Mark Stone

I've taken two days off from bicycle commuting and I've decided to change my tactic. Round trip from home to work is about 35 miles, and I'm not ready for that distance yet. So I have been riding about half the distance (actually about a third) and riding the bus from there. But I hate the bus!!! And so I dislike the commute because I hate the bus!! So here's what I'm going to do: start driving my car about halfway to work, park in a shopping center parking lot, then ride the bike the rest of the way to work. It will be easier because it will take a lot less time, and then I can gradually increase my cycling distance by steps.

The bus here is insane. The buses always break down, the drivers text while driving, the routes don't make a lick of sense so it takes freaking forever to get anywhere, the bike carriers on the bus are too dam small to carry my bike (I'm 6'5" and my bikes are monsters), and the buses are full of weirdos. So I'm gonna use the half-car-half-bike method until I'm strong enough for the entire distance which I think won't be that long.

treadtread

If you are a two car household, and have safe overnight parking for both bike and car at work, you could also ride to office, drive back, drive to office, ride back and so on.

Mark Stone

I've thought about that, good idea! Parking is secure at work, so I'll consider it

Ridefreemc

That would be better on the car, save fuel, and reduce the amount of pollution produced. Cars are very inefficient when cold (i.e., until they warm up) and most of the wear experienced is at start up. So once a day vs. twice a day is much better.

You also may want to study the bus routes and see if you can find a more direct route - maybe by riding a little out of your way.

Mark Stone

I did it! Today I drove about half-way and parked my car, then rode the rest of the way in to work. That is much, much better than using the bus. It took about half the time, and I actually rode further. Now I'll gradually increase riding/decrease driving through the next few months until I can bicycle the whole distance. This rocks.

acidfast7

move and release the need of the car. seems pretty simple to me?

droy45

So, Tractor, did you ever do that commute before? or did I miss something along the way? Hope you didn't get hurt or anything.

old's'cool

I was doing multi-modal a few of seasons ago and it worked out great. In my case it was the lack of bike-friendly routes near my workplace that instigated it, i.e. I was riding about half the distance from home to work, and driving the rest; reverse in the afternoon.

The above is all true, but as an automotive engineer I can attest that late model cars (<10 years old or so) have very effective coldstart engine management strategies that minimize pollution during the coldstart and warmup phases. So-called ULEV and SULEV rated vehicles are even better in this respect.

Mark Stone

Yes I did, but a little while ago I stopped bike commuting because I got tired of it. Ironically, my actual bike time increased after that because I was getting off at about 2pm and had all afternoon to ride. But about 3 weeks ago they switched us to 10 hour workdays, so there went the extra time for bicycle adventures - hence back to commuting.

Mark Stone

I've actually thought about that. However, the 17 miles one-way is well within my commuting range historically and I think all I need to do is work back up to that distance.

droy45

17 miles one way is a fairly long distance. It is certainly doable. I commute 11 miles one way and find its long enough. As it is, I spend 1hour each way and in the winter, 1hour 15mins. It makes for a longer day but I sure enjoy it. Haven't been able to commute lately because of working out of town and more recent the terribly low wind chills. And now 30 in. of snow. I can't win. I miss it badly, can't wait to get back on it.

hsh101

This is exactly how I started my commute (total was 18 miles each way)... then quickly worked up to riding the whole distance.

cplager

Even if you end up doing that permanently (driving half, biking half), you are still getting the benefit of driving less and biking more. That's a win. If you get to the point where you do the whole ride, great. If not, don't sweat it.

gerv 

I like this advice, but realize it is often impractical in US cities. When I bought a house, I was able to afford a Des Moines location close to jobs. But this is not always the case in larger or more spread-out locations.

In the long run, it would be a good idea to keep this as a goal... because it does make life so much simpler in so many ways.

orange57

I'm looking to start bike commuting, but don't think i could ever give up a car. There is just something about the roar of the engine when i mash the gas that brings a smile to my face. I look at it as more of a hobby that also gets me around. But with that said i am looking to reduce the miles i put on the car each year.

Mark Stone

Well, back to the op (me), it's not going to be an issue because the distance (17 miles one-way) will be something well within my capabilities in a relatively short period of time. It's pretty flat. In past decades I considered the distance nothing at all, and even though I'm looking at 60 in a month it's gonna be "nothing" again.

GaryinLA

I drove/parked and biked to work for awhile. Reason i did it was because my car had an oil leak and the building management at work didnt want to clean up after my car anymore and i didnt want to spend the money to fix the car for awhile.

What happened to me is i parked across from a high school. After about 6 weeks one day the bike rack was stolen off the back of my hatchback car. I thought it was safe because the nylon strap went through the hatch but the thief cut the strap.

I got the bike rack used for $60 so didnt lose a lot of $ but i havent replaced it because same thing could happen. So now i take the wheel off and transport the bike insdie of the car, which is not as convenient (I cant put bikes in there that have milk crates attached and cant transport a passenger with bike in the car.
So watch out for your bike rack attached to your car