Welcome to the biking page. I ride my bicycle frequently, both long distances and short distances. I am not a professional, in the sense that I do not wear those race suits, nor do I ride across the whole country. To put myself into perspective, I ride about 18 miles round trip every workday. On a day when I have nothing to do, I will go anywhere from 50-120 miles for a daytrip. My furthest single ride was 220 miles, and took me 21 hours to complete, including several stops. That was from Port Huron, MI to Hell, MI. I can now claim to have ridden to Hell and back again! I do ride my bike in the winter, so long as there is not too much snow on the paved roads. (My daily 9 mile bike ride includes 1/2 mile of dirt road, on which I will walk the bike if there is too much snow there, since the paved roads are never as bad.) I have rode in temperatures as cold as -5 degrees Fahrenheit. Rain does not stop me from riding, although I draw the line at thunderstorms. I generally do not ride on days where the wind is over 30 mph. I hate wind, it slows me down more often than it helps me. As far as my riding speed, on a wind-less day, I ride at an average of 13-16 mph. If my speed is other than that, it is usually a bit faster. If it is windy, I usually drop down to about 10-11 mph. Finally, I am a road-rider. I stay off of sidewalks and so-called bike paths and ride on the right-hand side of the road. Efficiency is important to me, sidewalks and bike paths slow me down. I also do not want to be danger to any pedestrians who often walk on bike paths. When on the road, I also try to use the turning lanes (like left-turn lanes) unless it is for some reason unsafe or too busy to change lanes. Finally, unless I am on vacation with friends or family, I have always rode my bike alone.
It's Your Legal Right: How I ride my bike lawfully and why you should too.