First Commute (another)

richk

Having started cycling (again, after ~21 years) about 4 months ago, I finally ran out of excuses not to cycle to work.

First trip in this morning. 6.9 miles in 30 minutes (Northfield - Edgbaston). Comparable times are train - 21 minutes door to door & car is anything between 20 minutes & 40 minutes dependent on traffic.

What did suprise me was that the difference carrying a rucksack full of the necessary gubbins (locks, workclothes, lunch, spares etc) made compared to not having one. Figure I'll get used to that (or maybe will lose a corresponding amount off myself to compensate )

Rykard

Hi,

I was in the same position about 3-4 months ago. After I had taken that first step, I wished I had done it years ago....

Might be worth looking at a rack and pannier(s)....

arranandy

Get a rack and pannier. I started off a couple of months ago with a rucsac but invested in a rack and pannier a couple of weeks ago. What a difference they've made

Shadowduck

I'm in a similar position but a few weeks further on, I've been commuting on the bike for a month or so now.

I want to know how people manage the times they do on their commute - I'm doing 6.85 miles (Rochdale to Oldham) and have yet to break 34 minutes, despite a few months light 'training' to work up to it! My first time out on the bike (after about 18 years) I managed about half a mile then couldn't walk for the rest of the day. Part of the reason I'm doing this is to get a bit fitter and lose some weight but am I really THAT unfit compared to the general population? I have a fairly active job and do martial arts so I'm not a couch potato.

RichK - please tell me your commute's nice and flat, rather than up and down the pennines like mine. That'd make me feel a bit better!

*dreams of getting to work in 30 minutes*

redddraggon

My 7 mile commute takes me anywhere between 25 - 45 minutes, depending on how I feel, conditions, and traffic. Normally it's about 32minutes. The route has a few climbs.

The time is door to door. My best time to date was 27minutes.

richk

Shadowduck wrote:

...

RichK - please tell me your commute's nice and flat, rather than up and down the pennines like mine. That'd make me feel a bit better!

*dreams of getting to work in 30 minutes*

My commute is nice & flat with work being downstream of home... so trip home will take longer - although I'll probably go a different route mostly along the canal...

spasypaddy

are we talking actual ride time or door to door time?

Commuter_Lee

I've been commuting about 3 months now and I'm doing 12.5 miles in around 43 minutes. There's so many variables when trying to compare to other peoples times. Type of bike, terrain, traffic etc. One thing I would check is that you've got the bike set-up correctly for your size. I raised myn seatpost an inch or so the other week and it's made the world of difference to ride times!

CarKiller

Interesting times you post there Rich.

Are you on a "mountain bike"?

Jacomus-rides-Gen

Congratulations!

Think about what you can leave at work too. Below is my list of kit and how its broken down.

Office
- Lock
- Towel
- Suit
- Shoes
- Washkit

Rucksack
- Overshoes
- Tiny waterproof incase it gets freezing cold
- Tiny lock for on the train
- iPod for on the train
- Change of lenses for my glasses in case it goes dark
- Goretx gilet
- Arm + leg warmers (dependednt on weather and if I'm wearing them or not!)
- Shirt + Boxers + Socks
- Wallet

Saddlepack
- 2 tubes
- 2 tyre levers
- Pressure guage
- Multitool
- Mobile
- House keys
- Lock keys
- Medical info and emergency contact details card
- £10 note

Frame
- Bottle of water
- Pump (incl. emergency patch kit)
- Race blade mudguard on the rear 90% of the time[/u]

richk

spasypaddy wrote:

are we talking actual ride time or door to door time?

Ride time. Not sure how much door to door would add - there's about 3/4 places I have to stop & wait for lights on the way.

richk

CarKiller wrote:

Interesting times you post there Rich.

Are you on a "mountain bike"?

Yes, with knobblies, must get some more appropriate tyres (route is tarmac & towpath) - though I have been doing some gentle off roading at the week-end so will need to be a compromise.

CarKiller

Thought so. 15mph is quite hard to sustain on fat, soft knobblies.

Get a commute bike, and keep your MTB for going off road at weekende.

7 miles on a tourer type setup with 25mm road tyres, clipless pedals, a few months training should be <25 minutes even with mudguards and panniers.

Franco62

Well, I've only just started commuting last week, and have to say I wish I'd done years ago. I Travel about 8.5miles and it takes me 35-40 Mins, I'm using a MTB and travel along both roads and cycling paths (some areas of which are gravel), anybody any suggestions for which tyres I should be using?

Forgot to mention I'm new to all this biking stuff, so please forgive my ignorance!!!!!!!!!!

CarKiller

Basically, Halfords, and the meejah all want to peddle the image of rugged off roading and will sell you the fattest, softest, knobbliest tyres available. Along the lines of the motorized 4x4 craze.

In fact, you'f be surprised by how well road bike tyres perform.

On pea gravel, bike tyres aren't much use anyway, but on hard pack, standard 25mm road tyres at 100psi will be just fine.

dazzawazza

To remove the hassle from the rest of the week, carry all your work kit in on a Monday.
All it takes is a bit of time and planning in the weekend. You will find that 5 or more shirts folded and layered together wont crease much in a rucksack or pannier, however one shirt will.

Every Monday I take all my kit into work in a pannier mounted on my slicked rigid MTB. The rest of the week I will ride my road bike with a small rucksack containing lunch, wallet, repair kit and pump. I will usually take it for a couple of laps of Richmond Park during my lunch hour as well.

My 7 mile commute is usually under 25 minutes, and that's with either bike.
If there's any rain I'll ride the MTB as it has guards, but I prefer riding the Allez.

If you’re a beginner don’t worry; it took me a couple of years to get this organised. The first year (2005, started months before the bombings) I was riding a heavy full suspension bike with massive tyres. Apart from lights I had virtually no kit. I battled through the winter with no guards, a crappy nylon dark blue jacket and some leather gloves that leaked and had virtually no thermal protection. My rucksack was huge with no padding so objects poked into my back most of the time. The first time I had a puncture was a disaster with a long walk home.
My daily 14 mile commute was well over 25 minutes each way.

Franco62

Thanks Carkiller

solseadog

I use my road bike and 23mm tyres with no probs,my mate used to use a mountain bike, so i lent him my spare road bike,he liked it so much he bought it from me,and now uses it all the time ...

Shadowduck

spasypaddy wrote:

are we talking actual ride time or door to door time?

Actual ride time, my cheapy Argos cycle computer kindly works it out for me.

I'm on a hybrid with 30mm road tyres (Revolution Courier Race) - I can't really justify having multiple bikes and my training / leisure rides commonly take in some towpath / dirt track type terrain so this seemed like the best compromise.

richk

Ride home was good too - 6.0 miles in 29 mins cycling time (elapsed time only about +3 mins). Slightly different route with more canal towpath so flatter for the return journey.
Day off work tomorrow, so chance to recover and go buy some new tyres.

dazzawazza

Am I right in thinking that most times posted are from computers that stop when waiting at lights etc? If comparing against other modes of transport it should be stop-watch door to door time.
There's also the time it takes to get changed at work. Even when I add 10 mins for changing; 35 minutes is well below the 1 hour+ it used to take me on public transport. I've never driven the commute, but judging on the filtering I do on a bike, I guess it would be over 35 minutes.

Shadowduck

dazzawazza wrote:

Am I right in thinking that most times posted are from computers that stop when waiting at lights etc? If comparing against other modes of transport it should be stop-watch door to door time.

You are right in thinking that in my case, but since I'm not comparing against other modes of transport it's not really important to me - the time is a measure of my own performance. I work 12 hour shifts 7AM / 7PM so traffic isn't really a problem and I know for sure it takes me around half as long to get there by car.

My original motives for bike commuting were;

1. Get fitter / lose weight.
2. Save the planet (Right on!).
3. Save money.

After doing it for a while I'd add "Because I like it". With those advantages, a little extra travelling time isn't such a biggie.

dazzawazza

I agree, but give your self a while. If you get the bug you won’t be saving money; no hobby does.

When you get the bug, "spending money on bicycles ABSOLUTELY will not stop until you are dead"!

Shadowduck

dazzawazza wrote:

When you get the bug, "spending money on bicycles ABSOLUTELY will not stop until you are dead"!

The temptation's there already - good job saving money was at the bottom of the list!

I'm sure my darling wife will prevent me getting too carried away.

Jacomus-rides-Gen

Aah, Shadowduck, so naiive - that is why online bike shops will deliver to your office.

richk

I'm with ShadowDuck on reasons for cycling to work. The train is easily fastest method & the annual bill of ~£500 for the travel pass doesn't exactly break the bank. I'm not into it to save the planet (I'm already on public transport anyway) either. For me it's about getting some regular exercise & losing a few pounds (well, ~2 stone tbh).

Ordered some more appropriate tyres today which should make things a bit easier (& some spds).

mikeitup

Franco62 wrote:

Well, I've only just started commuting last week, and have to say I wish I'd done years ago. I Travel about 8.5miles and it takes me 35-40 Mins, I'm using a MTB and travel along both roads and cycling paths (some areas of which are gravel), anybody any suggestions for which tyres I should be using?

Forgot to mention I'm new to all this biking stuff, so please forgive my ignorance!!!!!!!!!!

Join the club, Franco.

I use my mtb to get to work and have recently changes my nobbly conti 26x2.3 mtb tyres to a pair of Schwalbe Road Cruisers 26x1.75 and I can honestly say they have made a hell of a difference. Much easier up steep hills now!

I got em from here for £17 :

www.fredstreads.com