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  4 0 I don't bike, so I don't bike to work. I also don't drive - I walk and/or take the bus. I don't bike for several reasons, one of which is that I've known two people who were hit by cars and killed while riding on the street, and three more who have been seriously injured. I'm not trying to argue that no one should bike for this reason, but it's enough to keep me away. e.strange answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by btm… 0 0 Motorcyclists sometimes call people riding in cars "cagers." It is usually to convey the experiences that are being lost when you're separated from the world as you travel by all that metal and glass. Still, even with the normality of cars in our life aside, theres something reassuring about "wearing" all that steel around you as you travel down a road trusting complete strangers to not drive their cars into each other. In any case, it is a completely valid fear to feel and interesting to ponder how we got here. btm commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 0 Because I have been unable to find a job in the past 8 months, that's why anonymousslob answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by TVDinner Redux… 0 0 That sucks. Hope you find one soon. TVDinner Redux commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 0 I have a bike but I don't because I am scared to ride down Jackson and downtown to get to my job. I'm not gutsy enough to ride on the streets with the other hardcore bikeriders. Chloe Barker answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by btm… 0 0 Where do you start from? King Street, one block south of Jackson is the signed bicycle route westbound from 12th Ave. It's much lower traffic because it has stop signs at every block and is next to an arterial so that gets all the traffic. From there, it isn't very far to the northbound bicycle climbing lane on 4th avenue. This is admittedly a much more serious road though. However, King Street ends there at the International District stop of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. You can lock up a bicycle there and then take a free bus the rest of the way downtown. If you're uncomfortable leaving a bicycle outdoors you can also compromise with the Seattle Bike Port which is about three blocks away. http://www.bicyclealliance.org/aboutbaw/bikeport.html btm commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 2 I'm an avid urban cyclist and commuter and there are lots of reasons to not bike to work, or anywhere around Seattle. Simply put, it's dangerous. You almost have to be an adrenaline junkie, at least a little bit, to ride a bike around here. Even riding along the major bicycle commuting routes one is constantly in danger of being doored, hit by a left or right hook, buzzed, or even run off the road. You are an exposed, soft, squishy lump of flesh and bone, protected by a little cloth and styrofoam, balanced atop a 20 - 50 lb metal velociped being held aloft by two spinning gyroscopes, and you're vying for space with 1 - 10 ton motor vehicles. Those motor vehicles are driven by people of questionable skill, ability, psychology and morality, and every single one of them could kill you with a flick of the wrist. Most importantly, the very nature of driving a motor vehicle casts everything outside the vehicle as other and less-then-human. It is very easy to forget everyone's humanity when you're sealed away from them by glass, metal and plastic. Even when it's not dangerous, it's nerve wracking. Actions that cars take that are minor annoyances if you're driving another car can be life threatening on a bicycle. An example of this I deal with everyday is people making rolling stops at a stop sign or creeping out while waiting to pull out of a side street or driveway. In a car that isn't a big deal because if they screw up you have a fender bender or a minor crash, if you're on a bicycle you have no idea if they see you, if they're waiting for you, or if they're about to gun it right in front of you and suck you under the wheels to be crushed and mangled. And as RM pointed out, it only takes a couple of nasty incidents to sour one on bicycle commuting. I've had a couple of bad confrontations with motorists (both times I was completely within my rights and being courteous) and they always leave me shaken for a few days afterward. It's sweaty. Yes, if you ride at 8 mph like those stylish Dutch do, I'm sure you could get around Seattle with little or no sweat, but the infrastructure would have to improve considerably before I could possibly feel safe riding that slow. When I arrive somewhere in the summer I have to allow myself a good ten minutes or more to stand around, chug water, and cool off. If your work doesn't have a shower and your sweat stinks at all, you have to go through an absurd ritual with baby wipes and the like every morning. There isn't a good way of carrying stuff. There just isn't. I love my huge high-end messenger bag and find it comfy as all get-out on the bicycle, but off the bicycle not so much. Backpacks give me the opposite problem. Anything on your back is going to make you sweat, a lot; as soon as it gets warm I start building up tidal patterns of dried sweat in the cordura. Panniers make the bicycle difficult to pick up and shoulder and eliminate the possibility to hopping off, throwing a lock on, and walking away. Trunk and handlebar bags don't hold very much. So forth and so on. Your flexibility is considerably reduced with a bicycle. Want to stop for groceries on the way home from work? That depends on how big your bag is. Live in Seattle and get invited to a movie in Bellevue? That's forty-five minutes to an hour and a half each way. To be visible and safe, you have to look like a dork. Helmets, including the newer skater-style ones, are just dorky looking. High-viz clothing is dorky, as is covering yourself with lights. In the winter it is impossible to be cool enough on the bike while warm enough standing around outside, whether in your bike clothes or your office clothes. You can't carry a 3/4 length wool coat on a bike, or rather, you could, but it would be ridiculously bulky and heavy. If you wear glasses there is no way to prevent the shit-I-can't-see effect during a heavy downpour in the dark. No matter how much light you're throwing out in front of yourself, or how long and stiff the bill of your cap is, you will find yourself barely able to see. Cycling and contacts do not mix. I used to wear contacts before I got into cycling, and after the second time of almost dying when both my contacts dislodged at the same time, I gave up and went back to glasses. This is a common experience, according to forums posts, with all types of contacts. It's expensive to get into. A good commuting setup with clothing that's comfortable in the rain, good bags, lots of lights, and so forth, is going to be at least $1k. Obviously you can do it for less if you make things yourself, buy used, and so forth, but that takes extra time and effort. I've spent around $6k on my commuting set up in the last three years. There is only one reason for doing it despite all these reasons: passion. Lilting Missive answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 7 comments by VastGold, tfooq, and btm… 0 0 Actually, I'm not very passionate about biking. Bike commuting a good challenge! VastGold commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Thanks for all your thoughts. I would definitely argue that you don't need anywhere close to $1k for a commuter set up. I commute every day with a regular old backpack and a $175 bike. Helmets are dorky, but they are the norm. It's not like you stand out as a dweeb if you have one (which is how it was when I was a kid in St. Louis). I don't have glasses, so it is really interesting to hear the difficulties of riding in the rain with them. I never thought of that. Do other people have those problems? That would probably be a good question for Questionland on its own. I did not find that I ever needed anything heavier than a waterproof jacket this winter. My pants got wet, but I just brought a second pair in my backpack (I guess I could just get waterproof pants...) I am always amazed how many groceries I can fit in just a normal backpack. However, this would be much more difficult if I was buying for a family instead of myself and a friend. Having a route that allows you to ride leisurely is wonderful, but not everyone has one. I can ride whatever speed I want on the way to work, and I feel lucky that I can. As for the danger ... well, yeah. When I want to feel all assertive and bad ass, I'll ride on the more arterial streets and get where I'm going the quickest. But sometimes I just want to be relaxed and I take longer routes through neighborhoods, etc. There should be infrastructure to allow people to ride without fear. I feel like that is a right. This is where I start advocating taking out parking and traffic lanes to put in bike infrastructure and drivers get mad... tfooq commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Getting to Bellevue is usually a ride on the ST550 for me. There are actually a lot of options for carrying gear. Used racks and panniers can usually be picked up used and Seattle has a number of local outfits that have unique and custom solutions: http://swiftindustries.wordpress.com/ http://dankbags.net/ I don't have any problem grabbing a nights worth of groceries in my messenger bag. I'm a bit of an over-prepared person, so my bag comes with me everywhere I go, full of other tools and supplies. I prefer riding the city on a lighter bicycle without racks and whatnot though. For full grocery runs, I have an Xtracycle Freeradical on an old mountain bike. http://www.xtracycle.com/cargo-utility-bicycles/models/freeradical.html For the really absurd loads, I have a Haulin Colin trailer. A couple weeks ago I went bicycle camping with friends and towed this trailer over 115 miles round-trip. http://www.haulincolin.com/ It's all quite possible, sometimes absurd, but possible. btm commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I wore glasses or contacts for nearly 40 years, and I agree that they're horrible on a bike. My contacts were always filled with flying grit (somehow wearing sunglasses made that worse), and my glasses were always slipping down my nose, fogging up, getting rain on them, etc. Geni commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 used bike from Craigslist, the Bikery, Bikeworks, or the Bikeshack: $50-200 (used) rack: $10 lights: $30-50 helmet: $10-40 lock: $20-50 fenders: $0 (used) to $50 spare parts to adjust bike fit (from Bikery/Bikeshack/etc): $0-20 there are so many resources in our city to get a person started, and it doesn't have to cost a lot! novabird commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I'm glad to hear that contacts aren't the answer for cycling in the rain. I thought about getting them one winter when I had to ride from Northgate to Bellevue - over the north end of the lake, since there's no trail on 520 - and got so, so sick of not being able to see through my glasses. The water droplets that collect on your lenses refract the light from oncoming headlights, so your ability to see is seriously curtailed. TVDinner Redux commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Doorings, quarter-assed passings, pullout collisions, and right hooks can all be avoided by riding farther left in the lane. Getting rear-ended isn't as common, this isn't a totally substantiated statement imO, and the result of a rear-end collision could be worse. But could someone else please try taking those Archie McPhee spy glasses and taking the non-reflective part out to use while cycling? After almost a year of use, getting bikes crammed into coup trunks, Kent Peterson's campaign sign fenders are way better than the real thing btw. limpyweta commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I live in Seattle, and I teach in Federal Way. I actually never drove until two years ago when I got my job out in Federal Way -- before that, I was a public transportation girl, all the way. I had to learn to drive and buy a car when I got my job. The three questions that beg answering, then, are: 1) Why don't you get a job somewhere in Seattle? 2) Why don't you take public transportation to work? and 3) Why don't you go live in Federal Way? To the first, teaching jobs are pretty scarce right now. It's hard to find a job anywhere. And when I initially got my job, there was a hiring freeze in Seattle itself. Also, I really like my kids in Federal Way. They're scrappy. To the second, public transportation in King County isn't reliable enough. If I don't show up to work on time because two buses didn't show up in a row (which has happened to me in the past), I have thirty two teenagers with no one to watch them. On a selfish note, it also takes forever. I already have to get up at five. To the third, no. I'm not going to live in Federal Way, ever. I will accept that I'm a horrible commuter and I will never complain about traffic, gas prices, and my car payment in exchange for not having to live in Federal Way. (Plus, biking in Federal Way? Not so safe.) Rebecca Crawford answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 5 comments by tfooq, Rebecca Crawford, and tfooq… 0 0 Maybe you could answer something I've always wondered, then. What stops you from starting a carpool? I have always thought that, while they sound like a great idea, they must be sort of awkward to start up or something because so few people do it. I carpooled in high school, but have not been in the situation since. Just curious. tfooq commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I knew there was a question I'd forgotten to anticipate! I've thought about this a lot. The problem is that there are only two other teachers at my school who live in Seattle, and in terms of timing, teaching is a weird job. You don't just clock in and clock out. There's an endless cycle of meetings to go to (sometimes off-campus), clubs to advise, sports to coach, district-mandated classes we need to take off-campus, and kids to tutor. We all need to get here at different times, and leave at different times. I have actually managed to work out some carpooling sometimes, but mostly it's just impossible to coordinate our schedules. Rebecca Crawford commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 That makes total sense. I mean, how can you depend on a carpool when there are so many variables? What happens if the driver wakes up sick? You kind of need the luxury of being able to fall back on just driving yourself in order to do it. Or the willingness of everyone to wait around at school until the last person in the carpool is finished with whatever. At some point, I can see that being impractical unless you have a job with firm regular hours similar to those of your pool mates (do you call them pool mates?). tfooq commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Hee. Car mates? ...that sounds wrong. Rebecca Crawford commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 i carpooled regularly in a similar situation by using http://www.rideshareonline.com - free service that's run by metro. we just had an agreement that if one or the other of us didn't show up on time, we'd drive to work alone. we didn't do it every day for similar reasons... some days it just wasn't possible... but it was useful on days when we'd be staying put. xaotica commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 Because the Ballard Bridge sits between my new apartment and my work, and I am not risking my life on that deathtrap, or on 15th for that matter. Back when I lived on Capitol Hill, I was similarly put off by the thought of commuting down Denny -- commuting *up* Denny was completely out of the question. All other reasons can be summed up by Lilting Missive's comment. I won't bike until I can get away with wearing street clothes and biking at 8 mph. keshmeshi answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 4 comments by tfooq, keshmeshi, and tfooq… 0 0 The Ballard Bridge sucks. Walking across the locks is more interesting and safe, but it's slower. Sometimes you just don't want to dismount. They really need to figure out a solution for that bridge. I went over once and will always choose a different route from now on. tfooq commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Yeah, another option for me, since I live on Lower Queen Anne, would be to bike down Leary, take the Fremont Bridge, then ride on Dexter. But I'm really not motivated enough. I commend those commuters who aren't big pussies like I am. keshmeshi commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 going miles out of the way is really annoying when there's a perfectly good bridge right there ... but your bike is not invited. tfooq commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I've never clocked my speed, but since commuting by bicycle is the second thing I do in the morning, after getting dressed, I'm sure I'm under 10mph for a while. As for clothing, I typically wear pants with the legs rolled up and a couple cotton layers. In the dead of winter I'll switch to some synthetic base layers that won't hold water as long, but I don't break out rain gear unless it is a torrential downpour. Except for gloves, helmet and a compromise on mountain bike shoes, all the clothes I wear while biking are the same clothes I wear otherwise. I don't wear a lot of high-viz or retro-reflective clothing. Granted, you're considered safer as you're more visible the more you do. In most accidents involving bicycles and cars the drivers say they never saw them. Retro-reflective tape on a helmet works pretty awesome though. btm commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I did when my commute was Greenlake to Lower QA. I now live five blocks from my office, and it is silly to do anything other than walk. However- I did stop bike commuting before this move happened. I was hit twice within two weeks on the same street (Mercer in Lower QA), both times fully visible and within my rights as a cyclist (once while in the bike lane). I kept going for a while after that, but once our neighboring gym closed and I couldn't shower in the mornings anymore it became too much of a hassle. From there I took the bus every day, which I didn't mind. I really, really miss my morning bike commute. I'm considering getting up earlier in the mornings just so I can go on a ride before I start my day- but it still won't be an actual commute. RM answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 4 comments by btm, Fnarf, and TVDinner Redux… 0 0 I'm sorry to hear about the crashes, they can definitely be traumatic and difficult to recover from. If you get a few minutes, it'd be great if you could input as much information as you can remember about your crashes on Bikewise. The more information that we collect about areas dangerous to bicycles the more leverage we have making the streets safer. http://www.bikewise.org/ btm commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Yeah, I've been hit by cars twice in my cycling career -- both of them the infamous right hook-turn where the car comes up behind you, passes on your left, and immediately turns right directly into you as if you were invisible. Both of them hit-and-runs, too. Neither in Seattle. It does have a way of putting you off, carrying your broke bike home with blood soaking into your pants. Fnarf commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 God, that's awful, Fnarf. TVDinner Redux commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Mine were both hit-and-runs too! It's like as soon as they see that you're okay (which is really just the result of being full of adrenaline) they take off. The first time I really was okay, the second time my bike was pretty messed up, and so were my knees. Lovely. RM commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I occasionally bike to work, on the days I don't I take the bus. I go to a Yoga class three days a week and can't ride with everything I need for my class. Perhaps if I got a larger back pack or a bike with more cargo options I could bike every day, although I'm not sure if I'd like to ride after hot yoga. I think it might take away my relaxed daze I get from it. Little Red Ryan Hood answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by tfooq, Little Red Ryan Hood, and btm… 0 0 I happen to think yoga and biking can go hand-in-hand: http://yogaforbikers.wordpress.com/ Yoga for Bikers is a class at the Fremont Abbey (going on this second, in fact). It's an interesting philosophy my friend is coming up with. She's embarking on a project connecting the chakras to bike maintenance... tfooq commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I saw that on the Abbey's website. It might be interesting to try. I currently do Bikram (hot) yoga and am usually pretty spacey for about 2 to 3 hours after I'm done, which makes me think that riding when I'm really not focusing on anything or focusing on everything wouldn't be a safe way to ride. I'm going to be at the Fremont Abbey for SeattleWorks Day tomorrow so I'll be sure to ask about bike yoga while I'm there. Little Red Ryan Hood commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Depending on how far you ride and what you carry, more cargo options can be as cheap as a basket, moving up to a rack and bags (panniers), and up into more unique solutions. btm commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I don't own a bike. I live about a mile from work, so I would only be on it for about 5 minutes, and there isn't a great place to store it in my office. I ride the bus instead of walking because a) I'm rather lazy and usually running late in the morning and b) I like to read RSS feeds that are potentially NSFW on the bus instead of reading them once I get to work. Jon answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by TVDinner Redux, Jon, and TVDinner Redux… 0 0 I'm not trying to convert you or anything, but often you can get to your destination faster on a bike than the bus. When I lived in West Seattle and commuted to SCCC it was about ten minutes faster to bike. Plus you have a sense of agency, too. If the bus is stuck in traffic there's nothing you can do. If you're riding a bike you can around the traffic a gazillion different ways. It is hard, however, to check out videos of humping brains when you're on a bike, though. TVDinner Redux commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I don't know, I might be able to mount my phone on my handlebars and watch youtube while I'm flying down Pine St... I do realize that about the speeds. I was only citing speed as a factor when choosing between bussing and walking. My bus ride is 15-20 minutes with waiting, but I trust I could make it to work in 5-10 on a bike. My bus simply does not get stuck in traffic with any kind of frequency, particularly not in the morning. There's actually a lot of reasons I commute the way I do. I've never commuted to work by car, and when I bought my latest car I promised myself I would never commute anywhere in it. So that's out, not that I'd want to park downtown. I used to have a long commute on the bus. It was over an hour, and since it used the freeway it was prone to delay. I'm not much of a reader other than my feeds and news, and I was getting burned out on the pure time sink of getting to and from my job. At that point I made a decision to sacrifice a bit more in rent to live closer to downtown and have a shorter and more care-free commute among other things. You have a point about sense of agency, but I tend to leave the house in a bit of a hurry, and taking the bus is the perfect amount of time to just sit and collect my thoughts before I get to work. I also people watch, read feeds, text, or whatever else. I like being able to stop for caffeine or breakfast before work if I need to, without worrying about a bike. My bus pass is also paid for, which is a big plus. Ironically, if my bike ride were longer (and a bit safer), I would be warmer to the idea. Stowing/unstowing the bike, locking/unlocking it if I want to get coffee, messing with biking clothes or at least biking shoes, and putting myself out there on a busy hill for only a 5 minute ride may come natural to you, but it just doesn't seem like a fun time to me. Jon commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 All the little pieces that go into making a decision about how to get to work is really interesting, isn't it? One of the many things you mention that I can really relate to is what a pain in the ass it is to stop for coffee. I HATE screwing around with locking up my bike. Now that I live in Spokane, just finding something the u-lock will fit around is a major undertaking. Thanks for your thoughtful response! TVDinner Redux commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I live 200 feet from my bike shop, 20/20 Cycle. It's the best commute in the world- pet the neighbor's dog at the coffee shop, turn the corner, read the newspaper headline, say hi to the people at the Bus Stop, and walk into my bike shop! alexkostelnik answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 2 comments by tfooq and xaotica… 0 0 Yeah, there are pluses and minuses to living that close to work (more pluses than minuses, I'd say). One problem I found when I worked blocks away from my home was that I was spending most my time in a such a small area. I felt like I was missing out on the rest of the city. But then I would walk home for lunch and get to relax on my couch and eat cheap food from my fridge and I realized that was ok... tfooq commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 hi neighbor! unrelated comment: it'd be rad if 2020 was on twitter or facebook so i could more easily keep up with the events you guys have going on. periodically i'm coming home and spot a bunch of people obviously doing something interesting but due to my crazy schedule i can't stop in as often as i'd like. xaotica commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 i'm one of the few people who never learned as a child (messed up childhood, play a tiny violin ;) and although i've been attempting to learn in my old age, it's challenging. no one assumes that somebody in their 20s-30s has no idea how to ride a bike. i don't know basic skills and i'm a busy unemployed student w/little time to learn. in general, the biggest commonality among non-bikers that i know is fear and not knowing how to learn as an adult/being intimidated by the idea of learning as an adult. i'm going to portland this weekend and bringing my bike 'cause biking in portland doesn't scare me at all. more bike lanes would go a long way towards lessening my anxiety, although there's no magic wand that could make seattle as flat as portland. xaotica answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by btm… 0 0 There's some tips in another question about learning to ride a bike: http://questionland.thestranger.com/questions/10831-never-learned-to-ride-a-bike-where-do-i-start Also, if you have bicycle friends I'm sure they'd be willing to help and offer advice. A design goal of the Seattle Bicycle Master Plan is the eventual completion of connecting routes. Unfortunately it is grossly underfunded and we're only getting the cheaper implementations. It will be a while yet. Using Google Maps' relatively new bicycle route feature, along with some common sense, may be able to help you find routes that stay off the arteries and let you travel along residential streets at a slower pace. btm commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 My commute (today) is ten feet: from my bed to my dining room table. When I need to go in to work, I usually drive. I have biked to work (from Greenlake out to Redmond) in the past, but it takes real commitment. I gave it up after FOUR DAYS IN A ROW where there was no room on the bike rack on the front of the bus for me, and I had to wait for another bus. It took two hours to get to work, instead of the 35 minutes if I drive. If there were bike lockers in Montlake, I'd just lock my bike there for the day, but there aren't, and I'd be afraid my bike would get stolen. Seriously. I hope the new 520 has an effin' bike lane. MyrnaMinkoff answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by xaotica… 0 0 it would be sweet if public transit made more use of new technology. i find it sad that http://www.onebusaway.org which was made by a bunch of UW students is more useful than the actual metro website. it wouldn't be that hard to have a system where a driver could push a button when the bike rack was full and it would notify twitter or another similar system and bike riders could check their cellphone or the web to see whether the bike racks were full or not. xaotica commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 In another city I biked to work for quite awhile. About 7+ miles each way and the roads were generally safe. During my last week of heading to the office (I was transitioning to a work-from-home position) a car pulled out from a side street and hit me (but didn't seriously injure me). Here in Seattle I used to sometimes bike to work when the workplace was at a different location. But now the commute would involve riding Eastlake for awhile (or some of the parallel streets, which aren't too ideal) and I have a general distrust of cars zooming around on Eastlake. I might also be a weather wimp at times. When I biked to work in the midwest I *had* to bike since there was no public transit available. Biking through 10F air with snow on the ground wasn't all fun and games, but I sometimes did it. Here though I can easily make use of great bus service and not have to worry about rain, etc. Maybe I'm lazier nowadays. Lastly, I'd feel more comfortable with a regular bike commute only if I got a newer bike. My current one needs a big overhaul (and it still wouldn't be correctly sized for me). stinkbug answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by btm… 0 0 Keep an eye on the "Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop" project, which should eventually provide an alternative to EastLake along Lake Union. http://www.seattle.gov/parks/lakeunionloop/ Hat tip to Point83 Lee for remembering the obscure name of the trail. btm commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I wish I could and I might on this day next year for a lark. It's not practical regularly since it would take me an hour or two plus shower time and I would be in very real danger for two parts of the route. I take the bus. CleverScreenName answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by btm… 0 0 What are the dangerous parts? There's a recent article in the Seattle Times about dangerous cycling routes and the hopeful solutions. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011916843_bikehazard21m.html btm commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 A long, very steep hill between here and there. On the way up, my asthma would kill me. On the way down, I'd be white-knuckling the brakes and terrified the whole time. I don't really enjoy riding a bike in traffic, either, though I suspect I could get used to it. And there's no shower where I work. I don't want to smell all day. It's too bad, because the distance (about 7 miles) would make for a pleasant ride. Violet DaGrinder answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 Because I live in Greenlake but work as a school psychologist in Auburn. Taking the bus doesn't work either, because I have to often drive between my two schools. And no, I'm never moving to Auburn. Nicolas George answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 Because I live in Auburn, work in Burien, and there is no route which would not expose me to the Traffic of Death. And I say that as someone who used to blithely bike up Aurora from downtown to Wallingford. Also, I am not a morning person, and I already have to get up much earlier than I wish to do; biking would require at least an extra two hours in my day. I am usually going to rehearsals or auditions in very weird locations after work, too, so the days biking would be even remotely practical are few and far between. And as to why I don't live closer to work: because it would penalize my husband, who works mostly in Olympia, unfairly by adding another 45 minutes to his already-ghastly commute. Geni answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 30 miles + no shower at the office. oh_man answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 Because I'm fat and lazy and old and my route, while short, is absurdly frustrating and threatening on a bike and because I feel like I did my bit earlier in my life when I bike-commuted year-round in Boston and the Bay Area. I didn't own a car until after I turned 40, and I drive much less than 1,000 miles a year. Fnarf answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by keshmeshi, Fnarf, and Fnarf… 0 0 You complain about Stone Way a lot, is that on your route? And, I may have been hallucinating, but I'm pretty sure I saw a new liquor store going up in Wallingford. keshmeshi commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Yes, Stone Way is my bete noire. That light at 50th can be as long as SEVEN MINUTES, which is insane. And the only bus route takes longer than walking, but walking or cycling involves slogging through a half-mile of no-sidewalk shoulder, marked as a "bike lane", that's six inches deep in mud even in the middle of summer. See "lazy" above. Fnarf commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Oh, and yes, there's a new liquor store going in way down at the wrong end of 45th in Wallingford, which is better than nothing (though I've gotten quite attached to the bizarre and wonderful specialty offerings at the Crown Hill store in the interim). Fnarf commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 1 Because I live paycheck to paycheck and can't find a reasonable bike in my price range. And don't tell me maintaining my car's more expensive, what the hell do I do post car-ditching pre-bike purchase while I'm saving for the bike? Ride the bus? That's even more expensive than driving, as it turns out. Mike Smith answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by tfooq, dirty_hippie, and xaotica… 0 0 Well, you could sell the car and buy a bike. Even scrap metal prices for a car could get you a totally rad bike. Riding a bike has saved me more money than any other life decision I've ever made. Hands down. The bus is expensive, I agree. But just two months of gas and insurance (not counting the occasional set of tires, emissions fees, parking meters, etc) could buy a plenty decent bike. Mine was only $175 and it gets me everywhere. My friends have bikes they paid as little as $75 for that are totally fine. It will pay for itself in a matter of weeks (though, i understand that you don't have a matter of weeks when you're paycheck to paycheck). tfooq commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 If the basic price of a car is about $500, that puts you in very nice used-bike territory, and decent new bike territory. Your car would have to be a serious piece of crap to go for less than $500, and I assume that it's not a serious piece of crap if you still drive it to work. So, the "it costs too much" argument is really "it costs more than I would like to afford, because cars are really convenient, unless I'm stuck in traffic or looking for parking." dirty_hippie commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 i own an ancient car and pay $50/month basic insurance and nothing in car payments. that said, i've found the bus to be cheaper than driving if you're clever about it. purchasing a bus pass from the metro website is not cheaper, but you can get one very cheaply on craigslist. i know nothing about bikes, but got mine for $300 when my car got stolen, and bike people tell me it's decent enough. it's not gonna turn any heads or win any races, but it gets me around town comfortably and i like it. you can get them much cheaper than that off craigslist with the help of a friend who knows about bikes. xaotica commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 Because I'm not into biking, good enough answer. van907 answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I did for a while, from West Seattle to SoDo, when I used to start work at 5am. It was an exhilarating way to start the day, and it meant I didn't have to catch the night owl bus in to work anymore. While I was doing it, I loved it. Fast forward a year, and I work quite a bit later, unfortunately in Bellevue. In addition to not wanting to deal with traffic, I feel like factoring in the time it would take to get to and from work, I would be spending the entirety of my day on a bike or at my desk. I don't want that to be my life. RJF answered in Cars, Bikes & Transit over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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