I really hate my commute….

You need a new job [commute]!

Honestly, that does sound crappy.

Don’t feel guilty and if you really don’t like it don’t do it. Perhaps you can compromise? Leave the bike at work and go for a spin at lunchtime if you work in a decent area? Get into work an hour earlier than earlier and leave an hour earlier so you can ride when you get home? Ride in, take public transit home, reverse the next day? Telecommute 1-2 days a week and use your lunch break to ride?

I don’t know anything about your personal situation other than what you just wrote. Just throwing some ideas out there. If you are looking just for a way to get a workout, can you join a gym at work or nearby?

@jrenaut 136577 wrote:

Aside from Freezing Saddles, I ride my bike because it usually makes me happier than not riding my bike. If that stopped being true, i would probably stop riding.

I agree with this, and it has been proven to me in spades recently, as I’ve not ridden nearly as much as I’m used to in the last several months due to my ongoing (yet definitely improving) knee issues. Everyone at my office calls me “Dr. Cranky,” and I certainly attribute it to having to drive to work instead of ride. However, if riding to work made me miserable, I’d give it up in a heartbeat, and find some other way to ride, or pick a different activity. For what my opinion is worth, I don’t think guilt should play into this: similar to what vvill said, I firmly believe I wouldn’t commute to work on my bike if I didn’t have the W&OD to ride all the way there! Riding conditions make a BIG difference to the potential for enjoyment.

@Raymo853 136587 wrote:

I have also been considering riding to the Waterfront Metro, leaving the bike there and then metro-ing the rest of the way.

That was gonna be my input. That route does look pretty awful to ride. Does it have to be all or nothing, or are there transit or multimodal alternatives (say bike to a Green Line station and metro to work)? Find someplace for coffee before you hop on a train, suddenly your day looks better.

Commuting as competition? To us regular folk, that doesn’t even compute. Who cares.

When I used to live in the hinterlands, I bought a cheap but highly gas-efficient little hybrid car to get me over the guilt when driving was the most reasonable (or only) option. If driving gets you home faster, you’d buy more time for a ride in the evening. I’d test it though, in case that’s a false hope or just an equal PITA.

Willpower is kind of a myth.

@creadinger 136570 wrote:

so I think I’m going to stop doing it.

It doesn’t save me time, or money. It’s not much of a stress reliever either. If anything it makes me more stressed. If I’m trying to compete for some kind of tough guy award I’ve already lost, because some of you people are beasts. Riding 28 miles round trip through DC sucks. Drivers are dangerous, and the infrastructure along the waterfront and in SE is terrible. I also ride through some not so great neighborhoods, and while I’ve never seen any shenanigans you always have to be vigilant. I’m much more likely to have issues (and I have) from the tons and tons and tons of glass all over the roads and trails in DC, which no one ever cleans up. Or maybe they just can’t keep up with all the new glass being thrown around.

If I want to ride during the week (I would have to) I could ride some local routes around Alexandria in the evenings. And if the car is in the shop or my wife needs it during the day I could always do the occasional, if-necessary commute. So WHY then do I feel guilty for hating my commute and not wanting to do it anymore?

I began feeling the exact same way last autumn. My last commute (until this week) was Oct 7, 2015. My ride is also 28 miles round trip from Franconia. I think I began to suffer mental burnout. What was once an adventure had become mundane and too much like work. The crowds and sheer lunacy of some other riders and trail users started getting to me as well, not to mention the occasional nutty driver. It just wasn’t fun anymore.

I used to think I had to log a million miles a week just to compete. But I’m not in competition with anybody but myself so I got over that. It’s fair to say that I do save money by riding but it’s not always worth it. The MVT just annoys me anymore, unless it’s pouring down rain and the only fools out there are like me!

The main reason I started commuting was to get some good long rides in. Since I’m a full-time parent and only work downtown twice a week it seemed like the thing to do. While my attitude was decent on this weeks ride I still can’t say the magic was back, and holy crap was the climb home tough!

I’ve resigned to shift my riding to shorter daily training and fun rides instead, leaving the commutes for days when the mood really strikes. So, your not alone!

@creadinger 136604 wrote:

That’s easy. Gas is super cheap right now, and I drive a Honda Civic. Conservatively say 25mpg, for a ~25mile round trip commute and gas is less than $1/commute right now. And with the amount of money I’ve spent on gear, and bike parts… yeah, I’m definitely not saving any money by biking. For example, just one bad experience last year when a driver pulled out in front of me I shredded a $65 tire when I had to slam on the brakes and skidded for about 50ft.

Do not let my wife read this! As it is now with my 6 to 15 mile commute distance I am saving thousands of dollars a month….

Well, I know this issue has been beat to death here before, but you’re not factoring in any cost for your car other than gas. There’s tires, oil changes, recommended service intervals, depreciation and pothole damages, all of which vary with mileage. Any body damage to a car costs a minimum of a thousand bucks to fix. You might need a car anyway, but you’ll be replacing yours sooner. And if you have kids, as I do, I can get away with not buying a third car, even with 4 drivers. I also get the low mileage discount and the “superfit” rate on life insurance. I think people wildly overestimate the savings from bike commuting, but my conservative estimate is at least a couple grand a year even buying fairly nice bikes as commuters.