Commuting daily on a bike - what are you main problems / big

midasmk1

Hey All,

Im in my final year at Uni doing Transport Design, and on with my major project, with the idea of creating a few concepts in the next couple of weeks.

One of my projects is to improve the daily commute for cyclists, and my question really, is what problems / issues occur?

I've been out on my bicycle today, and nearly got ran off the road a few times, especially by buses. I can imagine in a more urban environment like this,
that this is a bigger problem? That and the weather are the biggest issues that spring to mind?

If you could share some of your issues / problems with cycling, it would be great!

Thanks in advance

Sam

meanredspider

The weather in the UK is fine 99% of the time. If there's an issue, I'd say it's the other traffic on the road. Quite how that shows up depends upon where you ride.

DrLex

This time of year? Pheasants launching themselves out of the hedgerows on a collision course. Luckily no Guns up at that time of the morning.

jamesco

midasmk1 wrote:

I've been out on my bicycle today, and nearly got ran off the road a few times, especially by buses. I can imagine in a more urban environment like this, that this is a bigger problem? That and the weather are the biggest issues that spring to mind?

* Vehicles (or their drivers, I suppose); there are too many that kill/injure/intimidate and it simply isn't taken seriously. * Lack of segregated cycle lanes - this can start an argument on here because the posters are in the hard-core true-believers category of cyclists, but the fact is that the vast majority of people won't consider cycling without the safety and/or confidence that comes from being away from vehicles. * Lack of cycle parking. * Weather is irrelevant - it'd be nice if it was 24 degrees and sunny everyday, but there's nothing in London at least that can't be handled. * Jeremy Clarkson and the idiots that don't realise when he's joking.

tangled_metal

If you have a problem with the weather you're wearing the wrong clothes or using the wrong kit.

Other road users including some cyclists. Every dodgy.cyclist makes it easier for a motorist to treat you as being in the wrong for just being there.
Drivers getting too close, overtaking just to turn left at short notice and those who overtake as if you're stationary so they're pulling in with you still inside them.
Annoying noises on your bike that stop and start.suddenly and when back home with all your tools can't be emulated or their source can't be found.
Those are the niggles I have with.commuting since starting.doing it April this year. Cycling between 3 and 5 days a week to and from work plus leisure rides on holiday and every other weekend.

bendertherobot

The lecherous glances I get when I arrive in lycra. I feel so degraded.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Most road vehicles have quite plain rears, nothing too dangerous to a cyclist in terms of nasty edges/points etc., if they should hit the back of one due to rim brakes failing to stop the bike in wet weather. Then compare the rear of a dustbin lorry, all those angular teeth etc., all at a perfect height for a the "road bike" cyclist to smash into and cause all sorts of damage to their skull and teeth.

Won't forget that morning in a hurry, reminded of it everyday, almost a year on.

andrewc3142

Massive 4x4s driving their darling offspring 1 km to private school, double parking then pulling out without looking whilst on the mobile would be one.

People setting off in winter with all the windows misted up or just a tiny area of the windscreen defrosted would be another.

The almost total lack of cycling infrastruture, but that's just the UK for you.

On that subject, though, a daily annoyance is the 10 minute long splodge of intermittent blue paint that gives priority to vehicles when it matters being called "Cycle Superhighway 8", although I suppose it's also amusing so maybe this balances it out.

The morning commute is fine, but getting motivated at the end of a hard day to set off on a 2 hour ride in the dark and cold back home can be difficult, especially if it rained in the morning and your stuff hasn't dried out properly.

Anonymous

For me the only issue is putting on wet kit for the return trip, eap when it's freezing cold as well

CiB

Getting up early enough to be able to cycle in. The ride itself is a breeze; it's the being up by 6:50 that's the problem, esp on cold wet dark mornings.

And the tedium of almost 8 years riding the same routes from fixed point A to fixed point B. There are only so many variations of it.

redbikejohn

There are two main problems:

1. Vehicle drivers fail to recognise the bicycle as a valid road user. This can be due to not actually seeing them as they are programmed to look for a car etc or due to social conditioning as they regard bike riders as a lower form of transport who do not contribute to the road up keep and are a general nuisance. This encompasses all the close overtakes and pulling out in front of you or overtaking and immediately cutting you off.

2. The state of the roads - especially the sides. Too many cracks in the road and broken up surfaces which makes commuting on a road bike an pain and dangerous. On a mtb this isn't a problem.

I commute from bucks into wembely as much as I can weather permitting - not keen on riding in the rain as it takes the fun out of it and feels like a chore so in poor weather I which back to my motorcycle.

fatsmoker

redbikejohn wrote:

There are two main problems:

1. Vehicle drivers fail to recognise the bicycle as a valid road user. This can be due to not actually seeing them as they are programmed to look for a car etc or due to social conditioning as they regard bike riders as a lower form of transport who do not contribute to the road up keep and are a general nuisance. This encompasses all the close overtakes and pulling out in front of you or overtaking and immediately cutting you off.

Interesting article about that
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130212-why-you-really-hate-cyclists

DCI Gene Hunt

school run women drivers and blokes in white vans are the worst drivers known to humanity

rolf_f

coriordan wrote:

For me the only issue is putting on wet kit for the return trip, eap when it's freezing cold as well

If that's a problem why don't you just keep some dry kit at work. I've kept a spare jersey at work this year though, to be fair, I've yet to bother to use it!

Anonymous

Because then when you get home you have 2 sets of soaking kit for the wash. Ideally id love some good water-proof bibs with a completely waterproof backside panel!

byke68

for me it's crap road surfaces, white vans, women drivers and headwinds. Oh, the odd puncture now & then too !

roger_merriman

Um none, short commute in very outer london, quiet side roads, though almost the entirety is traffic free though a Royal Park, the Deer are occasionally a bit frisky...

rick_chasey

Mopeds and tipper trucks.

awavey

the weathers not a problem,as others have said there arent nearly as many horrendous days as youd expect, the main problem is how other road users treat you and behave round you.

that for me is the main difference between a car & cycle commute, you still get the school run craziness in a car and still get people pulling out on you and so on, what you dont get is people doing the totally stupid dumbass and dangerous things that you see happen to you on a bike, no-ones ever tried to drive in to me in a car laughing with an inane stupid grin on their face, it happens more often than Id like on a bike.

elbowloh

To paraphrase a paraphrased Michael Caine in Zulu "cnuts, thaaasaaands of 'em".

il_principe

This thread make me want to weep.

surrey_commuter

I look at the things that make my life easy - secure underground car park with hundreds of spots for bikes, showers at work, cupboards for storing work gear.

The tribal nature of road users is quite freaky - car drivers should want more cyclists and for them to RLJ as this would make their own journeys quicker.

phil485

it makes me too tired to do justice to the sunday club run!

slowbike

I don't ride in daily - just frequently.

I avoid riding on days when I need to carry too much clobber - mostly clothes & food, but sometimes other things like purchases that then need carrying home.

I also tend to avoid riding on days when I'd get soaked going in - I have ridden in heavy rain with waterproof over-trousers & jacket - but it never keeps you 100% dry and it's then a pita to dry it all out at work - simpler to drive if I'm getting soaked on the way in.

I also avoid commuting by bike on days when I need to be out promptly or need to go places that would be difficult/time pressured by bike.

TBH, I'm not bothered by lack of bike paths - they tend to be poorly maintained & shared use around here - the one bike path that is on my commute doesn't get used often because it cuts down the speed advantage of the main road.
Close passes are a PITA, but doesn't occur too often - the number of polite drivers must be topping 90% of those I encounter.

bigmat

The constant risk of being wiped out by errant motorists - generally its fine, but that risk is always there. The pissing rain - I know you can dress for all conditions, put guards on etc, but life is so much easier and nicer when its dry and sunny.

A shower at work and somewhere to dry wet kit would be very welcome.

StorckSpeed

I find it impossible to ride in to work 5 days a week.
Instead I take the car on a Monday and take all my work clothes, dry towel etc. and leave them at work then ride in Tues-Fri. Taking my used clothes home at the end of each day.
This has the advantage that I can still go out with the club on a Sunday and recover a little on Monday.
Although my work has showers, cycle lockers etc. and seem pro-cycling. There's no lockers at my work to keep my work clothes in and so they hang on a clothes stand until I need them. Also there's nowhere to hang any wet clothes to dry. Previous place I worked had kit lockers and these had heated rails below them which dried out your clothes. They were always lovely and toasty on a cold winters day. :-)

Like the post above I also don't ride into work if it's tipping-it down in the morning as putting on cold wet clothes is a pain. Don't mind a light shower though.

daddy0

Main problem in a nutshell: the attitude of a minority of motorists can make cycling unsafe.

Infrastructure wise I find cycle paths are a waste of time - the ones in the road get filled with road detritus which make them unsafe to ride in. Then drivers get narked off with you for not using the cycle path. Most motorists ignore them anyway so provide no actual "protection" or "space for cycling". Shared use paths are all very well for people who pootle a mile or so to go to the shops, but are generally useless for people who commute any real distance and therefore want to go "fast".

As far as weather goes - for short commutes in suburbia only snow/ice will stop me from riding in. For long commutes through the countryside then really strong winds or heavy, cold rain will make me reach for the car keys.

I also get tired some weeks. Having two very young children wake me up several times a night and commuting 50 miles a day will do that I guess. So sometimes I need to give my legs a rest.

Kieran_Burns

Getting out of bed.

Initialised

Workplaces rarely provide facilities for drying your clothes and moan when you improvise.

Other than that it's the odd idiot piloting over a ton of metal and plastic badly.

MrSweary

bendertherobot wrote:

The lecherous glances I get when I arrive in lycra. I feel so degraded.

It is a cross you bear with remarkable humility though.

redbikejohn

Need to add "cold feet " to the list. Left work at 10pm for the two hour cycle home and it was 0 deg outside. I was OK (hands a little cold) but my feet were freezing all the way home. Had sock, waterproof oversocks, shoes and then covers over that but feet were still like ice.

Also got a phone call from the wife telling me off for riding in that sort of cold and on lonely roads. Said I should take the train. Much safer at night I said but still she's not happy.