Hello and welcome to my first post on Commute by Bike! I have been a full time bicycle commuter since I moved back to Carson City, Nevada in November of 2007. For the past several years, I lived in the town to the south of Carson City, and had a 16 mile commute (32 mile round trip) by car. I was only successful bicycle commuting these long miles a few times. By the time I rode around at lunch, I would log 50 miles on some days. While it was a great adventure to ride these long miles, daily bicycle commuting just wasn’t practical for me. And these were the fair weather days!
In October of 2007 I decided I was done being a slave to my car, so my family and I moved to Carson City, just 2.5 miles from where I work. I immediately began bicycle commuting, and it has changed my life.
A friend of mine has a saying, “Live Free or Drive“. I have found this to be true. My snowy, bumper-to-bumper, white knuckled car commutes have been replaced by pleasant slow rides through the park. An hour spent in the metal cage has been replaced by cycling, my passion. I once figured out that I spent a whole 11 days out of the year sitting in my car commuting to work! I’d much rather spend those days riding.
I don’t claim to be an expert at commuting by bicycle. In fact, today I forgot to pack underwear! I’ve learned a lot over the last couple months though, and I keep learning something new each commute. I will share with you my stories and lessons learned on Commute by Bike, and perhaps you will learn something new or be inspired to start bicycle commuting yourself!