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??

[GLC1968]

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

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! )

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!

[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'!