Topic: When will you use your bike to commute to work and back in fair weather

[CSH]

Just wanted to find out of anyone uses bike to go to work in fair weather and if not then How near/far will your work have to be from your home for you to use bike to commute in fair weather

[initial_D]

Biked  everywhere during the school years.  A car is needed for work, visiting clients and on-site services. Nowadays streets are wayyyyyyyy to dangerous for biking, so won't bike to anywhere unless on a biking trail.

[mdxtasy]

When will I bike to work?  When I can take clients out for lunch on my Schwinn. 

"Who wants to ride on the handlebars!"

[ovr50]

The short answer is - Never. 

[Snowman]

Being an automotive enthusiast I frown on such activities. To me biking is exercise and nothing more.

[AVToller]

Since I'm retired, I chose "never". In the past I did sometimes ride my bike - straight up hill - for 2.5 km, but I found it left me sweaty and mean. No one likes a sweaty, mean psychologist! 

[Brigitte]

I often wear a skirt and heels.  And I refuse to pack a suitcase to go to work.  And cycling in the heat of a southern Ontario summer would make me a giant, cranky sweatball even after one kilometre. 

[The Fuzz]

I used to ride in when it was 7km to work but now it's 33km and I don't relish the thought of turning a 13 hour work day into a 16 hour day. But I'd like to.

Plus we have showers available so being a sweatball is not required.

[AVToller]

I often wear a skirt and heels. 

What a coincidence! 

[dr_spock]

I used to bike to work when I lived in Montreal.   It was easy to get downtown via the Lachine Canal bike path.  It never seemed to fail to rain on the way home.

[roch12]

My work is appr. 12 kms from home and I try to bike when the weather is good.  I have to bike along a county rd (80 kmh) and everytime I hear a truck or bus go buy I pull onto the gravel (road is not wide enough).

The city is scary too as some people only register cars not bikes and will pull right in front of me.  I don't get upset anymore (happens quite often) I just shake my head and hope I don't do the same someday.

[barrie1]

I am extremely Fortunate living in London as we have  many miles of dedicated bike lanes along the roads in many areas now as well as along both branchs of the Thames river as it pass's thru London in the North and South End from our Dam upstream. We are also a major Medical centre as well for Ont. I still have my 21spd Raliegh Mountain Bike in really good shape but need to get off of my Duff and hit the trail behind my house. I can go anywhere in London from these trails. We are called the Forest City for a Reason. I can actually go downtown faster on my Bike then I can driving most of the time weather wise. 

[HeliDriver]

Summer workplace is only 3 or 4 kms from my house, so I bike every day unless it's pouring rain. Of course, if it is pouring rain, I usually have the day off anyway. 

Although I enjoy the ride, and the little extra bit of exercise doesn't hurt, I'll confess that the real reason I ride to work is that I hate to subject my car to such a short trip. Nothing worse than shutting off an engine before it's even had a chance to get warmed up, IMHO.

[Brigitte]

I often wear a skirt and heels. 

What a coincidence! 

Yes, but you're a lumberjack, and you're okay.  Mighty larch, BC forests, and all that.   

[X-Traction]

Interesting that this topic wouldn't have even come up, let alone be tolerated, on a car forum a few years ago. 

I don't need to rationalize why I don't cycle when I can, because I do.  20-25 minutes each way to work.  No complaints from fellow workers about hygene or clothing.  Lots of Europeans cycle to work while being stylish, if not healthy.

When I can't cycle to work, I take the train.  My wife commutes using the train.  Our current fleet of 2 suv's and a car sit at home all week.  Sheer heresy.

[AVToller]

I often wear a skirt and heels. 

What a coincidence! 

Yes, but you're a lumberjack, and you're okay.  Mighty larch, BC forests, and all that.   

Just like my dear PaPa!! The truth finally comes out - a lumberjack, not a shrink. I guess I should also confess that I don't really have a Yaris, but I do have a Phaeton, a Bentley, and 3 Porsches! 

[Wetson]

Wait a minute.... Don't you need to be a shrink to afford those vehicles?  I majored in psych. while in University with a minor in Sociology.  Gotta love Skinner!(sp.)

Hey Brig.... just got a visual of you in heels and a skirt riding a bike.... Bring it on!

Sweaty can be good sometimes.... just not from the kind of physical activity that riding a bike is.   

[haris]

Anything under 4km is walking distance. Over 4 would be biking distance.
When I lived downtown Toronto I often walked from Bloor/Spadina to Yonge/Bloor.
Now that I'm in the suburbs I walk to the GO train. Everyone else on my street that takes the GO train drives, and it's literally an 8-10 minute walk to the station. An SUV, two minivans and two cars all drive by me in the morning. In the evening, I walk by them as they're stuck in the traffic trying to leave the parking lot  It's faster to walk but people still prefer to drive.
I've tried commuting by car years ago and I hated every single day of it. I shudder just when I think about it. Stuck in traffic for hours because some idiot was in a rush and caused an accident, stuck in traffic because people living in country where it snows every year cannot handle few inches of snow (they don't need winter tires either, it never snows or gets cold in Canada  ), stuck in traffic because of road repairs... blah...

edit: Got carried away and forgot the thread's about biking. I lived in Ottawa for few years and I used to bike everywhere, during winter as well, but the distances were much shorter than the ones I'd have to cover living in GTA. Didn't even feel a need for a car, bike + car rentals + public transit was good enough.

[mrthompson]

I used to ride on fair weather days when I lived about 3 kms from work.  Most of the commute was on quiet side streets.  The only drawback was to riding was that I would usually arrive sweaty.  A spare stick of deodorant in my desk drawer kept my co-workers content. I would not want to ride any farther than 3 kms to work as it can add to an already long work day.

[quadzilla]

I rode last year and will be riding again this year once there is enough light at the end of the day to get me most of the way home.  I figured that people have enough troubles seeing me on the good days I just didn’t feel like taking my chances in the dark.

My ride is only 20 kms one way and is mostly on bike paths/back streets (75%) with a section in the middle along the Harbourfront/Queen Quay area on the road with traffic.  It takes me 55 minutes (45 minutes of actual riding and 10 minutes stopped at traffic lights) door to door to complete my route and has a large hill at each end which is great for the start but sucks at the end of ride if you battled head winds the entire way.

I find it doesn’t matter if I ride 15 minutes or 60 minutes I will sweat almost the same amount and only when I stop.  Of course, this past summer was crazy hot but riding beside the lake made it very easy on the hot days but extra cold on the not so hot days.

I personally like the ride home after a hard (or easy) day at work as it clears my mind and helps relax me.

Pluses: 
- I didn’t have to do any extra training last year for races or endurance events as I logged just under 5,000kms.
- Setting up a pace line with other commuters that know how to ride a pace line into a head wind.  This can turn a long and tiring ride into an enjoyable ride.
- Having a tail wind so strong that a 35kph pace is breeze.
- Catching up to roadies and passing them.
- I work in a small office so I’m allowed to park my bike 20 feet from my desk so I never have to leave it outside and worry about theft which is great. 

Minuses:
- I didn’t feel like riding on weekends anymore.
- When you ass hurts and you still have 45 minutes of riding left.
- Having to ride into a head wind so strong you start to wonder if walking would be faster.
- Having a girl pass me and I couldn’t keep up. (It only happened once, honest)
- Getting caught in a rain storm.
- And this was my worst day -- Being passed by a very big guy (the non pc term is fat) with a milk crate attached to the front of his $50 bike!

For comparison this is how long it takes me to get to work using the subway or driving, door to door.
• Subway = 45 minutes
• Driving = 55 minutes