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Who commutes

2K views 43 replies 32 participants last post by  smaledog 
#1 ·
Just curious who else out there commutes to work on their bikes. I live on the Germany/Holland border, in the military. I commute 20k to and from work, then ride for fun at lunch. I've lived here for a couple years now and it is amazing the amount of people i see on a daily basis riding to and from work(mostly dutch). I have been able to influence several co-workers as well to begin riding to work.

I guess the attitude towards bikes here is much different, in Holland there is a series of trails that pretty much connects the whole country. It is not uncommon to see girls in skirts going out for the night riding bikes. On the other hand bike theft is probably the highest in the world. Most of the Dutch own a commuting bike, this bike is interchangeable with most any other bike they may find outside of the pub. So this bike is usually only owned for a few days, but easily replaced. Traveling into Amsterdam on the rail you will see a parking garage for bikes that has a couple 100,000 bikes in it, an unbelievable sight for most americans.

I lived in Tucson, Az prior to here, this was a very active riding community, but comes no where close to Europe. I know in Tucson they are making great strives to improve the riding community, ex. more bike lanes. The only problem being they build them connected to the road, no divider between the auto road and bike road. When I lived there i remember several incidents of cyclist being struck.

I would like to hear about the commuting experiences of others, are the proper trails available, do you feel comfortable riding on the roads and the amount of bike commuters in your area. How many K's do you ride a month, I usually average around 500.
 
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#4 ·
From Colorado Springs, Colorado.

I've been pretty regularly for about 5 years now. Nothing very serious though and primarily trails.

I started commuting to work in December...I haven't driven my car since then! It's only 2 miles one way...so about 4 total per day commuting. Plus lunch rides ranging from 5 to 13 miles. Before you give me any crap about the total mileage - my one and only steed is a 37lb 6.5" travel freeride bike!

Total mileage a week is averaging 40-50 miles...so 160 to 200 miles a month.

The community is pretty good and getting much better about cycling awareness, trails and cycling lanes. I see a lot of riders out during lunch up in the Rockrimmon area and Ute Valley park...roadies and dirties.
 
#6 ·
I would never give anyone crap..lol

It's not about the mileage for sure, if i only had 2 miles each way i'm sure that is all I would do most days...the weather here sucks in the winter...spent alot of money upgrading the clothing...to get out and ride everyday is the beauty of it...

bikeCOLORADO said:
From Colorado Springs, Colorado.

I've been pretty regularly for about 5 years now. Nothing very serious though and primarily trails.

I started commuting to work in December...I haven't driven my car since then! It's only 2 miles one way...so about 4 total per day commuting. Plus lunch rides ranging from 5 to 13 miles. Before you give me any crap about the total mileage - my one and only steed is a 37lb 6.5" travel freeride bike!

The community is pretty good and getting much better about cycling awareness, trails and cycling lanes. I see a lot of riders out during lunch up in the Rockrimmon area and Ute Valley park...roadies and dirties.
 
#7 ·
Germany

Are you prior military, lived in germany before? I am near Dusseldorf, the riding is not as good as southern germany, but not bad..

Potential Roadkill said:
I commute daily here in the Northern Va area. About 24K per day, I find that I'm a whole lot fresher when I get to the office. Getting ready to retire and move to Germany, I can't wait!
 
#8 ·
Yep

I do but not all winter. I don't ride when it is colder than -20C but I enjoy commuting when it is warmer. Here in Winnipeg there are quite a few people who commute but no trails or bike lanes. There are "cycling routes" that are just regular roads with a "bicycle route" sign posted. The drivers are mostly considerate and I have had fewer bad experiences with cars here than in other cities I have lived in.
 
#9 ·
Ride about 90% of the time

My commute is a really easy at about 3 miles but I find its way easier for me to ride in the afternoon if I just ride to the trails from work (about two miles). I ride about 250 to 300 commute miles a month if you consider my ride home of roughly 12 miles.

I have to say I'm always in a better mood when I get to ride to work, even if it just 15 minutes on the bike to clear my head in the morning. Since I get in at about 5:00 a.m. I don't deal with cars too much.
 
#10 ·
On average I commute..

by bike 4 or less days a week depending on meetings and such. I don't commute in the winter time thought when it is dark in the morning, I just don't feel safe riding the 12 miles to work in the dark. I leave my house at around 7 and arrive at work and shower before 8 and then do a long ride after work or hook up with friends for a longer ride on my way home.
 
#11 · (Edited)
2 days a week

15 miles round trip from Santa Cruz, CA to Scotts Valley, CA. 40 minute climb to work then 25 minute downhill on the way home on my 5" travel heckler. I do change my tires to 1.5 slicks because it is all pavement to and from work. I rode to work today... here is the "road heckler".
 

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#12 ·
Commuter here too...

it's roughly ten miles each way to work. I will know better this year when the snow clears and my computer is installed. My emplyer is very cool...I bring my bike inside with me and it stays in my room! I recently went tubeless on my hardtail xc bike and with the addition of stan's last year I have had NO flats...my average in the three years before that was at least twice a month! Mike
 
#15 ·
Germany

Currently they have the MWR Mountain Bike Race series here, great time to go out and meet other military riders. I did seven of them last year, i think they have 12 races throughout the summer, the final being in Garmicsh. We leave here in October, will miss the riding here.

Potential Roadkill said:
I'll be in Southern GE, Heidelberg actually. I've lived there before, great riding, fun town.
 
#17 ·
Clean bike

I'm jealous my bike hasn't looked that clean since the day before i bought it. I spend as much time trying to clean it as I do riding it, the weather here is wet all the time and does havoc on the drivetrain..

scheckler said:
15 miles round trip from Santa Cruz, CA to Scotts Valley, CA. 40 minute climb to work then 25 minute downhill on the way home on my 5" travel heckler. I do change my tires to 1.5 slicks because it is all pavement to and from work. I rode to work today... here is the "road heckler".
 
#19 ·
Yeah, but you are in Germany!

drewwski123 said:
I'm jealous my bike hasn't looked that clean since the day before i bought it. I spend as much time trying to clean it as I do riding it, the weather here is wet all the time and does havoc on the drivetrain..
I'm jealous... I would love to ride in Germany. Oh my bike does get muddy but I like to keep it clean...just a personal preference. It never looks like that on the weekends ;)
 
#21 ·
commute Passion

Some commuter "Passion" on the RBR Commute boards. Always cool pics from Arby and MB1.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=76

Los Angeles, CA
Sometimes I ride the entire 25 miles each way
Sometimes I take the train most of the way and ride ~7 miles
Sometimes I drive if I have plans after work.

Each week varies but I make a conscious effort to drive as little as possible. The L.A. traffic is nuts, in a car or on a bike.

HW
 
#22 ·
jealous

Yeha i guess your right, I shoudl consider myself fortunate. I live 30 seconds from Holland, ten minutes from Belgium and I live in Germany..I have been able to experience some great trails here.

scheckler said:
I'm jealous... I would love to ride in Germany. Oh my bike does get muddy but I like to keep it clean...just a personal preference. It never looks like that on the weekends ;)
 
#24 ·
I live in Vail actually

drewwski123 said:
Hoping to move back to Tucson in October. Where do you ride... I lived near Fantasy Island, great trail. Rode all the other ones, the 50 year, starr pass, molino basin, ..enjoy the weather there...Drew
I live on Del Lago Golf Course in Vail. I ride Loma Alto to Old Spanish Trail then to Houghton where I pick up Golf Links over to Aviation Bikeway then into town. I work downtown at Congress and I-10 bout 28 miles one way. I love the commute

I used to live 1 mile from Fantasy Island - I would ride it every evening after getting home from work.

I currently ride a langster with a fixed gear configuration for the road, and I ride a Kona Unit SS for MTB. I have ridden Starr Pass, Deer Camp, Fantasy Island, etc...

-JG
 
#25 ·
Flatlander

14 miles one way of singletrack in the desert. Flat as a board (300' elevation gain). When it's muddy out, I'm running a little late or low on motivation, I take the "other bike" a YZ 426.

Sweet commute except for badger holes. Saw a pack of 50 or so pronghorn antelopes today. A goshawk has been hanging out all winter here. Sometimes some coyotes are running around. Lots of people around here shoot them, so they are pretty wary...

There's also a "long way" home that has some pretty cool singletrack that's been stomped in by cows, oddly enough.
 
#26 ·
Currently 2-3 days a week, planning for 5 days a week within the next month, 29 miles each way. Fortunately I live against the foothills in Denver and work in the mountains, so most of my ride consists of winding mountain roads and is very pretty, save for the occasional dually diesel. I had been considering doing the 2-3 day / week thing for several months, but recent developments dictate that it will now be a solid 5, fortunately this is a good thing in my eyes. I feel way better when I do ride into work than I have after driving, and it helps to offset the fact that I sit behind a desk much of the time.
 
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