what keeps you pedaling?

gosport_commuter

Long story short:-

Commuted 8 or 10 miles each way for a few years, attempted a jogle in may, a for various reasons of injury and loss of joy being without family for 2 weeks, jacked it in after 800 or so miles.

Commuted all of about 4 times since - using motorbike instead.

Even now the idea brings me little joy, but im thinking I am gonna have to bite the bullet, psyche myself up, and get on with it before it's too late.
With that in mind, I had today off, and am thinking this is the best weekend to commence 'psyching'.


So to the task at hand! What are your reasons for cycle commuting?, what keeps you going? What do you rely on to keep you happy when your body has had enough?

Please share with me any anecdotes about things that have happened and made you smile through.

Help me to stay on the right path!

will3

Personally, I've never sold goods door-to-door.

jongooligan

Some similarities with your story. Been commuting on my bike since 1981 but the last four crap summers (before this summer) and last three bad winters ground me down. I went back to a motorbike for the first time in thirty years. At first it was fab. Then my trousers started getting a bit tight. Then I realised I was getting fat.

Now I'm back on my bike and losing weight.

rubertoe

Finances and sheer joy plus a hatred of public transport, I actually cant wait to move home so i can increase my commute distance by possibly up to 9 miles each way.

Today was a brutal day for commuting home, It was a direct on the nose head wind for 15 solid miles and gusting as well, just got me head down and got on with it.

mrfpb

Strava!

The monthly challenge is my current motivational tool to keep me on the bike in the cooling weather. Only on my second month but it is helping me get out.

Also an annual challenge - I did 100 km challenge this year, I hope to do a 100 mile challenge next year. I guess after JOGLE that's not your motivating factor.

I started a desk based, mostly home based job about a year ago, and I have put on around 5kg weight since despite regular riding. Most of that was put on last winter and I wasn't able to lose it through the summer. Having a monthly mileage goal on Strava helps me get out in the morning, even if its just five miles, before sitting at the desk.

My wife reckons I'm much more sane on days when I ride.

Initialised

Not having an alternative is a great way to keep you pedalling. Well there's the buses but I'd have to leave the house even earlier to use them.

stu-bim

mrfpb wrote:

My wife reckons I'm much more sane on days when I ride.

Everyone reckons I am much more sane when I ride!!!!!!!

Seriously I find riding extremely stress relieving. Having to focus on something outside of work for an hour before going home and actually going home at a reasonable hour does a huge amount for my mood.

rjsterry

Only other option for me is PT (no driving license) and for more than the odd day here and there, it is prohibitively expensive. Z1-5 monthly travel card is now £199!

robwatkins

One of the best motivational factors for me is routine. I find it easy to get on the bike as long as I cycled the day before.

The first few days after a break from the bike are always tough as I have become used to a different routine, but I know I just need to put my head down and get on with it. It gets a lot easier after that!

fat_tail

agreed with pretty much everything. for me its

1. I really like being on a bike
2. I hate being on public transport
3. I like getting fitter
4. I like measuring my performance on Strava
5. I like the time in the morning and the evening when its just me the bike
6. I like tinkering with my bike... changing bits and pieces, keeping it roadworthy..
7. I like losing weight and keeping it off easily.
8. the positive effects on your heart, psyche etc cannot be underrated

welkman

It keeps me fit, sane and has helped me make new friends. I love building up bikes, riding bikes and talking bikes. My wife is much happier than when I was motorbiking. I have seen great places all over europe by bike and am now a keen amateur racer. I love the feeling of getting into work on the days with the worst weather, I feel the seasons more and feel more connected to nature. If you didn't get on the bike you would spend most of the winter inside!

gosport_commuter

I have to admit - I think my biggest motive is the fitness thing.

When I returned from my JOGLE, I weighed nearly a stone less than when I left - and 5 months on, I weigh nearly a stone more!

At this rate I'll be obese in a relatively short space of time!

Time permitting I am going to drag the steed back out of it's hiding place in the shed and give it a once over tomorrow. Today was eaten by diagnosing a faulty radiator cap on the car - F=;king hate cars! everything is so hard to get at.
The real problem - if i'm honest - is dragging my lazy ass out of bed half hour early Monday morning, and not just hitting snooze knowing the motorbike is there to whisk me to work within 20 minutes.

ASIDE - what's everyone wearing in the mornings the last few days? are we onto windproof jackets and tights yet? Last time I commuted it was summer gear all round.

samtope

will3 wrote:

Personally, I've never sold goods door-to-door.

Just got it! Doing a fine trade in pegs and shoe laces myself.. As has been said making it habit works for me, if I did it yesterday I'll probably do it tomorrow. I also get a strange pleasure from watching things wear out and then replacing them. I don't like hearing things wear out though, thats really annoying.

matt581

to be honest, i have no choice.

I lost my driving license for being a stupid (no need to judge, im being honest and i feel bad as it is). So cycling the 15 mile each way commute is my punishment but i also love it. Don't get me wrong there are days when its raining and i have to drag my self out of bed at 5:30 and climb on bike and grumble why was i such a fool to loose my license but by the time i'm at work that feeling is gone.

Exercise is a great de-stresser. As said before, my GF notices I am a lot more chilled after a ride.

veronese68

I must confess I removed the temptation to ride a motorbike, It's just too easy to get on a motorbike. So, I sold this:

And bought this:

3 years on it looks like this:

So I tend to cycle.

mrfpb

gosport_commuter wrote:

I have to admit - I think my biggest motive is the fitness thing.

Stuff

ASIDE - what's everyone wearing in the mornings the last few days? are we onto windproof jackets and tights yet? Last time I commuted it was summer gear all round.

Night Vision Evo jacket in the rain. Merino base layers. I treated myself to a Rapha merino hoody a couple of months ago (sale price less another 10% and still an indulgence) and wore it this week over a smart work shirt when cycling to a client. Still not sure it was worth the money but it certainly kept the cold out.

If I needd to arrive somewhere dressed smart in the rain I wear some Gore Tex walking gaiters over my lower legs/shoes to keep the crud off. My smart M and S trousers are water repellant.

First.Aspect

It beats all the alternatives. It saves me time.

It probably also entertains the secretaries when I arrive in the morning.

gosport_commuter

All set for 'b-day' ...new red bar tape, not sure I like it, but needed. All minor fettling complete, lunch made, a selection of clothing laid out. and ready to go.

Wish me luck!

stu-bim

Back on it, good man

bdave262000

The initial reason for cycling to work was to lose weight and gain fitness without going to the gym or jogging as I cannot run to save my life. Using public transport takes me about an hour door to door, I have got my commute time down to an average of 50mins (13miles each way) so it doesn't take any time out of my day. I went from over 20st to around 16.5st in about 18months, although its starting to creep back up.

The cost of Public Transport (Zone 1-4) and the fact that it seems to get bussier every year.

Stress relief, although sometimes cycling through London has the opposite effect, but I always have time to wind down as I hit Richmond Park.

Also having children has changed my mindset, my lifestyle hasn't been the best since giving up sport in my early 20's, I didn't want to be the big dad thats huffing and puffing away, so its good to get my heart pumping and fitness better. I think it also sets a good example to them too, they love being on their bikes, although not so good for my wallett as my 8 year old son has his sights set on a road bike.

bigmat

Awful time of year to get back into it! For me it beats the alternative hands down. Even when I don't feel like cycling, once I start thinking about the PT alternative (delayed and crowded trains, inflated ticket prices, cold wet platforms, loss of fitness) its a no-brainer. And that's on the bad days!

rubertoe

Did you make it?

gosport_commuter

Yes I made it!

Felt great first thing, but feeling tired now. Not sure if im gonna try and do tomorrow, or if im gonna go for alternative days on bike this week. I will see how I feel tonight, got evening classes tiday. Long day.

veronese68

Well done. The problem with doing alternate days is you keep having to get the other set of gear out. What about trying for 3 days on the trot, then maybe go to 4 after a while.
Keep it up.

Fireblade96

Re: what keeps you pedaling?

Riding fixed. Not pedalling isn't an option.

gosport_commuter

haha true.

Day 2 - set and about to leave, feeling tired but legs are in good shape still.

with ref to the time of year, I actually prefer autumn/spring weather to summer - so that shouldn't be an issue.

tetley10

Keep at it, imagine how quick you will be in the summer after a winter putting the miles in. You will be able to turn a 'Tony Martin' gear.

Beeblebrox

Because it's quicker than driving.

Gallywomack

Habit, essentially. Aside from all the usual benefits associated with cycling over PT, I just find it much easier to cycle. If I do have to take PT, it takes a lot more time and effort to get myself organised in the morning, largely because I do it so rarely and I'm out of the habit.

Gallywomack

Thought of this thread tonight. Can't say I've been enjoying it too much in general of late. Traffic is so bloody awful all the time, it's beginning to get me down a bit. Especially on the way home, it's just gridlock all the way down from Bermondsey to the Rotherhithe tunnel and increasingly beyond that down to Deptford. Going OKR way is just as bad really. I've been thinking of taking a nicer route down, say CS7 (is it?) down to Cla'am then across - is that any good? Course, I'd still have to deal with getting across SE London to home but it's possible there might be a nice-ish way of doing that. Just can't understand why traffic so bloody awful all the time though, it seemed to take a turn for the worse around the time the schools went back and has remained that way ever since.

Sorry, this should probably be in the rant thread.

craker

Yes good bump... I remember thinking how I should contribute to this thread - it's £6-20 for me to drive over the Severn Bridge every day + fuel and queueing around Bristol, it's been a no-brainer. £31 saved immediately on bridge tolls often goes straight into the bike therapy fund.

However my company have just offered all us Welshies* commuting into England of a morning a free-ish tag. That completely destroys the look-how-cheap-cycling is argument for me.

*I'm not very Welsh.