Please give me your details on biking to work

[bovie]

This is now situation for us americans, we hear and see (now on social media people livestream their violent crimes) this constantly in endless details and are numb to it.
But there are plenty of countries (advanced and not advanced) where such violence is not happening. Doctors due to income have been able to lower exposure to this as we can afford nice zip codes (that have functioning police force, that have very little violent crime, that have excellent schools for our kids). But millions of people don't have this ability.

Amazing that you were able to turn a biking thread into (yet another) anti-American screed.

Serious question--have you ever just considered leaving?

Your love for all things European (or disdain for all things American--this distinction seems muddy at best) seems well documented, so I'd honestly be surprised if this were not something you'd seriously thought about. You certainly do seem to give America's perceived deficiencies quite a bit of headspace.

Perhaps just put your phone down, turn off the TV, and go spend some time in the real world. Here in America. You'll feel better.

[Jefe]

Hi, I bike to the office year round. Now in mountain west: 4 seasons but generally dry. Before in metro NE and metro SoCal. Doing this for decades. I just love being on a bike.

My practice is in one location. Commute is 14 miles round trip with 200 ft. gain. Urban, but mountain west urban so not very congested. Routes are residential streets and bike lanes with light traffic except around some schools at pick-up/drop-off. The quality of bike commute played a role in selecting my neighborhood, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't have at least a small role in deciding on where to practice. Door to door commute on bike is about 45 minutes. As a point of reference, door to door commute in car is about 35 minutes (longer walk from parking lot to office than from bike rack to office).

The rare blizzard is the biggest no-go for me. Snow seems to sublimate or turn to glacial ice in a day or two, so the break is short-lived. Full day rain is rare; riding home in the typical short late day summer rain is fine. Morning rain is often more hassle than it's worth.

I wear my day's clothes. Very rarely sweat: could have when I lived in metro NE, but the commute was short enough and slow enough to make it a non-issue. Huge diurnal temperature swing in current city means that the morning commute is brisk (winter) or perfect (summer). I don't mind sweating on way home in summer as a nice shower is waiting for me. I carry rain jacket and pants in summer if forecast is over 10% chance; also wear hiking shoes on these days and switch at office. For the rare very cold days, I wear insulated boots and use bar mitts. 90%+ it's just loafers, trousers, shirt, and coat.

Current ride is Surly Midnight Special. Two wheelsets. 700 with Gatorskins which gets 95% of the use and 650b with studded tires if there is glacial ice post-blizzard. Rear pannier rack for a bag. Full fenders. Not a light bike, but I'm just commuting. Lights are so much better now: have the brightest front and rear. Put red or white reflective tape on frame. Pretty secure covered rack at the hospital, store a lock on it 24/7.

I ride cautiously, defensively. Seen pretty much every move out there. Keep attentive, expect the unexpected, be consistent, and try best to be seen. Rarely feel unsafe. Definitely feel safer in the dark (definitely seen: lights, reflective tape), least safe in morning/evening glare and snow/rain (harder to be seen). When I got life insurance before marrying my wife, I was surprised that all three companies didn't ask me about my biking habits. After they were through with their questions about whether I'm a hot air balloonist, how often I drag race, and whether I'm a professional scuba diver, I asked if they cared that I regularly commuted by bike. Granted they were just reading some script, but none cared to know. I would imagine actuaries are better at assigning risk than my off the cuff assessment of whatever thing I'm engaged in.

[burritos]

Hi, I bike to the office year round. Now in mountain west: 4 seasons but generally dry. Before in metro NE and metro SoCal. Doing this for decades. I just love being on a bike.

My practice is in one location. Commute is 14 miles round trip with 200 ft. gain. Urban, but mountain west urban so not very congested. Routes are residential streets and bike lanes with light traffic except around some schools at pick-up/drop-off. The quality of bike commute played a role in selecting my neighborhood, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't have at least a small role in deciding on where to practice. Door to door commute on bike is about 45 minutes. As a point of reference, door to door commute in car is about 35 minutes (longer walk from parking lot to office than from bike rack to office).

The rare blizzard is the biggest no-go for me. Snow seems to sublimate or turn to glacial ice in a day or two, so the break is short-lived. Full day rain is rare; riding home in the typical short late day summer rain is fine. Morning rain is often more hassle than it's worth.

I wear my day's clothes. Very rarely sweat: could have when I lived in metro NE, but the commute was short enough and slow enough to make it a non-issue. Huge diurnal temperature swing in current city means that the morning commute is brisk (winter) or perfect (summer). I don't mind sweating on way home in summer as a nice shower is waiting for me. I carry rain jacket and pants in summer if forecast is over 10% chance; also wear hiking shoes on these days and switch at office. For the rare very cold days, I wear insulated boots and use bar mitts. 90%+ it's just loafers, trousers, shirt, and coat.

Current ride is Surly Midnight Special. Two wheelsets. 700 with Gatorskins which gets 95% of the use and 650b with studded tires if there is glacial ice post-blizzard. Rear pannier rack for a bag. Full fenders. Not a light bike, but I'm just commuting. Lights are so much better now: have the brightest front and rear. Put red or white reflective tape on frame. Pretty secure covered rack at the hospital, store a lock on it 24/7.

I ride cautiously, defensively. Seen pretty much every move out there. Keep attentive, expect the unexpected, be consistent, and try best to be seen. Rarely feel unsafe. Definitely feel safer in the dark (definitely seen: lights, reflective tape), least safe in morning/evening glare and snow/rain (harder to be seen). When I got life insurance before marrying my wife, I was surprised that all three companies didn't ask me about my biking habits. After they were through with their questions about whether I'm a hot air balloonist, how often I drag race, and whether I'm a professional scuba diver, I asked if they cared that I regularly commuted by bike. Granted they were just reading some script, but none cared to know. I would imagine actuaries are better at assigning risk than my off the cuff assessment of whatever thing I'm engaged in.

Sounds idyllic. Thanks for sharing.

[Bmac]

Yeah. That seems like just about the perfect bike commute. 7 fairly flat miles. I’m super envious.

[burritos]

Year 3. Still dopaminergic. Experience was more vivid with all the southern cal rainstorms. Note dry your chains after biking unless you want rust the next day. Moved to a further clinic(15 mi with 600-800 ft climb depending direction). Tried for 3 months. Got flats on three separate commutes when going through the more hilly/tree/shrubby/thorny debris areas. So I quit that commute. Now I just do only the shorter 9.5 mi one way 3 times every 2 weeks. Kind of bummed, but no bueno on the flats.

[Lordosis]

The weather is turning my way but now that my wife works full time I will be lucky if I can do 1 day a week on the bike commute. I am hoping to make Friday my first day back on. I should have last Friday but I was not prepared.

I figure if I keep doing it even at a low level I will be more likely to pick it up more when the kids are older and not so time consuming.

[burritos]

The weather is turning my way but now that my wife works full time I will be lucky if I can do 1 day a week on the bike commute. I am hoping to make Friday my first day back on. I should have last Friday but I was not prepared.

I figure if I keep doing it even at a low level I will be more likely to pick it up more when the kids are older and not so time consuming.

I think that’s a good idea. Once a week habit is sustainable and yields progress neuropsychomuscularly.

[Jefe]

burritos you brought back (bad) memories of thorns from when I lived in SoCal...especially bit me on those days I rode to a hospital out in the Valley (as opposed to my normal LA proper circuit). Gatorskins + tire liners mostly did the trick for me. Have you tried these? One of my old colleagues swears by tubeless on her commuter. How about that?

[burritos]

burritos you brought back (bad) memories of thorns from when I lived in SoCal...especially bit me on those days I rode to a hospital out in the Valley (as opposed to my normal LA proper circuit). Gatorskins + tire liners mostly did the trick for me. Have you tried these? One of my old colleagues swears by tubeless on her commuter. How about that?

The bike store put in sealant in both my mtb and road bike. So far so good. Of course talking about it will jinx it no doubt.

[BruinBones]

Year 3. Still dopaminergic. Experience was more vivid with all the southern cal rainstorms. Note dry your chains after biking unless you want rust the next day. Moved to a further clinic(15 mi with 600-800 ft climb depending direction). Tried for 3 months. Got flats on three separate commutes when going through the more hilly/tree/shrubby/thorny debris areas. So I quit that commute. Now I just do only the shorter 9.5 mi one way 3 times every 2 weeks. Kind of bummed, but no bueno on the flats.

Not that this is happening to you, but your post reminded me of my experience with flat tires. I used to get more than my fair share of flats on training rides and commutes. I couldn’t figure why my luck was so bad since the rides weren’t though much debris areas.
I realized that I had been airing my tire pressures to their max (110 to 120 psi) because I thought it would help me ride faster. Then I heard on a Velo podcast that Pros are airing more in the 70 psi range as it allows the tires to conform to minor imperfections in the road while providing less rolling resistance. So you are actually riding faster by maintaining your speed better.
I now keep mine at 75-80 psi and have not had the same rate of flats as before.

[burritos]

Not that this is happening to you, but your post reminded me of my experience with flat tires. I used to get more than my fair share of flats on training rides and commutes. I couldn’t figure why my luck was so bad since the rides weren’t though much debris areas.
I realized that I had been airing my tire pressures to their max (110 to 120 psi) because I thought it would help me ride faster. Then I heard on a Velo podcast that Pros are airing more in the 70 psi range as it allows the tires to conform to minor imperfections in the road while providing less rolling resistance. So you are actually riding faster by maintaining your speed better.
I now keep mine at 75-80 psi and have not had the same rate of flats as before.

Wow! Thanks for that.

[burritos]

It's been 8 days, 3 of which I've been on bike rides. My mistake was that I immediately started doing long distance walks. So I rode forward vigorously, but I had almost no energy to go back.

Awesome! Keep up the strong work. It can be challenging in the beginning, but as you continue, there is a good chance to create new dopaminergic pathways that results in pleasure and yearning for the biking/commuting. I mean biking is fun alone, but I find I derive extra enjoyment in the efficiency of killing 3 birds with one stone(aerobic exercise/commuting/podcasting). When under sympathetic tone, the brain is more open to learning.

[burritos]

Thank you for your support. Sometimes the thought overcomes me that it is hard, but I remember the pleasant fatigue and find the strength to get back on the bike. Just decided to shorten the distance for now and build it up gradually

Just building the habit of getting on the saddle regularly is the biggest win. Adding distance will naturally come. I agree the sore ache after exercise makes me happy. My theory is that yes, some of that pain comes from micro skeletal muscle tears and subsequent repair. But I also think that it's a signal of oxidative damage from all the mitochondrial damage and free radical production from cellular energy production/utilization. But if you do it regularly, you upregulate repair enzymes which help keep your cells clean and health. IMO, the difference between this and fibromyalgia is that FM patients don't have the repair enzymes and therefore always have cellular damage from baseline energy oxidative stress. That's not normal.

[snowflake]

I am very jealous of those here who can ride their bikes to work. Unfortunately I live in a city where that would be literal suicide (and I am using "literal" correctly). I do ride about 90 minutes 3-4 times per week before work from 5-6:30 in a large group at brisk pace. At that time streets are all ours. Bedtime becomes a bit more critical given a 4:40 wakeup call but intense morning exercise gets the dopamine flowing.

Quick comment regarding previously discussed tire pressure and flats - the pressure really depends on the tire size and tube versus tubeless. I use 28 mm tubeless and run 75-80 psi. You can go a lot lower with say 35-40 mm gravel or MTB tires.

[burritos]

I am very jealous of those here who can ride their bikes to work. Unfortunately I live in a city where that would be literal suicide (and I am using "literal" correctly). I do ride about 90 minutes 3-4 times per week before work from 5-6:30 in a large group at brisk pace. At that time streets are all ours. Bedtime becomes a bit more critical given a 4:40 wakeup call but intense morning exercise gets the dopamine flowing.

Quick comment regarding previously discussed tire pressure and flats - the pressure really depends on the tire size and tube versus tubeless. I use 28 mm tubeless and run 75-80 psi. You can go a lot lower with say 35-40 mm gravel or MTB tires.

I’m jealous of your biking schedule. What city is this suicide you speak of?