How do you Commute?

I use to drive everywhere I went.  I mean the thought of not driving to work never crossed my mind until I lived in Washington DC.  In DC, epic traffic snafu's were a regular occurrence and this is where I was introduced to the fine art of "commuting".  Whether it be a bus, train, metro, bike, on foot, trail and occasional slugging (formalized hitchhiking) I learned to get around the city and state in no time flat!  Mostly without using my own car!!

Since then (circa 2006) I've actually made it a point to commute to work as much as I can without using my vehicle for some or all of the trip.  Today I live in Hawaii.  Not only is it paradise, but it affords me the opportunity to commute in ways I've never thought.   I have a 13 mile trip each way to my work and I mix it up just about every day.

Modes of transportion:

• JEEP (15 MPG on a good day)  
• Volvo V70 (21-25 MPG)
• The Furley (Single Gear - modded - urban cyclocross bike)
• Ocean Kayak Scrambler (Newest mode of transposition)
• The Gray Boat (retired from service) 
• My feet!  I've run to work since it's 1/2 marathon distance.  
• Bus (Havent tried this one yet, but it's one of the better systems in the country)

As you can see I've got a pretty substantial resources to commute.  So why all this for just a 13 mile trip?  Well in a car takes over an hour due to the "DC like" trafic conditions on most days.  Also with gas regularly over $4 a gallon and my Jeep somewhat of a lush - the cost can quickly add up.  I prefer to get a good workout in if I can so the bike and kayak are quickly becoming my favorite modes 2-5 times per week.  In this series of post I'll share the goods, bads and ugly with using each mode and some of the data I'm collecting on which mode is really the most efficient.  Please share your experiences, unique commutes and modes transportation you use to get around!   

The Furley

My daily commuter

Been doing a "little" hiking but not much for my prep for the AT.  I've got into commuting big time since my last post.  I'm riding about 13 miles a day to work.  It's been a great trip so far as I sold a road bike and picked up a cyclocross/urban setup to deal with the terrain I ride every day.  For some reason the people in Hawaii feel the need to smash glass on the pavement.  That combined with thorns and sharp rocks resulted in five flats in 16 trips.  Not fun or economical for someone trying to just get to work!  So far only one flat in my first 100 miles which is good compared to my previous milage.  My goal here is to get my daily exercise in during the week.  I'm still doing some running on weekends, but I'd like to use this as my weight control effort.  I did a physical assessment the other day and I ended up smoking it with no practice in the previous six months.  The bike must be doing its job.   I run a eXterra 1/2 in about a month so we'll see how this conditions me for it. I'll keep ya posted!