Why did you start cycle commuting?

[Bodhbh]

Not sure, I was quite happy dawdeling the 4-6 miles with a walk + bus ride and listening to the ipod to keep amused, and there are no showers at work....but I started cycling for fitness and guess it was inevitable I would end up biking in (and quartering the journey time).

Since i started over summer they cut the 2 morning buses services I used and I have no car, so looking like I'm cycle commuting for keeps whether I like it or not.

 

[classic33]

Quicker than by bus, later quicker than by bus & train. Then no other means of getting there.
Never learned how to drive & wil never be able, epilepsy, so Iv'e never considered it as a means of transport I can use.

 

[doyler78]

Well it takes me longer to cycle than it does to get to work, showered & changed than it does to come to work by bus, car, taxi or practically any other form transport apart from shanks's pony - does that make me some sort of saddist?

 

[doily]

Moved back to London after years in Scotland, walking to work and back. Couldn't stand the uncivilised scrum of the tube, so got on the bike.

 

[Lozatron]

Had been running to keep fit but my circumstances changed and I didn't have time any more. Was ballooning...so decided to cycle in. Hugely enjoy it!

Journey time is a little longer than public transport but a lot more pleasant...

 

[ArDee]

I cycled from about 2 on a tricycle and around 4 on a 2 wheel bike and as a child/teenager cycled everywhere.

As I got older I got a motorcycle and then a car, around 15 years ago the car failed its MOT and the parts took around 4-5 weeks to come (bit of a collector’s car) and another couple of weeks for me to carry the work out. So I re-built my bike over a week-end and started to cycle to work the 5 miles to work; been doing it since, now due to changing jobs, homes and the area of country in which I live, the commute is 13 miles each way.

 

[goo_mason]

When I realised that I'd put on quite a few stones in the two years since I'd quit smoking, I decided that I needed to start taking some exercise and lose some weight. I struggled for a while to think of how I'd do it - didn't fancy the gym, which seemed to be inhabited by fit folk who loved themselves a bit too much. Didn't want to start running, as my Dad ran for almost 20 years and it knackered his knees. Then one day they announced a new benefit in my work's flexible benefit package - Bike2Work. That sounded more like me, so I borrowed a Spokes map and found that I could get to work pretty easily and mostly on off-road paths.

Once I got started, I realised that I could do the journey faster than the bus - so after 10 years of owning an annual bus-pass, I didn't renew it (thus saving over £400 - £500 a year).

So - to summarise, I started for fitness, then saved time and money, and now I just do it because it's great fun !

 

[grhm]

I started biking to work when my son was born about 3 years ago. Mrs Grhm needed the car and we couldn't afford a 2nd car (especially as she gave up work). Initially it was just 3 days a week and I pinched the car when I could - now it's 5 days a week and I wouldn't take the car even if offered.

Used the car last winter when it snowed (but it caused Mrs Grhm a few issues) - this winter I'm intending cycling what ever the weather - hopefully I won't be on here in a months time starting an "Off on Ice/Snow" thread