Who Knew going to work was this much fun?!

[BeeLady]

Great on your first commute. I bike in hot & sticky San Antonio and I am always surprised at how quickly I "dry off" when I go into the air conditioning. I don't feel self-conscious anymore about working up a "glitter" and then cooling off. That's what our bodies are meant to do.

And now that I wear my hair naturally curly (rather than fighting it like I did for 45+ years) the helmet and heat actually improve my hair (or so I like to believe)!

And not only the gas $$ savings, but great body conditioning too!

[GLC1968]

Congrats, Amanda!!

I read about your commute with some jealousy! Mine's now so short that it's not a workout at all. I'm looking forward to finding a home that's a little further from work so that my commute is longer. How's that for ironic?

When I used to commute 14 miles in NC, I never expected it to happen, but apparently, I inspired people. I can't tell you how many people started coming up to me each spring saying how they talked themselves into riding by thinking about me doing it in the dead of winter. How cool is that? I'm sure you'll be influencing your coworkers whether you are aware of it or not! Great job!

[Melalvai]

When I used to commute 14 miles in NC, I never expected it to happen, but apparently, I inspired people. I can't tell you how many people started coming up to me each spring saying how they talked themselves into riding by thinking about me doing it in the dead of winter.

NC has a dead of winter?
I love hearing everyone talking about how enjoyable commuting is. I sure love it but sometimes I feel like I'm the only one, or wonder if I really am crazy (the way they mean it). Last night I went into the bike shelter to get my bike out and met another commuter. I've seen his bike every day all year, but had never met him. He has the same distance commute as me, and his bike really was there every single day like mine, no matter the weather.

[vermonster]

I haven't been commuting long, but I too find that the days I ride I'm so much more productive than days I drive. My ride in today was soggy and muddy, but...still awesome. My co-workers are amazed that I ride to work; it's only 7 miles. I do plan to make it a longer ride in the coming months. I have a wide variety of options with my route so that's nice.

[GLC1968]

NC has a dead of winter?

It does to southerners!

Actually, we saw negative temps on occasion...and plenty of days with high temps in the 20's during winter. Of course, to me, the harder commute was in the heat of summer with temps over 100 for days on end. Ick.

[Aggie_Ama]

Still had fun this morning but figured out the problem with my route.... We will have a headwind nearly every morning in the summer- yippee!! And there are a lot of lights, we hit almost every light this morning. I think there are 10 and we hit 7. Still, it only took an hour and I am much more awake than I felt yesterday when I had 2.5 extra hours of sleep but didn't ride. I will have a strong tailwind home, so it isn't all bad.

[jobob]

I read about your commute with some jealousy! Mine's now so short that it's not a workout at all. I'm looking forward to finding a home that's a little further from work so that my commute is longer. How's that for ironic?

Could you take a longer route home?

And brava, Amanda!

[GLC1968]

Could you take a longer route home?

I can, and I definitely will if we ever get a 'good' day for cycling! I'll just have to remember to take my old commuter (which is more comfy for longer rides than my errand bike) on those days. Thanks for the reminder!!

[Tri Girl]

That's great about your commute, Amanda! I'm so glad that you're not only enjoying it, but that you feel so good doing it. Headwinds suck in the morning (mine is the same way), but in the afternoon when I'm tired, it's so nice to have that tailwind pushing me home.

[Aggie_Ama]

The 20 mph tailwind this afternoon was fun. Weeeeee! I averaged 18.5 mph home. Tomorrow's commute is cancelled, my riding buddy (DH) is getting sick. He has a pretty bad chest cold and it is causing his crohn's to flare up as well. Two days is better than zero days though.

Next question- is there anyway to build confidence for riding alone? The first 7 miles of the ride I normally do with DH are very isolated. Just a huge shoulder on a road with moderate traffic but not many street lights. It is a little unnerving right now. I am fine in the afternoon when I can see everything. Is this something I will get used to? After we split there is only another couple miles like this, then it is very pleasant neighborhoods with joggers and dog walkers until work. I am normally commuting from 5:30-6:30 am.

[shootingstar]

How fast are the cars going Aggie? Any traffic light intersections / traffic calming mechanisms along the way? Is there any way to choose a quieter side street..it might an extra 10 min. but worth your comfort level.

Hopefully your bike lights flash strongly front and back when it's dark.

[Tri Girl]

Did you ride yesterday? We had 30 mph south sustained winds with gusts up to 50. I didn't want to ride to work, but driving home I thought it would be so much fun to ride the wind on my bike.
IMO, building confidence comes with just doing it. Maybe if DH is home, you could do it on your own one day, that way if you feel nervous/afraid, he can come get you and you'll still make it to work on time. My first couple rides alone I did that- waited 'til DH had a day off then rode so I knew he could come get me if I felt unsafe. I know that it took me about 3 times doing it to feel "comfortable" in the dark. If you have a wide shoulder, you should be OK. I ride the same time as you. It's dark, and I'm on city streets (2 laners with intermittent traffic), but I feel OK so long as I know I'm lit up like a Christmas tree. It all depends on you.

A co-worker who lives on the north side of town with me said she wants to start carpooling to work. I'm excited because on her days to drive, I'm going to take my bike and ride home (a 2+ hour ride home). I decided I just can't do the full commute anymore. 4.5 hours of commuting each day is just too much. It's almost as much as my work day.

[Melalvai]

Next question- is there anyway to build confidence for riding alone?

Take the Road I course (check the League of American Bicyclists site for classes in your area). The #1 thing I got out of that course was confidence. I need that confidence to withstand with the yells, honks and bad behavior from the college kids who drive on my route. Their shenanigans don't hurt me or endanger me, but make it unpleasant enough that without confidence, I'd lose my motivation for biking.

[GLC1968]

Next question- is there anyway to build confidence for riding alone?

I'm assuming that you aren't afraid of being hit - it's just being alone on a fairly lonely stretch of dark road, right?

It's hard, but the best way is to just do it as much as you can. I had the same problem on my old commute. There were stretches where I just felt unnerved when riding them in the early AM. In my case, I felt even worse when there was no traffic... I remembering coming to the road where the traffic was and feeling almost 'safer', like the cars were comforting. Weird, I know! I also think that if you ride at the same time, over the same route, the cars will get used to seeing you because most of them are also commuting and will be there at the same time, too. You can build a kind of rapport with them - it used to help me to see some familiar cars (if not faces) each morning.

To be perfectly honest, I never got 100% comfortable with it. I just got better at not letting it get to me (or to keep me from riding).

[tulip]

I read about your commute with some jealousy! Mine's now so short that it's not a workout at all.

I work from home now, which I do enjoy, but I miss my commute I had in DC. It was 14 miles each way, and really energized me. Of course, now I could just go out for a bike ride, which I do (but not as much as I thought I would).

I do my errands by bike, though. When I get back from vacation, I'm going to try to come up with a way of having a "commute" again. I think I'll ride my bike to different cafes in Richmond three times a week before work. That's a good way to learn the city and also work in some pseudo-commuting on the bike. In fact, I could bring my laptop and actually work at said cafes. I'm liking this idea!