Despite potholes and a few bad drivers THIS is why I ride a bike

[terry_gardener]

I do it for fitness and to relieve stress. I also like it. I don't commute by bike though.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

It gives me advance warning
Long rides at weekend, achy legs on Monday as expected...muscle ache cleared by Tuesday..

This morning....legs ached like hell and couldn't get any speed up..knew something was afoot. Sore throat kicked in this evening

 

[Sara_H]

1) I save money - lots of it (over £700 worth of bus fares, running a car would be about 3x that iirc)
2) I burn a few calories (I estimated that in a 6 mile trip to work I burn about 300 calories)
3) I feel healthier (even though I sometimes have minor issues with asthma, allergies and occasional migraines I feel cycling limits these from being more severe)
4) I get to work in half the time the bus takes to get there. 32 minutes riding.
5) When the city gets gridlocked I can still get home/to work!
6) I can take a scenic route into Southampton Common. Hear the birds sing, the breeze through the trees.
7) Riding for fitness can also be quite exhilarating!
8) I don't have to pay to park a bike
9) I don't have to pay for petrol or diesel
10) My cycling insurance is part of a cheap cycling organisation membership, which is about a 10th of the cost of car insurance for someone my age
11) Parking my bike doesn't impede the flow of traffic, and I can get the thing in the house!
12) I get to feel the elements, even hear them. As such I feel a little connected to nature

+1 to everything you said. I LOVE riding my bike(s)!

 

[downfader]

It gives me advance warning
Long rides at weekend, achy legs on Monday as expected...muscle ache cleared by Tuesday..

This morning....legs ached like hell and couldn't get any speed up..knew something was afoot. Sore throat kicked in this evening

I get that too. Feeling a bit run down tonight, still easier for me to ride to work though. I also tend to find that with regular riding any illness doesnt last as long as when I've been off the bike for a period of time.

 

[PlymSlimCyclist]

I think if you really wanted to save money you could do it. Most people though start and find they like it so they end up spending more on things like a hobby would be rather than a purely functional mode of transport.

Don't get me wrong, I have savings, and do save, but the money I once spent on a bus pass, has gone on the upkeep, but then I find myself wanting (I admit I want) better stuff, better lights, better tyres, better clothes.
So even though I save in one hand, it's spent elsewhere.

But, as @Moodyman put it, over time I'll save money, the lights will do well for a few years, the tyres last for a few more 1000 miles, the clothes will change occasionally.

 

[s7ephanie]

I cycle because
1. I don't have a car !!!!

 

[PlymSlimCyclist]

I cycle because
1. I don't have a car !!!!

Ah yes, I don't either, but hoping to remedy that someday...

...one day...

 

[HB_Dude]

Cycle commuting is expensive to start off, but it starts to pay after a few years. It took me about 3.5 years to offset the bike, accessories and clothing costs versus train fares.

I'm now well into the black as they say.

Really???
What the hell kinda bike did you buy?
My reckoning is that I will have saved my initial outlay for commuting in 6 months, this includes bike, kit, helmet!!!

 

[glenn forger]

Cycle commuting is expensive to start off, but it starts to pay after a few years. It took me about 3.5 years to offset the bike, accessories and clothing costs versus train fares.

I'm now well into the black as they say.

London Zone 4 to 1 is £130 a month. Got my £1400 Galaxy under CTW, paid £800 I think, bike was paid for in full by October, woo!

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

My list is same pretty much as all the previous lists plus...
My commute is only 5 mile, the drive is stressful.
Pubic transport would cost me £35 per week and take an hour each way compared to £0 and 25 mins each way.
I no longer need gym membership
I have never, in a car or a bus, gotten a pure adrenalin rush from hurtling down a lovely country road and banking round a bend opening out into a beautiful coastal vista at 7.00 on a Sunny summers morning.
I can take my kids out on their bikes on a weekend rather than driving to the coast or local-ish country park.

 

[Moodyman]

Really???
What the hell kinda bike did you buy?
My reckoning is that I will have saved my initial outlay for commuting in 6 months, this includes bike, kit, helmet!!!

I bought two bikes totalling over £2k (spare bikes are brill). I bought every imaginable clothing accessory and spares for each item for when they're wet or dirty. I can ride from -15c to 30c. I have all the tools to maintain my bikes.

I commute 120 miles/10 hours a week in all weathers. I figured that if I was going to spend that much time cycling, I was going to enjoy it -so I bought good quality.
My bikes are the second car that I would otherwise be running.

Total spend circa 3k. About the same as running my existing car for a year or three years annual train ticket.

Having said this, I could have ridden my 1998 hack bike and saved loads but it would not have been as enjoyable.

 

[Easytigers]

Sounds soppy but I cycle so that I can see my kids grow up (hopefully!). My daughter has global development delay...she's four next month and I have yet to hear her voice. Even if it takes many more years, just wanna be around to help and support her :-)

 

[HB_Dude]

@Moodyman .... Fair one !

I've based my saving on only spending £800 , that said I already have a load of kit.... But based on about the same mileage , 120 a week I should get that back quite quick.

 

[Krellon]

I ride too give drivers something too moan about :P

 

[Mile195]

On nice days I ride to work because I like it and the 40 mile round trip means I can eat whatever crap I like!

When it's cold and raining at 6am on a February morning, I still ride to work by reminding myself that every year I save myself the cost of a business class return to San Francisco by not buying rail tickets. Christ knows what I do with that money though because I don't seem to get £2000 richer every year!..