Topic: My Urban Bike Commuting Team

[Angry Chicken]

Here's my commuting "team".  CRX Si to get me to the park 'n ride.  Eclipse custom hybrid bike to get me to work.

[Ontariodriver]

Pedal power and sweaty arm pits at work no thanks....LOL.

You need one of these sunshine. You know makes sense. 

[Angry Chicken]

   We have showers.  Besides...much more than the armpits get sweaty.  TMI? 

[quadzilla]

Nice pics. I'll have to take a pic of my work bike and add it here.

I always love the sweaty argument. My other choice is to walk 20 minutes from Union Station, I actually sweat more doing that than riding my bike.

Riding a bike isn't hard.

[Ontariodriver]

  We have showers.  Besides...much more than the armpits get sweaty.  TMI? 

I was being polite....Phew, Posh offices..

[Angry Chicken]

Nice pics. I'll have to take a pic of my work bike and add it here.

I always love the sweaty argument. My other choice is to walk 20 minutes from Union Station, I actually sweat more doing that than riding my bike.

Riding a bike isn't hard.

But riding a bike hard is.  I've only got a 10 km commute so I'm not coasting. 

[quadzilla]

Nice pics. I'll have to take a pic of my work bike and add it here.

I always love the sweaty argument. My other choice is to walk 20 minutes from Union Station, I actually sweat more doing that than riding my bike.

Riding a bike isn't hard.

But riding a bike hard is.  I've only got a 10 km commute so I'm not coasting. 

Right....so you make it hard then.

Try coasting along at 15kph, I've heard its very easy stuff unless the winds are crazy.

But I'm like you, I do it for the exercise and training....no time to coast or be passed.

[safristi]

    bluddy Pedalphiles..................................by the time ye've  removed yer SEAT and front wheels ,found yer Kryptonite LOC ..washed yer B***LS orff.... and put on the mahnallo Blahniks & Armani...........aren't ya LATE fer the substantive WORK THINGY!!!!

[rrocket]

I live 40kms from work (each way) so not terribly practical for me....

[Angry Chicken]

I live 40kms from work (each way) so not terribly practical for me....

I live 30 km from work and find that biking in from the Park 'N Ride doesn't add so much time to my commute that it's impractical...especially when taking into account the stop and go traffic in the last 15 minutes of my car commute.  I did the math:

Car only = 45 to 60 minutes but no need for shower / change
Car/Bike = 60 minutes portal-to-portal with the shower / change.  Time is consistent because my bike doesn't care about the slow down near the end of the commute!  ;-)

+ I get 20 km / day of hard riding in.   Sounds like a winning proposition to me.

[Angry Chicken]

  bluddy Pedalphiles..................................by the time ye've  removed yer SEAT and front wheels ,found yer Kryptonite LOC ..washed yer B***LS orff.... and put on the mahnallo Blahniks & Armani...........aren't ya LATE fer the substantive WORK THINGY!!!!

I think I actually understood this without my linguistics major daughter's help! 

Where I work, there's an outside lockup protected by a chainlink fence and a cipher lock.  No need to remove the seat and front wheel and use a kryptonite lock, etc.  I'm at my desk 60 minutes from the time that I leave my house.

[rrocket]

For me, it's only a 30 minute drive...no traffic to deal with.  If I was to bike and maintain an avg. speed of 20km/h, it would take me about 2 hours to get there. And 2 hours to get home.  Add that in to my 10-12 hour shift, and it would make for a VERY long day.....

[Angry Chicken]

For me, it's only a 30 minute drive...no traffic to deal with.  If I was to bike and maintain an avg. speed of 20km/h, it would take me about 2 hours to get there. And 2 hours to get home.  Add that in to my 10-12 hour shift, and it would make for a VERY long day.....

Yes, but your forgetting that I'm not biking all the way.  I'm getting on my bike at a park 'n ride after driving over half way to work.

[rrocket]

For me, it's only a 30 minute drive...no traffic to deal with.  If I was to bike and maintain an avg. speed of 20km/h, it would take me about 2 hours to get there. And 2 hours to get home.  Add that in to my 10-12 hour shift, and it would make for a VERY long day.....

Yes, but your forgetting that I'm not biking all the way.  I'm getting on my bike at a park 'n ride after driving over half way to work.

Ya, I understood that.  Nothing like that around here though...

[X-Traction]

When calculating the "time" it takes to drive to work as opposed to other means, it is fair to include the time it takes to earn the money to buy, insure and operate the car for that means.

I like the "smelly" remark.  As if pollution from cars doesn't stink.  Turning the clean air we need to breath into a toxic stench that degrades the entire ecosystem.  So easy to overlook in favour of clever quips.

Millions of Europeans, just as civilized as we are, manage to cycle to work without showering upon arrival or even donning special cycling costumes.  Modern bikes have zillions of gears so you can gear down to lower the effort.  A bike commute doesn't have to be a Tour de France simulation.

[rrocket]

When calculating the "time" it takes to drive to work as opposed to other means, it is fair to include the time it takes to earn the money to buy, insure and operate the car for that means.

I like the "smelly" remark.  As if pollution from cars doesn't stink.  Turning the clean air we need to breath into a toxic stench that degrades the entire ecosystem.  So easy to overlook in favour of clever quips.

Millions of Europeans, just as civilized as we are, manage to cycle to work without showering upon arrival or even donning special cycling costumes.  Modern bikes have zillions of gears so you can gear down to lower the effort.  A bike commute doesn't have to be a Tour de France simulation.

I don't care how many reduction gears the bike has.  In Windsor today I was SOAKED just standing around outside.  And I was wearing my Under Armour Heat Gear.  I can't imagine getting to work in weather like we had today and NOT being soaked on even a leisurely ride.  Sorry if you don't care...but for some places (especially ones with no showers) this IS an issue whether you want to accept it or not.

[hoss]

I commute 50 kms round trip most days.  The sweaty shower thing is way over blown.  I have done a great deal of research on this,   the trick is to shower before you ride, if you can't shower at work.  If you are clean you can towel off and put on some deoderant and you'll be fine. 
I find that I am way more productive when I ride.
As for how hard is it well some days it's great I just want to  keep going.  Other days the ride home after a long day with a head wind it's as hard as anything I've ever done. But I love it.

[Angry Chicken]

When calculating the "time" it takes to drive to work as opposed to other means, it is fair to include the time it takes to earn the money to buy, insure and operate the car for that means.

I like the "smelly" remark.  As if pollution from cars doesn't stink.  Turning the clean air we need to breath into a toxic stench that degrades the entire ecosystem.  So easy to overlook in favour of clever quips.

Millions of Europeans, just as civilized as we are, manage to cycle to work without showering upon arrival or even donning special cycling costumes.  Modern bikes have zillions of gears so you can gear down to lower the effort.  A bike commute doesn't have to be a Tour de France simulation.

I don't care how many reduction gears the bike has.  In Windsor today I was SOAKED just standing around outside.  And I was wearing my Under Armour Heat Gear.  I can't imagine getting to work in weather like we had today and NOT being soaked on even a leisurely ride.  Sorry if you don't care...but for some places (especially ones with no showers) this IS an issue whether you want to accept it or not.

Agreed.  Ottawa was hot, sticky, stinky, and humid today.  I  stated that my bike commute is as much for exercise as it is to get me to work so I plan to arrive a sweaty, dripping mess.  No amount of under arm deodorant and (some use) baby wipes is going to make me acceptable to my coworkers.  *If* I was just using the bike to coummute and *if* I lived in a place that didn't get so humid, I could accept that you might be able to sit at your desk after that kind of ride without offending your fellow workers.  I wouldn't conceive of riding to work if there weren't showers.  Once the politicians leave for their summer recess I expect the air quality will improve.

I didn't intend this to be an environmental rant anyway.  I  am proud of the fact that I'm helping lower overall pollution levels but won't use it as a soap box to put down people who choose to take their cars to work.   

Edit:  typos

[ghost]

I suppose the Vancouver weather is fair. I've started bike commuting lately. It's fun. The various municipalities here have banded together to build a bike/pedestrian dedicated path around the metro area. Half of my ride is through parks. It takes me slower vs. Skytrain but not much compared to the stop and go traffic via car. My office too has a shower/gym facility. It's a 16km each way ride. Takes me 40mins. I'm a novice rider. And I cruise on the final stretch to cool off. It's great. I thought it would be a drag. But so far so good. Except that there are a few hills I need to work on.
Oh yeah the dedicated bike route is called the Central Valley Greenway.

[X-Traction]

When calculating the "time" it takes to drive to work as opposed to other means, it is fair to include the time it takes to earn the money to buy, insure and operate the car for that means.

I like the "smelly" remark.  As if pollution from cars doesn't stink.  Turning the clean air we need to breath into a toxic stench that degrades the entire ecosystem.  So easy to overlook in favour of clever quips.

Millions of Europeans, just as civilized as we are, manage to cycle to work without showering upon arrival or even donning special cycling costumes.  Modern bikes have zillions of gears so you can gear down to lower the effort.  A bike commute doesn't have to be a Tour de France simulation.

I don't care how many reduction gears the bike has.  In Windsor today I was SOAKED just standing around outside.  And I was wearing my Under Armour Heat Gear.  I can't imagine getting to work in weather like we had today and NOT being soaked on even a leisurely ride.  Sorry if you don't care...but for some places (especially ones with no showers) this IS an issue whether you want to accept it or not.

Please don't put words in my mouth.  I never said that it is possible for everyone to avoid sweating while cycling in any conditions.  I don't think I even implied that I don't care.  For commute rides on really hot days, I'd roll up my sleeves, pull my shirttail out, and slow down.

To set the record straight, I think it would be a positive step if (generalization) employers provided secure bicycle parking, storage lockers for cyclists, and showers.  The place where I worked most had such facilities, but most of the cyclists don't use the shower.

I also think it would be a positive step if transportation was managed to make it as easy and convenient for people to cycle to work as is common in European cities.  I also think it would be good if people arranged their lifes to make cycling to work a more realistic option.  And elected political representatives with the same values.

I think it's great that some people ride to work with the goal of getting exercise.  That makes a lot more sense than what some do, which is to work lots to buy a fancy car to drive to work, where they pay to park, then drive somewhere else after work to spend time at a gym.  Compared to just cycling to work, it seems really dumb (in general).

I also think (generalization) North Americans have this THING about putting on special clothes for cycling and then riding like maniacs.  However, any "fault" I find with commuter cyclists is just nit picking compared to how I regard (most) car commuters.