I owe @
Bluesfrog a serious answer, and a story might be the best form for it:
I rode my first
RAGBRAI in 2009. That experience of using my bike to get all the way across a whole state opened my eyes to what could be done. When I got home, it struck me as completely absurd to use a car to go a measly 7 miles to work! So I quickly found a route that was relatively safe, and I was hooked. Until winter, when I was pretty much completely unprepared to ride in snow and cold weather. I did the
BRR Ride the following February with a couple of buddies on my crappy mountain bike, and that got me primed to start commuting again in the spring. I became pretty gung-ho about it, especially after joining BikeForums and investing in some AmFib tights and studded tires, but above all, my goal has been to enjoy riding and not make it a chore that must be done. So I always allow myself an "out" to ride to work with the wife or <gasp> drive my Subaru if it's raining cats and dogs or I'm not feeling well. Still, I've commuted at least 100 times per year for quite a while now, with a peak of 157 in 2016.
