Recently got a bike and have really enjoyed biking to work - I paid $5 for access to the building's bike cage, but I've been using the free rack just outside the cage more often since I can shave a few minutes off of fighting with the lock to the cage, ha ha! But it's nice to have a spot if I arrive too late for the free rack.
What was the biggest hurdle transitioning to biking to work? I've been thinking about for a while now.
Getting over my fear of the cars I shared the road with. We don't have good roads for bicycling here. Seldom a shoulder, never a bike lane, no paths. The ride in to work was a deal killer partly b/c I was out of shape, partly b/c it is so hilly. On the plus side anyone doing that ride would be ready for bike competitions in just a few short months.
I went with an ebike kit and added it to my bike. Big improvement. Now I can maintain 15 mph most of the time and don't feel as vulnerable on the hills where I was walking or making 2mph in granny low gear. Plus I arrive in decent condition to work rather than needing time to recover.
Bonus: talk to other people. Just recently I had a conversation with a neighbor who keeps different hours but works near me. He told me about a whole different route that I knew about but never considered bicycling. Yep, lots better. A couple segments that I expected to be scary (big roads) aren't b/c the traffic is far lower volumes than I expected.
My fitness has improved slowly with the ebike as I have reduced the motor boost and slowly gotten stronger. I haven't lost much weight surprisingly. Show me that my evening meal/snacks are the problem b/c my breakfast and lunches are light.
