Bicycling to work?

Question

How many people here honestly live close enough to work and/or have plenty of time to ride a bicycle to work instead of taking car or motorcycle?

There are very few people I know that actually work a short distance (under 5 miles) from their home.

** So where are these statistics coming from that there is a large percentage of people who could take a bicycle everywhere instead of a car? Don't they figure that people can't be riding around in their work clothes or stuff their office suit in a backpack? Do they think a construction worker is going to go work with his tool box and power tools on his bicycle? How does mom drive the kids around before and after work while riding a bicycle?

What do these people telling people to ride a bicycle to work think people do for a living? Go everywhere in shorts and sandles and work at a coffee shop 2 miles from their home?

Answer 1

I think you have an excellent point. Not everyone is able to ride a bike to work. It is nice though that more people are concidering it, if it works for them.

Answer 2

Hey gang - there's no need to make it sound harder than it is!  Look, I took the plunge awhile ago and I had those same conceptions about biking to work, but you know what?  They're mostly excuses for NOT doing something totally cool.

Now each case is different but check it:

I ride 8 miles in/8 miles out -- so 16 miles a day... and I'm an old guy well past his physical prime.  Not out of shape (when I started) but certainly not what you'd call athletic.

Of course - that's changed!

Anyway - It takes me about 1/2 an hour to get to work.  If I rode public transit it would take about 50 minutes... so bonus - riding SAVES me time -  20 minutes in the morning.  To go by car = 20 minutes.  OK fine I can live with an extra 10 minutes in the morning - I get that time back because I don't have to go to the gym later... and no gas payment!

And that 20 minutes is dependent on there not being an accident or some type of traffic snarl... good luck drivers!

On the way home - well add 10 - 15 minutes to the trip because I have some serious hills to climb.  Still faster than the bus or train, though.

The point is... the "no time to ride" argument is bunk in most major cities I am bettin.

And I do this rain or shine... AND I work a white-collar job in an office building.  For clothing I do one of two things:

Just put on my suit, tie and ride.  People love it.  I have fenders and rain gear for bad weather.  I can easily go 10-12mph and not even break a sweat.

OR- Change at work.  We have showers.  Also the local gym offers showers to members, but I cancelled my membership - don't need it.

I take one day a month and simply bring all the clothes I need to work.  Yes I do wear the same pair of slacks and same sportcoat up to 4 times, but that's the dry clean schedule anyway.  I just bring the socks and underwear each day.  I found a dry cleaner near my office so those suits are probably never coming home with me again.

So really it's all about what you THINK is undoable and hard.  To me riding 16 miles a day/5 days week is nothing... it's a laughably short distance on a bike - and would be agonizing in a car.

They make trailers, tag-alongs and other carrying devices for kids and groceries.  The best time I have with my kids is when we go on those special family rides to someplace boring and mundane like Safeway.

Suddenly the trip is an event and not a big chore that just sucks gasoline.

It's liberating man... don't be mad at the stats or be so quick to write it off as impossible for you to incorporate the bike into your commute/life.

The most limiting factor is your own sense of limitations.

That said I have to acknowledge that some cities have done nothing to improve or provide safe places to use something other than a car to get down the road.

If y'all hate on the stats and make this a culture war it's going to be harder to get those options.

See you in the bike lane!?!?! yeah!?!?

Feel free to email me if you want to know more about this - I can hook you up with info.  Seriously, by biking to work I am saving over $600 per month in expenses.  That's money in my pocket.

Answer 3

No, actually we don't all work at a coffee shop 2 miles from home. If that was all the farther I had to go I would just walk. I'm interning this sumer at an ethanol plant in rural Iowa that is 27 miles from where I live and I bike to work at least 3 days per week. We have a single shower locker room (one for men and one for women) that was originally built so people could clean up before going home if they needed to. By taking in a couple changes of clothes when I do drive, I'm able to bike to and from work pretty comfortably. I take it fairly easy on my way there, riding about 15-16 MPH. On my way home, I get in my training ride for the day at about 22-22.5 MPH. All you have to do to make it work is stop making excuses and just do it.

Answer 4

7,483

Answer 5

Yeah, doesn't make a lot of sense does it?