Eye-opening commuter contrast
 

I've just been commuting for a few weeks now. I work at two different locations and two different shifts; one shift and location is pretty bike-friendly. The other location less so.

Last week my wife's car was in the shop so I wound up commuting the whole week - spent a total of 15 min in a car Monday through Friday.

After that week, it was such a shock to get back in a car again. Red lights, traffic, lane changes, noise... the contrast was more dramatic owing to the fact that my bike commute is almost all on a greenway, so it's lots of trees and peaceful with the occasional deer, fox, or other wildlife. Not much of any of that driving a car.

This brought me to the realization that cars - particularly the reliance on cars - is a major detractor from quality of life. I was just a lot happier on my all-bike week - and will be trying to have more of them in the future.

I'll offer an opinion after next weekend. I've rented a car so I can get to my granddaughter's birthday party in Maryland from a class in Virginia. This will be the first time I've driven since 2009.

Did you ever notice that when you are on a bike you never have to check your speedometer when you see a cop car?

That's the one that always gets me. In fact, when I'm on a bike cops are irrelevant. I can really see that they are just a bunch of car traffic monitors.

I had a similar experience this summer. Since May 12th, I've used my bikes for transportation. Only time I drive is when my wife and I go somewhere or I go to an out of town group ride. Our plan is for me to ride through next winter, not to tough where I live, and sell my car. I can't wait, bike commuting it just so much fun. I don't even like looking at my car anymore.

Two things I had to get over. Riding in the rain and riding in the dark. With the right equipment, which I got, neither is a problem. However, I had to get over both of them. I didn't allow rain or dark to stop me from riding. After a few night and wet trips I realized it was no big deal.

Best of luck on your journey!

I wish I could be car free. I have an hour commute by car and would love to move close enough to walk. Maybe someday. I envy you.

I once went six months without driving or even riding in a car. The first time sitting in the passenger seat after that kength of time I had the intense desire to pedal with the car in motion...I absolutely hate sitting in traffic now. It all just seems so maddeningly stupid to creep along at 5mph in bumper to bumper traffic.

I love cars and bikes. I hate traffic more than I like cars, so I ride a bike most of the time. Last couple weeks of August, traffic is so light, I drive to work and go for a ride after work. Nice not to be sweaty in the morning, and to ride different places from work. Breaks up the routine.

I don't mind driving on the highway or on a country road with hardly any other cars around. In fact, I enjoy that kind of driving. However, I do not like the endless traffic lights on my commute or the people driving 5 under the speed limit for no reason. My commute is so short that my car does not even have time to fully warm up and run most efficiently. When I get to work by car, parking is lackluster. I worry about someone hitting it in the parking lot. When I bike to work, the commute is much more enjoyable and the parking situation is great. We have a bike rack outside with security cameras in the vicinity and if it is going to rain, I just bring my bike into the office.

A year ago, almost to the day, I moved from suburban New Jersey to Manhattan. Over that year, I've done a mixture of subway and bike travel. The last few months, I've done it almost exclusively by bike. On Friday, I took the subway for the first time in two months! I was just too tired after a few days of very heavy riding.

Car driving is awful. It's much more stressful than we know. When you bang your head against the wall repeatedly, it feels great when you stop. So it is with car commuting.

"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are." --Repo Man

When i was dating this professor i ended up driving a bit, mostly for errands while she was teaching (local college). I really loved riding to her place and back, even though it was over a wall of a hill in the middle of the route in both directions. She's canadian & went back home often... and for winter break, i went up to join her via the train & split the drive back (i drove farther, and was awake longer). I did not have my bike with me on that trip & when i got back home i don't think i set foot in an automobile for a good 2 weeks and boy did it feel good. That's the only real driving i've done, using her car(s). I was thinking about buying an older diesel & converting it to bio-diesel, but after driving for 9 months here and there (maybe 2x a week less than 10 minutes a trip), it just turned me off completely & i'm totally dedicated to living car free at this point.

As for police & traffic nanny...... We have the state police that do the majority of highway stops, so local PD ends up doing about 50% civil & criminal stuff and the other 50% is all traffic related. Imagine how much taxpayers would eventually save if we invested in complete streets, road upkeep (so they are fit for cycling on), driver training vs one simple road test and transit.

- Andy

Now you know how I feel after RAGBRAI each year. ;) That first time I have to drive, I feel like such a putz -- "I just rode my bike across the state, and now I'm hopping in the car to drive a couple lousy miles?"

Yep, I hate that more than anything. Whenever someone calls me crazy for cycling through traffic, rain, wind etc. I tell them they are correct, and that it was years of being strapped straight jacket style in a car, moving at a snail's pace, that made me crazy. Life is too short for that crap.

Years ago, I heard in a lecture by a psychiatrist that the most potent stressor in animal studies is immobilization. So in an automobile, one is effectively immobilized, and the driver is furthermore in the often stressful situation of driving itself, including when the car itself is restrained by traffic. With the typical daily, often long/slow commutes for many years, it can’t be a good thing for one’s health.

Personally, I like to drive in non-commuting / smooth traffic-flow situations, though I prefer the bike, and I have a great commute.

Even when I drive on occasion, I have a reverse commute direction, early in the morning. So even my auto commute is a “non-commuting situation.”

In case you have forgotten, don't try to constantly push down on both the left and right pedals in the car. The pedal on the right is go. The pedal on the left is stop. Use them accordingly.

I often go M - F without driving. I also feel a bit of an adjustment when I drive. I think, "Look how fast I'm going!"

I had a similar experience when I started bike commuting 2 months ago. I always took the subway prior to riding my bike to work. I never really minded it until I started taking the train again on rainy days. Now I absolutely hate taking the train. The people, the delays, the smells, the standing around, etc drives me crazy now.

2009?? Really? You want to take your act on the Interstates after being out of practice for six years? You aren't carrying passengers are you? I try to get behind the wheel at least yearly just to make sure my reaction times are up to the rigors of driving amongst the heathen. YMMDV.

H

I'm picking up the car locally the day before, will travel alone, and will practice before I make the trip. Other than overcoming my own intimidation, I have to familiarize myself with whatever car the rental company gives me. I'll be using a GPS as well since I have no idea how to get to these places not using a bicycle and mass transit.

I don't anyway, because I don't speed. It's a welcome change from my younger days when I was always pushing it. These days I see a cop car and have no reaction whatsoever because I'm never doing anything illegal.

Me too - I don't speed...

...very much :D

Mostly because my bike is faster than my pickup truck :speedy:

Eh, a couple of weeks ago I got stopped by a cop for "not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign". They didn't ticket me, they didn't even give me an official warning. I was driving at or below the speed limit, and came to an "almost complete" stop at a stop sign where I was taking a right turn.

If the cops are bored, or they want to find a reason to pull you over, or suddenly they're given a quota, it's almost impossible to not give them some excuse.

I once went 3 years without driving, and getting behind the wheel did feel weird. I drove like a near-sighted grandma at first, excessively slow and cautious. On the freeway it wasn't so bad though, and it comes back quickly.

I'm going to comment because I feel like this needs some contrast.

Last year I decided I was going to bike to work. Well, going the bike path route it was a 1:15 ride. The more-road route was a 0:45 ride. In my car? 15-20 minutes of highway that's almost a straight stretch to work.

Well, it hit spring, and after a horribly cold spring, it rained almost every day in June. On my bike, this was miserable. In my car - I just go in my car and drove to work. It was easy.

Finally the rain let up and I could bike in. Went the trail route - it was pretty nice, but it took 1:15 minutes to get to work.

Next time I went the road route - omg, watching traffic, crossing streets, streets with no bike lanes, waiting at stoplights - it was a stressful mess. Always watching the cars around me. Etc. On my way home I rode the longer route with less stress.

I've known people to make a challenge of biking to work every day. The last one, a guy who worked at a bike shop. Thing is, I live in Minnesota. Every time it would be the same story - they'd do it for a while, then something would happen. A horrible spill (before studded tires), the last one rode on a super code around-0 (fahrenheit) day, and missed having a spot covered, and got frostbite. That stuff doesn't ever completely heal, you're stuck with the tissue damage for the rest of your life. This winter was absolutely god awful horrible for temps here - weeks at a time of highs of 4 degrees, -2 (again, fahrenheit).

I love my biking, but I love my car to.

I recently moved to a new place - it's halfway through the path-route to work, so I'll be biking to work a lot more now. It's great, but...sorry, I know it's a bike forum, but you can pry my car keys from my cold dead fingers. :P A car is just so much better at handling bad weather.

I do come to a complete stop at stop signs. I started meticulously obeying every law when I got fed up with people complaining about cyclists not meticulously obeying every law.

Let me tell you, people get really irritated when you follow every law, because it forces THEM to in some cases, and drivers do NOT want to follow the law. After years of observation, I realized that a fairly reliable method of telling if a driver is breaking a law is to look at the tires. If they're turning, he's probably breaking a law. If they're NOT turning, then he only MIGHT be breaking a law.

Lol, good (and accurate) rule...

When I used to drive my commute (one way) was anywhere from 45 minutes to as much as two hours, depending on traffic (but usually under an hour). I was also riding my bicycle recreationally most days for about 1.5 hours. Now I've been car free for a few years. My commute is now less than 1.5 hours and varies by only a few minutes regardless of traffic.

So I get my commute and bike riding done at the same time, spend little more time dong it, never sit in traffic. LCF rocks!:thumb: