that route, in fact did the 75 miles from Brewster down the N/S County trails, into Manhattan, down the West Side, and across the Brooklyn Bridge. My normal commute though is from Brooklyn into Manhattan, 10 miles each way. Some days I wear street clothes, but mostly I wear my road cycling clothes on my old Trek MTB/Commuter. I'm going to be sweaty after 10 miles no matter what the weather, so I have to change anyway.

I agree, the first few paragraphs of the article were a bit offputting to me with the un-necessary insertion of brand names. The rest of the article seemed a bit tamer. Well, the whole paceline commuter thing was a new one for me. I've never seen that before. But hey, if racers get some training in while also commuting, more power to 'em.

Why the concern over what people wear? I suspect they are wearing the clothing that functions best for them in their circumstances. I know that when my commute was over 100 miles round trip I was a lot more comfortable in cycling specific clothing than I would have been in anything else. Even my 50 mile round trip commute was much better in cycling clothes.

Also, the article seemed to be saying that only a few of the commuters in question are racers. Even the racers are just commuters, though. Pacelines are a reasonable way for cyclists to get where they are going and are especially good when the group has experience riding together.

They have to establish that he's not just a loser who must ride a bike, but rather a successful professional who chooses to ride. This is NYC after all. They have to relate to their readership base.

Typical commuters who wear street clothes are, well, ordinary, thereby not newsworthy. Perhaps they are becoming ordinary and boring, because they are plentiful, like motorists. That is a good thing.

Great article. I can't believe what some people can do, if they set their mind to it.

Not only that. They have to get their affluent readership into a spending mood. A publication that can do this is attractive to advertisers.

Also, we are forgetting.......

Cyclist commuter clothes and cycling fashion doesn't make a hill of beans to me, however.....

Very important to my wife and to many female commuters. My wife loves to have that common ground to discuss with other women cyclist...clothes, layers, hoodies, and things like baskets, bells, feminine panniers, purses that clip to bike, etc, etc, etc....

Also, many men in downtown Austin are into the whole commuter clothing and/or hip urban cyclist look.

Just not me.....

The article was about people who trek in from Northern NJ and beyond. You won't really find people who do that who are wearing street clothes and odds are, they're going to be on a high-end bike. Simply put, the drive that it would take to do that regularly is something that a "Type A" is generally only going to undertake. Even guys I know who worked in nice NYC bike shops generally would drive down to Englewood Cliffs or somewhere much closer and ride over the bridge from there.

Much has been written about how people who live in NYC commute to work and/or replace errands with bike trips, but while that also takes dedication, once you pass the "Get off your butt" factor about it, it's not that hard.

Bikes are only permitted on the upper-level of the GWB, which does close overnight. The lower level is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week unless there's planned maintenance. But bikes are never permitted on the lower level because there's no path and also because heavy duty trucks are restricted to the lower level. It's a zoo and wouldn't be bike friendly.

As far as the fashion and bike model comments, I dare say you probably won't see too many suburban commuters who don't fit that mold. They're a much different breed than your typical cyclist. More than half probably race.

I don't think the concern is that he was in cycling clothes. It was the author mentioning all the brands. Mention he wears cold weather bicycling tights and on a cross bike, fine. Mention that they're Pearl Izuma Elite blah blah, why? Makes it seem either like ad placement, or that the author was 30 words short of his 1000 word minimum.

What the hell is wrong with "enthusiastic" commuting, anyway? I wouldn't do it if I didn't like it.

Reminds me of the SF2G (San Francisco to Google) group.
http://sf2g.com/

Thanks for the info. This makes more sense for the average human being with other things to do besides live on a bike, work, and sleep. I was stuck with a 30 mile (round trip) commute for about 18 months when in my late 40s. My reasonable limit is 150 miles in a day, but not day after day as a commute. Even the 1 hour each way commute, though no big feat of physical prowess, took more time that I really wanted to commit to cycling every day. I had no other options, so I lived with it. Had there been a train, I likely would have been really happy cycling into work, then napping on a train in the PM.

I am one of these more "normal" commuters. The only cycling specific clothing I have is a helmet and gloves, and a reflective harness-thing. I commute 6 miles each way, from Brooklyn to Manhattan. I have 4 bikes, but I mostly commute on an '83 Trek that I am always tinkering with, changing things on. I recently added generator lights. Big upgrade! I enjoy riding in NYC, and I like most of the new infrastructure that's been put in in recent years--meaning more bike lanes and paths. That's about it, there's your whole story! ;)

Yep. I have a feeling this dude could easily afford to live in Manhattan, maybe just not the way he wants.

I think the group commute thing is pretty cool. You don't necessarily have to be an "enthusiast" cyclist to benefit from something like that if the group is riding a comfortable pace for you.

"You Don't Have to Be Superhuman to Commute by Bicycle"

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/com...-bicycle/4508/

























Snug Harbor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFj80L5e3no

What's wrong with "an entire ensemble of specialized clothing?"