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So I finally found a new job that is much closer to home. I used to drive about 130km round trip. Now i only do 36km. I have been toying with the idea of riding a bike, or maybe buying an electric scooter. I dont own either on of these but I can afford either or.

I am wondering how many of you guys bike or scooter your way to work. And how far do you travel? Is 36km to far to bike or scooter? Basically just trying to figure out if buying a electric scooter or biking is a good idea.:D

Well, I use a motorcycle to get to school and back.

When I had the old job, I looked into biking and the 20miles each way wouldn't have been bad (90 min), but I am NOT a morning person, so that was a no-go.

As a former bike-school commuter (20 min each way, 4x/day), I would recommend building up your endurance gradually, as the first long ride will hurt.

A small scooter on low speed (<45mph) roads would be a great way to commute, as long as the range is decent and you have some storage for briefcase & raingear.

I almost always use my scooter, and only drive the FIT when I take the surboard or kayak. The bottom line is that you will not drive enough to make it worthwhile from a dollars and cents standpoint. I'll have to put about 40,000 miles on my Honda SH150I to get my money back. (at $3 a gallon). That would take a long time in Canada. If you feel the call of two wheeling calling, then dollars and cents go out the window.

I used to commute by bicycle when I worked in LA, in San Diego, and in New Haven, CT. 36 km is about 20 miles, so that will probably take 1 to 1.5 hours each way. Which isn't wasted time because you're getting great exercise. But as warthog1984 says get into it gradually, starting off with one day a week or even ride only one way if you can hitch a ride home.

A few thoughts:
(1) get a used bike to start off with (craigslist or something like that, or ask around at your local bicycle dealers for a used bike that they have refurbished) - less invested if it doesn't work out
(2) it doesn't have to be a fancy carbon racing bike but you want one with 700c x 23 or 25 high pressure tires, preferably 120psi ones, far less effort - less important but useful are eyelets built into the frame for fenders (to prevent dirt stripes on you from the tires when it rains) and a rear rack (so you don't have to carry work stuff in a backpack) - personally I like the Raleigh Sport and Grand Sport but they may be hard to find used
(3) if it is working out, get yourself a good saddle with a center cutout to prevent numbness in Important Areas (Serfas and Terry make ones designed for this) and good cycling shorts (Pearl Izumi Elite are my favorites, be sure to wash them frequently)
(4) if there is a place where you can shower at work that can be very handy
(5) also very helpful if there is someone you can hitch a ride with if it rains unexpectedly, 20 miles in pouring rain can be a drag
(6) maybe figure on riding on good days and driving in bad weather??
(7) it will probably put you into a nice relaxed frame of mind when you start your work day

Oh, and WEAR A GOOD HELMET!!!

Opened a poll.

lightfoot - I wish we had showers, but other then the winter, the only thing that would stop me from riding a bike to work is rain in the morning.

lightfoot - I wish we had showers, but other then the winter, the only thing that would stop me from riding a bike to work is rain in the morning.

Carry a few Wet naps & an extra shirt- works great!

18K one way is a reasonable distance. How is the traffic & road / shoulder / bike lane situation?

I ride 4 miles (*2) year round, but had a 14 mile (*2) commute for most of a year (couldn't do that route in the snow). I was lucky -- I had a shower at work.

I work in a 25km (15.5 miles) distance from home so it's not impossible to go to work by bycicle, and I may try it once, but
- I should really get a good bicycle for this commute. My current one got pretty crappy by now.
- The area is very hilly and I'm not in a good enough shape to go fast uphills. And without going fast I wouldn't have enough time to do anything but eat, wash myself, and sleep... I work in 12-hour shifts.
- The road is pretty narrow. Nothing except 2-wheeled vehicles could pass me without going into the opposite lane. Good that the traffic is usually very light. Bad that most of the the road (national road 811, Hungary) is twisty and bumpy and runs in a forest so it's hard to see ahead. I feel safer to be able to keep the cars' pace and decide when they should pass me - most of them does anyway :)

So now I ride a full-fledged 650cc motorcycle to work - one that eats like a 250cc (really, our two bikes' averages are the same within a narrow margin of error - you just have to ride this big single differently to get the same FE as the 250cc V2 - it takes more effort, but that effort is more effective) :)

No transit option?

No transit option?

Nothing to my shifts... there are buses, but the schedule has 2-3 hour long holes.
It's not fun to wait in a bus stop for more than an hour after you worked the whole night.

When it's totally winter and I absolutely can't ride, I stay at my mother's place instead who lives in the town 4.5km from my workplace (go there by bus and walk or bicycle to work), but always doing so would defeat the purpose of renting a house in a beautiful village and living there with my girlfriend...

Nothing to my shifts... there are buses, but the schedule has 2-3 hour long holes.
It's not fun to wait in a bus stop for more than an hour after you worked the whole night.

When it's totally winter and I absolutely can't ride, I stay at my mother's place instead who lives in the town 4.5km from my workplace (go there by bus and walk or bicycle to work), but always doing so would defeat the purpose of renting a house in a beautiful village and living there with my girlfriend...Now added to poll.

Now that school is out for my kids, I am in my summer hiatus of:
- Ride the bicycle to the gym and back in the morning. (4.2 miles roundtrip)
- Walk to the bus stop (2 blocks) and ride it to work (12 miles)
- Ride the bus or walk between our two work locations (2.1 miles each way)
- And reverse for the route home.

My current tank can last a loooooong time on this schedule, plus I get caught up and many podcasts (Go Hypermiling, More Hip than Hippie, plus some others) and I am totally relaxed when I get to work.

3 or 4 days out of the week I bike, usually (in the morning) or sometimes (in the afternoon) assisted part of the way by light rail.

For the most part, I drive 1-2 days per week.

Today, however, I rode my Razor A5 to the light rail downtown. Easier to get on the train this time of year, as the bike racks start getting crowded. The 8" wheels don't even notice the kind of sidewalk debris that send you flying off a regular scooter. And it only cost me $75:
http://www.razora5luxscooter.com/razor-a5-lux-scooter.jpg

Unfortunately, every route I can take has several miles of 2-lane road with zero shoulder and 55 mph limit (which nobody obeys). I don't think it wise to try and bike these routes.
http://khm1.google.com/kh/v=62&x=124141&y=211863&z=19&s=Galile

I almost always use my scooter, and only drive the FIT when I take the surboard or kayak. The bottom line is that you will not drive enough to make it worthwhile from a dollars and cents standpoint. I'll have to put about 40,000 miles on my Honda SH150I to get my money back. (at $3 a gallon). That would take a long time in Canada. If you feel the call of two wheeling calling, then dollars and cents go out the window.

LOL...Truth!

I currently am not working but i do go to college full time. Last semester i was riding my bicycle every Monday and Wednesday to school (19 mile one-way trip), and driving Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Next semester my classes are compacted into M, W, & F with Tuesday and Thursday off. I'm not sure if i'm going to bike all three days. If i don't, i'll bike at least 2 out of the 3 days. My plan is to put more miles on my bicycle and less on the car.

I rode one of my motorcycles everyday to work, year round rain or shine for almost three years. Put on about 65,000 miles in that time. Probably averaged 43mpg.

Interestingly, since my accident, I've been driving and now that I've started concentrating on hypermiling I'm getting 40+ mpg tanks out of my car on a fairly regular basis. (I have a 105 mile round trip everyday so bicycling or scootering is pretty much out of the question.)

I put "car" in the poll. Though since April I have consistently bicycled to work twice/week. It's 8.6-8.8 miles one way, fairly flat, with bike trails or broad shoulders. The only somewhat dangerous part in 1.5 miles of state highway, but that has a 45 mph speed limit and a paved shoulder about handlebar wide.

Keith

Motorcycle :)

I bicycled 6.5 miles each way to work all Summer for 6 years in Alaska. When I moved to the Bay Area I biked the same distance each way to a vanpool year-round for about 3 more years. I did it on a $35 garage sale Schwinn Continental (46 lb. 10 speed).

Before and after those years, I commuted to work for 20 years on motorcycles, with distances ranging from 5 to 17 to 32 miles each way. I carpooled or took the bus when it snowed.

Now I'm retired, and don't miss commuting a bit.