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Comment by dupe576 | Hacker News Reader

That's why I think everyone should bike to work if possible. It has little to no environmental impact and a positive health impact. And because you are killing two birds with one stone by exercising during your commute, you really aren't wasting any time.

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Yup. 9 miles each way, over the last ten years that's varied with different jobs, but I've managed to do it year round in Chicago. It's funny, when suggested, the gut reaction from a lot of people is to say why it won't work for them, instead of considering ways it might, even if used supplementally and not replacing alternatives completely.

Biking is fine if you are a prof at a college campus, or the boss of some hip startup, but I cannot arrive at work sweating through a horribly wrinkled suit. We don't have showers.

I have yet to meet anyone who has communized by bike in my city (Vancouver BC) for more than a few years without a major altercation with a motorvehicle. It might be healthy, but it is also physically dangerous.

There's a double standard for women in many jobs, even in the most bike friendly city in the US, as a biker I've observed most of my fellow commuters are men. Its easier for me as there's less expectations placed on my appearance. I put on a fresh set of clothes, a hat and I'm good to go. I'm lucky I live where biking is easy, working a non-client facing job, as male and a company with an indoor bike rack and shower.

Some places have lots of off-road bike trails. I live in Minneapolis and bike to work most days in the spring, summer, and fall (on a bike trail). The ground is flat, so it's easy to go 12+ mph without breaking a sweat.

We have a shower at my work but I don't use it. I just take it easy for the last mile or two of biking and then spend a few minutes cooling off in the bathroom stall once I get there and I'm fine. Also, I wear workout clothes while I bike. I wouldn't recommend wearing your work clothes during the commute.

The root cause of long commutes isn't a lack of biking, it is a lack of proximity. Riding a bike for two hours each way isn't an option for many people.

The solution is to increase density in the core parts of the Bay Area. Density reduces the distance between workplace and housing. Especially increased density around existing rail public transit (BART, Caltrain...) There is a lot of room for improvement here: Paris is thrice as dense as San Francisco despite having a 37m building ceiling.

Unfortunately, where I'm at, four or five months out of the year, it's below freezing and even if you could brave the cold, you'd be taking your life in your hands with the narrowed roads, drivers that cannot navigate snowy/icy conditions, and snowplows.

Fortunately more than one transportation mode exists. When I used to bike commute in Winnipeg I would just take the bus in the winter (4-5 months).

Also, fortunately, few people live in such extreme climates as us.

That's a good alternative, in places where buses exist. In New England, at least, outside the very core of the urban areas, public transit of any kind is uncertain at best, and mostly completely unavailable.

Yup! People complain that the bay area cost of living is high, but for me it's a quality of life issue. I'm able to bike to work 30 minutes each way. Sure it takes longer than driving (which I do on occasion), but it's a good workout. I can do it year-round, and it's not so warm or humid here that I show up at work dripping with sweat. Put the bike away, toss a hoodie over my t-shirt once I've cooled off a bit, and I'm set.

I'm super happy with how our move back to the US has worked out: I'm working at a good company, and I ride about 15 minutes each way back and forth from work on my bike.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/04/18/get-rich-with-bike... - some of the benefits of bicycling.

Yeah, that's great, but here in NYC it's either freezing or hazy-humid for 2/3 of the year. Oh yeah, and my commute would be about 2.5 hrs each way, according to Google Maps.

Google maps is not very good at plotting bike routes or at knowing which streets are truly bike-appropriate. I frequently have to adjust any bicycle travel directions I get from them because they list a lot of busy 45 MPH roads with sidewalks as "bicycle friendly." This is in contrast to the multitude of slow residential streets that run to either side of the selected road. In fact, I've had Google Maps recommend that I bicycle downhill on a 50 MPH road because there was a sidewalk on one side. I was able to find a much slower, shallower grade about a mile south of where they wanted to take me.

It's awesome if you're in a car though.

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