started to commute!

james1978

for the last three weeks now I have given cycling to work ago, I have an oldish road race bike which seams up for the job, 14 miles each way from Gosport to Southampton one day a week so far but will soon aim to it twice, I took me 75 minutes first time but with some replacement tyres and a less 'lumpy' route i managed it in 55 minutes. I have to say there I don’t see many others out there??

I was given this bike, a Raleigh Absolute by a colleague it seams ok with a shimano sora group set, all I have done is striped it down and re-sprayed and fitted some continental gatorskins (700 x 23c),

james

PrettyBoyTim

Well done, James!

james1978

So what would be a good time to do 14 miles, it's not flat running either some lumps!

PrettyBoyTim

I haven't the slightest idea, as I am a fellow newbie. However, it'll depend a lot on what kind of roads you're cycling on. My average speed on my commute works out to be something like 12-13mph, but my average speed when actually moving is considerably higher than that. I just happen to have a lot of traffic lights on my route.

CarKiller

14 miles.

45 minutes should be doable.

james1978

There is a few large hills which are / where a struggle but i was wondering what a super fit racing snake's time would be i guess i'm at 15mph. (i'll try and better the 55 mintues)

I sure would like to have a go on a new bike to see if i could feel a difference in rolling resistance etc...

Eat My Dust

CarKiller wrote:

14 miles.

45 minutes should be doable.

That's almost an average of 19mph, that would be pretty good going in rush hour traffic. My fastest time for my 13 mile commute is 43 mins and I doubt I'll ever do it quicker, unless all the cars dissapear and all the lights turn to green. I'd have said 50/55 mins is much more realistic.

delcol

i know this may seem obvious but the more you do it the quicker you will get.

i remenber my frisrt commute almost a year ago, all be it it was on my mtb not the best thing for commuting on but it took me 25 mins pluss to do six mile sore ass aching legs and bits i never knew exsisted hurt,.
but a few weeks later was fine time started to drop,.
Q new bike scott road bike and my commute was a totaly different expierance enjoyable no more fork bobbing zapping all my energy higher geared ment more speed which = faster time.
my first commute was 26 ish minutes todate my best time is 17.31 for my six mile each may commute,.. funny why i allways seem faster on the way home though.

Eat My Dust

delcol wrote:

todate my best time is 17.31 for my six mile each may commute

That's almost a 21 mph average!! Some people struggle with that average speed on a TT, never mind dealing with commuters, lights, junctions etc!!!!

delcol

yeah. man how did you work that out.. :shock: :shock:

my average according to my cateye cycle comp thingy was 20.4 mph over the distance.

i work perm nights 10-6 so traffic aint a issue and red light it was amber officer,.. i only encounter one set of lights and they only for the bussiness park so its rare they on red,.

my only gripe is a bigg roudabout on a busy dual carrageway that links manchester and liverpool,. but as i say at that time it usually quite maybe the odd car or truk,.

i just aim and time it to filter in hit it with speed so not to cut anyone up. :roll:

bossman13

delcol wrote:

no more fork bobbing

sorry, buts what's that?

delcol

my mtb has suspension forks marzocchi they dont have lock out,..

when you put them underload ie pedling hard up hill or pedal out of hte saddle they compress then spring back up again hence bobbing up and down,. its zaps your energy and your momentum.

bossman13

thought so.

another reason to ditch the mtb for a roadie..

John Stevenson

I wonder if some of these times are coming from bike computers that ignore time stopped at lights, junctions etc.

My commute's 20 miles, and typically takes me 1:15 of actual riding time, plus anywhere between five and ten minutes stationary, depending on how kind the traffic is.

It's really noticeable how much quicker it is if I avoid peak hour, though. Without any extra effort, leaving well after the morning peak saves five minutes or so off the riding time, and I seem to spend less time at junctions too.

Eat My Dust

john_stevenson wrote:

I wonder if some of these times are coming from bike computers that ignore time stopped at lights, junctions etc.

My commute's 20 miles, and typically takes me 1:15 of actual riding time, plus anywhere between five and ten minutes stationary, depending on how kind the traffic is.

It's really noticeable how much quicker it is if I avoid peak hour, though. Without any extra effort, leaving well after the morning peak saves five minutes or so off the riding time, and I seem to spend less time at junctions too.

An average of 16 mph, now that sounds more realistic. Like I said earlier, I've done an average of 18 mph over 13 miles, including stop times, and that was fast, my average is usually 16/17 mph, and I'm no slouch!!!!

james1978

I guess I just need to find the right pace, the few hills I have are quite steep and long and at first I went hell for leather, then peaked to soon and 3/4 of the way I expired! Where as now I drop into a lower gear and steadily plod.

It would be cool to know my altitude changes!

Gambatte

I've been doing a 14 mile each way, two days a week for the last few.

I'm averaging above 15mph and generally doing it in around 53 minutes. i don't find I'm getting faster. What is interesting (to me) is that my heart rate is lower under the effort than it was when I started.

As my CV fitness appears to be getting better, I'm now starting to alter my route to take in those hills I avoided originally. In an attempt to build up leg strength

Atz

My commute (somewhere around 13.5 to 14 miles) is now taking me around 50 mins not including stopping time. By my watch I lost 4 mins to stops on average last week. Not too shabby considering I'm still on knobblies... thank God for lockout though.