My ride to work is over an hour each way. Been doing it every day for years here in the northeast U.S. A mostly residential route. Funny thing is if I take the bus, it takes the same amount of time.
I started doing this out of a distaste for cars and statistics show that driving is actually much more dangerous then biking.
Weather-wise, I far prefer snow to rain. The hardest part is cold feet in the winter - never found a great solution. My advice is, if questionable weather is a deterrent, dont bike those days. But dont let it stop you from biking at least when it is nice out.
I do a single ear headphone with audiobooks (note I am not in a city). Gotta have something to listen to or I would be bored to death. Music can drown out important road dangers. Spoken audio has enough space and quiet that emergencies easily get my attention.
Yup. I used to wear booties when I wore clipping shoes. But then I switched to heavy boots without clips and it was warmer. Never had a problem with hands. I got some down ski mittens. In fact they are too hot - but the key is 'mittens'. Once I discovered that, there was no looking back.
I started doing this out of a distaste for cars and statistics show that driving is actually much more dangerous then biking.
Weather-wise, I far prefer snow to rain. The hardest part is cold feet in the winter - never found a great solution. My advice is, if questionable weather is a deterrent, dont bike those days. But dont let it stop you from biking at least when it is nice out.
I do a single ear headphone with audiobooks (note I am not in a city). Gotta have something to listen to or I would be bored to death. Music can drown out important road dangers. Spoken audio has enough space and quiet that emergencies easily get my attention.