Why do you bike to work?

[dasgeh]

I was asked this today and had a totally blah answer. Unfortunately, I was asked with a camera in my face, so my blah answer may be on the nightly news. Whoops.

It got me thinking, though, what my real, soundbite appropriate answer is. And I thought I’d throw it out to the forum-all stars.

Blah answer: I have two little kids and biking to work lets me get a work out in, which I never would otherwise.

Better answer: Biking to my work is my “me time”. I have two toddlers and a demanding desk job; by bike commuting, I get freedom, fresh air, a little sight-seeing, a workout, and accomplishments that are my own. I ride up Capitol Hill to get to work and up Rosslyn hill to get home, so at the end of each ride, I know I made it up on my own two legs — two daily wins for me.

What about y’all? What would your soundbite-answer be? Thoughts on mine?

Topic

[consularrider]

I listen to Morning Addition on WAMU in the mornings while I am getting ready. Everytime I hear about the crashes and traffic backups on the major auto commuting routes or about Metro delays, it just makes me appreciate my bicycle ride to work all that much more.

[americancyclo]

@ShawnoftheDread 81454 wrote:

One of my colleagues just got to the office due to a metro delay – about 1.5 hours late.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5079[/ATTACH]

[americancyclo]

@consularrider 81461 wrote:

I listen to Morning Addition on WAMU in the mornings while I am getting ready. Everytime I hear about the crashes and traffic backups on the major auto commuting routes or about Metro delays, it just makes me appreciate my bicycle ride to work all that much more.

This is the only way I know some major roads. I find that whenever friends of our are giving directions they’ll say “Oh it’s by ______ road” it’s always one that gets snarled in traffic. I think I know the location of the road, but I only know the name from the traffic reports.

[Phatboing]

@Yggdrasil 81236 wrote:

14. You definitely harden up, hot and cold begin to phase you less and less.

This winter, it was more like stupid up for me. I’d spent so much time in the saddle that I’d forgotten how to dress off the saddle – I’d layer up like I was going for a ride, but of course, you don’t generate heat walking or standing, so I’d wind up cold and annoyed.

[vvill]

@Phatboing 81472 wrote:

I’d layer up like I was going for a ride, but of course, you don’t generate heat walking or standing, so I’d wind up cold and annoyed.

Yep – same thing happens to me.

[Drewdane]

Why not?

[runbike]

For me it saves time, plain and simple. When I first started I was spending about 50-55 minutes each way to go from Westover to Foggy Bottom and back on Metrobus. Biking cut that time down to 25 mins each way, or about one whole hour of personal time rescued from commuting hell.

I recently moved offices to Rosslyn and have the option to drive and park (for free!) but rarely opt to do so. Driving is always 30+ mins thanks to all of the traffic congestion/road construction, while biking is an easy 17-18 minutes each way. It’s no contest.

[cyclingfool]

It’s fun and helps to keep me sane. I like to ride, but my schedule doesn’t allow for much of it outside of commuting.

Besides that, it’s a time savings issue for me, too. Having finally bought a bike again 5 years ago, I was looking for places to go with it. My first “long” ride (i.e., out of my neighborhood) was from home to the Mall on a warm winter day. My office is a block from the Mall, so when I realized that, even in the bad physical fitness as I was in, I could make it from my apartment to work in about 45 minutes, I figured I should just try doing it all the time. My alternative commute option is metro w/ a half mile walk (or added expense of a bus fare) to and from stations on both ends of the commute. I averaged about an hour each way doing that. So anything under an hour each way for me is time in the bank.

Speaking of bank, I don’t get a transit benefit like some of the feds… I only get the standard pre-tax deduction, so with a round trip peak of the peak fare (w/o bus) coming in at $7 a day (close to $10 if I get lazy and take buses, which I am wont to do), my bike commuting addiction pays for itself rather easily, especially since a host of restraints mean n+1 is not an option for me.

PLUS, when my inherited 20 y.o. minivan wasn’t going to pass emissions last fall w/o potentially thousands of dollars of repairs, I was able to say F it. My wife has a car. We only need one really. “Hello. NPR? I have a car to donate.”

[Fast Friendly Guy]

1. On a bike you’re IN the world. There’re no tightly rolled windows, so you can talk to people! Riders, walkers, runners, doggers, even drivers (if they have windows down) Say hello to anyone! And if your heading the same direction, you can talk about e.g., (the weather, the day, BA forum, ninjas/crazy ivans, bikes, GPS art, Freezing Saddles….)

2. Turning my office into a clothes-drying-hanging challenge for jersey, shorts/pants, socks, gloves, base layers–“Now let me see…Where can I stick THIS so it doesn’t show (too much)?”

3. Smelling the flowers in the spring, shaving minutes off my time in the summer, marveling at the foliage in the fall, and catching snowflakes on my tongue in the winter

4. I like the people who also do it

[baiskeli]

Because I can!

[skins_brew]

Hi everyone. This is my first post

I have been bike commuting in a few different ways for a few years. I use to drive to Muirkirk MARC station and take the train to Union Station, where I would ride a junker bike to Rosslyn. Then, I started working downtown, and would ride the short distance to the office. Then I figured, hell, the train station is only five miles from my house, so I will bike there. I did that for a while but last August, things changed.

I had been going on longer weekend rides and one day I finally decided to bike ALL the way to work. It is 20 miles exactly. It took me a while the first time due to getting lost a few times, but I made it (first time was in the early morning before the sun was out, probably not smart ). Subsequent trips were much better.

So, why do I do it? At first, mainly for the exercise. I am able to use otherwise “dead” commuting time to get a good workout in. Yea, my commute takes an extra 20-30 minutes each each way, but it is well worth it. I then realized I was saving a decent chunk of change on train tickets and gas.

I got a new bike last labor day (i had been riding a vintage Fuji, which was nice, but newer bikes sure are easier to maintain), and since I have been usually riding the 40 mile round trip commute 3-5 days a week. I took a roughly 2 month break from the middle of Jan- middle of march due to the weather, but am back at it full swing.

I even analyzed my commuting options, and bike is one of the best ways to go. My options are-
-Drive 5 miles to MARC station, free parking. $125/month OR $10/day OR $37/week + Metro fare (Travel Time: 1 hour door to door)
-Drive 5 miels to Greenbelt Metro. ~$8.50 roundtrip + $4.85 for parking (TT: 1 hour)
-Bike to Greenbelt, ~$8.50 roundtrip (TT: 1:15)
-Bike to work (TT: 1:20-1:30)
-Drive to work, $25/day to park (TT: Who the hell knows! 1 hour at the least).

So, given the options, biking is pretty legit. I had my wife drop me at the Greenbelt Metro today because I have to stay late. Usually when I know I am going to have a long day, I do not bike for the sole reason that I want to get home asap and see my kids before they go to bed

[dasgeh]

@skins_brew 81879 wrote:

Hi everyone. This is my first post

I love this! Thanks, and welcome!

[vern]

Because it’s fun.

Because I capture time by combining two activities (though I lose reading time by not sitting on bus/Metro).

Because when everything is working right it makes me joyful, to the point where I will unconsciously whoop and holler.

Because I like leaving a smaller carbon footprint on the planet.

Because if you have ever come ripping down the hill on Virginia Ln with that extra rush of speed when you rejoin the W&OD…

[cvcalhoun]

The way I look at it is that the commute may take longer than driving, but it’s still shorter than driving to work and then working out at the gym. Since I try to get in an hour’s cardo at the gym any day I don’t bike for at least an hour, I’ve had several days lately when I’ve thought, “I really don’t have time to drive to X today; I guess I’ll just have to bike.”

@skins_brew 81879 wrote:

Yea, my commute takes an extra 20-30 minutes each each way, but it is well worth it.

[jrenaut]

@vern 82177 wrote:

(though I lose reading time by not sitting on bus/Metro).

I think this is the one and only thing I miss about my old non-bike commute. In the 9 months I spent commuting from Columbia Heights DC to Pentagon City on the Metro, I read more books than in the previous 5 years combined. I do miss that reading time, but at the end of the day, the benefits of bike commuting outweight the benefits of reading more.

[Author]

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