Park ‘n Bike

The biggest hang-up so far in my plans to bike commute is where to park my car for the day. I live 24 miles from where I work, and that’s just a bit farther than I’d like to ride (like twice as far). What I want to do is drive the first 12 miles (roughly), park the car, and then ride the rest of the way. The first 12 miles of my drive are not a good bike commute route anyway. It’s backroads through the country, narrow two-lane with no shoulders at all to ride in, with traffic clipping along at 55+ miles per hour, lots of trucks (dump trucks) and occasionally farm equipment that moves very slow. However, right about that 12-mile point, I turn onto a road that is perfect. It was recently improved, so it’s wide with excellent shoulders on each side, and it’s pretty much that way all the way to work from there. The problem is since it’s through the back-country, it’s all private homes and farms along the way, no stripmalls or park-n-ride lots where I could safely leave the car. I’ve considered approaching some of the homeowners along the way about permission to park on their property (most of the lots are very large, it seems like they would have some small spot out of the way that my car wouldn’t be a problem), but then I wonder if this is wise. For one thing, I would have to trust them with my car during the day, and would they expect me to pay them? A small amount, say $20/month I could live with, but more than that will start defeating the purpose. I’m trying to save money, not find different ways to spend it. This is all so frustrating. I see more and more people riding every day and I so want to be out there with them. If I take the more high-traffic roads, highways, I could probably find a lot to park in, but I wouldn’t want to ride those roads.