Co-Workers, Geez.

[Jolt]

That is pretty ridiculous--heck, 2 miles can still be considered reasonable WALKING distance depending on the area. I walk one mile to work unless it's a late shift or the weather is really abysmal (which doesn't include cold--more like pouring rain or the sidewalks are a skating rink) and sometimes people act like that's a little crazy. And I'm in healthcare too--working on a cardiac floor no less!

[Di bear]

I live in a remote area with a bunch of little odd towns. It's heaven! Our little peninsula borders Lake Superior. There is a HUGE cycling population here. Many of us have lived and worked in other areas, areas where driving 30 minutes each way to work was the norm. Now, work is usually 10 or 15 minutes away.

A friend of mine and his wife moved to the town north of mine last year. We picked on him for moving so far away. lol...he lives probably 20 minutes from the "city".

Ok, keeping in mind what I just said, a 30 mile ride for many of us is moderate. Yet, a 30 miles drive is far. We are strange folk.

I started commuting by bike, today. So, with the wind, it felt like 9 this morning. It felt much nicer coming home this evening. I got 22 miles in. I'm doing it again tomorrow.

[shootingstar]

I'm not sure how to read my current workplace.

It is 80% male workforce where I am. (construction engineering firm) I am 1 of 2 female managers among 10 other managers.

I have to park my bike halfway during my bike commute...so I have to walk part way to my worksite. So my cycling attire...plus by now, some folks do know I genuinely bike...the guys who do initiate any chat on sport with me..do backcountry hiking/skiing, rockclimbing, snowboarding and a few jog. But not all. But these guys I speak with are alright...they are appropriately "impressed" with my cycling. 30 kms. sounds real long to them...

When i sent an organizational-wide email to all employees (160 at that time) last year with me offering free local bike route maps, I got 10 employees interested. Which surprised me.

There are approx. 2-3 employees who cycle directly to our worksite..not exactly a joyous, safe place... thick with multiple backhoe machines, crawling cranelift machines, transport trucks galore and roads under reconstruction/realignment...potholes, etc. I mean, an employee did get accidentally hit by one of the machine drivers...just 400 ft. away from my office window. Most employees drive to work. I am the very rare employee that walks from bus stop to construction site. In a cycling outfit. Damned wierd site!

Other workplaces there have been the minority group of cycle-commuters that I was part of. We shared caged bike lockers, etc. Another workplace had a fantastic workplace fitness and health program in place....which some employees lost weight ...and some returned to cycling regularily several times / wk.!

[Crankin]

When I first started commuting, about 3 years ago, most of my co workers thought I was nuts. Not so many think so now (the teaching staff is now around the age of my kids), though only one other person rides in once in awhile (and he is older than me). It's the kids who think I am nuts. They could picture it when I lived 6 miles away, but not now, when it's almost 15. There is a new bike path in their town, so they can visualize what 5 miles is. Most of them say, "it's really far!"

[susiej]

A few co-workers live within a few miles in West Philly, and bike. Another lives just outside the city, and it is faster for him to bike than take the trolley and subway, but not drive. Everyone else in the office takes public transportation because parking passes are hard to get. They view my biking to the train then walking the mile from the station as perfectly normal, as most of them do the same thing.

[Andrea]

I can't believe how many people freaked out that I walked 10 miles home then rode 20 miles back one day after work because I'd locked my keys in my car.

I'd love to commute, but even on the safer route, the rush hour traffic is dangerous and verges on violent towards cyclists. I had one guy take the time to u-turn after he passed me and make a 2nd U turn to get behind me just so he could drive up behind me & start honking his horn and yelling. I've also had a couple of instances where people swerve towards me as they pass me. Riding in the city of Memphis (rather than the suburbs that I normally stick to) is a virtual war zone. I'll be very happy once they get the rails-to-trails project started here, because it will be like a bike-highway for me to get to work!

[IFjane]

I plan to commute in just a couple weeks - I only have one bike, and I do not have night-riding gear and can't afford it at this time (spent too much on our bikes already this year!), so I will commute when it is light enough for me to take off at 6:30 a.m.

My commute will be 20 miles one way - almost all on back, country roads, with just a little on Rt. 15 (you C&O Canal ladies will know what I am talking about - same Rt. 15 that goes through Leesburg, VA). I can't wait to start! Regarding my co-workers - EVERYONE will think I'm nuts. My director, the Health Manager, and I discussed our staff not long ago - about 70% would be considered overweight, with a full 40% considered obese. Sad, very sad.

[tulip]

I plan to commute in just a couple weeks - I only have one bike, and I do not have night-riding gear and can't afford it at this time (spent too much on our bikes already this year!), so I will commute when it is light enough for me to take off at 6:30 a.m.

I hope you can bring your bike in and keep it safe and close by! With such a nice bike for a commuter, you definitely don't want to risk it getting stolen or rained on.

Congrats on the commute! Lovely roads out your way.

PS, I forgot to tell you that I rode Skyline drive last year from Front Royal to Big Meadow and back. Awesome!