Originally Posted by
joshuatrio
Hey guys - serious question. Would you give up bike commuting for the right price?
I've been biking to work for 2 years now (and love it), but was recently offered a position in which would require an an hour commute each way. Salary wise, it's almost a 40% pay raise - it's much more than I've ever made in my life and could be a good opportunity to sharpen my skills.
Odds are, I could leave my bike at work, and ride on my lunch breaks - but I would miss the heck out of riding to from/work, and stopping for coffee in the mornings with my crew.
I do hate being trapped in a car - but I'm not sure at what price am I being selfish... In other words, am I putting my love of cycling in front of the financial needs/stability of my family.
Thanks in advance for your replies.
I'm not a cycle commuter so hope I'm not speaking out of turn by replying.
To me cycling is sometimes an activity I do for fun and sometimes it's a means to an end. If I just go for a ride for the sheer hell of it, that's fun. If I cycle to get somewhere, it's an activity that serves a purpose. To me cycling to work is more likely to be an activity that serves a purpose than something that's specifically fun.
If you really enjoy your current commute then by all means consider it alongside other pros and cons of the new job. When you say the new job is an hour's commute are you talking an hour on the bike or an hour by car/train/bus? If it's an hour on the bike then that doesn't have to be a problem - where I live it's pretty standard to take an hour on the train to get to work and all things being equal I'd rather take an hour on the bike than an hour on the train (big city, so the time taken is about the same). If you're trading a 10-minute commute for a 60-minute commute then the extra travelling time is worth considering - when I worked in town I used to find it increasingly soul-destroying to leave work at 6 and not get home (11 miles away) until after 7. The only reason I put up with it for so long was because the money was good.
Depending what that 40% means to you I'd seriously consider it. If it means the difference between just about getting by and having a good chunk of change to spare each month I'd say you should ask whether you're being selfish in not taking it. If it means the difference between eating fillet steak five times a week instead of four, or trading the year-old Lamborghini for a new one, maybe you don't need the extra money.