# Biking to work. Who does it? \*puff puff puff\* **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724 "2004-04-29T19:05:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/41 "2004-05-01T00:22:50Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Which city in Iowa, BD? I spent 10 years in Iowa City one year. No, not that big city. Other side of the state in Ames. When I lived in Iowa City I had to actually wait through 3 entire stoplights on my bike ride to work. Was enough to make me take the bus in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/42 "2004-05-01T00:51:12Z")
I would if I could… it’s only about a two mile ride, but I would have to cross a four lane state highway and dodge eighty-mile-an-hour traffic to get there. I’ve done it a few times on weekends when traffic isn’t nearly so bad, but no way I’m going to try it during rush hour. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/43 "2004-05-01T19:03:34Z")
> [@SlowMindThinking](#): > > I do drive to the gym though, Mr. Miskatonic. Not much choice there if I am to work long enough hours to keep my job. Plus, the ladies seem to frown on showing up for yoga drenched in sweat, and I don’t have the cuts to lift weights in my bike shoes. I have no objection to driving to the gym, its just that I am amused by the number of times that its a perfectly beautiful day out, and the parking lot is full. If there were a bunch of folks on the weight machines I might still understand it, but they usually int he spinning classes. 😕 Of course, they look at me funny since I show up sweaty and head straight for the shower. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/44 "2004-05-02T02:38:00Z")
I do! I ride to work (2-3 miles) and to school. I don’t have a car. I am way too poor, and having lived quite successfully without a car for so long, I don’t even miss it. I take the bus in winter when there’s snow because I’m a bit worried about slipping and wiping out on the street. I wonder if any bikers in this thread could answer a question I have. It’s kind of TMI… I get subcutaneous boils on my inner, upper thighs, from the pressure of the seat, I think. They are like hard, painful lumps that don’t usually have any color or raised skin unless I try to pop them, which is usually unsuccessful. Do I need a softer seat? Should I get padded shorts? Would that help? Or am I just doomed to have icky lumps during biking season? Is it just me? ZJ ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/45 "2004-05-03T01:44:31Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > And now it’s pouring rain. Ugh. > > This has its downsides. This is why Man invented Gore-Tex. ---
**Author:** ![bittersweet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@bittersweet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bittersweet)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/46 "2004-05-03T02:24:40Z")
I walk to work…it’s only about 5 blocks away for me. I had a friend who used to bike to work. He did it for quite a while when he worked in NJ. He then moved to MS and biked to work there, except there was a stretch of highway he had to ride along. One day he was struck from behind, and died about a week after that. Very sad. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/47 "2004-05-13T12:45:16Z")
Since the weather got warm and dry, I’ve been doing it daily. Except yesterday. I had to take a day off because I got a screaming case of Athlete’s Butt. Being overweight and diabetic, I’m prone to fungal infections wherever sweat collects, and Tuesday I had an outbreak across the bottom of my buttcheecks where my undies end. Parking myself on the seat and pedaling was quite painful. Almost as bad as spraying the area with my Industrial Strength Cruex :eek: But (pun unintended) I was back to riding today. I even get to play human lightning rod on the way home. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/48 "2004-05-13T13:36:29Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > So, since I moved to Marietta and I’m only 2+ miles to work (instead of my old 60 or so) I decided that I could bike to and from work. Picked up the bike last Friday and rode for the first time today (weather prevented it prior to today). > > _puff puff puff_ > > I suppose I’m more out of shape than I’d thought. > > _whew_ > > Anyone else bike to work? I did it for several years when I lived in Dunwoody and worked in Sandy Springs =-- six miles each way. Stick with it, it is EXTREMELY good for your health. But make sure you have a good bike seat and watch the traffic. I used to travel on heavily travelled but wide roads, because the cars on those roads often moved slower than I did, so there was less chance of a collision. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/49 "2004-05-13T13:41:29Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > **And now it’s pouring rain. Ugh.** > > This is why Man invented Gore-Tex. And [velomobiles](http://www.velomobileusa.com/). ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/50 "2004-05-13T13:50:41Z")
If I get the job I’m interviewing for, I will be able to bike to work! It’s 4.4 miles as the Mapquest flies and they have an onsite gym so showering will be no problem. I’m looking forward to it, and it will be an excuse to upgrade my 10 year old bike 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/51 "2004-05-13T13:51:02Z")
I bike to work nearly every day, year-round. I’ve been off the bike since February, due to (non-bike related) knee replacement surgery, but other than that, if it’s not raining and the streets are clear of snow and ice, I ride. I live in Brooklyn Heights (New York City) and work in midtown Manhattan, so it’s not an incredibly long ride. I dress in work clothes and don’t find that I get obnoxiously sweaty as long as I take it reasonably slow. I’m not that concerned about bike security. I buy flea-market bikes and lock them up outside work (also outside my home – my apartment is _very_ small). Right now I’m riding a Schwinn Continental. Nobody seems to be interested in stealing it. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/52 "2004-05-13T13:51:38Z")
Ooh, me, me ! I’ve commuted by bike for a number of years, and as a city inhabitant it’s _always_ been faster for me. I don’t really enjoy biking much, I just really, really, really hate sitting in traffic. I leave a change of clothes at work because I always get all sweaty. I don’t understand how people can bike in their work clothes ! ick. It is the best way to keep fit, IMO - unlike the gym or the Stairmaster, you can’t quit and go home when you get tired, all you can do is keep going. It’s a great motivator. Traffic sucks. One of the major east-west routes (for cars AND bikes) across the city is under construction all summer, so the other one - the one I’ve been using every day for two years - is suddenly packed with cars and people who think it might be nice to try biking to work because obviously the traffic laws don’t apply to occasional cyclists, right? Frightening stuff, really. I’ve been composing an ‘All-Purpose Bike Commuter Pit Rant’ in my head for a few days (usually on my way to/from work) but I haven’t quite gotten angry enough … yet … ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724/53 "2004-05-13T14:58:30Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > I leave a change of clothes at work because I always get all sweaty. I don’t understand how people can bike in their work clothes ! ick. When the morning temp is down in the 50s (or below), I’ll ride in my work clothes. Otherwise, I ride in old shorts and t-shirt, with my work clothes in my backpack. When it gets to be in the 70s in the mornings, I’ll use the shower facilities once I get here. I kind of enjoy the waves I get from the bikers and runners when I cut through the air force base. It’s like they know why I’m doing it (to lose weight), and I interpret the recognitions as reinforcement. BTW, ‘cutting through the air force base’ actually makes the trip longer, but it’s a much safer ride. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-to-work-who-does-it-puff-puff-puff/242724.md?page=2)