downwinded

Congrats on the new job! Nothing any better than being able to "relax" a bit. Stress is not good. Good luck getting everything worked out to your satisfaction.

no motor?

I got a new job about a month ago, and my commute is about 2 miles one way now. When I started bike commuting it was about 6 miles one way, and I did that s - 4 days a week for about 7 years. Then my office moved and my commute was just under 4 miles for almost 2 years, and now I'm starting an hour earlier. All this means I have to hustle more to get out of my condo on time, and get to work feeling like I'm just getting started. I could ride more by taking the long way home, but I haven't done that yet.
My move for work was a huge move up for me and has kept me too busy to ride some days, especially on those days when I need my car to carry stuff to my new office. So I can relate to your joy and pain tsl, and wish you well in your new commute.

noglider 

I'm glad you like your new job and commute!

I think the fixed gear suggestion is worth a try. In a sufficiently low ratio, you should be plenty safe. Try 60 inches or maybe even less.

tsl

A few weeks ago, someone asked me how many bike commuters I thought there were in town. I joked that sometimes I thought I was the only one, before telling then that due to my schedule--going to work just after lunch, and coming home just after dinner--I seldom saw any. There's a guy in the bike club, another BFer, and a handful of people I've run into from the University over the years.

The new job has me commuting in morning rush hour, and there are times you can't swing a cat without hitting a bike commuter. At the "Four Corners" of downtown this morning, waiting for the light, bike commuters outnumbered cars--at least in the northbound lanes. We had a little mini-conference there waiting for it to change, comparing job locations, facilities and whatnot.

Earlier, passing through the cemetery, I found that someone had forgotten to unlock the Elmwood Ave gates. Another commuter was coming along parallel to the fence, I told him the gates were locked, and he kept right on going.

Clearly he knows something I don't, I thought. So I turned to follow him. Down where the cemetery borders the University, someone had knocked a few of the iron "pickets" out of the fence--just enough that if you dismount, you can wiggle your bars through. I won't be informing the City of this.

Remounting, I asked him where he worked, "The laser lab," he said. Meaning he's a physicist working at the Laboratory of Laser Energetics. That's Laser Fusion to you and me. Yikes! He certainly knows many things I don't.

no motor?

Who's going to take over the bike trailer you put together for the library? That seems like too good an idea for it to just be abandoned due to your moving to a different job.

RidingMatthew

I want to echo the congrats on the new job as well. I am trying to find different work but so far not been successful.

what about the library trailer?

tsl

It was never entirely my job. I'm only one of several who shared outreach duties with it, so the others can take up the slack. In fact, I sold my trailer hitch to my (former) boss to put on his bike so he doesn’t have to use the beater bike that was donated to the library.

There's also a second unit under construction (my club provided the grant money), and a third is being talked about.

I am going to miss yanking it around town. It was a lot of fun.

joeyduck

Well you did have a baby when you moved. So that trumps a lot of things.

joeyduck

And there are the kids.

I think that with kids a commute of 5-7 miles is perfect. It gets enough exercise to not go crazy but not having to spend too much extra time and not being too exhausted for family duties. 5-7 miles of city driving is about the same amount of time as my (former) 5-7 miles city riding.

There were mornings the family were out of town and I was able to tack on the extra miles and I enjoyed it.

a1penguin

Congrats! I hope you acclimate quickly to the new job and work hours. Change is often a mixed blessing, with both pluses and minuses. I hope your co-workers and boss are the best! I always thought Rochester seemed pretty nice.... except for the weather. I enjoyed my six year stay in graduate school back in the 80s. Except for the weather :-)

Jim from Boston

Slightly off-topic, but prompted by this thread:

Thanks for your encouragement, @Phil_gretz. The Challenge ended on June 4, and I came in third place of about 40 participants, and our team came in first, by a hair-breadth (see graph below; the team standings are at the top from highest upward to lowest, and the top ten individual participants below).

Those standings were released every week, and the competition was very motivating with very beneficial effects. Now that it’s over I am trying to ride at least about 150 miles per week through the summer; 147 miles last week.

Bikeforumuser0019

Hey, I remember you! Strangely, I left my job at the library too, about three weeks ago. It was a strange decision to make... I wasn't sure I would be happy without the library but I couldn't keep up two jobs any more. But it was definitely the right decision, I didn't realize how tired I was until I could start going straight home at 4:30pm every day and stay home on Saturdays!

So I'm a full-time chair squasher now too. I hope things are still working out well for you after it's been four weeks since you made the change. How is it going?

Jessica in STL

noglider 

@tsl how do you like the new job and commute?

tsl

Hi Jessica!

I too wasn't sure I'd like it outside of libraryland. But jeepers it's nice. Quiet too without all the kids and teens running around. Haven't yet had a fistfight, knife fight or a shooting. So that's a plus.

As for tired, I was exhausted by the end of the week before. Now I'm not. I'm not sure what to do with all the time I'm not napping.

Hi Tom!

The commute isn't that much different from before. I use my hills, parks, cemetery and trails route to work most mornings. Just shy of nine miles, and the hills wake me right up. The last half-mile is through the concrete canyons of downtown, which is nice for a change.

The ride home is pretty much the same as I used to do, only I start three miles downstream, so I get in 16 miles instead of 13. And after crossing the river at the falls in the pic in the OP, that ride starts in the concrete canyons, before jumping on the river path, which is a completely different vibe.

As for the job, it's been 16 or 17 years since I worked in cubicleland. Funny how it all came right back. The job is mainly accounting and administration of the city's ramp garages. Mainly sit at my desk, stamp checks, update accounts, turn on (and off) parking passes. Oh, and look out the window at my bike locked to a signpost outside.

It's a cakewalk compared to the Fort Apache that was the library.

As I predicted after the interview, I've become the bike locker czar. Last week they dumped the whole bike locker mess on me. It's been exceedingly low priority.

• Nobody knows which ones or how many are in use.
• Nobody knows when the last time was that anyone was billed.
• Nobody knows who is on the waiting list, what order, or for how long they've been there.

So I have to sort that all out. Which also means chances are very good that I'll get a bike locker for myself out of the deal.

spivonious

Good to hear that you're enjoying your job. It makes it much easier to get up each morning when you enjoy what you do. And those falls are very pretty!


I have the opposite problem. I went from a 7 mile commute (perfect) to a 3 mile commute (a little short) to a 17 mile commute (a bit too long). It's just too far time-wise. I don't have 90 minutes on either side of an 8.5 hour shift to do the rides, and my office is on the top of the highest hill in the county, so I end the ride with a 250ft climb over 1/3 mile or so (although I can hit 45mph+ coming down).

noglider 

@spivonious, can you put your bike in the car, ride home from work one day and then ride into work the next?

spivonious

I've thought about it, but I need my car in the evenings most days (various band rehearsals/concerts, etc). My commute was the main time I ride my bike, and I really miss it.

rumrunn6

+1, that's it, right there