Recently we covered a couple helpful hints on how to ride your bike to work. One of the big complaints people often give is that they live too far away from where they work to ride their bike. For some that might be true, but not for these guys.
First there is Ferdie, who rides 43 miles to work, each way, every day. That means the man is putting 86 miles on his bike, a day. Amazing.
Then there is Dr. Mad Max who is doing about 65 miles a day on his bike.
These guys are nuts, but I bet they are in the best shape of their lives, and could crush a walnut with the back of their knee. My puny daily commute of 12 miles is nothing compared to these guys. So the next time you think you can’t ride your bike 5-10 miles to work and back think again :)
I’ll have you know that I’m currently working on figuring out if I can do this. Hopefully I’ll be renting a bike this weekend and doing an experimental ride from home to work.
The second part is that I need to figure out where to park it at night. There are bike racks outside of my job (YAY) but home? I live in a tony neighborhood so…. we’ll see. I’m keeping an eye out.
I’m contemplating getting a trike for commuting. THe two times I’ve been hit (in slower cities than NYC where I live now) have made me rather nervous and unsteady. I’ll feel safer – and will be able to carry more groceries – on a trike.
Love the blog, and hope to be a member soon :)
Hello Nicole: Just a tip, I keep my bike inside my house. I just put it right in the mud room. If you don’t have a lot of room, you can get one of them bike hooks at your local bike shop and hang it from the ceiling.
If the bike tires got a little dirty on the ride I just give them a quick rub down with an old towel and the carpet stays clean.
I am not sure a trike will make you any safer, but they are pretty cool, you could also get one of them cargo bikes that has the large space in the front for groceries, shopping, the kids, etc.
Good luck on your commute, be sure to check back in with your progress :)
I live in Manhattan in a 1 BR that doubles as my live-in partner’s photostudio. When I say “no room”, I mean it!
There is a downstairs storage facility in my building, and I’m hoping to get a space there, or use the courtyard, if they will let me!
At least with a trike, I don’t have to worry about falling over so much! If I do go with a regular bike, I’ll get a folding one :)
These articles are so helpful. I didnt know wether i would be able to do a 14 mile bike ride one way only but im now motivated to do so. Thanks
Hello Henry: I would suggest that you try to work up to that kind of distance, perhaps ride your route a couple times on the weekend, when you can take your time and you can stop and rest if you need to. Or ride half the way, and take a bus/train the rest. 14 miles sounds like a long way, but you could easily do it in less than an hour once you get the hang of it. Good luck! Be sure to let us know how it turns out.
good deal.. at least i can tell my gf now that i’m not crazy for wanting to ride 12 miles to work. when i was a kid, 12 miles was a drop in the bucket, i dunno why people nowadays think biking to work is nuts.
btw, how long on average does it take you to ride that 12 miles to work? I’m guessing around 45 minutes, which is less time than it takes to take the bus in orlando.