Why do/don't you ride your bike to work and on errands?

Question

Now, of course cycling as transportation is not possible for everyone. Some of you live too far away; some of you are sick or have health reasons; there are lots of people and circumstances for which a car is a much more logical choice than a bike. However, there are at least as many of you out there who could easily ride a bike rather than drive, people for whom riding choosing to ride a bike would would mean a benefit both for body, mind and the greater environment. If you are one of these, do you ride your bike when you can, and why or why not? If not, what is the greatest obstacle keeping you from riding your bike?

Answer 1

im in college and ride my bike to school about 3-4 days a week.  its cheaper than gas, dont have to buy a parking pass look for parking and only takes me 5-10 min longer.  i ride it to parties and other outings as well.  i dont ride it sometimes due to the fact that i show up sweaty and because i cant really carry a lot of stuff.  i bought a rack that goes over the back tire but it just cant hold a lot of weight or stuff and in those cases i drive my car oh and when its raining or incredibly hot out.

Answer 2

Cheap, fast, fun. I ride a fixie and I can try out cool tricks, and I can get my blood pumping and my adrenaline surging whenever I go somewhere. it also allows me to get around cars in traffic and often I can actually arrive at a destination faster than they can.

Answer 3

sweating on the bike then going to the office

Answer 4

Currently have a small elbow injury, cant ride for about ten days.  I miss riding.  tried a few days ago and arm got worse, SO back to being good

However, I can bring home about 30 pounds of groceries when things are normal.

Or deposit checks at the bank, pick up some mail, bring home small purchases.

And then I don't have to go to the gym and get on the dreaded treadmill.

I would like to get my recumbent running again to take some pressure off the elbow.

I ride an electric asssit bike fairly often tooo.  

Answer 5

Well, I do ride my bike on errands. I have 2 bikes; a road bike for serious riding (cleated shoes required) and a hybrid for quick jaunts to the post office or bank (in regular sneakers). I keep them both maintained, and my intent is to jump on the hybrid whenever I have a nearby errand. What keeps me from doing it as often as I would like is the need to pump up the tires prior to most rides. Bike tires lose air so fast it becomes easier to jump in the car than to haul out the pump. By the time I get the bike pumped up, I could have been there in the car. So if someone would invent inner tubes which hold air for more than a couple of days, that would help.