Commuting 26.5 miles Plympton to Newton Abbot

jeffjeff84

Hi
I am new to this so be gentle. My job has moved from Plymouth to Newton Abbot and to avoid expense I am considering cycling the 26.5 miles (ONE way) commute from Plympton to Newton Abbot. Does anyone do this commute or these kinda miles? Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks JeffJeff

lvquestpaddler

53 miles a day? how many days per week? TBH as a Scotsman in the rural Highlands I avoid the A9 like the plague. Having looked at the route you propose are you taking the A385(looks dualled) then on to the A383 into NAbbot? There's no really significant hills there, you'd mainly get a tailwind going to work if prevailing SW is in force. But then after a hard days graft, back into the wind....?Nasty... Personally I'd go via the backroads but by god you'd need a gps the roads down there are like a patchwork quilt!!
Commuting on a busy dual carriageway the emissions from vehicles would probably do more harm than good.....
I'd be inclined to research the train times/costs and half the distance involved, or if you drive take the bike and park it somewhere quiet but safe halfway and cycle the rest..
Depends of course how fit you are too. If you are then go for it, or do alternating days to start with, or only when the forecast is good even better! :roll:
Good luck....

lvquestpaddler

I'm interested to see who cycles the furthest. I'm 76 miles from my work in Perth and had considered leaving the van in Pitlochry and doing the 25 miles or so each way during the summer(occasionally that is, not every day!)- but that would be on the dreaded(mainly single) A9 and death would come swiftly for sure hit by an HGV or nutter...The Sustrans route isn't even viable it's all over the place and hilly! :?

EKE_38BPM

I don't know your route, but 53 miles a day, every day, is a hell of a lot of cycling.
By the end of the week you'll be shattered. Not may be, will be.
Have you considered how long this will take? I'm guessing you'll be spending somewhere around 4 hours a day on the bike. That is a long time if done daily.

There are people on here who do that kind of milage, but you have to be prepared to let cycling and bikes take over your life. If you're not riding, you will be eating to fuel the ride, shopping for new kit to make your ride easier/faster, fettling etc

Advice:
If you can't do a split commute e.g. take the train part way, then get the lightest, most aerodynamic road bike you can afford.
Eat well. Porridge is your friend.
On Monday take all of the stuff you will need at work (shirts, socks etc) for the week and bring it home each day as you wear it.
Get a spare bike.
Learn how to do your own fettling.


Well done for thinking about riding to work, but the 12,000+ miles you will be doing annually will either kill you or have David Brailsford knocking on your door to offer you a place on Team GB or Team Sky.

lvquestpaddler wrote:

Commuting on a busy dual carriageway the emissions from vehicles would probably do more harm than good...

Rubbish.
It has been proven that an occupant of a car inhales more exhaust emissions (despite filters in both the exhaust and the air intake) than a cyclist because the cabin air intake in cars is at the same height as the exhaust of the car in front, where as a cyclist is way above the exhaust pipe and less likely to be stuck behind a car for long.
I wouldn't ride on a busy dual carriageway, but I'm more concerned by my immediate safety (getting mown down from behind) than my long term safety (lung disease due to traffic).

pastryboy

53 miles a day physically would be fine for most people (regular cyclists I mean) but, as mentioned above, that's a lot of your week spent cycling - no matter how quick you are you'll be spending many, many hours in the saddle. Mentally you'll start to dread it - if you're feeling anything less than 100% it will be hell and I don't think you could keep that up for long.

I started out cycling 28 miles a day, five days a week. Physically it wasn't too bad but mentally it was a killer - the thought of getting in the saddle again wore me down a lot at the end of the day and I didn't think I could keep doing all five days. It took a fair while before it became part of the routine and I stopped dreading it.

andyjr

My commute is 27 miles 1 way. Did it for the first time on a bkie this morning in just over 95 minutes. Would I do it every day, probably not as having to carry a laptop, change of clothes would make it somewhat harder, but I plan on doing it twice possible 3 times a week depending on whether & what else I have on

bam49

i have cycled a lot down in Plymouth, one of my sisters lives in Plympton and my dads cousin lives in Newton Abbott.. That would be a hell of a regular commute , Newton Abbott is just as lumpy as Plymouth ...
Lots of good advice above, that I can't add to really.. Respect if you do it though

jeffjeff84

Thanks for all the replies and advice which have opened my eyes to what a mammoth task this will be. Maybe I need to be more realistic and cycle just a couple of days a week. Thinking about doing a trial run this weekend on my hybrid to click a time and fatigue...

Pross

lvquestpaddler wrote:

Having looked at the route you propose are you taking the A385(looks dualled) then on to the A383 into NAbbot? There's no really significant hills there

The A385 is a rural single carriageway, think you might have looked at the A38 (which I would avoid at all costs on a bike). There's no 'major' hills but it is constantly rolling with over 2000' of climbing each way. 5 days a week, rain or shine, carrying all your work stuff would take someone with a lot more mental strength than me. I wouldn't even be able to do my pan flat 37 mile round trip commute every day. I'd be tempted to cycle to Ivybridge or Totnes and catch the train or do the commute 3 days using the other 2 days to take in / bring home anything you need to keep the commute as light as possible.

Redmog

I commute half and half - drive in, cycle home; cycle in, drive home. clean clothes come in and go home by car so I don't have to load up the bike. I am lucky enough to have secure parking at work so I don't worry about the car overnight (also it is worth less than the bike).

It works for me.

CarlosDSanchez

I do 45 miles per day round trip mostly 5 days per week unless the weather is hellish then I can halve it using the train. Generally takes me about an hour 10 minutes each way. Personal best is hour and 5 minutes and I'd love to get it under an hour. You do have to eat extra otherwise you end up feeling sick and weak on the return trip. Also I find that I'm not up for weekend rides any more really. You will get through brakes, rims, chains, tyres, cassettes and chain rings like you wouldn't believe, the cost of that, the extra food and clothes I've ended up buying makes me think the car would be cheaper....

Origamist

Jeff, that's a long way. I used to do Plympton to Totnes (around 22 miles each way) when I was a younger and a club cyclist. I did this 3 times a week as I was working part time and it was in the summer. I used to go Plympton, Hemerdon, Venton, Ivybridge, Bittaford, Wrangaton, South Brent and then along the A385 to Totnes. The route was bumpy, but thankfully with very few traffic lights. However, as there's often South Westerlies down there, the return trip was often a real slog.

I used to TT down the A38 in my youth and I would not recommend it unless you have balls of steel and are hyper aware around the slip-roads (that said, there is an adjacent cycle path towards Ivybridge, but it's only for a mile or two).

As Pross said, getting the train to Totnes and cycling to Newton Abbot is an option. The trains to Ivybridge are infrequent in my experience. I'd try the full distance once or twice a week and see how you feel. I'd also make sure your bike is mechanically sound and you learn the basics of fettling as bike shops in the South Hams are not always just round the corner. I'd also pack a bit of food, fluid, tools and lights, but nothing too heavy!

If you do manage to do this commute regularly, chapeau.

stevie_90210

I commute 20 miles each way. I've done this five times a week plenty of times but normally manage three as I do other competitive sports, and training often takes place in the evening making it impossible to cycle home and then drive there in time.

armoureddrummer

I live 40 miles from work and drive 30 and cycle the rest. I don't do it for affordability but for pleasure/fitness so my situation is different.

The advice above is good and worth considering. Running costs can be high for replacing worn parts for such a high mileage as mentioned, tinkering will happen (I have already lightened my bike 2 kilos from stock for my considerably smaller run) but also think:

- High powered lights for back roads in winter - for a 2 hour ride each way these will need to be good quality, very visible and likely quite heavy due to battery size (£150/200 could need to be spent here!)
- Thermal/performance riding clothes (summer,winter and in between seasonal variations required). You will probably want a weeks supply of base layers and padded shorts/trousers (I am guessing that during a weeks heavy riding, mid week washing is not going to be high in your priority list). Also outer layers/wind layers/gilets/soft shells are expensive and you will want a mix. Normal shorts/t-shirts will not fair you well on a ride like that.

Hope this helps rather than puts you off completely.

Devonsent

I currently commute from near Yelverton to Plymouth (only about 8 miles each way) and the thought of five days of the kind of mileage you are suggesting sounds like a killer! As you know Devon isn't known for its flatness, its rare that you not either cycling up or down something.

As others have said, that route is fairly bumpy and the most direct route (A38) is out unless you're happy mixing it with motorway speed traffic and HGV's.

Train to Totnes or from Ivybridge could be a good idea, with the full distance once or twice a week?

Good luck!