I’m thinking about starting. I tested the route Saturday and it’s within my capacity. We have showers in the facility so I wouldn’t have to be all stinky, and I can store fresh clothes in my office. Autumn is the best season to start such a practice, in Memphis anyway; not too cold, not too warm, and not too rainy. It would let me get in my daily exercise during the commute.
Anybody have experiences, advice, funny anecdotes, or horror stories to share on the issue of bicycling to work?
I have commuted to work by bicycle in the past. Where I work now doesn’t have showers plus there’s a mile of horribly dangerous road to the place. I ride over 4,000 miles a year for fun and fitness.
Advice:
Check with your company and local laws. There are some tax breaks out there for commuting by bike.
Back in the late 1970s I had to ride by a couple of bars after midnight. One time someone threw a beer bottle at me from the parking lot. I picked it up and chased the guy thru the bar. He got away, but I create quite a scene!
I also have done so in the past, through downtown San Francisco. Although we don’t have showers at work, fortunately it was downhill or flat most of the way in, so the hard work and sweat were on the way home.
I would have persisted a lot longer at it except my bikes kept getting stolen, and I finally gave up. A few years later our company added a secure bike storage space. But by then I lived too far away and it was no longer downhill to work, and the stinkiness would have been an issue.
If you are an experienced biker then you are probably used to interacting with traffic. Whatever the dangers of traffic at normal times, if you are biking during rush hour it is much more so - drivers are more impatient, buses are more frequent, red light runners are more frequent, and so on. If your city has bike lanes, then you are way ahead of the game. You still have to be hyper-alert at all times. And JerrySTL has some excellent points too.
Also, even though I am sure you would, I will just mention my request to please respect pedestrian right-of-way.
Roddy
Don’t bother trying to assert your right-of-way with cars at intersections. It’s nice when they recognize and respect your RoW but it’s simply not worth getting into a losing battle with a 3000 lbs chunk of metal. Your goal to ride to and from work safely, everything else can wait.
To add to JerrySTL. What he said about tail lights go for headlights, too. At least 400-500 lumen with a blinking function. Get another for a backup.
Reflective vest, reflective tape on the crankarms and the heels of your shoes. Some cycling shoes have a patch there already.
Clipless pedals are very nice.
THAT I already know. I walk enough to be conscious of driver assholery.
I bought one of those orange construction worker vest with reflectors built in, not a substitute for a working front/rear light system but definitely makes one more visible.
I have been riding to work most of my working life, altho only occasionally in the last few years. To add to all the good points already mentioned about riding defensively, find a couple of good routes for cycling - it is good to mix it up, even if it adds a little more time or distance. Sometimes the most direct route is not the safest - I try to avoid the insane freeway interchange even if it adds to the commute.
If you do as I do and leave a bag of clothes and supplies at work, be sure to triple-check for everything before you leave it. Sucks getting done with a shower only to find out you forgot a towel (hello paper towels), or have to wear your cycling shoes all day (leave a spare pair of work shoes at your desk).
Did you say how far a ride this will be? It is a good habit to start.
I ride a bike to work. Not every day, but a few days a week. In New York City, from Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan.
My thoughts:
Don’t worry about showers and stuff. It’s not a race. Ride in your regular work clothes, and go slow enough so that you don’t work up a sweat. I know, you’re in Memphis, and that might not be possible.
LIGHTS. LIGHTS. I can’t tell you how many cyclists around here ride at night, without lights. I see them when I’m driving. I hate it. I’m always afraid that one of these days I’m not going to see one. And I’m a cyclist myself, so I’m on the lookout. Most drivers aren’t.
Buy a cheap used bike. Eventually it’s going to get stolen.
You must be feverish. I am NOT giving up my suits & ties. I can’t think straight unless I’m wearing a suit and I need the tie in case there’s an unexpected orc attack and I have to jury-rig a sling. And if I walk around the center uncravated nobody will believe it’s me anyway.
I have a private office, and I already keep a couple of spare outfits there in the event of wardrobe disasters. I don’t imagine I’ll be riding the bike to work more than 3 days a week max anyway, as on Fridays and Mondays I’ll have to drive to make sure I have clean clothes stored/taken back home.
I’ll be keeping the bike in my office, so I’m not terribly worried.
I ride 7 miles to work daily. I use a resilient bike with minimal accoutrements. Shower at work and keep work clothes at the office. I usually switch clothes out over the weekend - either carry them home in a courier bag or use the car once a week.
It is worth giving yourself a time safety window - in the event of good things (getting into a conversation with another cyclist or stopping to help somebody) or bad things (chain falling off, flat tire etc). Happily, the majority of my delays have been for good things - one of the best things about riding to and from work daily is that it changes your perspective on the place you live. You get to recognize the other bikers and walkers by sight. You see patterns that you would never notice from inside a car. You smell gardens. You get asked for directions more. You might stop and help an old lady pull her shopping cart up a curb. You might stop and pull the broken chair out of the street after it fell off a pickup and twenty cars ran over it. Lots of actions seem natural that would never occur to you while driving a car.
Perhaps a downside - you inevitably begin to notice how creepily isolated people in cars are from other people and from their surroundings. Also, how many people are talking or texting while they drive.
Only practical advice: splurge on good tubes and tires and put in protective liners to reduce flats.
Be better lit than you think you need to be. Take the lane. It makes you more visible and predictable than riding in the gutter and weaving in and out. Watch out for door opening on parked cars.
Traffic - may be much more on weekday than weekend. More people in a rush & on edge too.
Lights - Can’t have enough of ‘em. When I was commuting in dusk/evening, I put one on a reflective ankle strap; in addition to blinking it went up & down when I was pedaling to make it more eye-catching. Make sure your lights are angled correctly. Get you neighbor (three doors down) to help you. Stand in front of your driveway & make sure s/he can see them. You can see any light from 5’ but a car needs much more distance to see, & react, to you. If it’s clipped to your jersey pocket & you’re riding in the drops of a road bike, is it now facing back or up towards the sky? Same with reflective material. Piping doesn’t do much at 30 yards, but 2"/3" wide is much more visible. If you’re wearing a vest is it angled right or pointed toward the sky/covered with by a backpack? (Do you need to take a computer home? Bringing in lunch?)
IMHO, the most obnoxiously bright light is a Lightman strobe
Leaves - When wet they can be dangerous & even when dry they can cover potholes/rocks. Be careful with fall riding.
The last few feet - do you feel comfortable walking thru your office in cycling attire? I always had a bag of clothes at my desk. If I was going to ride in the next day, I’d move it to the locker room before leaving. This way I could go directly in the gym entrance & my cow-orkers would only see me in work clothes in the building instead of spandex shorts.
Extras to keep at work - Hangers - so your attire is dry going home. Extra tube/CO[sub]2[/sub] in case you get a flat on the way in; same with food/bar/gel of your liking. Spare batteries/charger for the lights.
And if you’ve never changed a flat before, practice at home.
I always change the tube on the road and patch at home though I still carry patch kits. Changing the tube is easier if it’s dark or raining.
Use these types of patches. I’ve had very poor luck with no-glue patches.
Recommended pump.
I forgot to mention the types of bike commutes I have had. When I lived in the SF Bay Area, it was all suburban/urban - but I found routes that were mostly bike lanes and paths. A good one took me out on the levees thru the marshes near Palo Alto. No cars or noise, but lots of duck poop.
More recently, I have been able to ride a portion of my commute along a canal that has a paved bike path - no cars, as well as along the American River Bike Trail. Every morning I ride there was wildlife: deer, turkey, coyote, salmon. I seriously looked forward to my therapeutic ride home along the river each time. It was about 12 miles each way and mainly flat.
Now, my bike commute involves some hills - climbing in the morning, and downhill in the evening. One route is all roads with bike lanes and about 12 miles, with my riding against the general flow of car traffic and avoiding a major highway interchange. There is also a cool route that requires about a mile of single-track trail riding, and a creek crossing, and is only half the distance as the road route. But, it involves riding up a large hill in the morning. There is no way to not get sweaty on that one.
My work has bike lockers, and showers - so I am lucky with that.
I bike to work a couple of days a week. It’s five miles, but I live on the top of one hill and my workplace is on the top of another, with a valley in between, so it’s a workout. I carry my clothes in panniers and shower and change at the office.
Ditto what everyone has said about lights and visibility. My rule: if I have to ask myself, “Does that guy see me,” I assume he doesn’t.
In addition to blinky lights front and back and a reflective vest, I also have one of those strands of electroluminscent wire that I wrap around my frame and an LED on one valve stem. I figure anything that makes a driver think, “What the hell is THAT?” is good.
If you wear glasses, get the kind of rearview mirror that mounts on your temple piece. I never ride without one. It’s so much better than the kind that mount on your handlebars.
I was using an inexpensive set of panniers from Nashbar, which were OK when the weather was good, but I bike in the winter, too, and my hands would be frozen by the time I dragged my shit out to my bike and got it all packed. I just bought an awesome pair of panniers that I can mount on my rack in about 10 seconds, so I can pack them inside. I love 'em.
You can get a pannier that is a full-sized garment bag, incidentally.
If you’re going to ride when it’s cold, shoe covers are great! They really keep my toes from freezing.
I keep my bike in my office, too. I hang it from ceiling hooks.
P.S. Holy cow, runner pat! I knew you’d had a serious injury but I’d never read the full story!
I started out taking public transit to work and riding home. (Yay for bike racks on buses!) The trip home was a great way to leave the job behind.
I would recommend at first not trying to get in a workout but just trying out routes and getting a feel for interacting with rush hour traffic. You can start hammering when you’re more comfortable with the routine.
I also bike to work, though I can’t really add much advice beyond what others have said. Go for it, though: It’s a great way to get incidental exercise and recreation, and save money to boot.
Seconded. I used to ride the shortest distance between home and work, which was about a mile and a half. It was on the streets and a pretty busy state route with no bike lane. I switched to a longer route on bike trails through parks for most of the way and dropped twenty pounds over the next three months with no other change in eating or lifestyle. Probably bought gas every two months.
I bike the three miles to the office every day, like most Dutch. I have a solid upright bike that protects my office clothes. I bike at a leisury pace, so I don’t arrive sweaty and I don’t have to shower or change. I do adapt my hairstyle to be rain-proof, though. And I have large bags so I can do the grocery shopping and errands on the way. Add in a kiddie seat, and my bike looks likethis, like most Dutch moms’ bikes.
Many of my male co-workers (and my husband) do bike from longer distances, and they have a race bike, or lie-down bike. Some shower at the office.
