That's just a longer way to say what OP already said: "i suppose i could just watch what i eat more carefully, but that's no fun at all."

There's a distinct difference between observing what you eat, as opposed to restricting your diet. I merely gave a few pointers. I hope that's alright with you ...

I believe it was the second part of my statement that RubeRad was referencing, the part where i said "but that's no fun at all".

Whether you are "observing what you eat" or "restricting your diet", it's just not any fun either way.

I live in Chicago for chist's sake, what's the point of even living here if i can't occasionally indulge in this town's notorious cornucopia of junk food?

Forgot to include the little smiley face. A lame attempt at humor.

I made my first shorter commute yesterday, and the different route should be much more enjoyable than the old one. It covers some tree lined residential streets that are great for riding, and I didn't have to worry about any dog walkers intent on keeping left at any cost on the bike path like my old route. And the ride home included a trip to the credit union that added enough mileage to roughly equal my old trip.

my wife and i moved into our new place on monday. today was my first commute into work on my radically shorter route.

from my new home there's an absolutely straight-as-an-arrow direct route to my office along a busy commercial street that's 4.2 miles one-way.

alternatively, there's a super-mellow, quiet, calm, no traffic, tree-lined side-street route that's about 4.7 miles one-way.

being that i'm so much freaking closer to work now, i opted for the 4.7 mile side street route. i can see that becoming my everyday route. it adds maybe 3 minutes over the direct busy commercial street route, but it's so much more peaceful and calm than biking down clark street/chicago avenue at rush hour. i did the 4.7 mile side street route in just under 20 minutes, which is so much radically shorter than the ~1 hr, 14.5 mile commute i used to have that i am not going to worry about 3 minutes when the upside is having a much calmer and safer ride everyday.

i did greatly miss riding along the lakefront, but this new distance is going to put so much time back in my day that i don't think i will miss it for very long. and the lakefront will always still be there for days when i feel like extending a ride.

What he said. I have a 6 mile commute each way and that is great if I need to get to work fast. However some afternoons I will turn it into 18 miles. It's nice to have choices. Congratulations on the baby!

I can't think of a downside to a 5 mile commute in that situation. You'll need that extra 80 minutes for sleep. On the other hand the 20 minutes of alone time is golden.

Congratulations. It's enviable to have a 5-mile commute, and it's doubly enviable that you were able to save money by moving closer to work. Usually, we have to make a tradeoff between a short commute and affordable housing.

...or less comfortable housing. I downgraded from a 4br detached house + yard (and 50+ mi r/t commute) to a 3br townhouse with a 11mi r/t commute that I bike full time.

(Of course, you're talking about manhattan, one of the few places in the country where the housing market is more difficult than here in san diego; you probably already live in what most people would consider a walk-in closet)

chicago (along with that vast useless expanse of land between the east and west coasts known as "America") is in an entirely different universe of real estate affordability compared against manhattan or anywhere in california.

my wife and i were living in a 825 SF 1-bedroom condo in a downtown chicago highrise that will hopefully fetch around $290,000 when we go to sell it.

Our new place that's ~8 miles north of downtown in the edgewater neighborhood is a 1,650 SF 2-bedroom condo in a 6-flat building that we paid $279,000 for.

we doubled our living space in anticipation of our new daughter and we'll still be in a similar ballpark mortgage-wise. the reason my commute got so much shorter is because my job is in the burbs.

If I need something I forgot, its a 20 minute RT rather than an Hour(+)..


I'm mostly Retired , Now live in verge of Town, 1/2 mile from anywhere in town , 2 blocks from the River.

but it's a 10 mile RT for groceries ..
As the stores moved out to where they can build Sprawling parking lots.

Yes - this is so true! My commute is also incredibly short (around 4 km). It's fantastic to be able to get home in a hurry if I need to, and I can ride this faster than I can drive it. But periodically I'll get up early and do a nice scenic route to work, taking in the ocean and some nice trails, probably adding about 15 km or so. Or I'll go shopping, run errands etc. after work, maybe even ride to a local brewpub for a pint before heading home. There's no need to take the most direct route, but if I'm in a hurry it's awfully nice to be able to do so.

I did not ride before my kids were born, I took it up when they were 2 and 4. My commute is 12 miles each way, and I think it's about perfect, one hour each way and no need for any other exercise afterwards. But here's the rub. One of the reasons I took up commuting was because it was a way for me to get exercise in without interfering with family time. Don't think that you will just start riding more on the weekends. If your experience is like mine, once you're home, you're home, and you won't know from one day to the next what you are going to come home to, sleeping wife, sleeping baby. Everyone crying and screaming. Wife crying, baby sleeping All those scenarios. And when you get home, she's been there all day and is ready to hand you that little bundle of joy (which is truly a joy). I gave up golf when the kids were born because I no longer wanted to spend half a day on the weekend chasing a ball around. My commute by car takes a minimum of 20 minutes and could take the full hour or more, so riding the bike instead does not really add to my time away from home. After a long week at home with the little angel, your wife may have a list of things she wants to go out and do on the weekend while you stay at home. You can also make an arrangement, that you get a long ride home from work and she gets a nap when you get home. But from my experience, as I said, once you're home you're home, and it's great, just plan accordingly!
Congrats!

Geez, judging by the number of "me toos" when someone mentioned having twins, you'd think having a single baby was the anomaly here.

And Wikipedia says the term "singleton" is the proper way to identify a single baby o.O; Never knew that.

I've been commuting more often since our office moved and my commute got shortened by a third, and have found my new commute is much more enjoyable than my old one. I now ride on wider streets with less traffic instead of a mixture of streets and a bike path, and don't miss the loose dogs and salmon I encountered way too often on the bike path.

Congrats on the new family member and the move.

I live a few blocks from the Channel trail in west Rogers Park and really enjoy riding from my home to Highland Park and beyond.

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?gl=US...285156c3e447ef