How Did You Start Commuting By Bike?
I'm always curious what it takes for a person to make that first commute by bike, that first trip on two wheels from home to work or school, something that too often seems like an impossible and inconceivable feat.
I'll tell you how it went with me. I didn't ride much, but a friend gave me an old road bike, and we went out one Sunday on a ride that ended up being about 25 miles. Suddenly many destinations were now in reach on my "new" bike. My friend rode to the office now and then, so on a whim I decided to try riding to work one day too.
I had no idea how far away the office was in actual distance, or how long it would take me. I just knew it was "15 minutes" by car, so I left about 6 am, thinking it would be a two hour trip on my bike. In actuality, the commute was 6.5 miles, and I made it in 30 minutes, showing up while it was still dark and long before anyone else arrived at work.
I laugh now, looking back at what a woefully imprecise idea I had about how my trip would go, but that is the sort of concept many people carry who aren't riders. And a big part of the battle to get more folks in our ranks is to show that the bike is a very practical choice for many shorter trips.
So how about you? What made you take that first step to becoming an occasional or regular bike commuter? Any funny stories about your first attempt? Comment below.
Comments
The bike commute for me began with a move of the company from a close-by shop to a ride that was 7 miles away. The ride was through suburban streets and countryside full of horse farmss. What kicked me out of the car? My kids were finally old enough so I wasn’t being the soccer mom driving them all over. What a break! From then on it was drive yourself, I’ll be on a bicycle.
I was hitting a “middle-age” wall. I was forced to change jobs, and the accumulated stress sedentary lifestyle was making me sick.
A doctor told me that I needed to get some exercise. I tried walking, but developed “shin splints” within a short distance. I remembered enjoying bike riding as a kid, so I went to the LBS to pick up a used bike. My intention was to gradually build up to being able to maybe ride to work someday.
In the space of a month, after making intermediate trips, I found that riding 5.5 miles to work was not bad. And depending on traffic, the commute time was shorter.
I would ride to work 1-2 times a week. Meantime, my health took a nasty turn. The specialist I visited told me that I only needed to ride if I wanted to live. So, I increased to a goal of riding 3 times a week. Our 2nd vehicle was sitting more than being used, so my wife and I sold it. That was a certain encouragement to keep riding.
In the space of a couple of years, I had built up to averaging 30 miles a week, mostly in commute. I was so proud; I told the specialist that I was up to 30 miles a week. He said, “Good! Make it 50.”
That was earlier this year. Now I average that 50 miles a week–commuting to work, doctors’ visits, and taking side trips. I put 1,800 miles on my bike this year alone, and my goal for 2008 is to hit 2,500. And, I’m feeling much better, looking much better, and saving a boatload of money.
I started biking to work because I couldn’t afford bus fare.
I kept biking to work because it saved me oodles of money and it was great fun as well as being good exercise.
I started riding daily to high school in 1965. I had saved up my summer earnings for a $99 ten-speed sold at Safeway and quickly found I could ride everywhere in minutes in the small town of Chadron, Nebraska. I rode to neighboring towns and 50 miles north to the Black Hills. That bike followed me to college, where it was stolen, to be replaced by several new road , mountain and recumbent bikes.
42 years later, I’m still riding daily to work and throughout my community, after daily commuting in Wyoming, Alaska, New Mexico and California.
In 1996 my car broke down so I used my boss’s bike to commute to/from work in Upstate New York. I remember being so proud of myself when I finally had enough strength to make it up the hill by the mushroom factory without having to hop off the bike and walk.
In 2002 I started dating a die-hard cyclist who let me use his bike to commute from his place in the SW suburbs to our office on the north side of Chicago. My apartment was only a mile from work, but I liked staying with my sweetie — and riding a bike!!! My friends teased me for extending my commute by 19 miles but there was no keeping me from becoming a die-hard cyclist. Driving and taking the train took longer than riding my bike — and my bike was more fun.
A simple gift (a balaclava) from a Bike Winter workshop and a personal goal to ride every Chicago Critical Mass for a year encouraged me to stay on my bike year-round. My commute is much shorter now (my sweetie and I live in the ‘burbs and I work in the ‘burbs) so I find myself thinking of errands I can run by bike to maximize my time in the saddle.
Commuting by car sucks; I love my bike commute — and I always get the best parking spot in the company lot.
I sarted riding for exersice. When I was transfered to a store closer to home I started riding. Now I can’t manage not riding daily. It is the cleanest,freshes, most relaxing way to travel.
I had a bike when I was a kid that I rode a lot. Then after my mom passed away, my dad bought us all mountain bikes which I also rode a lot but sometime before my dad moved, my dad had my brother take that bike where he lives so after about 5 years I mentioned to someone wanting a bike again. It was a road bike which I rode to work although I had a hard time going up the hills. Sometime after that bike’s gears broke down. I went to a bike shop and bought a used specialized mountain bike so I now ride that bike to work whenever I can and I can get up hills now. I don’t always ride the bike in the rain although if it’s not raining that hard sometimes I will. I won’t ride the bike in the snow however.
In 2005, I was paying out a lot of money to a health club I rarely attended because I did not enjoy exercising indoors. One day I came home from filling up the gas tank in my truck and I was complaining about the price of gas. My wife brought up the fact that I was paying money to a health club and not going. That’s when it hit me, Icould ride my bike to work. It would be exercise everyday without having to find time after work. Exercise would be built into my day. I started riding 6 miles eachway every day, and the weight started falling off. I am down 80 pounds now, and saved enough money riding to take my family to Disneyland. I was awarded the Commuter of the Year Award by my local transportation authority this year for riding rain or shine, hot or cold. That truck hasn’t been on the road since Jan 2006, and I am healthier than I have been in 20 years. The 2 biggest complaints I hear from people are obesity and the high cost of gas. I don’t have those problems anymore. 40% of all trips people take in the US are under 3 miles, so taking a bike is a viable option. I say try it, you’ll like it.
In July of 2005, having completed a company physical I realized I was a heart attack waiting to happen, at 58 years of age. I was also diagnosed pre diabetic, weight was 263, tryglycerides 543, cholesterol 220. I left that Doctors office in the most depressed state you could imagine
I had to do something, and that something was initially walking, which progressed into power walking and then one day rooting around the garage I came across my “comfort bike.” I started riding the bike of an evening, first for 5 miles, then 10, then I made a route of 15 miles.
The Christmas of 2005 my wife asked me what I would like for a gift and I told her a road bike. I have since purchased a more lighter and faster bike, and joined a group of riders whereby we meet each Saturday and ride a 55 mile loop.
With diet and excercise I had transformed my state of health from disastrous to incredible. My weight was down to 180, my waist had gone from 44-46 down to 34. My tryglycerides are in the 60 range, total cholesterol 105 and my resting heart range was below 60, and even today my resting heart rate is in the low 40’s. I have put on a few pounds and fluctuate between 185 to 190 pounds, but my waist size is still a 34 inch.
All of this is down to cycling, I have averaged 5,000 plus miles for the last 2 years, eat sensibly, work out regularly, anyone can do it, they just have to get out there and work at it. Forget the diet aids and fads, sensible diet and excercise will take care of it all.
What I enjoy the most is shopping for clothes, looking at Medium and Small tags instead of the L or XL or where I left off XXL.
I really started riding while a junior in high school. We lived about 7 miles outside of town and I was too young for my own car. My father wouldn’t get home until 7 pm and my stepmother would not take me into town for anything once she got home from work (in town).
You could say I learned the hard way. The only road into town was a two-lane state highway shared by cars and tractor-trailers alike. On one side of the road was a mountain and the other side was a drop-off. I admit…I was petrified at first. It used to take me about an hour to get into town (the way was definitely not flat) but it eventually only took me 15-20 minutes to take the trip.
I fell in love with cycling then. It is the only thing which has stayed consistant in my life. Any woman who would ask me to give it up is not the woman for me.
People at my latest job used to give me flack about bike riding to/from work now respect me for it because I manage to get to work when it has snowed and they can’t get out in their cars. The biggest guff-giver now tells everyone that I must be the healthiest person in town because she has seen me riding in all parts of this town. That makes me feel good about myself.
It took a heart attack and subsequent quadruple bypass in April of ‘06 to get me on my bike. I seem to learn everything the hard way.
I had always thought the 7 miles to work was too far to commute by bike, but when I could finally begin training after my surgery I saw how laughable that idea was.
I especially enjoy my commute home. I work in an ER and am usually off at 11:30 p.m. The 45 minute ride home (yes, I’m slow) is the greatest way I know to unwind. Rain and blowing snow make me feel slightly heroic.
I tell the doubters/admirers at work that if a 62 year old couch potato can do it, they sure as heck can.
One of my co-workers told me that she could see my stomach coming around the corner before I did. That was all it took. I went right out and bought the best mountain bike I could afford, $250. The very next year I bought a $1,000 full suspension w/Hydraulic brakes mountain bike and completed the 2006 NYC 5 Boro Bike Tour. 42 miiles, 30,000 participants. I did it in approximately 4 hours.
Great topic!
I’ve never owned a car so ever since I got my 1st job, in 1982, BikeCommuting has been one of my options, alongside walking, and or Mass Transit.
I live in NYC. I have been toying with the idea of getting a bike to commute for a couple years, but there was always something. Storage wasn’t convenient, and the subway was right outside my door. Then we moved to an outer-borough; storage was now easier as we had more space, and the lone subway was a cattle car every morning. I now bike to work around twice a week (its a bit icy-cold in the winter), but a lot more during warmer months. Its an enjoyable ride, the traffic (although dicey at times) is manageable, and the 7 miles per commute is the best part of the work day.
A city like NYC is idea for the bike commute: with traffic/train congestion at epic levels! Its just a shame the streets aren’t a bit more accommodating (read safe) for riders. A few more bike lanes would be gold! And!!! If they can put trash can’s on every street corner in Manhattan, it would be nice to have a few more legal places to secure my bike. Oh well…maybe in time.
New York City. Long-term temp gig was from three PM to eleven PM, which means the late subways are a pain anyway. Seven and a half miles each way, including the Queensborough Bridge.
Mid-’80s Fuji touring bike: friction shifters, Dia-Compe brakes, a good bike for the price in the Reagan administration. Had been hanging in Mom’s garage neglected for years.
Early August. Hottest, most humid day of the year. Subways are basically at a standstill because of a deluge of rain. Life is boring anyway, so I go for it just for the experience.
First day was harsh. Second was better. By the third day I was utterly hooked. Commuting took on all the thrill of a flat-out race, and my cardiovascular capacity grew like mad. Getting home often took an hour on the subway; on the bike, I did it in half that.
Time to get a new ride, tho. Those years in Mom’s garage didn’t do the frame any good.
Ride fast, stay safe.
When I left the Royal Canadian Dental Corps and went into civilian practice i discovered the great pathways around Ottawa. Thus began a last till first snow annual bike commute. i have put in 45,000 km so far in 18 years and look forward to every ride home. On this page of my web site is a photo of me with my ham radio equipped bike
http://www.drmichaelpilon.com/pilon.htm