Comments on: Brain Fart: Commuting

By: spaminator

spaminator — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:20:10 +0000

I have been a regular bike commuter since my days at REI in Northville, MI when I rode 7 miles each way. It was a great way to both start and finish the days. I rode rain or shine but not in the snowy weather mainly due to the fact that I had to share the road with vehicles. Snowy roads are just too dangerous to ride with vehicular traffic.

I now ride back and forth to work in Grayling, MI rain, snow, shine, whatever the ‘ol weather man gives me. There are hardly any vehicles I need to worry about because I ride on subdivision streets to and from my work in the Emergency Department where I stow my bike in the Hazmat shower.

With the gas now at over $4.00 per gallon, I am noticing more and more people riding around town with bags, apparently holding their clothes or other personal posessions. Hopefully these folks are commuting also. We have an awsome 27 or so paved, non-motorized bike path that is open all year long except in the winter when it is actually blocked off to prevent snowmobile access, that goes from the State Park, down to the high school, through neighborhoods and into downtown Grayling.

Hopefully it will be clogged with bicyclists commuting back and forth to work or school very soon.

By: lawhaas

lawhaas — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:03:05 +0000

looks like dirtsurfer needs a new job! ha ha….while it may not be realistic for everyone to ride their bikes to work, those who are lucky enough to do so should encourage cyclist we encounter with a friendly word, wave or nod. one word of advice I have for everyone is to make eye contact with motorist when at an intersection or anywhere else that could turn your good commute into a bad day quickly. I don’t commute everyday, but I do find when I drive I am always filled with remorse that I should have ridden. keep up the commuting everyone! I also find if I switch up my routes and my bikes it makes my commute all that more fun. One day I’ll ride my road bike another it will be my fixie, or my 29er mtb..

By: dirtsurfer

dirtsurfer — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:48:50 +0000

I’d like to commute, but w/ a 20 mile bike route and no showers at work, I don’t know how well it would work…

By: mikie

mikie — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:49:08 +0000

I have started riding to work a week ago. I should have done this years ago, hence the real brain fart!

I hav to wear a tie and dressier clothes so I am making a deep bookcase into a small wardrobe for my cubicle. The roads through Shreveport suck, but there is little traffic. The weather sucks even worse. It will soon be 80 degrees and 100 percent humidity at 7:00 am. And there isn’t really a shower accessible at work. Good thing it is only 3.2 miles.

I ride with a group of guys earlier so I already have a great ride before work every day. This one is not so great, but I pass right by the gas station and don’t have to stop.

Some auto drivers do not know how to handle a bicyclist. I really appreciate those who use their turn signals and give you a little extra room. Haven’t noticed any strange glaring, but I am sure it is there.

By: blue

blue — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:11:24 +0000

I’ve been commuting daily for a few years now and do all I can to encourage everyone I know to do the same. One thing that I try hard to clarify is that I don’t HAVE to ride my bike to work… I GET to go for a nice ride before I start work and I GET to take a nice ride after work. Lucky me!

By: SteveC

SteveC — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:55:03 +0000

I’ve been trying to commute 2 days/week. What I have noticed lately, is that more drivers are rubbernecking, thinking, ‘hey, maybe I should ride MY bike to work, too!’…Anyone else notice that?
Is the bogus price of oil gonna be what it takes for people to notice bikes? Cars will never go away, but maybe bikes will get a new respect from all that……and prices of everything are going way up, even the price of a new bike :-((