"16.4 miles commute? Are u nuts?"

Gizmo_

Twostage wrote:

So I'd say start small, 3 miles maybe, then build up.

3 miles?

That's not a ride, it's a warm-up.

Note: I'm not a semi-pro taking the p"ss. I've had my road bike ten days. But 3 miles... really? I could walk that in 45 minutes.

Azhar

[/quote]
I had a quick scan through the thread and you haven't said what you are riding or where you are commuting from/to... I'm sure there's lot more help/motivation we can give if we knew more...[/quote]

hello! i'll be commuting from Chorley, a place called Buckshaw Village to Accrington. My place of work is a stone throw away from Accrington train station. i dont think anyone on here is from where i live and commute to where i work. i think the gist from the advice i'm getting is to get the miles in my legs. i did say i was gonna commute from june but i'm gonna start it next week. i think i need to get a few more miles in and buy a few more stuff for the bike before i make the commute.

Twostage

Gizmo_ wrote:

Twostage wrote:

So I'd say start small, 3 miles maybe, then build up.

3 miles?

That's not a ride, it's a warm-up.

Note: I'm not a semi-pro taking the p"ss. I've had my road bike ten days. But 3 miles... really? I could walk that in 45 minutes.

Yep. Azhar said he is ok up to 5 miles so perhaps he should start with a distance well within his capabilities. I was thinking that 16.4 miles is daunting and looking like a big mountain to climb so why not start small as a confidence builder. Azhar can then get a few easy commutes under his belt and increase from there.

optimisticbiker

Azhar wrote:

OptimisticBiker wrote:

I had a quick scan through the thread and you haven't said what you are riding or where you are commuting from/to... I'm sure there's lot more help/motivation we can give if we knew more...

hello! i'll be commuting from Chorley, a place called Buckshaw Village to Accrington. My place of work is a stone throw away from Accrington train station. i dont think anyone on here is from where i live and commute to where i work. i think the gist from the advice i'm getting is to get the miles in my legs. i did say i was gonna commute from june but i'm gonna start it next week. i think i need to get a few more miles in and buy a few more stuff for the bike before i make the commute.

Apart from the little bit where you have to cross the A6 and a small smidgin of the unavoidable A674 It doesn't look too bad. You've got about 418m of climbing over the 26.5km route which is certainly not to be sneezed at, but is perfectly do-able. I'd certainly consider putting a 27 or 28T sprocket on, assuming your existing largest one is a 25T.

You could use National Cycle Route #91 then #6 almost all the way, but that involves a significant element of canal towpath and adds a further 9 or so miles. But will be flatter!

optimisticbiker

dup..

Mr_Grinch

The time can really be affected by traffic lights and traffic too. If I set off at 7am I can be in by 7:40 (11mile commute) on a good run, and I'm far from the fastest cyclist. However if I leave at 8 and get caught in traffic and the traffic lights are feeling vindictive then it can take upwards of an hour.

CiB

Gizmo_ wrote:

Twostage wrote:

So I'd say start small, 3 miles maybe, then build up.

3 miles?

That's not a ride, it's a warm-up.

Note: I'm not a semi-pro taking the p"ss. I've had my road bike ten days. But 3 miles... really? I could walk that in 45 minutes.

Too right. What's going on here? Four pages in and all the bloke has to do is get on his bike and ride it for an hour. It's not London to Delhi, not even London to Brighton. It's a pretty simple bike ride that anyone should be able to manage in an hour & a half max, rapidly bringing it down to a sub hour ride after a couple of weeks.

And this business of 'confidence', or doing a bit on the car and then resting. Come on. It's a short bike ride. Talk about mountain out of a molehill.

:roll:

godders1

I agree, as a one off trip 16 miles doesn't take much effort at all unless you're really unfit.

It's initially pretty tough doing it twice a day for 5 consecutive days though so I would build up by doing the journey a fewer number of times and building up the frequency as opposed to building up the actual distance. I started a 16 mile commute in December and this has worked for me anyway. I did Tuesday and Thursday for a couple of weeks, then Monday, Wed, Fri for a few weeks and now just do it every day.

I think we tend to build these things up in our heads, it's really not that big a deal.

bails87

Agree with the two posts above.

Just do it. Do it one day this week. Pick the day with the best weather and do it. Do the same again next week. If the best weather next week is on Monday then ride in on Monday, then look for a decent day again, maybe ride in Monday and Thursday. Whatever you do, don't put it off. You can do 20 miles. That means you can do 16. If you can do 16 once then you can do it twice with an 8-9 hour rest in the middle.

Just.
Do.
It!

Gizmo_

CiB wrote:

Gizmo_ wrote:

Twostage wrote:

So I'd say start small, 3 miles maybe, then build up.

3 miles?

That's not a ride, it's a warm-up.

Note: I'm not a semi-pro taking the p"ss. I've had my road bike ten days. But 3 miles... really? I could walk that in 45 minutes.

Too right. What's going on here? Four pages in and all the bloke has to do is get on his bike and ride it for an hour. It's not London to Delhi, not even London to Brighton. It's a pretty simple bike ride that anyone should be able to manage in an hour & a half max, rapidly bringing it down to a sub hour ride after a couple of weeks.

And this business of 'confidence', or doing a bit on the car and then resting. Come on. It's a short bike ride. Talk about mountain out of a molehill.

:roll:

I wasn't quite suggesting he should just get on with the whole ride. But 3 miles... for someone who's not quite in the groove yet, that's just enough for it to be hard work, and not enough time to break through to that nice cruising feeling where you're warmed up and breathing properly.

bails87

Gizmo_ wrote:

CiB wrote:

Gizmo_ wrote:

Twostage wrote:

So I'd say start small, 3 miles maybe, then build up.

3 miles?

That's not a ride, it's a warm-up.

Note: I'm not a semi-pro taking the p"ss. I've had my road bike ten days. But 3 miles... really? I could walk that in 45 minutes.

Too right. What's going on here? Four pages in and all the bloke has to do is get on his bike and ride it for an hour. It's not London to Delhi, not even London to Brighton. It's a pretty simple bike ride that anyone should be able to manage in an hour & a half max, rapidly bringing it down to a sub hour ride after a couple of weeks.

And this business of 'confidence', or doing a bit on the car and then resting. Come on. It's a short bike ride. Talk about mountain out of a molehill.

:roll:

I wasn't quite suggesting he should just get on with the whole ride.

Why not? He's already said he can do 20 miles.

Twostage

I don't think MTFU is what he wants to be told. Obviously if he wants to start longer than that then great.

CiB

Gizmo_ wrote:

I wasn't quite suggesting he should just get on with the whole ride. But 3 miles... for someone who's not quite in the groove yet, that's just enough for it to be hard work, and not enough time to break through to that nice cruising feeling where you're warmed up and breathing properly.

3 miles is nothing, for anyone who can ride a bike and certainly for someone contemplating a 16 mile ride with the "premise is it too far"?

Azhar wrote:

As the title of this topic says; it'ss the reaction I've got from a few of my colleagues when I put forth the notion of me commuting to work. I have a decent road bike but a little bit intimadated about the distance. I don't know if that distance might just be too far and I should stick to driving. I'm also worried about my bulky weight, I,m 16 stone. But determined to save money, be green and generally see the health benefits of commuting.

So, is 16.4 miles each way commute doable? Will my weight cause me any problems? Anyone know travel a similar distance? How long doEs it take?

Sorry for all the questions. Have a nice day.

This is what was asked in the first post. The answers are:

is it doable? Yes, easily.
Will weight be an issue? Not at 16 st no.
Any else do it? Lots do, and more. That sort of mileage isn't a big issue.
How long? 1 hour, maybe 1 & half.

This idea that OP should build up the distance gradually, or drive some distance then cycle the rest, or that he needs to build up confidence to it is a nonsense. It's a gentle bit of exercise in the morning that'll take an hour & half or he can press on a bit, make a bit more effort and knock it out in about an hour. Where does 'building confidence' come into riding a bike for an hour or so? What's the point in trying to save money & be a bit greener if the car's still part of the equation.

Cycling isn't difficult or a big challenge to the faculties. It requires someone to sit astride a cycle and pedal if for a short while. OP - just go out and do it. It's easy, and it'll get easier. Don't muck about driving a bit & cycling some more, that's a barmy.

The other clincher is the common theme amongst converts to cycling commuting who to a man (and woman) all wish they'd known how easy it would be, and wish that they'd started sooner.

bails87

Twostage wrote:

I don't think MTFU is what he wants to be told. Obviously if he wants to start longer than that then great.

I wasn't trying to say MTFU, it's not as if he's tried it, struggled and we're callously throwing 'MTFU' at him

I was probably in a similar situation when I started. A ~15 mile commute sounds like a lot. But it's doable. Not every day, but for the OP to, for the next month, do it one day a week is perfectly realistic, especially as he can already do 20 miles. It was the "do three miles" comment that stood out as odd. Spend 15 minutes loading up the car, maknig sure you've got everything etc, drive most of the way to work, park up somewhere, unload the bike, put it back together, ride for, what, 12 minutes, then get off, lock the bike up, get changed and start work?

Why bother, just ride the whole way, it'll be much less hassle, and I bet the OP will do it without too much of a struggle.

Twostage

With apologies to Azhar, extracts from his posts...

when i finally do the 16.4 miles there and back

I think where i am at the moment, fitness wise, is that i can do 5/6 miles and no more after that, legs turn jelly at slightest incline

cant wait to do it but i really gotta work on my fitness. its very really very poor

so it kinda...kinda knocked my confidence a bit and made me think should i actually do the commute
all what i mentioned and discussed in this post is more of a psychological barrier than a fitness one

i'm jst concerned about upholding traffic when i'm going uphill and struggling that sort of thing. does that sort of thing put u slightly off??

I think there is enough there to indicate that doing a short commute as a first step would be more useful than either putting it off by training until he thinks he is fit enough for a 32 mile round trip or worse not being fit enough and having a bad experience that puts him off altogether.
Like I said if the first commute is a more 'healthy' distance then great.

Azhar

hello. to clear up confusion. last year i was able to do a 20 mile trip a couple times every weekend. this was last year. since then there were a lot of changes with work as well as moving to a new house and entertaining my two year old that i simply did not have time to cycle. however...my current fitness at the moment was that i couldnt do any more than 6 miles. i downloaded the strava app and managed to do something like 9.3 miles. http://app.strava.com/activities/8371037. check out my strava record.its not great but the distance i did wasnt too bad. i thought that most i could do was 5/6 miles which is why i only did about 4 and a half miles and then turned around. but now that i've crossed that mental barrier that i can do a lot more than what i thought i could then it wont be long before i find the trip to accrington enjoyable. its just those damn hills!

another thing, i did a dry run to my work place....in the car...and there are a lot of uphills. but at least there are some downhills that help. i am going to do the dry run on bike this weekend no matter how long it takes. i just need to get used to the route. and i'll post another strava link as well you'll notice on that strava app link i';ve posted that the segment is near the beggining of my journey. that incline was steep and even though i had the chain right at the top it still felt difficult and my thighs were on fire.

i know that some of the suggestions is to drive half way and then ride my bike. there isnt really a place half way that i would want to park my car. i rather do the whole thing on my bike or not. i might as well get to the point i can do it (which i should prove to myself this weekend) then start biking it to work. its going to be from next week. not june i start commuting on bike. and still i gotta put up with those 'looks' from my colleagues. told my boss about me commuting my bike and i'm sure he thought "nah...he aint gonna do it". grrr

portland_bill

My commute is 18.4 miles each way and I do that in around about an hour give or take 5-10mins depending on how I'm feeling and what the weather's like.

As said on here, I just tried it out over the weekends a few times bearing in mind that it's easier to ride to work, do a few hours at work and then ride home again than it is to ride to work to see if you can do it comfortably and then ride straight home again with little or no rest.

As said, get yourself a cartridge kit for your tyres and if you can, carry a couple of spare tubes and some tyre levers and make sure you're comfortable on your bike. Once a week for a few weeks, then maybe twice a week and see how it feels and just go on from there. That's all I did and in the space of about 3 months I've knocked about 15 minutes off my travel time. :-D

Oh and get some mudguards!!! Nothing worse than being caught out when it's chucking down.

Pessable

+1 for the mudguards. I know it sounds obvious but I was amazed at how much difference they make.

Azhar

optimisticbiker....where did you go on the net to find out that little graph underneath the map that shows you the inclines and downhills?

Pessable

I think there are several sites that support that facility. I use http://www.ridewithgps.com .

Azhar

Pessable wrote:

I think there are several sites that support that facility. I use http://www.ridewithgps.com .

awesome. thanks

rubertoe

you done the route yet azhar?

do it, DO IT, DO IT NOW

Azhar

Dear Rubertoe. Unfortunately, i havent done the trip to work on the bike...yet. doing it this weekend. however, i have been riding my bike around the area where i live getting a good workout. i think on page 4 at the bottom i mentioned that i drove on the route i would be riding my bike on and its very hilly rubertoe!! even though there are some downhills after these hills i wont be able to get up these hills pretty quickly but hopefully this weekend i will be able to see that. the distance doesnt bother me...just the amount of hills i gotta tackle on the way to work

Pessable

If you're struggling on the hills, don't be afraid to get off and walk. This will help to adapt to the demands of the climb. I read somewhere (CTC I think) that most riders can stay stable down to about 3mph.

Being prepared to ride slowly is no bad thing, most training programs incorporate low heart rate "base training" where it's important to keep your exertion level or intensity down. It helps build endurance.

So don't worry about anyone else, as long as you're safe, and concentrate on your own development.

rubertoe

Pessable is of course right, don't worry if you need to get off and push. or need to stop for a few minutes to take a breather.

Like i think you said, at this point it is all psychological, you'll be fine and you'll soon worry what all the fuss is about.

bails87

Yep, (again) I agree with the two posts above. Remember that the 33 mile round trip in one go is going to be tougher than two 16.4 mile trips, 8 hours apart.

Good luck, take your time, let us know how you get on.

Azhar

helo! well i went to my mums on the bike and back which is the same distance, nearly, from my home to my place of work. http://app.strava.com/activities/8667539. So at least the distance is fine, there were some hills that really took it out of me but i suppose if one puts this in perspective i have only been seriously biking for about a week and a half. so just need the miles in my legs and gonna try and go accrington this weekend. i understand, the post above, that a round trip of about 33 miles in one go is going to be tough but i'll try and get a good rest when i get there and then set off again i'll post another strava link when i;ve been to accrington (hopfeully)

Initialised

Could you take a longer route that flattens out the dip at around 10km in?

It might end up being quicker.

jonomc4

Got to agree with that - I am a total Muppet on a hill - I can cruise the flat at 20 - 24mph comfortably - get to a hill and 5 year olds on tricycles zip past me.

As I got used to my route into work I changed it to remove a few of the hills and flatten the route a bit - there are still hills but less so - it added about a mile to my route but made it far more manageable and quicker.

Also as you get used to a route I think it pays to vary it others you can get bored - I have about 4 different routes into work all slightly different profiles - but generally for a commute route it is nice to have long flat route with little disruption of traffic lights etc as possible.

daxplusplus

On choices of routes .. I go for the roads which I believe to be safest. This usually means with the least amount of traffic but not necessarily. What makes a safer route seems to be a combination of width, road surface condition and availability of other, faster routes nearby. Strangely these routes also tend to have the best views and some great roller coaster rides

BTW I'm talking about a rural commute obviously cities\towns and busy roads create different conditions and hazards.