neuroflora

• It's fun to spend quality time with my bike.
• I can't even afford public transportation right now, much less a car.
• It gets me to and from work in the same amount of time as the El train.
• It can go where the buses don't go. And I don't have to wait for it.
• Exercise makes me feel great, but my previous activity (running) made my chest hurt. It's also easier to breathe deeply when I'm riding.
• I can sing without people looking at me like I'm nuts (I am).
• I get to be obnoxious and brag about my mileage. Also, I get to geek out with other cyclists.
• It gets me outside.
• My commute along the lakeshore is gorgeous.
• Free, easy-to-find parking.
• Maintenance is extremely cheap. Especially once I've learned to do it myself.

bikegrrrl

Because it's good, clean, green, cheap fun. And it means I can eat all the desserts I want.

DX-MAN

A decade ago, I was car-light, riding back/forth to work for the enjoyment, the needs of the family (wife could have the van for the kids' needs), and to save a few bucks. It quickly became less and less of a burden.

Nearly six years ago, the car I'd acquired (after giving the van to the now-ex-wife), gave up on me. I junked it and never replaced it, I was too set in the habit of riding for work. Adding in the rides for paying bills, and the occasional grocery run (did that in the late 90's, as well, as a family event) was an easy thing to do, just make the choice.

I will admit that, at the time, I junked the car and chose not to shop for another because of finances; it would have been either the house or the new car, couldn't have both -- this was just at the time we were starting to see serious rises in gas prices, too. (The last gallon of gas I put in that car was $1.80.) A car payment, full coverage insurance, and the related expenses would have put me over the edge. I figured, "Hell -- I haven't driven this car but twice in the last month, I DON'T NEED A CAR!"

I have since added fitness and longevity to the reasons of joy and economy for riding. I am committed to riding 90 minutes on my 90th birthday!

deadprez012

I ride because bicycles brought me into engineering. I ride because bikes give me a reason to talk about vibrations, material strength, trusses & static loading, rotational dynamics, aerodynamics & optimization, systems engineering, mass production, human error & human efficiency, thermodynamics (conservation of energy, exergy, etc), computer-aided analysis, engineering design, modeling, prototyping, competitive trickle-down, and gear systems without seeming like a hobbyless, boring loser!

I also ride because I am my own ultimate fitness test. I ride because I am fulfilled by the wind in my face. I ride because it inspires people to change their lives. I ride because it lets me promote myself, my business, my shoes, my exercise & nutrition philosophy. I ride because it lets me laugh at rising & falling gas prices. I ride for freedom (from the cage, the box, and the material).

I ride for Freedom (from petroleum-based tyranny).

I ride for Freedom (for inspired events).

But all of that notwithstanding, all of it forgotten at the end of the day, all of it merely dug up in a quest to write something epic & poetic about why I ride...

I ride...

Because I love to ride.

And that's all I really remember about it when the ride is over.

Sequimite

I fell in love with the serenity of cycling over a decade ago, watching the sun rise as I biked to work each morning. Too many close calls with cars caused me to eventually abandon bike commuting.

Retiring to a bicycle friendly rural area two years ago, I've slowly gotten back into biking and the death of my pickup truck a few weeks ago has left me determined to minimize my use of motor vehicles and maximize my time on the bike. My reasons are many: fun, athletic achievement, social, financial and environmental. I'm afraid the environmental, as much as I appreciate it, really does come last as a motivation for me.

sevenhills

I am an environmentalist too, so I wanted to try be car-less for a few months, and I think I like it. I also did it to save money, and a way to get my daughter doing more exercise. I enjoy exercise too.
Because if you have a car, its cheaper to use it than get the bus. I have only been car-less for 3 weeks, but its getting better the more that I get the right bikes/trailers to do various things.

es82

My initial reason to ride: The local transit was threatening to go on strike, it was spring time and I figured I'd want a way into work.

That's sparked an all around interest in cycling, and now I do it for : Fitness, Fun, Cheaper, Faster. While the enviro-factor is a bonus, it's not a primary reason.

rumrunn6

to build the glutes.

it builds the glutes, right? hahaha

CitiZen

I ride to drop a pound or two, which I surely cannot do on my main transportation, a Vespa.

Also, since the advent of the Slow Bicycle Movement, I like to think I'm not the only meanderer out there. Most definitely a movement whose time has come!

B. Carfree

While in college in the '70s, I realized that I was spending too much money on my car, so I sold it. School was 7 miles from home and I mixed up my transportation: walking, biking, running, rollerskating, bus. The bike was much faster than anything else (including the car, Hayward, CA was more than a little congested). When it came time to transfer to a four-year school, U.C. Berkeley, UCLA and U.C. Davis all had among the best biochem. programs in the nation back then, so I looked into all three. Actually, I never made it to UCLA because when I visited UCD and witnessed a roadway at 5:00 PM with somewhere between 5000 and 10000 bikes and no cars I literally thought I had died and gone to heaven. This was so contrary to anything I had seen that I just had to be a part of it. I think that is why I ride to this day, that feeling of being a part of something that is somewhat magical.

Sadly, during my years in Davis I watched as the bike culture disappeared. I never thought it could happen but I knew it was over when a friend who is a substitute teacher told me the kids referred to my family as "the bike family". Back in the day, a family who drove a car would have been known as "the car family". I long for that day's return. Part of why I ride is to stubbornly be here when it does.

HugoC

I can't afford a car and I've never owned one of my own (I'm 30). I bought a bike because I'm taking classes in Spring semester. For Fall/Winter the bus pass is rolled into tuition fees, but in Spring/Summer it isn't, and buying the bus pass would have cost me about $100 less than buying a bike. So I bought a bike to ride to school. Now I ride it for fun, and it's helping me lose weight and get back in shape, which has become a problem since going back to school made it hard to find time for the gym and I got into a steady relationship.

Novakane 

In Ontario it used to be pretty easy to get a car license, however two weeks before my sixteenth birthday they introduced graduated licensing to make it much harder. I do support this decision but it was extremely inconvenient for me. I grew up in the country and having to have a driver with 4+ years experience in the passenger seat at all times was not always a possibility every time I needed to go into town.

I was already cycling hundreds of kilometers in a given week to get anywhere, then I had a license but lacked the ability to use it due to the government restrictions, so I just kept using my bicycle. Shortly after turning nineteen I moved into the city and getting a car seemed a frivolous idea - I had public transit near my doorstep and a couple of bicycles at my disposal.

I did half-heartedly attempt a few times to get a car at a good deal, but something always jinxed it, like major repairs where suddenly needed and I decided not to waste my money and I have no regrets about this decision whatsoever. Really the attempts where only made to placate a certain lady friend I was with at the time, and getting saddled with auto debt, home debt and school debt is what hip young people do... However, conformity for it's own sake has never been high on my agenda, and I questioned the validity of that concept.

As time went on, I saw getting a car as an unnecessary complication and expense in my life - you have to pay for insurance, leasing payments, license renewals, gasoline, oil, wiper fluid, replace expensive parts, remember to fill up all those consumable products as you burn them out into the air creating more pollution.

Getting a car is a huge hassle for all the time saving it's supposed to do. I've seen coworkers arrive stressed from the traffic, when I was able to sit and read a book on the bus or get some exercise riding trails along the riverfront, and often they didn't arrive any faster than I did due to construction or an accident on the highway or they had to stop for gas.

When you boil it all down, getting a car makes very little sense to me, I really enjoy riding my bicycle, I'm getting exercise while I get around which means I never have to go out of my way to get in shape (like going to a gym) and...

chasm54

Don't be so lacking in ambition. Why not 90 miles? Or, if you're not feeling well that day, settle for 90 km.

Fasteryoufool

Heheheheh... the other day I was on my way to a class, and I was tooling along at about 20mph, kind of pushing the pace a bit (level ground) and a kid that looked to be 8 or 9 years old rolled down his window as his mom drove by and yelled "You're doing GREAT!" and gave me a big thumbs up. It kind of cracked me up. I don't even know if he was being sarcastic or not, but it was funny either way.

captainkanji

I started riding back in 2005 because I was having financial troubles and couldn't afford the insurance and registration. I started with an old walmart special, but as the years went by, I really got into cycling. With most of my troubles behind me, I'm about to purchase my 3rd Giant (no flames please ). I have a Rincon (it's what I could afford at the time) for an emergency/spare, and an Iguana I bought used but would never sell in a million years, I love it. I'm saving to buy a Giant TCX cyclocross bike to use as a road bike (at 265 lbs, I'm a bit heavy for a carbon fiber road bike). Since I only live 4.25 miles from work, I'm finding that I have to take different/longer routes to get a workout. I've lost 35 lbs since I started cycling (and switched to diet soda).

kandyredcoi

health, fitness, recreation...

wahoonc

I sure wouldn't beat you up over the Giants...I have had a few of them and have always considered them an excellent value for the dollars spent. I currently have two that were both purchased new, a 1989 Iguana that is being reborn as an expedition tour bike and a Excursion that started out life as a European trekking bike, but has been converted to drop bars and used as a road tour bike.

Aaron

SunnyFlorida

Because I'm cheap. There I said it.

Because I don't want to be dominated by a bus schedule which usually puts me at my destination either too early or too late.

Because I look cute in black shorts.

Foofy

Kinda all of the above reasons for me. Fun, exercise, and to help the environment a bit.

DX-MAN

chasm, I can't do 90 miles NOW! My ride of choice is MTB, and I'm a clyde with back problems.

So I'll do the 90 minutes.

wahoonc

There ya go!

Can we get pictures

Aaron

C_Heath

all of the above. Plus id weigh 300 pounds if I didnt, I love food!!

Cyclaholic

To reach my destination.

12bar

Because there is just something about riding that makes the world a better place for me.

Matt_E

I grew up riding a bike everywhere in my home country of East Germany.
Nowadays I live in Washington State and have a family.
I got back into riding to commute to work and school a couple of years ago.
I like the exercise it provides during a necessary part of the day (commute).
I like the feel of riding a bike.
I like not burning gas or money in my truck.
I like riding bikes with my little boys.
I like being independent of motorized transportation.
I like being "that guy" at work.