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Do you bike commute to work?
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Do you bike commute to work?

Here's pic of my commuter bike...

http://www.angelfire.com/...55_rider/collect.htm

**********************
I was, now I will tri again!
...
Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, and to my surprise when I got to work this morning there was another bike chained up in the parking deck.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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Did I read your website correctly? Your commute is a two-hour bike ride each way??!!??
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Richard R] [ In reply to ]
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I was wondering how do you shower after getting to work? If you carry your clothes how do you keep them looking ok (not slept in) I was told to use your off days as absolute rest days, Phil Mafatone also says this. Do you ride on off days?
I would really like to start doing this. Mostly for enviromental reasons. Anyone with suggestions please give advice
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [denewone] [ In reply to ]
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Well, where I work actually has showers. However I can get to work in about 20min riding easy, which with a change of clothes, and a little deodorant is no problem. However since I work in a chemistry lab and never interact with people it doesn't really matter if my clothes look slept in.

Otherwise I could take my "off" day and drive in with 4 days worth of clothes (and home with 4 days worth of dirty) and then commute lighter during the other 4 days.

Also get to work early, leave early, and take the less travelled roads.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [denewone] [ In reply to ]
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My comute is about 15 min so not much of a sweat is built up. I slap some deoderant on and call it good. All of my clothes are rolled up in my pack and they look fine--I think. I am a teacher and usually dress pretty casually (dockers and a crew shirt).

Jon Bergmann
http://jonbergmann.com
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [denewone] [ In reply to ]
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For what its worth I just went and checked my bike computer it was 1 hour 36 min. this morning.

JC Penney has dress slacks that are made with a blend that doesn't wrinkle. There cheap (about $28 !!), and look good too. I have a locker, shower facility, and cafeateria which is almost essential considering the distance of my commute. It saves me from having to carry clothes and food.

**********************
I was, now I will tri again!
...
Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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I rode my bike quite often to my previous job--a ride of ~36 miles, one way, via the shortest route. As an alternative, I would often drive in the morning, with the bike in the car, as well as a change of clothes for the next day; then leave the car at work, and ride home in the evening, and ride back to work the next morning. I could shower at work, but often didn't need to, since I worked essentially alone, and had no particular dress standard. And, I'd commonly run at lunch anyway. My "commuter bike" was generally my road frame, which was then a Trek 5200, but I occasionally rode the P2K.

Now, I work at home, so my "commute" is bedroom to office. I ride during the day two or three days per week, and on the weekend as well.

"...like every writer, he measured other men's virtues by what they had accomplished, yet asked that other men measure him by what he planned someday to do."
Last edited by: Lloyd: Mar 24, 03 7:45
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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How do you guys do it?

a. The long rides! My ride is only 37 km, and it takes me 2.5 hours
round trip once I'm in decent shape. And it always wipes me out. I
have only once managed to do it 5 days of the week, and 3 is about
good. Granted, I only pulled the bike out of storage 2 years ago, so
I'm still building an endurance base (incidentally, I'm no
triathlete... yet... but I try to jog and swim for exercise as well
when the weather doesn't allow for biking).

b. Without a shower? Yuck!!

As far as clothing goes: I fold it neatly and it usually looks pretty
good (dress pants + tie). Keep a pair of shoes at work. I carry a pack
on the the back, but that is a nasty thing when it gets warm.
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Run Commuting! [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Do you bike commute to work?

Here's pic of my commuter bike...

http://www.angelfire.com/...55_rider/collect.htm


I just started a new job (at which I am the sole employee). My new office looks directly down on La Jolla Cove. I can see swimmers and dolphins all day out my window. I started running here last week (now that my no-more-babies procedure has healed up). 3 miles here in the morning; 3 miles home at night. Free (cold) showers at the Cove!

It is the perfect two-a-day easy run distance; I hope to do it three days a week. My commute is now too short for me to want to bother getting the bike out!
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Yes - my base milage! [ In reply to ]
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I commute every day it doesn't rain (just don't like mixing it up with Atlanta drivers in the rain). It's 7 mile to/from work but I can lengthen that to 37 in the am (when traffic is light) and 16 in the pm. In winter I typically do 7 am, 16 pm, As the days get warmer I go longer in the am until I am doing 37 am/16 pm. It is a very hilly commute so the legs get a great workout - there is no such thing as crusing on the routes I do. I will do the long am rides two days a week and do am weights 3 days a week. I have a free fitness club at work (all cybex weight machines) which includes a locker room and showers. I carry all my clothes each way - 10 more pounds just makes it a bit harder (is that worth more miles?). I use a Vaude cycling back, which I love. I get in about 150 road miles/wk during the weekdays in good weather. What a life!



"My strategy is to start out slow and then peter-out altogether" Walt Stack
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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I no longer commute on my bike but at one time I did and was in much better biking shape. I probably rode a few hours a day just commuting, then go for a ride in the afternoons with my buddies. I think the commuting really helped get rid of some soreness from the training I was doing.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [denewone] [ In reply to ]
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Here's how I carry clothes and lunch when commuting:
  • Palfrey (my hybrid) has large panniers. I can load up once a week with shirts, socks and underwear. (Other clothes stay at work in a locker in the shower room.) The panniers are also good for carrying the laptop.
  • Destrier (my road bike) can also carry a surprising amount of gear. The secret is this rack and this bag for it. One flick of a quick release converts me from racing to commute mode and back. However, the laptop won't fit. I should probably leave a light pack at work for unscheduled laptop trips home when riding Destrier. I've been OK so far.


Cheers -- John
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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I live about 7 blocks from the store here. I often walk rather than ride. Our bank is betwen here and my house so I often walk home during the day to check on the cats if there's time, they like to have the windows open. Even though I only 7 blocks away I do often drive though since I sometimes need my car during the day for errands. I wish I didn't "need" a car at all. I can days without driving sometimes.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Tom Demerly] [ In reply to ]
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Tom, yet again proof that you are living a life I'd like to live. I pray for the day I can live that close to work! I commute 45min-1hr one-way, across bridge tunnels here in the Hampton Roads area by virtue of moving between military commands recently. I used to live 10mi away from my company on a great road for riding. Nice easy spins in, and then do a loop + commute in the evenings for 40-50mi/day riding. But no mas!

I pray for the day that I live in my OWN house, 7 blocks or so from the school where I teach and from the hospital or surgi-center where my wife works, and a hop-skip-and-crank from five or ten great cycling routes. The only thing you're doing wrong is living in the snow-infested north! Wink I'm headed for mostly sunny (except for the occasional hurricane) Charleston, SC area!
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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Working in a home office setup I can't exactly ride my bike to work. Most days during the season though I'll go for a 1 1/2 hr ride at lunch. During the winter it's x-country ski. One of the advantages of living in the boonies.

I do have a friend back in the city who rides 13 kms to work and back every day of the year, including each one this winter. Quite an amazing accomplishment when you consider how much snow we received this year.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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Late May through early September I ride (my Mt. Bike) to work. Eight miles one way (4-5 days a week). I work in a swim shop and I am the boss. So, clothing is usually a pair of shorts, a polo or t-shirt, and sandles in a backpack. As, far as showering... My store is one block from Lake Michigan and across the street from a YMCA. I do enjoy the comute.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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Hey Goodtime--do you commute over 2 truly Appalachian hills? If so where, and where do all other commuters ride to work?

I have cycle commuted on and off for 19 yrs---California, and Virginia(over notch in Blue Ridge, from Charlottesville to Shenandoah Valley)

Key to happy bike commute is planning, as other riders mention. Commuting by dreaded auto one day is a great way to bring fresh clothes and supplies to office. Another tip is keeping a closet full of clothes at work, and using a near to work dry cleaners, if available. Carrying a large cargo each day on the bike would drain some of the joy of bking to work for me. But I am considering buying a true touring bike for occasional big loads.

A shower is essential. Hard to imagine tolerating a sponge bath, even if one works solo.

Finally, bike commuting solves multiple problems of existence---traffic, bad air quality, base cycling mileage, and most important, MOOD ENHANCEMENT.

Let us convert the masses--remember Critical Mass, One Less Car, and ONE REVOLUTION AT A TIME.

mOjO
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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I bike commute to work in all weather conditions. But it is only 2.5km from home to office. I use an old mountain bike for commuting.

Felix

http://www.weilenmann.ch.vu
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [felix__w] [ In reply to ]
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I commute by bike year round. I meet clients daily so have to be suited and booted. The way I do things is keep a selection of suits, ties and shoes at work and cycle with a clean shirt in my bag. We've got a shower here so I jump in that and shave etc to ensure no suspicious odours stay with me from my cycling gear.







"Language most shows a man: Speak, that I may see thee. It springs out of the most retired and inmost parts of us, and is the image of the parents of it, the mind. No glass so mirrors a man's form or likeness so true as his speech." - Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [felix__w] [ In reply to ]
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80% of my training (other than a long w/end ride) is built around a 7 mile each-way commute from one side of London to the other - makes a great run and I extend to 15-20 mls for the bike with a few laps of the big parks here. Lets me get the miles in with minimal impact on time with family, and avoids public transport hell.

Best of all, the Mayor has just started charging Ł5 ($8) a day for cars to drive into central London, so that has cut the traffic dramatically for cyclists - how well would that go down in the States...? :)

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights"
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Fizzy] [ In reply to ]
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Fizzy, you are a better man than I am. I'm back from one of 3 two week trips I take to London every year. As I walk to The City I am always in awe of you guys. Even with the new toll and extra bike lanes (not to mention the purported civility of UK drivers) it still looks dangerous. God bless you.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [oglethorpe] [ In reply to ]
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Fizzy, I was in London last week too. Couldn't help but notice how much traffic seems to have been reduced. However, I was only in the city (central London) and was wondering if it's resulted in a greater build up around the borders of the charged zone?







"Language most shows a man: Speak, that I may see thee. It springs out of the most retired and inmost parts of us, and is the image of the parents of it, the mind. No glass so mirrors a man's form or likeness so true as his speech." - Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter.
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [Goodtime] [ In reply to ]
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I consider myself really lucky since my work is a 15 mins walk from home and my gym is 5 mins from work. Like this I can go swim before work, train during my lunch time or after work without losing much time to commute. During the summer (I live in Montreal, Quebec), I usualy bike to work.

I also used to run 4 km to university witch was easy to organise since I had access to a locker and a shower.

One of the organisation problem that you guys did'nt talk about is where do you you store your bikes. When I commute somewhere with my bike, I use a 100$ mountain bike that wont be stolen and which is ok for a 3 km ride but not for 30. My jobs never had any place to store my bike and I would never leave my tri bike in the street !!!

So I guess that to commute to work(for long distance), one would need access to a shower and a secure place to store is bike.


Richard

"You're only young once, but you can be immature forever" - Larry Andersen
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Re: Do you bike commute to work? [felix__w] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
I bike commute to work in all weather conditions. But it is only 2.5km from home to office. I use an old mountain bike for commuting.

Felix


Felix_w, nice website!

http://www.angelfire.com/...355_rider/index.html

And to address another issue brought up regarding bike security. Yes, I have a secure place to store the bike in the rear foyer of my office building. No way am I going to store it outside. In my office building no one would dare touch it. For what its worth I might as well be hang gliding to work as far as my buisness peers are concerned. That is how distant the thought of bike commuting (especially 30 miles each way) is to them.

**********************
I was, now I will tri again!
...
Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.
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