101 Reasons to Cycle to Work

It’s been a couple of months now since I’ve been commuting 40 miles a day by bicycle. People keep asking me why I do it, so I thought I’d compile a list of reasons you’d want to cycle to work:

1. Meeting people on cycling adventures
2. Skipping the queues of traffic
3. Going at your own speed/ leave when you want
4. Never having to run for the bus again
5. Time to put life into perspective
6. Getting nearly hit by a deer
7. Arriving at work soaking wet and laughing
8. The Feeling of Freedom and choice
9. Fresh morning air
10. No two commutes are the same
11. An excuse to eat more biscuits
12. Save money by showering at work
13. An excuse for being less well dressed than the rest of the office
14. Respect and disbelief from you colleagues (often in equal measures)
15. A way to make new friends
16. An excuse to bring a practical bag, not a hand-bag or briefcase
17. To bump into people you already know, but weren’t expecting
18. An excuse to accidentally forget to take your sunglasses off your head in the office
19. To get fitter
20. To train for your first sportive
21. An excuse to buy (another) bike
22. To make use of a cycle-to-work scheme
23. To wake up without administering caffeine
24. To avoid sharing the bus with school children
25. To save money
26. To save the planet
27. To pretend you’re going for a bike ride and just happen to spend some time infront of a computer in the middle of it.
28. To get your vitamin D for the day
29. An excuse to buy a sports watch
30. To feel alive
31. To learn how to judge the traffic lights
32. To appreciate how much space you should give cyclists when overtaking
33. To find out what flies taste like…

… Okay, so I didn’t get to 101 on my own. But that’s why I need your help! Please comment below with your own reasons (serious, non-serious, anecdotal etc) to cycle to work and let’s get to 101.

Here’s some more from you guys – keep them coming!

34. To look forward to your commute, instead of dreading it.
35. To bulk up your thighs
36. To save time
37. To get to know your own city
38. To build cycling confidence without realising it
39. To eat cake (added by popular demand as distinctly different from biscuits!!)
40. To pursue a more positive start and end to the working day
41. Because I called my bike ‘Mike’ and I can have a chat with him when I feel lonely.
42. To experience the confusion of getting tangled in a dog’s lead whilst on a bike.
43. To get to know the pot holes intimately
44. To have some “me” time