Farmer Dave

For me i would have to say I did it for my fitness, as well as the endorphins I receive from the exercise. Saving money on gas was just an added bonus.

jdswitters

I started the end of last summer when I moved into a condo 3 miles from my office just to see what it was like in case gasoline went up over 4 dollars a gallon again. Then I realized how 11 years of office work had made me soft. Then I realized I needed a new bike, but in order to justify a new bike I would need to ride to work more. If I rode to work more often, say 4 season, then I would need a bike with lots of features.

One year later, riding every day, and I deserve that Brooks saddle that is on order. It will take two more years for the bike to pay for itself in gas savings. But you can't put a price on fun, health (-10 lbs) or increased vigor.

FunkyStickman

I was riding an hour before work, then showering, and driving to work... then one day I just went "Duh! I could just ride to work!"

alan s 

When I figured out that riding my bike was actually faster than driving. DC consistently ranks near the top in "worst traffic" rankings.

BassNotBass

But probably cost you less than a car and saved you gas money immediately.

Looks like you're winning in every way (and IMHO you deserved that Brooks saddle from day one).

I started commuting because it was fun. It still is.

exile

I really don't remember what got me started. I guess one day I decided to give it a try. I was a fair weather commuter for a few years and then stopped for a few years. About 4 years ago I started up again and for the last 2 years I've been a year round commuter.

CACycling

It helps me get more miles in, it keeps us from buying another car (2 kids w/ drivers licenses so adding a car would have cost a fortune in insurance alone), it is enjoyable (beats the heck out of driving) and my commuter nicely fills up that empty corner of my office.

enigmaT120

Fitness. I do like riding, but I like running too. Running doesn't get me anywhere, and I won't do it in the rain.

LAG-bolt

Saving $$$, getting in shape and to be different. I started riding a couple times late in the summer of 2009 on my old mountain bike just to see if I could do the 18 mile round trip. Then I upgraded the old bike to a Swinn Hybrid and rode all of 2010 summer. No job right now to commute too, so it's all been pleasure rides to date.

groovestew

Paying for parking got too expensive to justify, and I didn't like taking the bus. That was enough incentive to try cycling to work, and I haven't looked back. Still take the bus in the winter, though.

CJ C

when i realized most of my errands were within two miles i bought a cheap walmart cruiser to ride instead of drive to the store.

then when i realized how much fun and easy it was i tried to one day ride to work. been hooked so far, but i wont commute in the rain yet.

mconlonx

Was the fastest, cheapest way to work when I lived in Boston.

Now that I'm rural, it's the slowest, cheapest, most fun way to get to work.

no motor?

Combination of fitness, fun and gas savings.

pallen

I love riding, I hate driving. I had always assumed there was no safe way to get to work from where I live, but one day for giggles I put the trip into google maps and used their bike route thing and it showed me a great route with very little traffic. Turns out, the roads no one knows exists (including me beforehand) make great bike routes. I haven't stopped since.

Sixty Fiver

Was always an avid recreational cyclist and did both road and mtb... jumping into commuting was pretty painless.

Grew up in a small city that was 9 square miles and had ten thousand people and could never see a reason to drive in the city limits unless I was carrying people (and you could walk anywhere) and then moved to the big city which is 264 square miles and has about one million people in the metro area.

Did the vehicular commute for about 4 years and did need my car for work on many occasions but if time and circumstances allowed would ride my bike as far as 40km round trip to various work sites and discovered this amazing thing... I was just as fast on my bike as I was in the car.

Five years ago I quit driving my car to work altogether when I got transferred to a new office (and still had to make calls in the community) and opted to use my bike instead of driving and this did not impact my travel time by much and some days would ride in excess of 60km a day and could sometimes ride 90-100km in a day.

Have been riding every day for nearly six years except when my health prevented me from riding (or doing much of anything)... summer, winter, rain, shine... got rid of the car almost 4 years ago when I got tired of dusting it.

Andy_K 

I was sitting around one day thinking about how if I got a Prius with a solar panel on the roof I could get to the light rail station and back every day without buring a drop of gasoline. Then I realized I could do that with a bike too and save $30,000 (or so I thought). About the same time a health coach at work told me that if I ever wanted to stick to an exercise program I needed to find something I actually wanted to do. So I bought a cheap bike and started riding two miles to the light rail station. Four years and seven bikes later, I'm riding the full 10 miles to work every day, plus 50-100 miles on weekends.

It's worth noting that neither of my two original reasons (enviornmentalism and exercise) are anywhere near as important to me as the reason that I've kept doing it, which is just that it is incredibly fun. If I didn't enjoy it, I'd have probably stopped and my first bike would be gathering dust in the garage.

old'76

I can't justify paying outrageous amounts of money for insurance and gas and it's FUN.

ModeratedUser22102018A

The main reason? Because it's fun.

Then there are the secondary benefits; the money savings, the environmental impact, the exercise. Not only is it a great way to wake up, but it also relieves stress at the end of the day. Much happier when I get home. I also think it sets a good example for my sons for all the above reasons.

phillybill

fitness, boredom, bad traffic..... just to be different

wolfchild

I used to do lot's of mountain biking. Then one day I decided to give it a try and ride to work. It was a turning point in my life, I've never stopped since. Now over 4 years later cycling has become a lifestyle for me.

gear

I figured that some day they would put me in a box forever, so why should I commit myself to one beforehand.

bhop

My car was in the shop for 2 months.. got sick of waiting for the bus every day so I decided to ride my bike to work. I stuck with it after I realized how much fun it is and all the benefits that came with it:

-Less stressful from not sitting in traffic
-Faster to get to/from work on the bike because of traffic.
-Save around $150+/mo in gas money
-Exercise (lost 40lbs in the first few months), manly legs
-Nice tan (farmer)
-You see more of your surroundings on a bike

billyymc

It's better than going to the gym. It makes work seem less monotonous. I'm more connected with the world when I ride.

nashcommguy

It was a matter of time and economics for me. Going through a major life change. Broke. Depressed...blah, blah, blah. Was riding the bus back and forth to work in Chicago, winter of '87. On the bus and hating everything. Standing up, holding on to a strap and this guy goes by on a bicycle. Huge red beard. Big honkin' boots on an mtb. Cigarette hanging from his mouth. Had a big scarf wrapped around his neck and was wearing an old Army coat. Takes a puff of his cigarette and was SMILING! It was like -5F w/t windchill and this Eric the Red looking guy looks like he's out for a joyride or on his way to go sled-riding. Life-changing moment for me. I'd been athletic most of my life and figured I could make it to work in under an hour by bicycle. It took me 1.5 by bus as I had to do a transfer at one point. Started the following Monday after getting a bike over the weekend. The first day took me 45 mins and my times went down from there. Been cycle-commuting ever since. Saved a ton of money which was quickly spent on cycling gear and tools as I gained experience.

AlmostGreenGuy

As I became a stronger cyclist last year, my evening rides were getting longer and longer. The wife started to become unhappy about me disappearing for two hours at a time, and not spending enough time with family.

So I decided to kill two birds with one stone. My morning and afternoon bus commute to work was taking 45 minutes each way, between the walk to the bus stop and the ride. Cycling to work takes an hour each way, so I only lose a total of a half hour with family, and still get in a full bike ride.