Boudicca

There must be dozens of answers, but I came up with one today -- one that must have shaved at least a minute off my 15 minute ride to work

When you get more than half way to the office without hitting a single red light.

Eggplant Jeff

A tailwind on the uphill part of your route.

That happened on Tuesday. Normally I've got a headwind, or no significant wind.

sswartzl

Listening to co-workers describe their difficulties finding parking spots (lots closed due to an afternoon baseball game), and thinking "wow, there were plenty of empty spots on the bike rack this morning."

monsterkidz

Starting and ending your work day with something FUN.

MediaCreations 

Noticing the rapidly rising fuel costs and knowing that you don't have to pay the price.

JohnBrooking

Riding home at a comfortable temperature watching the sun set.

Guest

No buses and green lights all the way!

Koffee

Laika

Catching every light on Flatbush from Grand Army Plaza to the bridge.

Laika

I'll amend this to: riding home at a comfortable temperature early enough that you can get home, take a shower, crack a frosty beverage and watch the sun set from your porch.

super-douper

one of the best parts of my commute is riding over the gridlocked freeway.

ahpook

I love biking along the expressway during rush hour and keeping pace with the same car (usually I pick a Hummer or Imperial Star Cruiser---err, Ford F250 xtended cab) for a mile or two.

I love coming home in the afternoons now that it stays light out. If I can duck out fifteen minutes early or so, I'll take the long way home and feel like I'm getting away with something .

I love meeting other commuters on the road, drop or be dropped matters not. I like the cameraderie conveyed in head-nods and two-finger salutes off the bars.

I love the tired feeling in my legs by Wednesday night and the gradual-but-noticable improvements in muscle tone, in my door-to-door times, and in my technique handling tricky traffic merges.

I love most of all though the fact that I found a way to get the exercise my body and brain need without resorting to a contrivance like driving to the gym; a way that integrates into my daily routine so it doesn't take time away from my family; and that incidentally allows me to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

pj7

Changing from my bike clothes into my street clothes and coming to the realization that "hey, 3 weeks ago these pants were much tighter".

max-a-mill

the nice sun showers i got goin up the hill yesterday...

it was like someone was spraying gentle misters on me the whole way up. then they continued off and on for the rest of the way home keeping me cool while the sun was still nice and warm on my back.

spring has just generally rocked so far!

gcasillo

Girls out jogging, walking, and smiling at me.

This, my son, is happiness.

Map tester

I have to agreed: a nice smile from a woman is a wonderful thing...

jnbacon

Seeing something special or extraordinary that you wouldn't have seen if you had been in a car. I've seen herons hunting in irrigation canals, kingfishers, owls, amazing sunrises, crazy nuts downpours, all without intervening glass and steel.

rykoala

For me, its doing my commute in less than 25 minutes.
Its meeting other cyclists on the road, no matter what they ride or how they're dressed.
Its passing that same car 5 times at the stoplights.
Its blowing past a mile of gridlocked traffic.
Its looking into a car and a pretty girl is looking back at you and smiles.
Its shocking the uninitiated with the fact that I ride 12mi a day, to and from work.
Its passing the gas stations, never having to stop at one.
Its making sure my wife gets to use the car for the things she needs (we only have one)

konageezer

Funny you should ask, since this morning was particularly great…

5:00 a.m. Out the door, an hour before dawn.
5:10 a.m. The moon shining on the water of English Bay. Nobody on the streets but me, two taxis and a parks truck picking up trash.
5:20 a.m. Homeless guy with shopping cart says "Good morning."
5:25 a.m. False Creek seawall, getting lighter, (the sky, not me) a couple sleepy people walking dogs.
5:40 a.m. Detour to ride around Granville Island. Nobody here but me.
5:50 a.m. Riding along Kitsilano beach. The big red pre-dawn glow over the North Shore mountains. Birds are singing, with gusto.
6:00 a.m. Jericho Beach. Lots of ragged cloud overhead, lit underneath by the almost-rising sun. Take a break on a bench. A retired jogger and his German Shepherd come by. The old man stops to talk about how beauriful it is. Yesterday he went home after his morning run and painted the dawn "I put it all on the canvas," he says. The shepherd pokes me in the knee with his wet nose. I rub his throat and call him a mutt, which he doesn't seem to mind.
6:10 a.m. Riding along Arbutus, just because I can when it's this early. The sun is up.
6:20 a.m. The long downhill to the office. No cross traffic. Let's crank this baby up.
6:30 a.m. At the office (which is on the riverside) Take a moment in our little park to see the sun and the beginnings of traffic coming over the bridge. Tugs, barges, and log booms are moving up the river.
6:35 a.m. Shower!

JugglerDave

The one huge downhill I have in the morning, 1/2 mile long, 25 mph speed limit. I usually hit 40-42 mph. I take the lane since I'm going faster than the speed limit. Great cool wind at 7:30 AM, even during the hottest summer days it's still nice and cool in the morning.

Unfortunately there is a 1-lane underpass at the almost-bottom of the hill so I don't get to do much with the accumulated speed.

Oh yeah, and I don't have to go up that hill at the end of the day, either. That would not be fun.

-=$>Dave<$=-

Monument Man

False flats and warm winds, both in my favor.

Sun splashed tan on my face, despite the 45-50 degree temps this time of year.

Passing the youth soccer games, with parents cheering.

Watching the pickup softball in Harvard Square.

Stopping to talk to nice people walking cool dogs.

Getting home and having a hot meal.

Vision-

Seeing the a**hole cager that leaned on the horn as he buzzed by you with six inches to spare ten minutes earlier, pulled over by the cops and getting a speeding ticket. Bonus points if you can make eye contact with him as you glide by slowly singing "Na na na na, na na na na, HEY HEY, GOODBYE!!"

Treespeed

Leaving my car parked in the communal driveway and telling people to go ahead and park behind me as I won't be driving anytime soon.

As far as the riding goes, the word that always comes to mind is freedom. Using a car to go the 6 miles between my home and work feels so ridiculous, as if I was an invalid and needed to use one of those little motorized scooters to get around.

rainedon

My neighbor asking what kind of weird schedule I work since my car is almost always in my driveway.

billh

passing a long column of traffic to the highway onramp, crossing the bridge and seeing bumper to bumper traffic all the way to the horizon . . . then just pedaling slowly away.

CB HI

The same but also add a Bus Driver's strike, meaning less noise, fumes and more bicycle commuters.