How long have you been commuting by bike?
06-04-15, 11:39 AM
#1
Another MN Bike Commuter
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How long have you been commuting by bike?
As I was riding home yesterday, I realized I have been commuting by bike for 10 years. I took my first bike commute to a summer class at UND and it changed the way I viewed bikes. Prior to this ride, bikes were reserved for recreational use.
This got me thinking, how long have you been commuting on bike? Where did your first ride take you?
This got me thinking, how long have you been commuting on bike? Where did your first ride take you?
Last edited by icyj; 06-04-15 at 05:09 PM.
06-04-15, 11:41 AM
#2
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About 15 years if you count the days I was riding around on a K-mart bike.
06-04-15, 12:01 PM
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14 years. Should have been a lot more.
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06-04-15, 12:07 PM
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1985, to an egg farm. Then a couple of years at NDSU (go Bison. UND sucks. ;-) for grad school, and since '91, to the "real" job.
06-04-15, 01:25 PM
#6
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It will be two years next month!
Working in the tech industry in silicon valley for the past ten years, traffic and commuting had always just been a given, luckily i found out it isn't. I've never been healthier or happier in my life.
Working in the tech industry in silicon valley for the past ten years, traffic and commuting had always just been a given, luckily i found out it isn't. I've never been healthier or happier in my life.
06-04-15, 01:32 PM
#7
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I've been doing it in NYC for about 5 years now, but only about once or twice a week. When I lived in Seattle many years ago I tried commuting there a few times but always found it more trouble than it was worth. I would rather do one of my regular rides after work instead. The difference in Seattle was that I could be home in 10 minutes. In NY it takes an hour by subway (or by bike) and I'm exhausted when I get home. Maybe the fact that I was in my twenties in Seattle and I'm 60 now has something to do with this. If I don't ride to work, I don't ride.
06-04-15, 01:43 PM
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Coming up on 10 years "almost every day." I'd been commuting occasionally for 2-3 years, but Hurricane Katrina did it for me. I remember riding home the night before it hit New Orleans and passing a gas station. I said to myself, "Gas prices are going to go up tomorrow morning, but I can ride my bike to work and I won't have to support the oil companies." That was all it took!
06-04-15, 02:25 PM
#10
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About 45 years! Paper route as @chas58, donut route on tricycle, sales (door to door) and commute in college, different bases I've been station at: Indiana, California, Michigan, Oklahoma and one oversea tour Honduras (didn't commute, but rode mountain bike). Had the blessing to take my bike to different parts of the world on 30-45 days deployments. Panama (several times) England, Iceland, Egypt, Bolivia, Alaska, Kenya and Saudy Arabia.
Looking back, God grace and protection was with me on all those places. I was to young and stupid to know how dangerous it was on some of those place,s but when your young, you think you're invinsable.
Looking back, God grace and protection was with me on all those places. I was to young and stupid to know how dangerous it was on some of those place,s but when your young, you think you're invinsable.
06-04-15, 02:32 PM
#12
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As an adult (excluding school and a paper route as a child) forty years. I've lived in 8 different cities or towns ranging from rural to downtown urban environments, worked in management positions with 4 major corporations, dressed in all manners of work attire and commuted by bike, at least part time, over all that time.
As time has gone by, I have found less and less use for my car within a 10-15 mile radius. We really don't need to use them very much.
Marc
As time has gone by, I have found less and less use for my car within a 10-15 mile radius. We really don't need to use them very much.
Marc
06-04-15, 02:32 PM
#13
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30 years to work in an office (not including paper route - which I never had 
).
).
06-04-15, 02:35 PM
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Well if we only count commuting to work... I started in '74. If we include riding to school... I started in the fifth grade.
I don't commute any more... primarily due to the fact that I no longer work... (except the occasional contract).
Truth be told though, I stopped commuting back about 2006... for a couple reasons. I didn't have any good bike parking with my employer back then... so I would drive to the office and take a long bike ride at noon... and I noticed I was having more and more uncomfortable encounters with cell phone using driving zombies.
So all in all, I commuted about 32 years to work.
BTW my commuting distances ranged from as little as 6 miles each way to as much as 30 miles each way. I felt most comfortable with about a 12 mile commute each way... just long enough to get into the whole rhythm, but not so long as to feel like it was "far."
I don't commute any more... primarily due to the fact that I no longer work... (except the occasional contract).
Truth be told though, I stopped commuting back about 2006... for a couple reasons. I didn't have any good bike parking with my employer back then... so I would drive to the office and take a long bike ride at noon... and I noticed I was having more and more uncomfortable encounters with cell phone using driving zombies.
So all in all, I commuted about 32 years to work.
BTW my commuting distances ranged from as little as 6 miles each way to as much as 30 miles each way. I felt most comfortable with about a 12 mile commute each way... just long enough to get into the whole rhythm, but not so long as to feel like it was "far."
06-04-15, 03:29 PM
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Well, counting only commuting to work, about 15 years. But I only committed to riding every day about 5 years ago.
Of course, I rode to school and to university which would make it just over 40 years of riding, but my riding wasn't always consistent then.
Of course, I rode to school and to university which would make it just over 40 years of riding, but my riding wasn't always consistent then.
06-04-15, 03:31 PM
#19
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Just about a year now. Took my Bianchi Advantage to work as a whim. Can't say I liked it first time. The route was poorly planned out. A stiff wind was against me on the way home. The upright riding position didn't help. A ride that normally takes me 45 minutes now took me close to 80 minutes to complete. Undaunted, I found a better route, a better bike, better gear, and it made all the difference.
BTW, you guys on this forum have been a major source of inspiration as well as information.
BTW, you guys on this forum have been a major source of inspiration as well as information.
06-04-15, 03:33 PM
#20
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8+ years of commuting. It seems to get better every year. Improvements to biking infrastructure. I keep getting nicer equipment and accessories. It's hard to come up with excuses for not commuting by bicycle.
06-04-15, 03:45 PM
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since college, 17 years ago. Got lucky and moved to Portland after college so I basically had to commute by bike right? Now ask me how many bikes have been stolen and how many times Ive been hit, haha...
06-04-15, 04:10 PM
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I stopped driving to work and started bike commuting in summer of 2007, so it's been 8 years now... I am also car-free.
06-04-15, 04:13 PM
#23
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Only a year and a half so far.
Not sure what you mean by "Where did your first ride bring you? "...
Not sure what you mean by "Where did your first ride bring you? "...
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06-04-15, 04:27 PM
#24
born again cyclist
i started riding to work when i was 31, i'm now 39, so this makes it my eighth year of bike commuting.
i also used to ride my bike to grammar school when i was kid, from 4th - 8th grades, but high school was further away, so i took the bus and forgot all about how fun and useful bikes are for transportation. looking back, my high school was only 6 miles away, i could've totally biked that, but 6 miles seemed really far to my 13 year old mind (my ride to grammar school was only a half mile for comparison).
i also used to ride my bike to grammar school when i was kid, from 4th - 8th grades, but high school was further away, so i took the bus and forgot all about how fun and useful bikes are for transportation. looking back, my high school was only 6 miles away, i could've totally biked that, but 6 miles seemed really far to my 13 year old mind (my ride to grammar school was only a half mile for comparison).
Last edited by Steely Dan; 06-04-15 at 04:31 PM.
