Biking to Work: Thinking Through the Details
I have biking to work on the brain because we are moving in two(!) weeks, and I will be 0.7 miles from work. Surely I need to start biking or walking?
I used to bike to work when I was a teacher in rural Louisiana. It was hilarious because hardly anyone biked in the whole (small!) town. My students’ families would see me, pull over, and ask if I needed a ride: “Is your car broken-down?”
The biggest thing I need to figure out is how to transport my heavy backpack. I’m wondering if I should get a rack like this and a wire basket? Is it better to have heavy things on the front or the back? Please advise!
I also read this article about how to make adjustments to your mountain bike for commuting to work. He talks about lightening up the tires and adding fenders. I don’t think I’m ready to invest even more money in this endeavor, but his recommendations seemed really logical.
I wonder if it will be faster for me to bike 0.7 miles than it is for me to drive the 2-mile distance that I’m currently doing? I just googled it, and apparently it takes 3-4 minutes to bike a mile. So the answer might be yes! I think it will come down to where I store my bike on both ends of the trip. Since our new house has a garage, I think it will be really easy to get in and out. We’ll see.
I’m looking forward to giving biking to work a try!
10 Comments
Nora
Great idea to walk or bike. I would be concerned that a basket or rack might be something I’d procrastinate to attach. If the commute is 3 minutes, I’d just try it wearing the backpack, if you don’t end up installing the rack/ basket right away! The walk would also be so close.
Sara Cotner
Hi, Nora! Walking would honestly be my ideal; I’m just afraid I won’t want to get up earlier to leave earlier!
Alycia
Get fenders, especially if you plan on biking in all weather.
Also, how can you lighten your load so you don’t have such a heavy backpack? I used to bike commute with most of my stuff on the back rack and a few things in a front basket. Then on my honeymoon in Scotland, we rode 30 miles with all of our stuff strapped to the front and that was very nice. The nice things about racks are that you can always remove them.
Enjoy! Bike commuting is the best.
Sara Cotner
Fenders sound essential, Alycia! My backpacks has my laptop, cord, lunch, water bottle, wallet, journal, and phone. It ends up pretty heavy!
Alycia
Panniers!! I can’t believe I forgot about them. Especially if you get fenders, get some panniers for the back rack. You can put everything except your laptop in them and then your backpack will be lighter! My panniers attached wih clips so you could easily remove them if you went into a store or were parking in a city.
Sara Cotner
Thank you so much, Alycia!
Katie Zaback
Do it! I so miss my bike commute, I rode five miles (downhill the way there and uphill the way back) until quarantine and then quitting my job. I tend to over-plan things which stops me, so I had plans to get a bunch of gear. Then, I actually started because I needed to train for a triathlon which was around the corner and I hadn’t trained enough and I had no gear. Just starting riding became a habit and then I added stuff, a good backpack (and I probably would have gotten panniers next). So just start, you can figure out the details later. Also, if you are that close, you can also totally walk, it would be less than 15 minutes!
Sara Cotner
Love it, Katie! Walking would actually be my preference but then I would have to wake up earlier which doesn’t sound too appealing!
Allison Leedie
We zip-tied some free milk crates to our rear bike racks and they work great. Weight in the back is 100% the way to go.
Sara Cotner
What a great tip, Allison!