Our next bike commuter is from Virginia Beach, VA. He used bike commuting to win a weight loss contest and was accused of ‘acting like if he belonged in the road’. Here’s Dale Luke’s bike commuter profile:
How long have you been a bike commuter?
About 2 1/2 months.
Why did you start riding your bike to work and how long is your commute?
I started riding when I joined a weight loss contest at work. I won at 12 lbs. I have joined round two, thinking that the easy weight was gone, but we are two weeks into this and I am down another 7 lbs.
My commute is 2 miles each way, however I also do an extra 6 miles on Tues and Thurs to the YMCA for weight lifting and then usually about 30 miles (total) on the weekend riding to the beach to catch the sunrise over the Atlantic.
How does Bike Commuting help you with your lifestyle (economics, health, relationships)?
Economics: I have not filled my car with gas in over 1 month. It looks like I will be filling up about once every 5-6 weeks, mainly because my wife is giving up driving her mini-van and driving my compact instead.
Health: I have not felt this good since college and that was 20 years ago. Wow! Really feel good about myself.
Relationships: Well… I am trying to get my wife out there, but to this point not having a lot of luck. However, gotta love the stamina 
What do you do for a living and in what city do you bike commute?
I run an IT department for a large Medicaid HMO company in Virginia Beach, VA.
What kind(s) of bike do you have?
Giant Sedona 15″, yep, short guy. I really like the bike for the commute and it is decked out with everything I could find for commuting. On the other hand I am checking Craigslist daily for the perfect deal on a road ride for the weekends. After pumping my feet on this overloaded monster, I am sure that I can put some grease on something made for speed.
Any funny or interesting commuting story that you may want to share?
The woman who just did understand why I was pointing left from the left lane waiting for traffic. She just had to keep hitting the horn and then pulled into oncoming traffic to go around me nearly taking out a car coming the other way. Then when she caught up to me (yea, the back streets may be more in miles, but much quicker) at another intersection felt compelled to pull next to me within inches while I was making it obvious that I was in the lane (not in the middle, but not hugging the edge). I later found out that she called the police because I was “acting like I belonged on the road”, her words.
What do people (coworkers, friends) say when you tell them that you are a bike commuter?
Mostly along the lines of “hey that’s great”, “I wished I could but XYZ”, “Please stop with the riding to work, I want to win the weight challenge this time”, etc.
How about bicycling advocacy? Are you active in any local or regional advocacy groups?
At this point I am still very new to cycling, but I have been keeping my eyes on the goings on around here. The more I watch most of the yahoos on bikes out there the more I feel that I need to do something. I the biggest problem I have seen on the road is not with the auto drivers in this area, but rather with the cyclists. Everyday I watch people riding against traffic, cutting across the road without a care in the world, pissing off everyone around them. It is this lack of safety and traffic law education that really needs to be addressed. Before too long I will either go on a mad rampage against my “fellow” riders, or have to get involved in an advocacy/education group.
Anything else that you want to share with us?
Again, the best thing about commuting is how a sedentary guy like me can drop close to 20# in a few months. I have more energy and basically more life in me than I have in 20 years.
Second, gotta love the fact that I have been easily saving $10-$15 per week just not driving my car.
We enjoy reading stories from new bike commuters, I think that they help inspire those who are ‘on the fence’ to give it a try. Many thanks to Dale for sharing his story, Ride on!
Popularity: 6% [?]
