bent-not-broken

I bike in a small town in central Wisconsin. I biked a little in college and then took off about 25 years with other interests. I took it up again 4 years ago to control my weight (or at least hhelp contol it). I started with a yard sale 12 speed road bike and now have nine bikes ranging from recumbents to four commuter bikes. All but one of the bikes were used as I just can't pass up a deal. My yearly mileage has increased from 500 that first year to 4500 last year.

I have evolved from a fair weather commuter to a 'dedicated' commuter with over 200 10 mile round trip commutes last year. My cummute is through a small town, with half on 25 MPH low traffic steets and half on a MUP which is lightly used early in the morning, but can be a pain on nice summer afternoons. I commute in the summer on one of 2 - 1980's road bikes with a flat bar and a trekking bar. In spring, fall, and bad wheather I have a full fendered hybrid tank of a bike. In winter I switch to a mountain bike with studded tires and chloroplast fenders. My commutes are mostly uneventful and only occasionally do I get a "get off the road" yelled at me. I treat stop signs as yields as the roads are so lightly traveled. If I must drive for a work related remote meeting I really mis smy commute.

The other half of my miles come from touring the local rural roads on my short wheel base recumbent. The local wisconsin roads are lightly traveled and most vehicles I meet are very curteous. I also occasionally ride the local bike paths with my wife. I enjoy solo rural rides of 30-60 miles but my wife prefers paved bike paths, and can't cope with even the light traffic.