I kind of hate the term "Commuting"
 

Is this just me?

I tend to associate the word with a bunch of suits reading newspapers in trains, and my frantic summer sweat rides coughing up car exhaust or my winter cold rain streaming down my face ride don't seem to match that image.

I don't have a better word or term, perhaps just "I ride my bike to work/everywhere".

I only use the term with other bikies. With anyone else, I "ride/rode my bike to work." It's usually simpler to use those 6 words first, rather than use the term "commute" and then have to unpack it for the person.

"I got sicky sicky gnar gnar on the way to work today."

In our household if you "commute" you ride your bike. Otherwise, you just drive the car.

I hate the term "bike" because people usually assume when I rode my bike to work, I took the Harley.

Riding a bicycle to work is one of those activities that most people don't seem to have a mental category to contain. Pretty much no matter how you describe it some people will assume that you can't possibly mean what it sounds like you mean.

To me commuting is a generic term that means going to and from work, independent of mode of travel.

Of course this forum is about a specific kind of commuting, commuting by bike, bike commuting, riding your bike to work as a form of commuting, or whatever you want to all it. For some of us this may be a mixed mode commuting involving bikes and transit.

Maybe what we need is a special word for bike commuting, like "cyclomuting" and we can be "cyclomuters"

Maybe, but I think folks would have a tough time working that out and you'd end up explaining it to them anyway.

"Bicycle Commuting" is good because it gets around the "bike" being mistaken for a motorcycle as alan s points out and we are actually "commuting" to and from work even if (like me) part of the journey is by train.

Rick / OCRR

I kind of hate threads like this.

Is it just me?

You need to live in an area where people "commute to work by bike."

An example from a few places I have lived (or currently live):

CPH: Frankfurt: Stokcholm: Texas:

It's just you. You have a narrow view of the definition of commute.
com·mute verb \k?-'myüt\: to travel regularly to and from a place and especially between where you live and where you work

I'm having a hard time understanding what your videos were supposed to illustrate other than the fact that a rural commute has little traffic while an urban commute has lots of traffic.

Yeah, I don't see your point. Commuting just describes the generic act of traveling from home to work and back. The mode of travel can be anything; I just happen to do it by bicycle.

I usually say I am a bicycle commuter or I bike to work. both generally are well understood. I only suggested a term as the OP said he doesn't like the term commuter, even though we are, as well as many other people who are driving, taking transit, etc.

As a decades-long cycle commuter, that term is perfectly fine with me. To the uninitiated, I simply say "I ride my bike to work." and to impress them I add "year-round." :rolleyes:

actually, I think that bike should mean "bicycle"... if you took the Harley then you rode your motorbike...

I very rarely use the term "commuting" to refer to bicycle commuting outside of this forum. I think it's intent was just to differentiate it from other cycling activities.

For what it's worth I don't particularly like the term either because it has such a drab connotation for me.

No.

It is just me?

I vote for being a psychomuter! Or cyclemuter. Or...I don't care, I just like to ride my bike.

I kinda hate labels so I rarely tell anyone how I get to work. For fifteen years before I restarted my bike-to-work routine, I walked. Nobody called me a foot commuter, or a pedestrian, or a walking commuter - they just knew I walked to work. Now if they see my bike, they know that I bike to work. If they ask me why I don't walk anymore, I tell them that it's cheaper to ride my bike. Buying new shoes all the time was a big issue when I pedi-commuted. Oops, that term sounds a bit off when I said it aloud.

Usually all my customers/friends at work as me if I rode.

That's all i say "I rode" when i bike into work.

usually when i describe myself getting into more extreme forms of biking i say "ride"

and when i want to ask someone socially to ride with me i say "wanna bike"

Yeah, no. Don't like those proposed new words.

This. Given the amount of times I end up explaining that I mean bicycle, I have to wonder how often people assume I meant motorcycle. Especially considering I'm a big, bearded, getting older, guy.

Trying to find sense in Acidfast's postings is a fool's errand. (Not that I'm calling either of you fool's mind you! Just seemed like the right phrase)

I use the term "commute" to mean just that - to commute. In other words, "commute" doesn't tell me anything about your mode of transport. I commute by bike 3-4 days a week. I commute by bus on the other days. I know a few co-workers who commute by car.

When I want to emphasize the mode of transport, I clearly state "I ride (a bike) to work," "I take the bus to work," etc.

"Commuting" to me has conotations of anything but driving to work. So I find it's the right term for me.

Seeing as this is a bike forum the name works.

How about a word from other languages, OP is in Texas, how about 1 in Spanglish?

Commutador ?

Remember the trend to say "time-shift" rather than "record" when it came to recording TV shows for later viewing? I suggest replacing "commuting" with "geo-shifting" such as, "I geo-shifted by bike this morning". Other ideas: pedal-estrianated, pedal-pushed, velocipedalled, veloci-raftered, zipped, spoked, spun, salmoned (well, that's a no-no) ninja-ed (also a no-no) bicycled, "two-wheeled it", "reduced my carbon ass-print", "circus-bear'ed it", cranked, cranked-it, cadence-managed, velocentrized, velo-muted, propelled-myself, HPV'd it (sorry purists), "gave the finger to the oil companies", "refused to join the auto-centric scrum", Pee-Wee'd it, vele-ported, "fahrrad-ed it", "fahrradinated", "beat traffic" and "enjoyed my ride".