I-Like-To-Bike

The same thing that gets me to ride: I feel like it.

Don't need to make excuses or apologies for either action

gerv 

But I think the question was... sort of.. what makes you feel like stopping riding. I think it was an attempt to see if you had physical limits.

cerewa

What stops me from riding is the internet. (I can work from home most of the time, and when I don't need to go from one place to another i usually don't ride a bike)

Cyclepup

I'll opt for a car in cases of:

1) Pain
2) High winds
3) Time constraints/urgency
4) Distance (my mom lives 70-miles away)
5) General laziness (I've had my days)

Drv1913

What stops me from riding to work:

1) I sometimes need to haul things for work. I do not have a bike trailer or any other carrying capacity on my bike other than a handlebar basket.
2) I sometimes have an after-work appointment across town that I couldn't get to in time by bike.
3) high temperatures combined with high humidity or temperatures low enough to freeze my fingertips are both too unpleasant for me to ride in. I bike for transportation because I enjoy it. If I don't enjoy it, I'm not going to do it.
4) Sometimes I am just lazy.

For non-work transportation, I really don't have any limits other than heat & humidity if I am going somewhere at which I will need to be presentable when I arrive. I will travel long distances or in light rain, for example, to do things like visit a favorite restaurant or go to the movies or the post office. If I am I'll or in physical pain of some sort, I'm generally not going anywhere anyway.

gerv 

I'll just say I need a rest day...

Northwestrider

ice, knee pain, bulky items and rarely on occasion I do simply get lazy.

LadyCRides

1 - Ice and snow

2 - I won't ride in the dark, so I drive the car if I need to go out at night

3 - I take the car when I have to stock up on dog food, and heavy items

SPECELIZEDRIDER

flat tires LOL

bjjoondo 

LOL, there are times we just "WALK", cause it's PIA to get all suited up in bike clothes! Sorry I can't ride a bike without padded shorts, I'm a fairly large person, 6' 230 lbs. and in ANYTING but bike clothes I SWEAT LIKE a PIG!!!! I will be soaked in even a short ride in hot weather or even sometimes in colder weather. Ok, I confess, I'm a wuss, I like my bikes way too much to ride them in the Winter Slop!! We live in a 3rd. floor, one bedroom apt. so I don't have a place to "wash off the crud" and my lovely bikes would become piles of RUST quickly! IF we had more room, (we have 4 bikes now), I'd by a "BSO" from Wal-Mart and put studded tires on it and just let it RUST away and buy a new one each winter, then it wouldn't bother me to watch it slowly die away into a even more POS. There I've confessed, you may throw stones at your pleasure!

Newspaperguy

I also like my bike far too much to let it die a horrible death from the winter elements. I've got a cheap and old bike for winter use. I don't really care what happens to it, but at the same time I'm not willing to put much time or money into its upkeep. Anything more than a chain, a brake cable or a cheap tire is not worth the effort for this bike.

tim24k

1) Weather, this time of year black ice and freezing rain.
2) Time, some times I have to pick up parts at 10:00am, then be at work 20 miles away to open my shop at 10:30am.
3) Sore legs, some times I need to give them the day off.

Rimmer

I could never get this one. Then, ride slower. If anything, it may speed recovery.

Bluish Green

High winds.

gerv 

nelson249

For the latter one, you need more bikes! When the frame broke on my Norco last fall I just swiped my wife's machine.

cooker

Ice is the main thing that stops me. On pavement, you fall over, and you have some time to deal with it. On ice, the bike skids out from under you and you fall straight down! It's too fast to to react to. Plus, it hurts a lot more when you're cold.

Also, I don't ride to work in heavy rain, but I ride home in it.

duckbill

The roads were slick ice on this mornings commute but with studed tires the traction was like dry pavement. What puts me in the car or on the bus? When the plows havn't been out in time for my ride in or when the temperature drops below -20° C. I just can't seem to keep my hands from freezing at anything below -20°, even with chemical warmers.

harshbarj

If it comes to commuting, then only illness that would keep me from work no matter how I got there. If just casual riding, or trips that are not 100% necessary, then cold weather, rain, high winds. Otherwise nearly nothing stops me. Even snow will not keep me home unless it is very cold, windy....

DocsDad

Salty-wet winter roads. Call me picky but I hate that stuff.

frantik

sickness, cold and rain are the three main things

Amelorn

Emerging from my lurking...

1) A road that in the crossing presents an impractical or dangerous situation. There are many of these on Long Island.
2) Too short a distance. If the way is too short (ie, the stores up the block and around the corner), the time required to park & lock/unlock isn't worth it. Further, the main streets are not bike friendly, requiring walking the bike on the sidewalk, as they are too trafficked to be safely ridden upon.

thryn

I drove to work today. The reason: Before work, I needed to pick up cat/ferret food (which I purchase in large, heavy quantities) as well as a large, new-to-me kitchen trash can and an antique desk. Then I had to pick up the vegetables from my farm share (I do this on the bike, usually) and a friend was bringing me a VitaMix that I'm buying from her. All that is in my hatchback right now, along with two bike wheelsets. Those belong to a friend, whose Trek 420 frame that is coming to live at my house while he's semi-homeless is on the car's bike rack.

It's been a busy day.

Roody

Senior members might get a kick out of this, since in the early days of this forum there were frequent comments like, "I can't be carfree because I can't get the 100 lb bags of pet food home from Costco." As you probably know, there are carfree methods for everything you mention. Of course the added difficulty probably isn't worth it if you have easy access to a car.

gerv 

I think the carfree method can be summed up in one word.... Chill! Or two: slow down!
The car allows you to do so many things... really too many things. When you have a dozen balls in the air, at some point they will all land at once and you will feel suddenly deflated.

The carfree method says, "I have so many errands to do. But maybe I'll just postpone them and go for a ride."