I grew up there, and before I got my driver's license, I biked everywhere. It was less than a 5 minute ride to the W&OD, which is a long, bike trail. It even hooks up with another trail (don't remember the name) that went to Ballston, so I could visit a friend I had that lived there. It was a 30 mile ride, with a total of about 1 mile not on a paved, well maintained bike trail.
I was in HS, so my solution for the shower thing was:
1) Gym showers at school (duh)
2) Anywhere else, I usually had a friend within a mile of it, since so much is mixed zoning, that would let me use their shower.
I often bike to work, which for me is about 26 miles each direction. I take a shower right before I leave, and when I get there I just have to rinse down and change out of my cycling jersey. The theory behind the pre-ride shower is that body odor is caused by bacteria on your skin, and showering temporarily knocks out enough of your bacteria that it won't cause significant odor during your ride. (I'm not aware of actual science on this topic, but I've asked a trusted coworker whether I smell after riding into work, and he says I don't. So there's your anecdotal data point...) So for me the bike is extremely practical even living in an area that wasn't designed with bicycles in mind.
As for humidity, this is in south Florida—if we can manage it here, then we can handle the humidity pretty much anywhere in the US.
Now I'm not saying everyone can or should bike a 52-mile round trip to work. But the point of this article is that this little experimental suburb has 5,500 people within a single square mile; biking or walking is a perfectly reasonable way to traverse such a small area at nearly any level of fitness, especially when you don't have to worry about automotive traffic, and for the few people who can't manage that there's the public transport option. Even on our hottest days here in south Florida, one can easily bike a mile, fully dressed, without breaking a sweat.
DC/MD/VA have a lot of verrry long bike trails, and it makes a good deal of sense to use them instead of fighting the beltway traffic, if you live a certain distance away and have showers at work. But if you don't have showers at work, what do you do once you get there? Spray on deodorant and feel gross for the rest of the day?
I loved biking into work when I lived close enough (7mi) but honestly I would never have done it if I didn't also have shower access (was a small company but the business park had a shared shower).
Doubly so if you're doing any hills with a passenger on board.
I live in the highest density cycling city in North America (Montreal) and this is not anecdotal. A huge portion of my office cycle-commutes to work, and the vast majority do not shower. This was doubly-true before I worked at my current company, where there weren't showers, and still most people used bikes to commute.
At what point do anecdotes from people who actually live this experience day to day become more useful to listen to than theories from people who don't?
It is not length but how secure you feel and how fast you can peddle.
It's also how dirty/sweaty you get on the ride. In the USA, bike showers are a rare amenity from employers.
My last employer said they had showers for bikers, which seemed like a great amenity, until I actually looked at them -- the shower room was down a little used utility corridor that was only unlocked during 8-6pm business hours, so if you got to work before or after that time you couldn't get in. There were no lockers, so you couldn't even leave a wet towel there for the day, you had to take it up to your desk.
I had a 14 mile ride to work, 90% on a separated bike trail so it was a great commute, but I rarely rode to work due to the poor bike shower situation since after an hour's ride I definitely needed a shower before work. But I was lucky enough to be able to share a drive in to the city with my wife on most days, then I'd bike home since I usually left work later than her.
My town is very spread out, I don't even work in the city. Companies commonly rent office space in the suburbs. Also, I consider 10 miles to be a very short commute and a huge perk. They've been trying to revitalize our downtown area for decades with moderate success.
If you don't live in a hot state, you don't won't know what that's like. It's funny though, shortly after rush hour, our area has packs of people riding bicycles for recreation. I'm pretty sure most of them shower before dinner.
Also, most workplaces in the US don’t have showers available. My commute is 7 miles (11 km). On average it takes me about 40 minutes for the ride and another 15-20 minutes to shower and change my clothes.
40 minutes might be a slow pace for many, but there’s a couple of decent hills, a bunch of stop signs and lights, and my steel frame bike with my panniers filled with the stuff I need for the day is pretty heavy.
An e-bike could change the equation significantly.
The major problem is the lack of any kind of bike lanes/infrastructure in most major cities. This makes cycling to city centers difficult, if not dangerous.
Another is showering and changing once you get to work. A 10-20 mile ride will leave me sweating, without a shower I can't be presentable for the office.
My office for the past few summers has had a shower, so I biked most of the time. Riding the bus isn't bad either as long as you can wait in the shade.
I'd say that it's also very much a matter of whether you have a shower near your place of work.
I would have to ride eight miles, about 45 minutes - which is pretty close to my current commute - but I'd arrive sweaty and in need of a change of clothes at minimum.
My problem with bike commuting is sweat. So when I used to commute (7mi), I showered after arriving at work, and after my ride back.
It really made my day, but seriously it added non-negligible time to my commute. Showering @ home is easier, showers at work can be occupied, and the 2nd shower after coming back was an extra 15m too.
I did the 15km ride in my city to reach the factory.
I can tell you that it is very stressful to ride a bike on a busy road with no bike lane, filled with trucks driving at 70kmh (because this road is the one that trucks must take as they are not allowed to cross through the city). Then imagine doing it at 7 in the morning in winter, when it is still night and some ice patch.
Even if you make it alive, then comes the issue of shower availability. That's what is blocking me from riding the 35km from my current job: I have no access to a shower at work.
My city has the most extensive bike lane network in France, except for the place where workers are working. If you work in the city center, you are fine and it is pleasant, but then you are part of the lucky workers enjoying the benefits of living in a city.
Well, my High School was about 20 miles driving distance away from my home. Much of that along a limited access highway. I suppose I could have biked it, but avoiding the limited access highway adds 10 miles onto the trip and detours you through some fairly rough neighborhoods.
20 miles each way is 2 hours total for a very fit cyclist. It's 3 hours or more for most people. And you'll need a shower when you get to work (and home, really). I don't think that's convenient for most people.
Since we're throwing around anecdata, I once had a summer commute from Back Bay -> Lexington. It was 1:45 by T/bus, 45 minutes by car, and an hour by bike. I was in school at the time so I was hesitant to bring my car to the city, but it would have been the obvious choice if biking hadn't been so damned convenient.
Commute distance, legality (biking from city to city on the interstate is a big no-no), inability to shower after a ride, weather (I'm looking at YOU, Scotland!), medical conditions, take your pick.
Before I had a car, the W&OD trail was how I got places. Maybe I was just a weird kid, but the freedom of getting places on my own, trumped any monotony of the ride, and I doubt my parents would have let me bike in car traffic.
I was in HS, so my solution for the shower thing was:
1) Gym showers at school (duh)
2) Anywhere else, I usually had a friend within a mile of it, since so much is mixed zoning, that would let me use their shower.
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