2009-2010 Equinox to Equinox commuter challenge?

[out_spokin']

The mornings have become consistently crisp, I almost beat the sun to the bus stop today....it must be that time of the year! I'm excited to bike through the fall/winter but know I could use the extra motivation to keep it up. Last year having a group of TEers committed to the challenge was really a great boost. So, since we're a week out from the equinox I thought I'd get it going again!

Here's the deal: You decide what your commuting goal is for the September - March time frame. For some of us it's a % or # of days per week, for some it's weather-related, for others (my inspiration) it's simply to continue their daily car-free ways through the dark/cold of the northern hemisphere...

Once you have it figured out, post it here. Next Monday 9/21 I'll gather the goals into one post and we'll keep the thread going, sharing our progress, challenges, successes, sublime or silly moments...you get the idea!

Since I go to part time in Oct I need to think through my own goal a bit - back at ya soon! ;)

[out_spokin']

anyone??

[Yelsel]

I will be commuting this winter, but this is my first time, and MN is pretty harsh... so no hard goals as yet. Plus the winters are very different from year to year, which also affects things! I've also just moved, and will be commuting through an industrial area on smaller streets rather than on a major thoroughfare, so I'm not sure how much of a problem plowing / snow will be.

I generally bike 3x per week (1 car, 1 work at home). I would like to continue with this schedule, or at worst drop down to 2x per week.

[Tri Girl]

How did I miss this thread?
I think my goal will be to do 2 days a week in the winter. Only 2 days because I'm a bit of a winter wimp and the cold air always bothers my asthma.
If I can do 3-4 days a week I'll be thrilled, but I'm only shooting for 2 (which is still 2 more than I've ever done in the past). I bought some cool lobster gloves to try out this winter- I'm very excited about them. :)

I like the idea! Thanks for thinking of it. :)

[Biciclista]

I'm in. Not sure what my goals are though. Looks like i'm commuting every day this week. I can do dark and dry, but not dark and wet.
Last winter, i commuted all the way through the winter, cherry picking the nicer days.

[GLC1968]

You know what? Count me in. I hardly commuted at all last year and I wish I had...so this year, I'm committing to being better about it.

I'm going for a reasonable goal: 1 full commute per week

It still counts if I split it into two days (home one day, back in the next while leaving the car at work). And just so that I don't sound like a total wimp, I'd like to mention that my commute is 20 miles each way. ;)

[kfergos]

I'm in, although I have no idea what my commute will be. I'm moving to Seattle at the end of October and have an internship lined up starting January 11, so November and December "commuting" will be almost any bike ride to a destination. Once I start the internship, I don't know what the commute will be like -- it's to the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, so at least they're supportive of bike commuting! -- but I am committed to commuting year-round no matter what! Seattle can't be as bad as Massachusetts, right?? :o

[GLC1968]

Seattle can't be as bad as Massachusetts, right?? :o

Oh, definitely not! Welcome to the PNW! :)

[tulip]

I missed this thread first time 'round. Great idea!

Count me in. 3x/week when I'm not traveling.

[malkin]

Goal: Commute again.
I've only just started a few easy rides since my crash 9/1.

[Jenerator]

I'm planning on riding daily, except when I'm on call or traveling for work.

[7rider]

I set monthly goals through 2009 to try to reach 100 days for the Bike Commuter Century on BikeJournal (for instance, 8 days in the month of September). Unfortunately, I have so far met my goal only in one month! :(
Numeric goals...I'm finding out...just stress me out.
My goal is to just continue riding through the winter, barring ice and snow (which was pretty rare last winter in MD).

[Grog]

I had a goal of 80% last year and then we had a month-long snowstorm (not kidding) and the first day after the snow had melted a bit I was hit by a car, which seriously curtailed my commuting. (No injuries, but had to get a new bike.)

For this winter my objective will be 80% active commuting (cycling or running) on days when I go to the office (which means most days, most weeks). I am going on a slightly new route and a lot of it is in total darkness for wildlife conservation reasons (it's crossing a park) so I've got new, more powerful lights, too. (Total distance for the round-trip is between 25 and 30 km daily.) I intend to cycle three times a week and run (partway) once a week.

I'm pretty excited about it. I don't mean that I look forward to never-ending rain. But it should be sort of fun!

Thanks for getting the ball rolling!

[out_spokin']

All right! I'm psyched that you all are aboard in all these different ways. Perfect!

I'll collect everyone's goal in one post in a new thread by Friday. If anyone else wants in, speak now! (though the challenge will stay open for the duration, of course, this IS the TE forum after all! :cool:)

Being a person motivated by written goals, and often numerical ones at that, I think I'm going to go for 75% of my office days. It might be tough -- it's supposed to be an early & cold winter at least according to the Farmer's Almanac, but I want a stretch from last winter's goal. And since I'm going to part time in a couple weeks, I think I want to throw in another goal for the non-job days. Right now I'll say at least one of the two will be car-free. Gotta go make my tracking chart! :rolleyes:

[Becky]

Im in, though how exactly I don't know. My big obstacle last year was dark, not cold. The beginning of my ride home means negotiating a nasty highway interchange. I have to travel through it on the way in too, but the ramps are routed in such a way and morning traffic volume is light enough that it;s not nearly as scary as the ride home. Anyway, out of fear of getting splattered, I stopped riding once it got dark in the evenings (~4:30).

I did ride to my weekend job as much as possible, and intend to continue doing that this winter.

Thanks for organizing this thread, out_spokin'!

[Medianox]

Bike Commuting has been great so far, but I am finding myself a little hesitant to continue through the darker, wetter months ahead. We basically have 2 seasons here 1) dry and hot and 2) wet and cool. Dry and hot are great-you don't have to worry about rain for 6-7 months of the year. Winter is another story because along with wet and cool comes the fog. Fog so thick that you can't see streetlights, or cars...really thick stuff. I'm not scared to get wet, I'd go in the rain but the combo of fog and darkness has me concerned. The lights I have can't cut through that.
I work 3 days/week and I'll still try to do at least a bike commute one of those days but if there is fog-I'll have to pass.
Any Bay area bikers out there with fog hints?

[bikerHen]

Yep, I'm in too! The rumor around Eastern Washington is that we are going to have a mild winter this year. After two years of record setting winters I'm going to embrace that prediction. :D

So, I'll say that I'm going to continue with my five day a week commute. Although, I reserve the right to do less than my normal 20 miles a day when my feet start freezing. :p bikerHen

[Voodoo Sally]

Good idea. I'm in. Although I'm not sure what my goal will be. I commute every day from around Apr. 1 to about mid to late Dec. The reason I stop is because of the permanent layer of ice and snow in the shoulders on these narrow suburban roads in the winter. It has been the case the past three winters that this snow layer has persisted there from about mid-Dec. to around the 1st of April, and I just can't ride these streets that far out towards the middle. So, if we happen to have a mild winter, I can ride. If not, we'll see how many days I can manage.

[twin]

My bike is being set up so I can ride it after my partial shoulder replacement. I should be able to ride it by the middle of next week. I will start with 3 times and add to that if my shoulder allows. I can hardly wait it has been two months since I have ridden.

[twin]

After talking to people on the phone the other day at my ortho place and being told I could ride and taking in Surly Girly LHT for a makeover which includes higher bars so I decided on Albatross with cork grips and twine and a Ritchey ajustable stem to get me through the shoulder replacements new positions and fat Geax Tattoo tires for extra cushion and a new wicker basket because it's cute and now that the LHT will look like a city cruiser I was told yesterday by the PA I will have to wait at least another month before I can ride. I am unable to commute. Good luck this winter with your commutes and have fun. I will be thinking of commuting for now.

[out_spokin']

ah, twin, sorry about that....good luck with your recovery and post a picture sometime of that modded LHT!

[Biciclista]

My year goal was 100 commutes. I have 3 commutes (4?) to go before I reach that goal.
I guess my winter (now) goal is 2 commutes a week. winter is from now until March when it starts getting light again in the morning.

[Tri Girl]

awww, twin- that's sad news. :( I'm sorry you can't ride for another month. I'd love to see your new tricked out Surly Girly, tho! :)

[GLC1968]

Ah....my first goal is to get in ONE commute! Could the planets align against me any more than they already have? (Or should I not tempt fate by asking that?!).

I'm on the hunt for a new mount for my light. The old one has gone missing. Without it, I cannot commute in to work as it is full dark then. Ugh! Soon...I hope!

And yes, twin - lets see that LHT! It sounds awesome!

[tulip]

GLC--that is a great goal--doable and within reach. I may remodel my commuting goal to match--1 commute per week in October, 2 commutes per week in November, and 3 commutes per week in December. Or maybe I'll drop the "per week" part. That way, I won't feel like a schnook for not meeting my goals, which happens all-too-often,.