I love commuting, now more than ever!

DonDaddyD

Have you ever loved something so much and then had an instance where you fall in love all over again only to love it more than you did when you first fell in love with it? I love cycling, I truly do. But today after my commute on my Fulcrum racing 7’s love is a word that falls far short of the sheer and utter union of oneness I had with my bike. Nothing mattered to me this morning, nothing; it was me the bike, the pleasure and my passion.

For as long as I can remember riding a bike has been my thing. It is what I did after each day at junior school, it’s what I did after each day at secondary school, it’s what I did on the weekend and it’s what I did during the holidays.

My commute bought all this back to me this morning in some glorious cleansing of the soul.

I’ve been unwell for more than a week now and generally been feeling down. Short of breath, bunged up and finding it hard to breath I was almost going to see the Doctor.

All I’ve wanted to do is ride my bike, I’ve always been an outdoor guy; camping with the Cubs and Scouts, running and trekking through the woods was always the best holidays. It’s hard to explain what I like about being on a bike though, there’s a sensation of freedom I get from simply rolling down the road that I can’t explain, it’s nearly duplicated when roller/ice skating but never the same and not as good. It’s not floating, or flying its just freedom-unbridled and unwell or not that sensation was something I needed.

Maybe it was the lack of oxygen sending me into a delirium shaped into a Nirvana due to me being at the only place I want to be, on a bike.

I really utterly enjoy my SCR3. With other bikes I've had I never thought about improving that or tweaking this or upgrading. What was on those bikes was it. It is different with my road bike I tweak and upgrade because removing the cassette is both interesting and fun. Everything I do to Donovan: adding clipless pedals, carbon seat, better bar tape, GP 4000s serves to increase my love for cycling.

But today nothing and I mean nothing involving a bike has given me more pleasure than my Fulcrum Racing 7’s. The sound of the freewheel isn’t gratifying it’s not soothing it’s like a fabulous massage that is both hard on the muscles and ultimately relaxing. My Fulcrums enrich the pleasure of my commute and subsequently my life.

If there is an aspect about commuting or cycling that you truly love then please share with the rest of us!

iain_j

Amen brother

biondino

Do you have Fulcrum Racing 7s, DDD?

lost_in_thought

I agree with you again DDD! I want to ride my bicycle

DonDaddyD

biondino wrote:

Do you have Fulcrum Racing 7s, DDD?

I was 20mins late for work. This was due to me riding as fast as possible for 30secs and then freewheeling to the sounds of clickyty practically along entire stretches of roads....

Fulcrums sound like a symphony to me! Mmmmmmm

UnworthyPapaLazaru

And the 7's are entry level wheels are they not!? Imagine he gets the Zero's!! The post would be pages and pages long!!

PS DDD - Im waiting on new wheels arriving today. The courier has a tracking system online and Im F5 refreshing every 10 minutes or so...

Cantdosleepy

Must be nice to have a 'thing.' I like cycling but couldn't call it a passion - I'm infected with uncurable dilettantism.

UnworthyPapaLazaru

THEY ARE HERE!!!!!!!

ChrisLS

DDD, you are a poet... 8)

...sometimes whem I'm riding there are no words to describe the pleasure and freedom that I feel...your post has come close...

whyamihere

Ah, another convert to the church of Campagnolo (Fulcrum is a sub brand of Campag). Imagine how amazing your ride would be with a full groupset.

*runs away*

il_principe

DonDaddyD wrote:

Have you ever loved something so much and then had an instance where you fall in love all over again only to love it more than you did when you first fell in love with it? I love cycling, I truly do. But today after my commute on my Fulcrum racing 7’s love is a word that falls far short of the sheer and utter union of oneness I had with my bike. Nothing mattered to me this morning, nothing; it was me the bike, the pleasure and my passion.

For as long as I can remember riding a bike has been my thing. It is what I did after each day at junior school, it’s what I did after each day at secondary school, it’s what I did on the weekend and it’s what I did during the holidays.

My commute bought all this back to me this morning in some glorious cleansing of the soul.

I’ve been unwell for more than a week now and generally been feeling down. Short of breath, bunged up and finding it hard to breath I was almost going to see the Doctor.

All I’ve wanted to do is ride my bike, I’ve always been an outdoor guy; camping with the Cubs and Scouts, running and trekking through the woods was always the best holidays. It’s hard to explain what I like about being on a bike though, there’s a sensation of freedom I get from simply rolling down the road that I can’t explain, it’s nearly duplicated when roller/ice skating but never the same and not as good. It’s not floating, or flying its just freedom-unbridled and unwell or not that sensation was something I needed.

Maybe it was the lack of oxygen sending me into a delirium shaped into a Nirvana due to me being at the only place I want to be, on a bike.

I really utterly enjoy my SCR3. With other bikes I've had I never thought about improving that or tweaking this or upgrading. What was on those bikes was it. It is different with my road bike I tweak and upgrade because removing the cassette is both interesting and fun. Everything I do to Donovan: adding clipless pedals, carbon seat, better bar tape, GP 4000s serves to increase my love for cycling.

But today nothing and I mean nothing involving a bike has given me more pleasure than my Fulcrum Racing 7’s. The sound of the freewheel isn’t gratifying it’s not soothing it’s like a fabulous massage that is both hard on the muscles and ultimately relaxing. My Fulcrums enrich the pleasure of my commute and subsequently my life.

If there is an aspect about commuting or cycling that you truly love then please share with the rest of us!

+1 million

Fab post, Chapeaux DDD.

il_principe

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

And the 7's are entry level wheels are they not!? Imagine he gets the Zero's!! The post would be pages and pages long!!

PS DDD - Im waiting on new wheels arriving today. The courier has a tracking system online and Im F5 refreshing every 10 minutes or so...

Yeah I've had the 7's - they're great but DDD probably make a mess over my 0's.

singlespeedexplosif

whyamihere wrote:

Ah, another convert to the church of Campagnolo (Fulcrum is a sub brand of Campag). Imagine how amazing your ride would be with a full groupset.

*runs away*

So do the Fulcrums have the same level of lovely clickiness as Campag freehubs? Yum. Second nicest freewheel noise in the world. FACT.

whyamihere

Yeah, same freehub basically.

si. d

Definitely agree.

I'm a relatively new convert to the commuting by bike (~6 months). I was put off initially ironically because I love riding (typically mountain bikes), and I thought cycling to work would tarnish that. I thought the wear and tear, the cold mornings and the 'having to do it' would make me resent bikes.

But now i'm totally convinced it's the way forward. For the most part, I love it because it adds a new aspect to my working day. Instead of goto work->work->go home and eat, work is now the bit inbetween a good ride. I can go different routes without worrying about traffic, go fast, go slow, look at the scenery, all good.

The only problem I have found is that it has tended to make me a tad self righteous, in that I'm constantly trying to convince work mates to cycle too. I just wish I lived a bit further away, and that there were more scalps to be had in bristol.

Garou

Totally second the above. I've only been commuting for most of the last year, and it has definitely added something to my working day that I can look forward to. Feel so much better sitting at a desk having done some decent exercise too.

I'm lucky enough to go through Richmond Park and Bushy park, and watching the sun rise over misty fields, while fawns gambol and stags clash has really made my winter. I certainly forget about the cold. I only wish more of the commute was in the park.

Littigator

Couldn't agree more triple D and very well said.

Last Friday was my birthday, so I took the day off work and got kitted in warm clothes, I then proceeded in a bimbling fashion on my fixed, through Battersea Park, up Sloan Street, along Piccadilly, around Traf Sq, up up and up Charing Cross Road, Tottenham Court Road etc until I hit Camden and then onto my favourite stretch of London riding...the Regents Canal towpath...all the way along to Paddington, down through Bayswater to Hotting Hill, through Holland Park, down through Kensington and then back home.

A beaut of a ride at never more than an easy pace, soaking up the relaxed atmosphere of riding purely for the pleasure of riding in my own little world.

It was my birthday present to myself and I LOVED IT!!!

DonDaddyD

Thanks everyone.

What I posted was the edited version. The original was an email I sent to my GF, when I'm bored at work I start writing stuff in Word to pass the time of day as it looks like I'm working. - From the length of the original you can see that my job (Marketing Manager) is both easy and incredibly boring to me.

Here's the original:

I need to share.

Have you ever loved something so much and then had an instance where you fall in love all over again only to love it more than you did when you first fell in love with it? I love cycling, I truly do. But today after my commute on my Fulcrum racing 7’s love is a word that falls far short of the sheer and utter union of oneness I had with my bike. Nothing mattered to me this morning, nothing; it was me the bike, the pleasure and my passion.

For as long as I can remember riding a bike has been my thing. It is what I did after each day at junior school, it’s what I did after each day at secondary school, it’s what I did on the weekend and it’s what I did during the holidays.

My commute bought all this back to me this morning in some glorious cleansing of the soul.

I’ve been unwell for more than a week now and generally been feeling down. Short of breath, bunged up and finding it hard to breath I was almost going to see the Doctor.

All I’ve wanted to do is ride my bike, I’ve always been an outdoor guy; camping with the Cubs and Scouts, running and trekking through the woods was always the best holidays. It’s hard to explain what I like about being on a bike though, there’s a sensation of freedom I get from simply rolling down the road that I can’t explain, it’s nearly duplicated when roller/ice skating but never the same and not as good. It’s not floating, or flying its just freedom-unbridled and unwell or not that sensation was something I needed.

Maybe it was the lack of oxygen sending me into a delirium shaped into a Nirvana due to me being at the only place I want to be, on a bike. But todays commute bought back the memory of every bike I’ve ever owned.

And each one has its own story:

When I was five, the red and white BMX that I learned to ride on was kept and handed to my brother. It was like watching my childhood over again as my brother would plunge himself down the road. I still remember my Dad taking off one stabilizer and then using a box spanner, a tool I would come to love, to remove the second.

My second and to this day favourite bike was a Green Raleigh Mountain Bike, with slick tyres, six gears and discs that could be screwed onto the wheels. It was called Even more Extreme. A steel frame masterpiece and my memory of it involves my entire childhood. In those day’s getting a puncture was fun, it gave me and my friends a chance to flip a bike upside down whip out our box spanners and puncture kits and do manual things that made us believe we were men.

I learned to skid, bunny hop do wheelies and stop on the front brakes and lift the back wheel up as I stopped. Oh the joy and the crashes. If I crashed now like I did in those day’s there would be no getting back up and riding off quickly before the car owner could catch you and kick your ass. I was 9/10 when I first met Even more Extreme he served me until I was about 14/15 and never failed, not once, no matter what I asked of him.

A Townsend 18speed monstrosity was my third bike. Its most memorable thing was the chain dropping off. When I think back, it wasn’t the bikes fault that I didn’t like it, it was just unfortunate to follow the bike that helped shape my childhood.

The Townsend was soundly sold when I could. T’was exchanged for a new Barracuda hard-tail mountain bike. The frame was polished and brushed aluminium with a red suspension fork, seat and grips. It was a flashy cheap thing at £150 but when new it looked nice all silver and red. It served me well, however by then I was too old to play out. I was working at Virgin Megastores at the time (I was 18) so this would be my first commuting bike. Norbury to Croydon, good fun – I’ve been commuting far longer than I first thought.

Eventually I set off for University and my first summer back I worked in a pub in Penge. This was simply the worst summer of my life; I had no free time and nearly no social life due to working unsociable hours. My only joy was riding the Barracuda from Norbury to Penge. I was about 21 at the time.

After University and 6 or so months into my job it was the height of summer and I took some annual leave. I climbed the Barracuda and set off from Norbury to Wandsworth Cmmon intent on soothing bike ride. I don’t doubt that the bike wanted to deliver, age unfortunately wouldn’t let it. I made it to DeVer and on that day I bought the Giant Escape M2.

In all fairness the Giant M2 is the closest thing to the joy the Raleigh gave me all those years ago. Small, quick, agile it delivered all those in great abundance and I found myself not only riding to work but riding for fun again, just jumping on the bike and riding around.

I only had the Giant M2 for about a year. My trouble was that the way I rode was now different, I was commuting proper (Norbury – Camberwell) and I wanted to go fast and far on the main roads and the Giant I felt didn’t offer that. My heart had set itself upon a Road bike, I felt bad for the M2, I gave it to my brother who has ridden it into the ground a fitting end to a great bike.

Donovan. Personally I think the way Donovan came into my life was quite epic. I was at work, phoning around bike stores for a Giant SCR2. DeVer said they had SCR2 and 3’s. On my lunch break I went over to DeVer, and spent a while looking over the bikes, the guy told me that he’d go and check if he had any SCR2’s out back as many had been reserved for internet sales.

He rolled out an SCR3, I looked at it and said to myself that’s Donovan. I bought it there and then. Back from lunch 2hrs late I waited all day for work to end. 4.58pm I was jumping onto the M2 and rode it back as fast as possible home so that I could get to DeVer and pick up Donovan. That first ride, it was like everything I imagined it would be like! It was magnificent!

The trouble was that I had planned to go to Lake District with my Girlfriend that month…. A choice between a bike or a trip to the Lake District with my girlfriend? I feel terrible but with the all that behind me, all those memories how could I not buy a bike? We had agreed to go to Spain the following month and it was nothing less than beautiful.

I really utterly enjoy my SCR3. It’s a different pleasure than the Raleigh and Giant. With those bikes I never thought about improving that or tweaking this or upgrading. What was on those bikes was it. It is different with my road bike I tweak and upgrade because removing the cassette is both interesting and fun. Everything I do to Donovan: adding clipless pedals, carbon seat, better bar tape, GP 4000s serves to increase my love for cycling.

But today nothing and I mean nothing involving a bike has given me more pleasure than my Fulcrum Racing 7’s. The sound of the freewheel isn’t gratifying it’s not soothing it’s like a fabulous massage that is both hard on the muscles and ultimately relaxing. My Fulcrums enrich the pleasure of my commute and subsequently my life.

I try to explain it to people and they don’t understand, cycling is all I want to do. I’m not extremely fast, I’m not blessed with lashing upon lashings of stamina, I’m clumsy and not that skilful. But cycling is my thing. I love it and today I love it more than I have ever done so before. It is what I do and I don’t want to do anything else.

I have arrived.

UnworthyPapaLazaru

The poor lassie! I bore my missus with bike chat too but in return I have to make comment on handbags and soft furnishings and paint a room occasionally. Best to keep it short and sweet...

What was her reply?

DonDaddyD

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

The poor lassie! I bore my missus with bike chat too but in return I have to make comment on handbags and soft furnishings and paint a room occasionally. Best to keep it short and sweet...

What was her reply?

She replied with:

you are a very talented writer you know baby. i love the passion you have for your bike, it's so sweet.

also - glad u like the fulcrums. they were well worth the money by the sounds of it!!!!

We've found a tollerance for each others passions.

il_principe

DonDaddyD wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

The poor lassie! I bore my missus with bike chat too but in return I have to make comment on handbags and soft furnishings and paint a room occasionally. Best to keep it short and sweet...

What was her reply?

She replied with:

you are a very talented writer you know baby. i love the passion you have for your bike, it's so sweet.

also - glad u like the fulcrums. they were well worth the money by the sounds of it!!!!

We've found a tollerance for each others passions.

Damned with faint praise!

itboffin

My new Mavic Aksiums should be here tomorrow along with a new set of Michelin boots

I feel a MASSIVE hilly ride coming on

UnworthyPapaLazaru

DonDaddyD wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

The poor lassie! I bore my missus with bike chat too but in return I have to make comment on handbags and soft furnishings and paint a room occasionally. Best to keep it short and sweet...

What was her reply?

She replied with:

you are a very talented writer you know baby. i love the passion you have for your bike, it's so sweet.

also - glad u like the fulcrums. they were well worth the money by the sounds of it!!!!

We've found a tollerance for each others passions.

Good stuff!

gb155

I got that feeling a few weeks before xmas when I got a puncture in the snow, It just didn't matter, I was lovin it, Its got better every day since then too

biondino

I don't love commuting by bike because every single time I do it I fear for my life. Indeed, any time I ride I feel this way. I love pretty much everything else about it, mind, but I just can't shift this sense of mortality from how I see cycling.

gtvlusso

I hate commuting.....or is that computing?!

il_principe

biondino wrote:

I don't love commuting by bike because every single time I do it I fear for my life. Indeed, any time I ride I feel this way. I love pretty much everything else about it, mind, but I just can't shift this sense of mortality from how I see cycling.

Really? Poor fella, have you had many close calls? I rarely consider my mortality when on the bike. In fact I'm far more worried about some nutter pushing me in front of a tube etc. Perhaps perusing the accident stats will help ease your fears - I think TFL keep them. The number of cycling fatalities in London is very low.

Perhaps a refrain of MTFU would be inappropriate at this point?

Nah, I'm going for it:

MTFU.

:shock:

Clever Pun

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

whyamihere wrote:

Ah, another convert to the church of Campagnolo (Fulcrum is a sub brand of Campag). Imagine how amazing your ride would be with a full groupset.

*runs away*

So do the Fulcrums have the same level of lovely clickiness as Campag freehubs? Yum. Second nicest freewheel noise in the world. FACT.

I do love that sound

Clever Pun

biondino wrote:

I don't love commuting by bike because every single time I do it I fear for my life. Indeed, any time I ride I feel this way. I love pretty much everything else about it, mind, but I just can't shift this sense of mortality from how I see cycling.

really? I'm sorry to hear you think like that

I'm going to have to start calling you girls names soon

il_principe

Clever Pun wrote:

biondino wrote:

I don't love commuting by bike because every single time I do it I fear for my life. Indeed, any time I ride I feel this way. I love pretty much everything else about it, mind, but I just can't shift this sense of mortality from how I see cycling.

really? I'm sorry to hear you think like that

I'm going to have to start calling you girls names soon

What a great character. You know they've never used the same name twice. Apparently it's become tricky to think of new ones.

DonDaddyD

jashburnham wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

biondino wrote:

I don't love commuting by bike because every single time I do it I fear for my life. Indeed, any time I ride I feel this way. I love pretty much everything else about it, mind, but I just can't shift this sense of mortality from how I see cycling.

really? I'm sorry to hear you think like that

I'm going to have to start calling you girls names soon

What a great character. You know they've never used the same name twice. Apparently it's become tricky to think of new ones.

Who is he?

Also, I gotta say that I don't share Biondino's view. I never feel more alive than when I'm on a bike, perhaps its my mortality becoming evermore apparant as I gasp for air, pushing myself in the hope of fending off getting scalped.