This mornings first ever commute by bike!

dubnut71

I had my first ever commute in this morning to the new office.

First time I had ever cycled the 17 miles to work (Bracknell to Heathrow), lovely 7 o clock mist over the common at Egham and made me happy to be alive!

I used my old Trek hybrid and it ran beautifully, made it in just over an hour and ten and after usuing the shower at work, I was ready for the day and wide awake!

I can definitely say its made a convert out of me. I would never have previously even considered cycling this distance before, I just blindly jumped into the car and slogged along at 30mph with everyone else. Ok so I have to leave an hour earlier but really I am gaining more than I am losing. I could actually smell the mist on the grass this morning and thats got to be worth the extra hour. Bear in mind that when I go home tonight the journey in the CAR could well have taken an hour (friday night traffic) and i am on track for a re-run of this mornings enjoyment!!!

The main driver for the commute by bike strangely wasn't fitness (although it cant hurt) but the fact I am working on a contract in an office with 3 or 4 guys that cycle regularly. One comes from watford to heathrow daily, the rest do the same sort of mileage I tackled this morning. I got shamed into it really!!! The best bit? nobody cares I have an old hybrid with liberal amounts of duct tape or mud on it, the feeling is exactly the same on my £150 special than it would be on nearly any other bike!

Here goes the rest of my commuting life, today is just day one!!!!!!!

Cafewanda

Woo hoo!! Glad you enjoyed your first ride. It can only get better from now on.

fnegroni

Stevo_666

Well done and welcome PS that's not a bad time for a first go at 17 miles....

HamishD

Bravo sir! and chapeau on the time too . . .8) something tells me you were quite fit anyway . . .

Kieran_Burns

The one big thing i find about cycle commuting is that your working day ends sooner.

Huh???? You may say, but bear with me on this.

When I drive in, my working day starts when I get in the car and ends when I get home, however when I cycle my working day starts when I get to my desk and ends when I leave for the night.

The cycle commute is my time, not the journey to and from work... so really I GAIN time when cycling. Okay I LEAVE home earlier and GET home later but what's the difference between that and going to the gym before / after work?

This way I get to do that and get home / to work at the same time

17 miles.... nice one enjoy the extra time to yourself

jeepie

Well done dubnut.... sounds a lovely ride. I used to ride through Windsor Great Park on my way to work in Egham many moons ago and it's beautiful... enjoy

Lancslad

Nice one . My first was yesterday same milage and I was knackered last night, are you planing on doing it everyday? I like keirans take on it, I never thought of explaining it to the other half like that, mind she does it too but only 3.5miles she thinks i'm mad

I'm planning on 3 days next week

dubnut71

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The one big thing i find about cycle commuting is that your working day ends sooner.

Huh???? You may say, but bear with me on this.

When I drive in, my working day starts when I get in the car and ends when I get home, however when I cycle my working day starts when I get to my desk and ends when I leave for the night.

The cycle commute is my time, not the journey to and from work... so really I GAIN time when cycling. Okay I LEAVE home earlier and GET home later but what's the difference between that and going to the gym before / after work?

This way I get to do that and get home / to work at the same time

17 miles.... nice one enjoy the extra time to yourself

Kieran, you know you are spot on with that theory mate, absolutely spot on!! i know tonight the phone is going off and being thrown in the rucksack instead of the half zombie like state that I previously got into when I used to take calls on the bluetooth and drive, not good!!

I am a reasonably fit guy (not cycling fit tho) due to kickboxing and a bit of running but the time taken is gonna be my new target to beat!!

Its changed my day, possibly my life!!!!

desmosedici

Two thumbs up. Wishing you many more safe miles (and smiles) of commuting.

Headhuunter

What surprised me was that you managed to get to 30mph in the car on the morning commute but then I guess you're not travelling through central London. If you were, you probably would crawl at an average of 10mph at most. Cycling to work anywhere in central London is waaaay faster than by car.

And you say one of your colleagues bikes from Watford to Heathrow every day? That sounds crazy - not sure how many miles it is. Does he do it both ways, 5 days a week?

BR 1979

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The one big thing i find about cycle commuting is that your working day ends sooner.

Huh???? You may say, but bear with me on this.

When I drive in, my working day starts when I get in the car and ends when I get home, however when I cycle my working day starts when I get to my desk and ends when I leave for the night.

Absolutely. Extremely good point.

It also gives you a break between "work mode" and "home mode".

MonkeyMonster

Congratulations and welcome

Kieran_Burns

BR 1979 wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The one big thing i find about cycle commuting is that your working day ends sooner.

Huh???? You may say, but bear with me on this.

When I drive in, my working day starts when I get in the car and ends when I get home, however when I cycle my working day starts when I get to my desk and ends when I leave for the night.

Absolutely. Extremely good point.

It also gives you a break between "work mode" and "home mode".

I'm trying to convince one of the guys here about the benefits of that break. He only lives 3 miles from work and has already killed one battery in his car (Winter driving). The guy is REALLY stressed at the moment, and can't see that taking some extra (to him) time to get home will actually help him.

The Rookie

Congratulations, makes my 7.5 miles seem easy, although with no showers I do have to pace myself to be in a work friendly state upon arrival.

Simon

SmellTheGlove

Great effort fella. Nice ride too.

stevie_90210

Congratulations mate!

essex-commuter

NICE ONE

Wallace1492

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The one big thing i find about cycle commuting is that your working day ends sooner.

Huh???? You may say, but bear with me on this.

When I drive in, my working day starts when I get in the car and ends when I get home, however when I cycle my working day starts when I get to my desk and ends when I leave for the night.

The cycle commute is my time, not the journey to and from work... so really I GAIN time when cycling. Okay I LEAVE home earlier and GET home later but what's the difference between that and going to the gym before / after work?

This way I get to do that and get home / to work at the same time

17 miles.... nice one enjoy the extra time to yourself

Well said KB, completely agree. And good on dubnut, you will never regret it! That said, I am on the train today, combination of late finish last night and no shirts left at work.

fnegroni

Kieran_Burns wrote:

He only lives 3 miles from work and has already killed one battery in his car (Winter driving).

I feel bad when I drive the 12 miles to work...

But as most people who haven't discovered cycling yet, I bet he doesn't know.

For me, what prompted me to commute by bike was my car just packed up and was not worth repairing.

I wish the government gave incentives to ditch the car in favour of a bike, rather than in favour of a new car...

Mind you, with fuel prices as they are they are somehow doing that already...

dubnut71

The ride home was even more fun!! Pumped the hills (why are they harder on the way home!) and got back to Bracknell in just over 1hr, bought a new bottle and cage to celebrate at the LBS, talked some bike stuff with the owner and got home for a shower and tea, I am now basking in the afterglow of the whole thing!

Plan to do it 3 days out of 5 as its a life changer as far as I am concerned!

The bloke in my office that comes from just this side of Watford reckons its only 21 miles and he goes a nice cross country route, he does it about 4 days a week, seems to have changed his life too!!

Got dropped by a bloke on a mountain bike tonight, the shame! and I wasn't hanging about either, he must have just gone up several points in the SCR food chain!! lol!

Thanks for all your advice and encouragement guys, really makes it even more worthwhile!!!

Cafewanda

Not at all sir. Glad we could help!

Now if you could just send the (very large) cheque to:

Cafewanda,
47 Hybrids Lane,
London SW12

'll be sure to cash it and distribute it equally amongst your other advisers :twisted:

Paul E

dubnut71 wrote:

Got dropped by a bloke on a mountain bike tonight, the shame! and I wasn't hanging about either, he must have just gone up several points in the SCR food chain!! lol!

He has probably been doing it a lot longer, the speed and the endurance needed to keep it at that level comes with mileage, I found that out the hard way, after serious miles I was going up hills on off road trails going past weekend warriors on 3k lightweight rigs like they were going backwards and they were puffing away like an old steam engine, I did have to smile a bit... so keep at it and things will improve quicker than you think.

mtb-idle

well done Dubnut, thanks for the report, nicely written and welcome to the club.

I too agree about the extra time. I get 2.5 to 3 hours cycling in each day and the missus doesnt even complain cos i would have been on the train anyway. 8)

jimmypippa

Well done Dubnut,

fnegroni wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

He only lives 3 miles from work and has already killed one battery in his car (Winter driving).

I feel bad when I drive the 12 miles to work...

But as most people who haven't discovered cycling yet, I bet he doesn't know.

For me, what prompted me to commute by bike was my car just packed up and was not worth repairing.

I wish the government gave incentives to ditch the car in favour of a bike, rather than in favour of a new car...

Mind you, with fuel prices as they are they are somehow doing that already...

CTW is doing it for me: £30/month for a 120-miles a week commute. That must be less than petrol.

DonDaddyD

dubnut71 wrote:

I had my first ever commute in this morning to the new office.

First time I had ever cycled the 17 miles to work (Bracknell to Heathrow), lovely 7 o clock mist over the common at Egham and made me happy to be alive!

Chapeau!

seanoconn

Nice one dubnut, now free yourself and sell the car! Seriously though, its great to hear your enthusiasm and obvious delight at the benefits of cycling to work. You could not have picked a better time of year to start. I take my commute for granted sometimes after 5years and posts like this make me remember how lucky i am not to be on a packed bus or tube every morning.

Well done.

jinnan_tonnix

What a great thread!

Like the sage words about the shorter work day - that's exactly how I feel. The working day doesn't start until I clock in - with the car it starts when you leave the front door.

I've been commuting on bike every day for four years and I'm still finding new ways to get home. I use google streetview to find little alleys, diversions and routes which I'd never think of. Even if it turns out not to be a better route, it still adds a bit of interest to the journey.

davis

jimmypippa wrote:

CTW is doing it for me: £30/month for a 120-miles a week commute. That must be less than petrol.

Got to love Google for this

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%28120 ... er%2Blitre


Assuming your car gets 50 MPG (which it probably doesn't in the Lakes, even if it is a diesel... If it's petrol, well.... *sucks air in through teeth*) You'd be spending £13.20 every week in fuel for the commute.