I love my commute again!
salsajake
Posts: 702
Gone is the early 'warm up' climb, replaced with a mile and a half of canal towpath, trees and meadows and river to one side, cliffs to the other.
Gone is the start of suburbia from 4 miles for the next 13, now its 13 miles of rural roads and just 7 built up.
Gone are the stop start traffic, the passing and repassing of the same cars, the junctions and the traffic lights, its just me and my thoughts (plus some rabbits and squirrels).
Gone is the big hill, with 4 lanes of accelerating traffic, fumes and whiffs of dodgy clutches, replaced by an even bigger hill, which actually has "Pass" in its name, but stunning views from the top and is a delight to crank up and barely a car in sight, even in rush hour.
Gone is one of the main arteries into the city centre, with all the usual junctions and pedestrian crossings, replaced instead by a seemingly unending downhill almost uninterrupted flow of tarmac.
I absolutely loved it, so where have I moved to, or where am I now working? Both exactly the same. After 3 years I decided to have a radical rethink, rather than as direct as possible A-B, its all about what I like about cycling and now I can't wait for the ride home. 40.4 miles a day is a notable amount more than 34.6, but the average speed is actually up slightly and its only about 6-7 minutes longer each way. It is so, so worth it (and my SCS will see the benefit too!) 1530' height gain on the way in, rather less on the way back. Should keep me in good stead for weekend MTB rides!
I can heartily reccomend a bit of OS multimapping at lunchtime, or as I did a good old study of online mapping software, route profiles and the like and going a bit out of your usual way, you may find that you as rewarded as I was to climb out of the rut you may have carved yourselves.
Amen.
Gone is the start of suburbia from 4 miles for the next 13, now its 13 miles of rural roads and just 7 built up.
Gone are the stop start traffic, the passing and repassing of the same cars, the junctions and the traffic lights, its just me and my thoughts (plus some rabbits and squirrels).
Gone is the big hill, with 4 lanes of accelerating traffic, fumes and whiffs of dodgy clutches, replaced by an even bigger hill, which actually has "Pass" in its name, but stunning views from the top and is a delight to crank up and barely a car in sight, even in rush hour.
Gone is one of the main arteries into the city centre, with all the usual junctions and pedestrian crossings, replaced instead by a seemingly unending downhill almost uninterrupted flow of tarmac.
I absolutely loved it, so where have I moved to, or where am I now working? Both exactly the same. After 3 years I decided to have a radical rethink, rather than as direct as possible A-B, its all about what I like about cycling and now I can't wait for the ride home. 40.4 miles a day is a notable amount more than 34.6, but the average speed is actually up slightly and its only about 6-7 minutes longer each way. It is so, so worth it (and my SCS will see the benefit too!) 1530' height gain on the way in, rather less on the way back. Should keep me in good stead for weekend MTB rides!
I can heartily reccomend a bit of OS multimapping at lunchtime, or as I did a good old study of online mapping software, route profiles and the like and going a bit out of your usual way, you may find that you as rewarded as I was to climb out of the rut you may have carved yourselves.
Amen.
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Got any good links?salsajake wrote:I can heartily reccomend a bit of OS multimapping at lunchtime, or as I did a good old study of online mapping software, route profiles and the like and going a bit out of your usual way, you may find that you as rewarded as I was to climb out of the rut you may have carved yourselves.0 -
suzyb wrote:
Got any good links?salsajake wrote:I can heartily reccomend a bit of OS multimapping at lunchtime, or as I did a good old study of online mapping software, route profiles and the like and going a bit out of your usual way, you may find that you as rewarded as I was to climb out of the rut you may have carved yourselves.
www.multimap.co.uk - then click OS mapping. You can't see much at a time, but you do get good detail and can see contours - don't write off bridleways or towpaths just because you are on slicks - they may be rideable, head out at the weekend to have a look.
I have Memory Map software (google their website) and it is absolutely superb, for creating routes and also uploading to your GPS to then follow them (so today for example I rode the best part of 18 miles on roads I didn''t know, but never once had to stop to look at a map, I just followed the directions on my Garmin, stress free) and also for downloading your stats from gps, where did you hit that peak speed, how slowly did you crawl up that hill, were you quicker than last week when the wind conditions were similar etc. Memory map even allows a 3d view of the landscape so you can see easily if a particular road is leading you up a climb just to come back down again, whereas another road may get you to the same place on the flat, with less wasted effort.
I guess the key is to explore - whether virtual or real, the choice of tools I leave to you!
Now I have the basic route there may still be some tweaks to make to it, such as any easy left turn only urban cut-throughs, but for me the software has made an immediate impact on my life!0 -
salsajake wrote:www.multimap.co.uk - then click OS mapping. You can't see much at a time
You do know you can click the left arrow in about the middle of the search/map pane divider, right? Map takes up the vast majority of the window then.
Of course, you could just use Firefox and Remove it Permanently and blow elements that you don't like away....Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.0 -
davis wrote:salsajake wrote:www.multimap.co.uk - then click OS mapping. You can't see much at a time
You do know you can click the left arrow in about the middle of the search/map pane divider, right? Map takes up the vast majority of the window then.
Of course, you could just use Firefox and Remove it Permanently and blow elements that you don't like away....
wow! So it does! Cheers!
I couldn't use Firefox, because the only thing that means to me is a 1980s table top arcade game by brother got for Christmas or a strange film about a military jet, possibly with Clint Eastwood. (Shows age and lack of technological awareness)0 -
salsajake wrote:or a strange film about a military jet, possibly with Clint Eastwood. (Shows age and lack of technological awareness)
It was indeed Clint Eastwood, he was stealing a russian jet that you controlled by thought. Bizarrely i woke this morning thinking about this very film.
I'll get my coat...Music, beer, sport, repeat...0 -
blinddrew wrote:salsajake wrote:or a strange film about a military jet, possibly with Clint Eastwood. (Shows age and lack of technological awareness)
It was indeed Clint Eastwood, he was stealing a russian jet that you controlled by thought. Bizarrely i woke this morning thinking about this very film.
I'll get my coat...
Did your bed take off?0
