Biking to work

[narcusprince]

Hey guys I just started biking to work every other day in the beginning. But I must say it feels awesome to loose the car and ride into work and get a workout. Its roughly 10 miles in and 2 miles home. Wanted to see if you slick cats out there are bikers too.

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[okayplayer]

Hey guys I just started biking to work every other day in the beginning. But I must say it feels awesome to loose the car and ride into work and get a workout. Its roughly 10 miles in and 2 miles home.Wanted to see if you slick cats out there are bikers too.

Alright dude, you got me here. How is this possible?!

I should ride in (very biker heavy city) and lots of people in my department do but I am kind of a wimp about riding in heavy city traffic. If I had bike lanes to ride in the whole way I would probably do it.

 

[Spinach Dip]

On the positive side: if anything goes wrong, you already know everyone in the ED!

 

[dhb]

I do everyday: 8miles electric bike

 

[DreamMachine]

Oh god...just remembered one guy that did this...and he would then smell like *ss all day.

 

[pgg]

I don't like cardio. It makes me feel bad.

I think people who talk about the "runner's high" must have brain damage, probably from all that cardio.

 

[epidural man]

Alright dude, you got me here. How is this possible?!

I should ride in (very biker heavy city) and lots of people in my department do but I am kind of a wimp about riding in heavy city traffic. If I had bike lanes to ride in the whole way I would probably do it.

I bought a really nice bike - custom made.

I was going to be a biker...mostly wanted to ride to work...tons in my department do and they all live near me.

But they all have had broken ribs, casts, near deaths. We have to go through downtown.

It really scares me actually. I want to....just scared.

 

[Reignmaker]

Oh god...just remembered one guy that did this...and he would then smell like *ss all day.

Hahaha, THIS!

 

[geogil]

I bike to work, but lately have gotten lazier now that we have 2 cars. I don't usually mind the ride in, but riding home is a chore, I just want to be home, not 25 minutes from home.

 

[chocomorsel]

Oh god...just remembered one guy that did this...and he would then smell like *ss all day.

No showers at work?

 

[deleted9493]

I bought a cheap fixie when I moved to Boston and have had fun commuting on that--I think I've replaced about 6 tubes in the past 10 months because the roads are so unforgiving here. I can't bring myself to take my road bike out into the city.

My commute is probably similar to what it would be to drive because the hospital is so congested at the end of the work day and I don't have to pay the ridiculous $150/month for parking.

 

[sevoflurane]

I bought a cheap fixie when I moved to Boston and have had fun commuting on that--I think I've replaced about 6 tubes in the past 10 months because the roads are so unforgiving here. I can't bring myself to take my road bike out into the city.

My commute is probably similar to what it would be to drive because the hospital is so congested at the end of the work day and I don't have to pay the ridiculous $150/month for parking.

Boston is one of the most fun cities to peel around on a mountain bike. That's how I got around for 2 years of my life. Or course, it gets a little dodgy if you are past Tremont Street on Mass Ave.... I never did anything at BU anyways. Newburry street, Chinatown, Quincy, Charles river, lansdowne street + all the parks. Fun for sure. I rarely used my car (during the summer). Winter is a diff. story all together. 🙄

 

[Kahreek]

I bought a cheap fixie when I moved to Boston and have had fun commuting on that--I think I've replaced about 6 tubes in the past 10 months because the roads are so unforgiving here. I can't bring myself to take my road bike out into the city.

My commute is probably similar to what it would be to drive because the hospital is so congested at the end of the work day and I don't have to pay the ridiculous $150/month for parking.

If you are having multiple flats probably it is not the road it is your rim. Check it for any irregularities, use sand paper to smooth them, check spoke nipples, fille them down if needed.
Put the rim tape, put some talk powder in the tape and tire and mount the tube and tire.

 

[Maverikk]

Would a mountain bike survive the upper Midwest winters? I just moved, I have a great road bike but don't want to take it out on the salt and potholes. Any other good advice for riding in freezing weather would be appreciated

 

[sevoflurane]

Would a mountain bike survive the upper Midwest winters? I just moved, I have a great road bike but don't want to take it out on the salt and potholes. Any other good advice for riding in freezing weather would be appreciated

Get one of these:

Makes the ride to work and back a lot more.... palatable.

 

[narcusprince]

Its 10 miles over bridges and 2 miles home on the ferry boat 🙂 .

 

[IveGotTwins]

Wish I could. I live 35 miles away from tr hospital.

 

[FiremedicMike]

Wish I could. I live 35 miles away from tr hospital.

How do you like that smoker in your avatar? I just upgraded from a chargriller side box to a weber smokey mountain, and I'm in love with how easy it is to regulate and maintain temp..

 

[Jay K]

We have partners (and surgeons) that bike to work.

It's a pain in the ass when we have to send someone out to another venue mid-morning/mid-day, and they whine that they rode their bike in and/or it would take and hour+ now to relieve another partner. So they can't be the one to go....

It's also a pain in the ass when the surgeon's late because the ****er is riding his bike in.

On a side note, just cause you have to shower after your bike ride, doesn't mean I enjoy talking to you (colleague or surgeon) in the change room, while you're buck naked with your junk in my face. Just get in the goddamn shower already, I've got a patient to see...

 

[IveGotTwins]

How do you like that smoker in your avatar? I just upgraded from a chargriller side box to a weber smokey mountain, and I'm in love with how easy it is to regulate and maintain temp..

It's ok. It was only $80 and will do the job with a fair amount of attention and even more patience. The problem is that the seal isn't great so for longer jobs (brisket, turkey) I go through surprising amounts of charcoal. When this occurs the bowl meant for the charcoal fills up with ash and its a pain in the ass to dump and refill. You lose your temp doing this, spray ash all over the meat and that just really ticks me off. The bowl is too small to begin with so it becomes a real problem. I have drilled holes in the bottom so a few slaps and the ash falls out and its empty and ready to receive more charcoal.

It works great for smaller jobs like pork chops, chicken or Cornish hens.

First purchase as an attending (2015) will be a big green egg.

 

[FiremedicMike]

It's ok. It was only $80 and will do the job with a fair amount of attention and even more patience. The problem is that the seal isn't great so for longer jobs (brisket, turkey) I go through surprising amounts of charcoal. When this occurs the bowl meant for the charcoal fills up with ash and its a pain in the ass to dump and refill. You lose your temp doing this, spray ash all over the meat and that just really ticks me off. The bowl is too small to begin with so it becomes a real problem. I have drilled holes in the bottom so a few slaps and the ash falls out and its empty and ready to receive more charcoal.

It works great for smaller jobs like pork chops, chicken or Cornish hens.

First purchase as an attending (2015) will be a big green egg.

Green eggs are sexy for sure, but I think if I was pulling down attending bucks and wanted a smoker, I'd invest in a nice 1/4" steel side box stick burner. Of course, there's nothing limiting you to a single smoker 🙂

Now that my WSM is seasoned, it'll hold 225-250 for hours and hours with little to no intervention, it's almost cheating, and boy does it make some mean barbecue..

 

[UBCmed09]

Hey guys I just started biking to work every other day in the beginning. But I must say it feels awesome to loose the car and ride into work and get a workout. Its roughly 10 miles in and 2 miles home. Wanted to see if you slick cats out there are bikers too.

Canadian here but I've been bicycle commuting since undergrad and I love it. Some cold, wet winter days are hard to brave in the dark, early winter hours but I never regret it if I harden the f*&k up and ride.

Couple of things for newbie cycle commuters:

Despite having commuted by bike for a few years already, when I moved to a bigger city for medical school, it took me a little over a year to feel comfortable (ie. safe) doing the same in the larger city. What did it for me was two things: with a wife and kids it was getting harder and harder to make time for exercise and secondly, I took the time to search out bike lanes/routes/maps online. In Canada at least, most large cities have progressive cycling programs and you can find the designated bike lanes (usually normal roads with enough breadth for bikes and off the main drag yet convenient and efficient for cross city tripping). I still can't believe it when I see cyclists using busy busy roads when the bike lane is one lane over (mind you they are usually the cyclists wearing no helmet, head phones in and no lights at night so perhaps one shouldn't interfere with natural selection...jk). It will make you feel much safer and is really the only way to go. I'm a confident cyclist now but still feel antsy when I am forced to briefly cycle on busier roads not intended or able to safely accommodate cyclists.

The best thing I ever did was take an urban cycling safety class. Every single day I see cyclist behaviour that scares me and it was exactly how I used to cycle prior to that course. You will DEFINITELY learn many things that will make you feel much safer on city roads and cycle commuting in general.

The last thing is having reasonable gear: both a bike that is comfortable for commuting and weather-appropriate gear.

Just a couple of tips that I reflect on as having helped me make cycle commuting a highly-valued part of my day-to-day life.

Cheers,
UBCmed09

 

[gasattack3]

One of my favorite attendings bikes regularly to work. Problem is that it's a really busy, biker-unfriendly, route. People don't pay attention in the morning or any other part of the day for that matter. I seriously worry about him sometimes.

 

[ucsfgaspain]

Haven't been back to this site in a while.

Bike almost every day to work. Only time I don't ride in is on my call days. I live in california so weather ain't an issue. It let's me eat like I'm still 18 and look better than most of my colleagues🙂 I'm over 40 and you really can tell who is taking care of themselves physically and who isn't. I'm a triathlete so it let's me do base miles during the week so I average 20 -30 miles a day (10 miles from the hospital but I add on stuff on the way home to get a longer workout) I average 150 miles a week of biking and probably 15-20 miles of running as well. No Kids and an atheletic wife so that helps.

The bike commute is my de-stress time. It allows me to psych myself up when coming to work and then to decompress at the end of the day. Would never give up my bike commute. Have broken ribs and have a plate in my left wrist from biking... still won't give it up. Probably would give up anesthesia before giving up cycling.