Comments on: CBB Poll: How physical is your job?

By: TeamRoundBoys

TeamRoundBoys — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:36:30 +0000

Apprentice Plumber. 20 round trip at most, sometimes I park and ride. I can break my back some days and be bored the next. Funny thing is I’m never too tired to ride home.

By: Siouxgeonz

Siouxgeonz — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:37:34 +0000

Desk job… but I don’t sit there for long at a time. Just have too much energy

By: Meghank

Meghank — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:20:09 +0000

Currently, I bike 12 miles to work and immediately after work 5 miles to go to class to be a licensed teacher. Right now, I’m a file clerk. I’m told that once I’m a teacher, it will be so tiring that I won’t be able to bicycle every day (student teaching next semester in a bad neighborhood), but I don’t buy it. I think it will give me more energy.

By: adamb

adamb — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:19:46 +0000

14 mile commute each day (more when running errands, etc.) and I work 6 days a week managing a bike shop. Sometimes the legs feel extra heavy but riding is my mental and physical saving grace. I am a total grump when I cannot ride. Plus, I need to lead by example when standing on my soapbox telling people to leave their cars at home!

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:38:19 +0000

Machinist, CNC lathes on my feet all day and some lifting. I was a cook and after walking around a shop or the kitchen I look forward to sitting on my bike and riding home. I have an easy 6 mile ride each way. When I cooked it was a 15 mile trip one way through some of the worst traffic in Boise. I would rather ride home tired than sit in traffic.

By: Spike003

Spike003 — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:20:36 +0000

I am a driver/dockman for a flooring company. Everything is heavy and I work a 10hr. day. I commute 13 round trip here in Austin(hills and heat). I used to to twice as many miles in Chicago, but it’s flat out that way.
I don’t own a car and I never will!

By: Girl Jen

Girl Jen — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:11:23 +0000

I commute three miles to work each day….and then I sit on my butt for 12 hours. I’m an ambulance dispatcher.

By: Matt R

Matt R — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:23:42 +0000

I am a general laborer in a metalworking shop, usually working ten hour days. I commute by bike about every other day. My feet hurt like hell most days but I find on the days I’m on my bike I have more energy in the evening, and I’m definitely more relaxed than when I drive the car. I’d probably do it every day if I had a desk job (and I’m able to use the college degree that’s collecting dust).

By: welshcyclist

welshcyclist — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:46:44 +0000

I commute 22 miles round trip each day, and I work 12 hour shifts, on the move all day, with no lifting, and yes I do find it tiring, sometimes, on the way home into a headwind, but I feel great after that extra effort, which makes it all seem very worth while.

By: Ron Georg

Ron Georg — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:35:37 +0000

As a small town reporter, I don’t do much heavy lifting, but I do take countless small trips to meetings, events and interviews. I use my bike almost exclusively, but I have no idea how many miles I cover. I don’t like bike computers, so I’ll probably never know–unless our legislators become truly enlightened and start allowing us to write off milage the same way drivers do.

From the driver’s perspective, that write-off is relief for daily expenses–but from an economic perspective, it’s designed to encourage driving, which, in our perverse system, goes down as a positive economic factor, since it drives so much spending. Cycling, on the other hand, doesn’t goose the GDP, so it’s not encouraged, unless some legislator wants green to earn green points with token gestures like the current $20/month proposal.

If legislators really wanted to promote cycling, they’d give us a larger per-mile write off to recognize that our contributions, through saving resources and promoting the health of people and environment, are much greater than those of people spending cash at the pumps and car dealers.
Happy Trails,
Ron