[pushrod]

Hoo-yah, Minime!



My only problem with riding to work is that works sux so much more when you've just come in off a bike. The bright spot, of course, is that you look forward to getting off at the end of the day, so you can ride! Which takes forever, which sorta sux.



Oh well. To paraphrase, " A bad bike commute is better than a good ride in a cage".

 

[Bat_Matt]

Looks like JohnnyB is inspiring all kinds of thoughtful commentary around here. Love the little tidbits like this. Glad to hear you were able to break the mold and keep up the great work.



Matt

 

[CBR1000F]

Minime,



Boy do I know what you're talking about. For about a year, I was commuting 126 miles a day (round trip), racked up HUGE miles on my bike, and I remember actually going out to my bike one Saturday morning, looking at it and thinking "I don't feel like going for a ride." The realization of that blew me away.



I got lucky though - a couple of weeks later, I was down at the shop, picking my bike up from yet another valve adjustment, when I met a guy who was picking up his Hayabusa. I noticed that the 'Busa looked a helluva lot better in black than the one's I'd seen previously, and told him so. We struck up a conversation for about 1/2 an hour, then we went for a ride around Lake Berryessa. Man was that a hoot. I was throwin' my ponderous plastic pig into the corners, hangin' with this 'busa, and having a blast. What a revelation! I also got to see EXACTLY how much slower my CBR is than a 'busa on that day, when we hit a straight that was about a mile long... downshifted to third, whacked the throttle open, look down to watch the tack needle, upshift just past peak power, look back up... to see a DOT of a 'Busa taillight in the distance. *whew*



Oddly enough, that was fun too... yeah I got smoked, but it was fun watching the fastest bike on the planet make mincemeat of my CBR.



Sorry for the long post.

 

[bluedot]

I agree .... ride to work.



I was fortunate enough to have a beautiful reverse commute with lots of road and no traffic.



The problem was that "loosing pent-up frustration" scenario lead to occasional hooliganisms, which in turn led to often hooliganisms, which eventually lead to getting caught.



So now I'm back in the car, watching the occasional rider (with more self control than myself) enjoying the route to work I once did.



I decided what I need is an off-road route to work .. hehe

 

[KPaulCook]

For those of in Seattle, bikes used to be seen only in the spring, summer, fall or when ever it didn't rain which is not often. In last few years Seattle has grown and unfornuately the tree huggers and like have blocked any attempts for to build new roads or expand existing roads. The HOV, car pool lanes, are now the reason why you see more motorcycles during bad weather. I try to commute every day by bike, but I also take a ride on Sunday on one of the many great twisty mountain roads around Seattle. I agree that the ride to work can get boring sometimes but I still think a bad on my bike is better than any good day in my car. My attitude is that the commute keeps me sharp for my Sunday drive and vice versa. I agree with Minime I arrive at work with a better mind set and it also allows me to detox or chill out when I come back home.

 

[Joe_Momma]

Thanks.

You've made my day just writing that. hahaha!!! mincemeat. haha!

 

[SeanAlexander]

Looks like whatever infects Mr. Burns, is contagious. MO should rent him out to other publications (for a hefty fee) to see if he can inspire this sort of writing everywhere.



Seriously... Thanks Brent, this was a nice little piece.

 

[Joe_Momma]

Thanks Minime

This one out of the ordinary story that broke the mold just made my day. The writing and the posts are just great quality.

Thanks

 

[jmeyn]

Well done, mini! Look out, Peter Egan!

You can define Take a Ride To Work as a search for legal ways to get there more quickly, safely and/or pleasantly. If you're single, you can Take a Long Ride Home. It's win-win-win.

 

[jmeyn]

Re: Thanks.

Yeah, but your gas mileage is terrible.

Sob!

 

[seruzawa]

Getting smoked is relative. Sure the 'Busa is faster. But still you get to smoke every tie wearing clown in his Bummer or Teyerter that believes the performance rot the cage manufacturers push to sell their slow low-performing junk. For a measly $2600 I spent on a GSX1100 I get to waste idiots who spent 30-50 large on "fast cars". Heh heh.

 

[Joe_Momma]

I think i might stay single and do some more winning.

 

[sculptor666]

How about more Arbitrary Capitalization! Why is everything you write such a task to get through? why not edit your entire article down to

www.ridetowork.org

 

[GSparky]

Nice theory; in North Dallas, you do not "Go for a ride to work", it's more like "Will I make to work alive". I'll not list the reasons for the difference, but we have all experienced them at one time or another. There are times it's not bad, but it's seems there are some days better than others. Forget Monday & Thursday;



Don't get me wrong. I wish this area was good for a relaxing "Go for a ride" to work, but it's just too scary now.



Cheers

 

[Eric]

warning: emotional drivel from this poster

I am a grad student/teacher that lives two hours away from the college where I teach/am taught. When I first started making the commute a few years ago, I never took the bike -- it was only for weekend trips and vacations with my wife. Slowly, I realized how much more relaxed I was when I took the bike. In the car, at the end of a long day I was just pissed off and tired. On my bike, the two hours on the slab at least woke me up. We still took vacations on the bike; but I appreciated the other part as well.

Then this past summer my father passed away a few days before he and my mother were supposed to meet my wife and I for a long motorcycle journey through the Dakotas, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, to TX (to drop of the parents) and then home to VA. I sold my bike first thing -- motorcycling was something my dad and I did together. Two weeks later I bought a much more barebones motorcycle (and pocketed the left over cash). I commute on it far more than I ever did on my big touring bike. Even though it extends my commute by up to an hour and 1/2 (making a total of 3 1/2 hours one way), I will often take the backroads home from work (including the Blue Ridge Parkway).

My wife asks me why I enjoy riding my Buell with almost no wind protection rather than riding in a perfectly good car, even when it is quite cold. I think it is pretty simple really. On the one level, blasting backroads gives me time to think about the great times I had with my dad (forgetting about frustrating students or research that is not working out), and every mile I put on my motorcycle reminds me how lucky I am, to be alive, to be doing something I enjoy, to live in a place that lets me do the things I desire. The simple motorcycle just makes that connection all that much more direct.

People on this site (myself included) complain a lot. We gripe about comparisons that don't go the way we like, we complain that the latest and greatest isn't great enough. Little pieces like Minime's are nice because they serve to remind us how lucky we are that we get to ride.

 

[Joe_Momma]

Thanks for the 3rd time

Man, you guys are killing me with all of this great writing. MO staff and posters alike.

I am really thankful.

 

[roxysdad]

Sheesh, if Brent keeps this up I may have to install that cat 5 wire into the bathroom. I have an old 3Com Audrey that would be a great addition to the decor in there.



Nice to know what working around a mentor like JB can do for your writing content/style. Not to say you weren't cool before, but this type of article is exactly what was missing from the site... or maybe I just didn't notice it before.



May your website always remain my homepage, and may you continue to ride safe and return and report.



Chris

 

[17416]

There's another completely practical reason for biking to work, at least in the urban jungle where Minime toils now, and where I did until I retired - less frustrating. For what seemed good enough reasons, I commuted 65 miles one way over the standard stationary streets and freeways. Thank God they permitted lane splitting!! Taking the car cost half an hour, compared with the motorcycle. Yes I had my share of close calls, but it actually perked me up a bit to avoid the cars, and to try to decide whether the driver was actively out to get me or merely didn't see me. Frequently I never could decide.



As I took advantage of the HOV lanes, I kept thinking that the motorcycle dealers should have put up some billboards: They should be saying



TO USE THE DIAMOND LANES YOU NEED



A FRIEND (cartoon of car with sour driver and passenger)



OR A MOTORCYCLE (cartoon of happy biker)



IT'S EASIER TO GET A MOTORCYCLE



And another little comment: There seemed to be an understanding of the rules among the commuting bikers. They rarely passed me nor held me up.



Cage drivers would gripe about speed demons (they never heard of Squids, of course), and I'd ask "During rush hour?" .. "And when was the last time you saw that?" .. "Oh, Saturday morning, I thought you were complaining about rush hour." .. silence

 

[Van]

Timely subject matter there, Brent!



See, I just sold my brand new "couldn't wait to get it" Acura Type S RSX, a few short months after buying it, specifically so that I'd JUST be a motorcyclist again. (Though my wife does have a car.)



I sell bikes for a living in No Cal and I commute 106 miles a day (round trip) and I decided, screw it, I'm not blowing my life sitting in a cage, even if it's a nice cage.



I used to be bike only, for two years, and while life required more planning it also felt more like living.



Weather becomes an issue, which is cool. Without trying to sound too much like a cornball BMW bike magazine ad, I enjoy the feeling of connectedness to nature and to actually "experiencing" the something that comes with riding in big ass storms and such.



Because I was driving a new car, I found that I was hardly riding anymore. When I was, it was almost out of guilt; it became an obligation.



That had to change.



So, now I'm looking forward to trading in my SV and choosing between an ST1300, FJR1300 or an R1150RT to be my new car.



Sure, there'll be days when I'll miss the comfort of the car but those days will be far outnumbered by all the other days where I felt like I at least accomplished SOMETHING worthwile, just by riding my bike.

 

[redrumjames]

I JUST STARTED RIDING AGAIN AFTER A 20 YEAR HIATUS, YOU KNOW I GOT MARRIED SOLD THE BIKE, WOUND UP IN DIVORCE COURT, AND GOT A BIKE AGAIN. WELL ANYWAY I RODE TO WORK TODAY FOR THE 1ST TIME. THE RIDE IN WAS GOOD, BUT WHAT REALLY MADE THE DAY GREAT WAS THE HOUR I SPENT RIDING AT LUNCH. THE DAY STATED OUT BAD AND WAS GETTING WORSE BUT I KEPT THINKING THAT IF I COULD GET THROUGH THE MORNING I COULD GET OUT FOR A HOUR AT LUNCH. I JUST RODE, NOT REALLY GOING ANYWHERE, JUST RIDING. I CAME BACK WITH A COMPLETLEY DIFFERENT TUDE AND THE REST OF THE DAY WAS CAKE. I PLAN ON DOING THIS A COUPLE OF TIME A WEEK, MAYBE MORE.