Why don't more people cycle to work?

Wishbone Ash

theyoungchap wrote: »

...I have sat beside some wretched individuals who didn't realise they stank. More than 1 of which was a cyclist....

He may have stank anyway regardless of cycling. I've worked with people who stank and none of them were regular exercisers.

theyoungchap

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

He may have stank anyway regardless of cycling. I've worked with people who stank and none of them were regular exercisers.

Yeah, worked with them as well! Ugh.

Tenzor07

Though having said the above... I used to commute wearing cycling gear, shorts, jersey, jacket etc. which would have had anti-bacterial properties...

Though cycling in regular clothes would certainly hold the odor unless you brought spare clothing to the office and changed there..

Macy0161

Don't think anyone was suggesting not changing. Baby wipes, deodorant and a change of clothes as the alternative for not showering in my case.

loyatemu

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

He may have stank anyway regardless of cycling. I've worked with people who stank and none of them were regular exercisers.

Aye, some people are just stinky feckers who rarely shower and wear the same clothes for weeks.

My point was that many people cycling 5-10km into work on a reasonably flat route wouldn't necessarily need a shower.

guanciale

Who says prople dont cycle to work?

I work with 1700 people. There are over 350 bike parking spaces, two work repair stands, pumps, drying rooms, lockers, 30
Showers (15 in each of mens and womens changing rooms).
People cycle in all year long. Yes more when weather is fine. Before we had these facilities I would say less than half that number regulaly cycled in. Women represent 50% of all staff and they are well represented in cycling.

This does not count the Dublin bike station outside our offices - and again these are well used - often difficult to find an empty pod in the morning to dock the bike.

I knkw people who dont cycle to work dont because of lacknof segregated bike lanes on the quays. If this was brought in it would attract ever more cyclists.

But on my morning commute there is regularly 10plus cyclists queueing at the lights in the North Quays.

Facilities and infrastructure can change culture and inventives for good of bad.

07Lapierre

manonboard wrote: »

I work in Dublin city center.
Lack of showers, lack of time to shower etc, but mostly the horrendously dangerous roads for cyclists. If there was a cycle lane that was separated or safe, I'd definitely cycle in.
The pollution too worries me.

Pollution? Are you saying you feel less exposed to pollution while driving or on a bus or train? In heavy traffic, sitting in a car (confined space) is probably the worst place to be. Cars have pollen filters but they only block large particles not gases.

07Lapierre

Dr. Bre wrote: »

Cos the weather is awful and Dublin isn’t suited to cycling around

This is a joke right? Dublin is made up of narrow streets which are ideal for cycling... what makes it unsuitable is the number of cars on the streets.

magicbastarder

to be fair, i cycle faster and harder than i would if i *didn't* have showers at the far end. but maybe i'm just naturally sweaty.

rubadub

niceonetom wrote: »

This is exactly the wrong place to ask.

I think it is a good place since people who cycle will have heard all sorts from colleagues.

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

I'm not buying the rain argument.

It does not matter if it rains a lot or not, I did not think that was the question here. People are asking "why don't more cycle to work", and if you want to be specific you could say "becuase there in an incorrect assumption that there is extremely frequent rain and that it will be a nightmare to cycle in".

On rainy day I have colleagues say "jaysus, when are you going to get a car" or "I could never cycle in rain like that" or "I could never cycle to work due to our weather".

When I had a choice of driving or cycling I would usually cycle if it was raining, as I knew I would be so delayed if driving.

tomasrojo

Quite a lot of people cycle to work in Dublin. More people arrive in the city centre by bike than by Luas. Cycling is about 13% modal share in the city centre.

Wombatman

guanciale wrote: »

Who says prople dont cycle to work?

I work with 1700 people. There are over 350 bike parking spaces, two work repair stands, pumps, drying rooms, lockers, 30
Showers (15 in each of mens and womens changing rooms).
People cycle in all year long. Yes more when weather is fine. Before we had these facilities I would say less than half that number regulaly cycled in. Women represent 50% of all staff and they are well represented in cycling.

This does not count the Dublin bike station outside our offices - and again these are well used - often difficult to find an empty pod in the morning to dock the bike.

I knkw people who dont cycle to work dont because of lacknof segregated bike lanes on the quays. If this was brought in it would attract ever more cyclists.

But on my morning commute there is regularly 10plus cyclists queueing at the lights in the North Quays.

Facilities and infrastructure can change culture and inventives for good of bad.

From 2013. No reason why we can't be up around 20% for at least once per day.

tomasrojo

theyoungchap wrote: »

Rule #1 of office etiquette - never say "I don't smell at all"

"Hello" is a better opening gambit.

average_runner

Maybe people don't like cycling and they do another activity for exercise.

gk5000

kerplun k wrote: »

Plain and simple, All other reasons come secondary to the fact that it's simply too dangerous.
In the last month I start cycling again after my first attempt a year ago left me terrified. I actually take a longer route now that’s 80% cycle lanes, but I have no counter argument for when people tell me they don’t cycle due to safety concerns.

Yes, route is key.

I'm lucky as much of my cycle is along the canal cycleway towards Lucan, but on the rest I choose smaller quieter roads at the expense of the shortest/quickest road and also avoid certain intersections.

So in fact parts of west Dublin are ok to cycle to/from. The gov should scrap a few bus lanes here and there to make a few dedicated cycle ways - say one through Ranelagh.... etc.

jimmycrackcorm

Fian wrote:

I would never have believed it was possible for me to cycle to work from Dundrum to city centre - only 7.5km - if i hadn't gotten back on a bike for the first time in 20 years or so to make that short little commute.

gk5000 wrote:

"There should be some sort of genuine encouragement to try it for a week.

I too never thought about cycling until a friend did it and I saw it could be practical. I borrowed his bike to try the cycle to work and I've never looked back since.

magicbastarder

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I borrowed his bike to try the cycle to work and I've never looked back since.

this is very dangerous. you need to check over your shoulder regularly.

Grassey

Is he still chasing you?

homer911

As someone who took up cycling to work a year ago, I can say I would not have done it if there had not been showers available.

I would also not have done it without the benefits of a pedelec!

Putting weather and safety aside, the most significant reason for not cycling has got to be fitness level

Chips Lovell

Regarding clothing. While I wear cycling gear for commuting, if I'm going into town from home (around 4km), I'd usually take a Dublin Bike and wear regular clothing.

I've yet to be asked to leave any dining establishments, hostelries, or shopping emporiums due to my foul odour.

BeepBeep67

Free / low cost car parks 3-5km outside the city centre, once you park you have free access to city bikes and public transportation.

Macy0161

rubadub wrote: »

On rainy day I have colleagues say "jaysus, when are you going to get a car" or "I could never cycle in rain like that" or "I could never cycle to work due to our weather".

When I had a choice of driving or cycling I would usually cycle if it was raining, as I knew I would be so delayed if driving.

My stock answer to that comment is "these are the days that I'm way quicker than driving - I'm passing lines of cars!"

witchgirl26

I looked at cycling to work before but there are a few reasons I don't. Showering is a big one. I sweat a lot when I exercise so wipes and spray just won't do the job for me. As I have a lot of meetings each day, I'm not going to subject people to that. I'm not massively confident on a bike (bad fall when I was younger really put me off) so I would be weary of cycling on bigger roads for this reason. I know my route to work would take me across some of these and some fairly sizeable roundabouts and there is a fear factor there. I really don't need to start my day with that kinda thing. I'll possibly get over that eventually but building up at the moment.
The last reason is that sometimes I will head into my normal office in the morning but in meetings around other offices during the day. These are sometimes planned in advance and sometimes not so having cycled in with no other way to get to these offices would be difficult to say the least. Some of the offices are close by but some are a good 30km away. I don't think work would like me taking the extra time to cycle to these meetings as part of my day.

I think to say it's pure laziness is a bit of a blanket. I'm not lazy but genuinely need my car for work, like a lot of others. And I'm also not going to inflict a sweaty me on others for an entire day to feel smug about cycling (not saying that people who cycle in feel smug but you know what I mean).

LeinsterDub

Macy0161 wrote: »

My stock answer to that comment is "these are the days that I'm way quicker than driving - I'm passing lines of cars!"

The vast majority of these people get the bus or luas anyway. If it's absolutely manky out I'll take the bus.

joey100

'Free / low cost car parks 3-5km outside the city centre, once you park you have free access to city bikes and public transportation.'

This is what I would love to see, maybe even a bit further out would work too. I'm a little too far out to commute every day, and when I try to combine it with my own training it just wouldn't work. I'd love to be able to cycle in more regularly, something like that about 10-15km out from the city would be perfect. I'd even pay a few euro for it.

Macy0161

LeinsterDub wrote: »

The vast majority of these people get the bus or luas anyway. If it's absolutely manky out I'll take the bus.

I'd take the bike over a steamed up bus/ luas as well. I'd definitely be sweatier waiting on a bus in my rain coat and then getting on a steam room bus!

joey100 wrote: »

This is what I would love to see, maybe even a bit further out would work too. I'm a little too far out to commute every day, and when I try to combine it with my own training it just wouldn't work. I'd love to be able to cycle in more regularly, something like that about 10-15km out from the city would be perfect. I'd even pay a few euro for it.

This is what I do on the days I cycle, but very limited parking options. Most places like this also tend to be on public transport routes, so parking is limited/ restricted*.

*Not just cycling related, but it's one of the reasons I can't get my head around why Park and Ride isn't bigger for all public transport, as it's already happening unofficially in lots of places!

N.96

1. It's dangerous because we don't have the right infrastructure

2. It rains a lot - this is a particular deterrent if you have long hair...

3. No showers at work - many people work in jobs where you have to be presentable and I don't think putting nice clothes/ make up on a sweaty body is going to go down very well

4. Even if work has a shower you would have to lug a big bag with you to bring towel, shoes, shampoo, make up, etc. and then most likely a spare set of cycling gear for going home so you don't have to change back in to the wet ones


I would love to cycle everywhere but it's just not feasible for me

joey100

There would be one option on my route but to be honest it's a pain to get in and out of, by the time I get to it I'm probably too close to make it worth my while loading and unloading bikes and I'm thru the worst of the traffic, if it was about 8km further out I'd use it no problem.

uck51js9zml2yt

Came into town this morning on my bike.
A bright yellow jacket and a plonker in a car who decides to turn left without indicating or looking in his side mirror.
To say it was close is an understatement.

theyoungchap

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Free / low cost car parks 3-5km outside the city centre, once you park you have free access to city bikes and public transportation.

And you'd need thousands of bikes if everybody parks there and hops on a bike. Those city bikes are not intended for commuting......so that is a non-runner.

If you want a bike for commuting like so, get a foldy bike to fit into the car.......or a cheap old bike which you could lock at such a car park