Cranky Bike Commuter Dealing with Car

[Voodoo Sally]

Yeah, so, cars. After bike commuting for most of this year, I've been driving my stoopid car all week (see Shooting for 7500 post) . Yesterday I had to wash it (a rust fighting measure, $8), fill it up with gas ($36), then the headlight blew (replaced for $20 at the Mobil, while getting in a traffic jam with all the other cars AT the Mobil), then I nearly got stopped for driving a wee bit the wrong way on a one-way in order to avoid this huge traffic jam. (Somehow, the cop I suddenly saw there didn't seem to notice - phew!). Anyway, ain't bike commuting WAY less of a hassle?!

Oh, and let's not forget next week's oil change and putting on the snow tires!

[bikerHen]

I mostly feel guilty when I drive. I only have a 3 mile shot up the highway to work. So I don't have any real traffic issues to deal with. The few days I haven't ridden I've have my daughter take me on her way to work. I then spend the whole day wishing I'd ridden and thinking about missing my evening ride home.

On the other hand, it's nice to have the extra time in the morning and getting home before 7 o'clock in the evening. Thankfully, my husband does all the maintance on our cars, but I'm still always in shock with the gas bill every month. I really feel sorry for people who have to drive a long way to work. bikerHen

[northstar]

Snow tires? I'm a flatlander in MN, so I have no experience with this concept. That sounds like WAAAAY too much work to me.

[7rider]

Anyway, ain't bike commuting WAY less of a hassle?!

Ooooohh, yeah!
I had to drive twice this week and got a $35 parking ticket for letting the meter expire b/c my meeting ran long and I couldn't leave when I expected to and the idiot light came on telling me the gas tank was on fumes and then to top it off....we got snow (and now loads of sand and salt on the roads) and tonight....sleet!
Yeah.
Cranky.
I hear ya.

[KnottedYet]

Even the BUS can do it to you! Tonight my bus took 25 minutes to get about 8 blocks through rush-hour traffic. I saw bikes whooshing by, and I was green with envy. I wanted to hold my Ortleib up to the window and mouth, "I'm a biker too! Take me with you!"

[froglegs]

I dream of the day when I can commute by bike. I live 62 miles away from my job and every day is a choice between spending $12 on gas and spending 2 hours in my car or spending $9 on a >2.5 hour round trip via express commuter bus (I opt for the bus most days).

But on the bright side, I don't have to deal with snow or slow traffic.

[lph]

Even the BUS can do it to you! Tonight my bus took 25 minutes to get about 8 blocks through rush-hour traffic. I saw bikes whooshing by, and I was green with envy. I wanted to hold my Ortleib up to the window and mouth, "I'm a biker too! Take me with you!"

This one had me laughing out loud
"Holding my Ortlieb up to the window"...

My alternative to bike commuting is the metro, which is fine, actually, but gets me to work exactly as groggy, grumpy and slow as I woke up that morning. Driving a car to work will get me there in the throes of a nervous breakdown. I HATE driving to work!

[Trek420]

I HATE driving to work!

Me too. I take transit to work most days. It's approx. 20 minute drive to work with no or little traffic but weekdays it can take over an hour and I arrive a screaming nervous wreck.

On the train I rest, draw, bring a book. I read and learned enough trivia about electrical theory to take and pass the battery of technical tests at my job without having to take the classes . Can't do that in a car, though some do Nowadays I draw for my remodel or just read whatever book I'm plowing through.

I'd ride to work through winter because we really can bike year round here but the route back along either route I prefer has a section that's tricky at night. Either the bike/ped bridge which is somewhat deserted at night, or the aptly named Industrial St. overpass where the bike lane vanishes at the fwy entrance/exit.

One thought is bike to work, bus back.

[Geonz]

It just feels so **wrong**.. . and it's impossible to explain unless you've done it.

I haven't had a choice this week and I've wondered (just like everybody else with cars has asked) "What will happens when we get ice and snow?" because we've gotten stuff I would *not* have ridden in last year when I had the car, except I don't now. I thought I would take the bus because I can... but I didn't. I managed to get a studded tyre on the front of my big ol' bike (wuldn't fit on the back) and even got to test it out the night before a real commute. I left gobs of time... and didn't need it so I stopped at the store and bought provisions in case the Real Ice Storm hit, which it didn't (here).

[bruiser]

Even the BUS can do it to you!

Or carpools! I have gotten 3 rides this week from a coworker (who passes my house anyway) and I feel like a lazy mooch-monster! I think my bike punished me for this infidelity- my left knee has been killing me ever since I got off the trainer this morning

*lovingly coos to bikes, "I promise to ride you every day next week"*