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One year of cycling to work

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Re: One year of cycling to work

#81

Post by otterpro »

jacknews wrote: post #11

conclusion: what a lovely route, choosing to cycle it isn't even a decision, especially as the other options seems to take longer. The author is super lucky and I'm jealous. I cycle to work too, but in a busy city.

If I had a bike route to work, I'd take it over driving my car, even if the bike route takes longer and/or is further away. Mr. Money Mustache (https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/06/13/bicycling-the-saf...) wrote that riding bike is equivalent to printing money, and he has calculated that riding one mile is equivalent to gaining 1350 seconds of life.

Unfortunately, I currently live in part of Florida where the roads are not designed for bikes. I once lived in the east of Bay Area, where it was so much more bike-able.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#82

Post by kurthr »

monaghanboy wrote: post #76

I bike everyday to work in the South Bay, Silicon Valley area. Everyone I talk to here can't imagine life without a car, but I haven't had any issues; lots of bike paths here, and all groceries and the gym are just minutes away. Sometimes when it rains I carpool, and I see how annoyed and irate most drivers get when commuting. So I don't regret not owning a car. The downside is not being easily able to take day trips…

Which freeways do you cross under/over? How do you do it safely?

I'd happily ride on trails or small streets (and have) , but most of the regular commute riders I know do ~30mi rt a day... most of them doing it more than 5 yearrs have been in an injury accident. Maybe cyclists talk about accidents more than divers, but the percentage certainly seems higher.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#83

Post by Someone »

comprev wrote: post #72

Cycling to work is normal here in the Netherlands, especially in the cities. Given a few times when I've been sick, I've ridden almost every day to work and back (8km), regardless of the weather (and the Dutch weather is famous for being rubbish). I'm a cyclist at heart so really enjoy the daily commute along the canals, back streets and cycle paths of the city. To be fair, even the nightclubs have cycle parking - an…

"and the Dutch weather is famous for being rubbish"

http://itAlmostNeverRains.nl: 90% of rides is dry, 10% slightly or worse wet.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#84

Post by dguaraglia »

unicornporn wrote: post #56
trevyn wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you gotten in accidents?

I've fallen thrice (that I can remember). Two of these times was when I was stupid enough to ride on ice with slicks. The third time I tried to pull some fancy trick up a curb (just stupid). So, I've scratched my jeans. Other than that: nothing ( touch wood ). Nowadays I run studded tyres in the winter and they're crazy effective. I don't recommend riding without a helmet or hövding, but this article gives you some i…

How hostile are the drivers in Stockholm? Bay Area drivers aren’t super friendly to cyclists (to be fair, plenty of cyclists also behave like assholes, cutting in front of cars and crossing intersections when they shouldn’t.) My biggest concern during a year of using my bike to commute was making sure I didn’t get ran over by a car taking a turn, because signaling is not always their forte.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#85

Post by SquirrelOnFire »

unicornporn wrote: post #56
trevyn wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you gotten in accidents?

I've fallen thrice (that I can remember). Two of these times was when I was stupid enough to ride on ice with slicks. The third time I tried to pull some fancy trick up a curb (just stupid). So, I've scratched my jeans. Other than that: nothing ( touch wood ). Nowadays I run studded tyres in the winter and they're crazy effective. I don't recommend riding without a helmet or hövding, but this article gives you some i…

What tires do you use to ride on ice? I've wiped out on ice myself, and it has scared me off from riding when it is icy.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#86

Post by avitzurel »

kurthr wrote: post #82
monaghanboy wrote: post #76

I bike everyday to work in the South Bay, Silicon Valley area. Everyone I talk to here can't imagine life without a car, but I haven't had any issues; lots of bike paths here, and all groceries and the gym are just minutes away. Sometimes when it rains I carpool, and I see how annoyed and irate most drivers get when commuting. So I don't regret not owning a car. The downside is not being easily able to take day trips…

Which freeways do you cross under/over? How do you do it safely? I'd happily ride on trails or small streets (and have) , but most of the regular commute riders I know do ~30mi rt a day... most of them doing it more than 5 yearrs have been in an injury accident. Maybe cyclists talk about accidents more than divers, but the percentage certainly seems higher.

I live in SJ and work in Menlo Park.

My direct door-to-door commute is 19mi. Takes me about 50-55 minutes. None of it is on bike paths.

I take Foothill from the cupertino border all the way to menlo Park.

I can also go into cupertino and take the bike path to the edge of the 101 (close to the PA airport).

If you want to make it longer, you can take Stevens Canyon to Foothill. This makes the commute 30mi but also less traffic and much more challenging to ride.

I would say on average I commute to work about 3 days a week during the summer. I just don't like commuting back in the dark during the winter.

In terms of accidents, I've had none. I had 2 close calls over the course of 3 years. One was a complete jerk and one was due to the sun angle (something you need to be aware of as a cyclist too).

Bay Area is really awesome for riding to work. Foothill is busy but also gets a lot of rider traffic so drivers tend to be more patient.

I also find that a lot of it is up to you, some riders ride like the road belongs to them.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#88

Post by kilroy123 »

ggregoire wrote: post #45

I've always used a bike to go to work, but now I'm in Mexico City. Too many cars, too much air pollution. Cycling here is bad for your health. The public bicycle sharing system is really good and cheap. Some parts of the city are bike friendly. But the air quality is just so bad. The trucks that spew black smoke continuously. The buses that have never been controlled in 50 years. The SUVs traveling at 100 km/h on the…

You're in Mexico City? So am I. Maybe we could connect sometime?

Re: One year of cycling to work

#89

Post by CalRobert »

trs80 wrote: post #37

>There are about 250 work days in a year in Baden-Württemberg, excluding weekends and public holidays. Of those I was missing for 34 days for vacations, being sick and doing home office. On 11 days I used public transportation, on 5 days a car. That leaves 200 days on which I cycled to work. Wish we had this here.

TBF, Germany is not an impossible place to get a work permit. They have the blue card as well, which is quite interesting.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#90

Post by rrock »

dominotw wrote: post #78
deathanatos wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this to "take the lane"; essentially, if I'm in the middle of a lane, there is some reason why I want that lane — usually my own safety due to some other hazard, or perhaps I'm going to make an upcoming left — and I want/need drivers near me to essentially give me the same respect they'd give a car. Typically, the idea is that I would like drivers behind me to not pass me in the same lane that I'm in — that is,…

Yea I never understood how cyclists are expected to make left turns. If there is a bike lane is in the right corner, how and when are they supposed to get into left turn on only lane. I can't even imagine cyclist making yeild left on red, thats absurd amount of risk to take. Left on arrow are not very common, imagine trying to make a fast turn on your bike while a speeding car is coming right at you. Only safe way to…

You do it just like a car. Merge from the lane to the turn lane. Signal your move. Stop in the intersection if you need to yield. Take your time waiting for an appropriate gap, then turn left. Don’t worry about cars behind you, they would have to wait for their own gap anyway.

Behaving like a car as much as possible makes you more predictable, and keeps everyone out of trouble. I stop at red lights too.

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