anyone commute 15miles+?
Comments
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25 miles each way for me. Not done it for a while due to winter them my bike was nicked but back on it this week. On my third day on the trot tonight. Feeling it today as my fitness dropped off over winter.
I race dirtbikes on the weekend so if I'm racing I don't cycle later than Wednesday as I need my legs to fully recover. As I get fitter this year I might step it up a bit. I only started last year Sept and did several weeks of five in a row.
Oats and nuts in the morning. Take sandwiches and diner to work too - depending on my shift.0 -
Azhar wrote:i'm amazed how many miles you cover Daddy0. Your body weight must be quite low because I currently weight 100kg and I think that's my trouble too. i'm fat. hopefully from what I've learnt i'll be carrying a lot less weight at the end of summer
I weigh about 74kg at the moment and I'm 178cm (5'10/11ish) tall. At the end of summer I did get down to 70kg, and just after xmas I was 78kg. Make of this what you will, however I do think that when I was my skinniest I did seem to get ill very easily, but being sleep deprived because of new baby probably didn't help. BTW - when I started commuting (to lose weight) I was about 90kg. If you want to lose weight just cycle more, I found that I could still eat as much as I liked as long as I cycled that day. If you drink booze then consider cutting that out whilst you're trying to lose weight. One tip that I think worked was - end each ride with a sprint, so that you're panting for air when you get off the bike. This will encourage your body to burn fat, and it will keep burning fat for a while after you're off the bike too.zebulebu wrote:Also echo the comment above about drinking enough. I am absolutely terrible at this - I only take one bottle on my commute and often end up with half of it left over at the end. It's a dreadful habit, but I've never been able to shake it. If you can, always make sure you drink plenty of water.
I do this too, but I have learnt to check how much water I have about a mile towards the end of the journey and try to drink as much as I can whilst spinning. I think it helps. It's what the pros do isn't it? If I get to my destination and still have water left I drink it quickly after getting off the bike.0 -
guinea wrote:I'm similar to zebulebu.
I ride 26km each way every day.
I have no breakfast before I go and have a protein bar for breakfast at my desk. I have a lunch (burrito, sandwich or similar) and maybe a snack in the afternoon if I feel tired.
At night I have a fairly large dinner.
However, I am hungry most of the time, but that's in my head rather than in my belly. If I eat carbs at breakfast I crave them all day, hence the bar.
I don't get particularly tired towards the end of the week, but my times definitely get slower unless I try hard to go faster. If I cycle every day then I'll definitely have at least one day of rest at the weekend.
My commute takes me on average an hour each way. This plus 2300-2500 daily calories keeps my weight steady. If eat more I put on weight.
They key with yourself and zebulebu must be the largish dinner.
I set off fasted (4.30am i'm not ready for food yet!) but have a decent bowl of porridge on breakfast break at 8.30, and will probably drink a couple chocolate flavour milk drinks between meals when i get hungry. Sometimes i'm on 1000 calories by 10am, but lunch is more moderate and dinner is just a can of baked beans with a few quorn pieces chucked in. Daily total is similar. The thing is, i'll be asleep within an hour of getting home, so no point making a mountain of food. Also my worst binge temptation is at work, i have to walk past this vending machine 20 times a day so i need to stay carbed up or i will raid it. I don't keep so much food at home, certainly not chocolate, biscuits or sweets, so i can sit around hungry more easily. Must be different if you've got a family and a whole damn larder full of treats!0 -
30 miles a day average, that can be extended to 40 miles in summer. To the OP, tiredness was a thing for me when i first started but your body gets used to it. So rest when you can, fueling as well be careful with it, I used to just eat what ever I wanted but weight was static ( good thing mind ) . Nowadays a bit older and I do watch now what I eat. Food for thought here though
your weight may stay the same but your body shape changes fact! I`m currently 92Kg. Lost say 3Kg this year but dieting with the Mrs at the moment. Lastly I still treat every commute as a individual TT, however have started taking things easy on some days if weather rubbish etc. 3000 miles done already this year, on my way to last years target of 6.5k, so not bad. 0 -
16 miles e/w
To be honest, its tough. I do on average about 3 days a week, (I also car share, so tend to cycle when car sharer isn't in). I have done 5 days in the past, but find it tough. By Friday it's about the goal rather than enjoyment of the journey
Best advice is to have plenty of fluid and also carry some emergency gels (or something similar). It's rubbish when you bonk with 10 + miles to go0 -
nothing more to add than already the great comments - sleep, listen to your body, recovery shakes at work really help.
i am terrible for eating junk though, just because its easy to get it at work - i should really try and stash tons of healthy flapjack type stuff in the drawers....
biggest issue i have at the moment is what to wear !
its about 5 degrees commuting in , with a cold headwind, and about 13 to 15 back out.... ive tried legwarmers and armwarmers but they all seem to fall down for me !0 -
It's funny looking back at my old posts on this topic, which i find myself disagreeing with. Since starting to commute in february, my fat burning metabolism seems to have improved significantly in the last month or two - i no longer need to stuff carbs into myself constantly to avoid the bonk. I still eat the 80:10:10 diet however, because i find it helps me resist the mid morning chocolate cravings i used to get, and i've lost a lot of weight on it.
My issue now appears to be one of staleness. I've started doing longer rides on my days off, which i really enjoy, but find myself utterly glazing over on the commute. Despite constantly exhorting myself to pedal harder, i'm struggling to get the average hr even to 120. On my long rides, i have to keep telling myself to back off as it goes over 140 without me trying.
I suppose there's three possible reasons
1) I just need more time to recover. Maybe it takes over a week for someone of my fitness level to recover from a 7 hour ride. I'm 42 and only been riding since Feb.
2) I'm bored of the route. To test this idea, i need to take a detour on the way home on a day when i'm struggling, and see if the unfamiliar landscape gets me going or not.
3) maybe i just take a long, long time to warm up. My HR is starting to come up a bit by the end of the commute, but that could just be the extra motivation you get from having the finish line in sight.
At times , i wonder if the commute just constitutes "junk miles", but that's dangerous thinking - i could find myself taking the car more and more, and not increasing my mileage elsewhere to compensate.
Perhaps i should stop trying to force the pace when i'm feeling flat - I was hoping that if i get my hr up long enough, the adrenaline/endorphins will kick in and make the ride entertaining again, but i think all i'm doing is suffering needlessly and putting myself off cycling.0 -
Sorry if I've missed something (I haven't reread the whole thread) why is pace so important? It takes as long as it takes doesn't it?
I've been doing 15 miles each way for 6 years or so, tired, stale legs this morning (6 minutes longer than normal) as I ran it yesterday. Still rather enjoyed it. All I have to do is think about joining the queues of traffic trying to get out of the business park of an evening.
I've also got 3 bikes I commute on, my best bike, the commuting roadie (rack and mudguards) and the fixie. The fixie always makes for a different ride in with different challenges. Keeps me motivated anyway.0 -
variety is everything,
the feeling of glazing-over and just riding the miles out on the commute is due to boredom, just like you do driving the commute in a car, if you had 3 different cars each time, you'd be more alert....
if you want commutes to be more like training you need to plan :-
make a plan of what type of commute rides you want based on the day, ie.
monday = easy pace on flat, charge hard on hills
tuesday = stay in certain HR zone (3)
wed = stay in certain HR zone (2)
thu = easy on hills, flat out on flats
fri = treat day, eat something nice on the ride in and out
next week, plan some PB beating times by looking at weather/wind etc.
plan plan plan 0 -
It's funny looking back at my old posts on this topic, which i find myself disagreeing with. Since starting to commute in february, my fat burning metabolism seems to have improved significantly in the last month or two - i no longer need to stuff carbs into myself constantly to avoid the bonk. I still eat the 80:10:10 diet however, because i find it helps me resist the mid morning chocolate cravings i used to get, and i've lost a lot of weight on it.
My issue now appears to be one of staleness. I've started doing longer rides on my days off, which i really enjoy, but find myself utterly glazing over on the commute. Despite constantly exhorting myself to pedal harder, i'm struggling to get the average hr even to 120. On my long rides, i have to keep telling myself to back off as it goes over 140 without me trying.
I suppose there's three possible reasons
1) I just need more time to recover. Maybe it takes over a week for someone of my fitness level to recover from a 7 hour ride. I'm 42 and only been riding since Feb.
2) I'm bored of the route. To test this idea, i need to take a detour on the way home on a day when i'm struggling, and see if the unfamiliar landscape gets me going or not.
3) maybe i just take a long, long time to warm up. My HR is starting to come up a bit by the end of the commute, but that could just be the extra motivation you get from having the finish line in sight.
At times , i wonder if the commute just constitutes "junk miles", but that's dangerous thinking - i could find myself taking the car more and more, and not increasing my mileage elsewhere to compensate.
Perhaps i should stop trying to force the pace when i'm feeling flat - I was hoping that if i get my hr up long enough, the adrenaline/endorphins will kick in and make the ride entertaining again, but i think all i'm doing is suffering needlessly and putting myself off cycling.
Been there, done that. Make it fun for yourself, definitely. I will often vary the route, especially on the way home.
I also don't worry too much if I fancy bimbling in, or whatever. I've stopped for a pint on the way home before; the world didn't end. I don't worry about "junk miles" either. Sure, there are probably more efficient ways of using your time to train etc, but do you actually care? I'm never going to be a racer, so why should I train like one?
I ride when I can and when I want. I'm considerably fitter than I would've been if I didn't ride. I'm not going to berate myself for making it enjoyable.Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.0 -
Been there, done that. Make it fun for yourself, definitely. I will often vary the route, especially on the way home.
I also don't worry too much if I fancy bimbling in, or whatever. I've stopped for a pint on the way home before; the world didn't end. I don't worry about "junk miles" either. Sure, there are probably more efficient ways of using your time to train etc, but do you actually care? I'm never going to be a racer, so why should I train like one?
I ride when I can and when I want. I'm considerably fitter than I would've been if I didn't ride. I'm not going to berate myself for making it enjoyable.
The "slow HR" thing is a phenomenon i can't recall other folks mentioning, except some guy complaining about his blood pressure meds. I'd like to get a power meter for my bike to see what's really going on.
Basically the received wisdom is that if your HR is elevated for the same power output, you must be ailing with something, and that the lower the HR for the same HR the better you're probably feeling. In the last few years though it seems the other way for me. When my HR is unusually low for the gear i'm holding, i find the going very hard indeed. Last week, I was nagging myself to go faster, only averaged 120. Actually got to work in 1hr 13minutes. My best time is 1hr 9 minutes - with a 13mph tailwind. All along, I felt like i couldn't be bothered, and my leg muscles seemed to hurt in the same way they do with lactate buildup - yet i was only making 120bpm? Also, whenever i tried to force it, my hamstrings started to cramp - even though i'm just using flat pedals so they're inactive. It just felt like my legs were being starved of blood flow, because my heart was saying " you do realise it's not even 6am yet, i'm going to do the bare minimum".
That said of course, i spend all of my time chugging around in economy cruise mode, don't encounter heatstroke or dehydration on my rides, so abnormally elevated heart rates not likely to be a problem for me".0 -
I used to occasionally commute with a HR monitor, first thing in the morning my HR was always 10-15% less than I managed on the way home. Less effort? Other physiological factors (recent breakast or no breakfast at all). Never resolved that one. Don't bother with the HR strap anymore either.0
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It's funny looking back at my old posts on this topic, which i find myself disagreeing with. Since starting to commute in february, my fat burning metabolism seems to have improved significantly in the last month or two - i no longer need to stuff carbs into myself constantly to avoid the bonk. I still eat the 80:10:10 diet however, because i find it helps me resist the mid morning chocolate cravings i used to get, and i've lost a lot of weight on it.
My issue now appears to be one of staleness. I've started doing longer rides on my days off, which i really enjoy, but find myself utterly glazing over on the commute. Despite constantly exhorting myself to pedal harder, i'm struggling to get the average hr even to 120. On my long rides, i have to keep telling myself to back off as it goes over 140 without me trying.
I suppose there's three possible reasons
1) I just need more time to recover. Maybe it takes over a week for someone of my fitness level to recover from a 7 hour ride. I'm 42 and only been riding since Feb.
2) I'm bored of the route. To test this idea, i need to take a detour on the way home on a day when i'm struggling, and see if the unfamiliar landscape gets me going or not.
3) maybe i just take a long, long time to warm up. My HR is starting to come up a bit by the end of the commute, but that could just be the extra motivation you get from having the finish line in sight.
At times , i wonder if the commute just constitutes "junk miles", but that's dangerous thinking - i could find myself taking the car more and more, and not increasing my mileage elsewhere to compensate.
Perhaps i should stop trying to force the pace when i'm feeling flat - I was hoping that if i get my hr up long enough, the adrenaline/endorphins will kick in and make the ride entertaining again, but i think all i'm doing is suffering needlessly and putting myself off cycling.
Been there, done that. Make it fun for yourself, definitely. I will often vary the route, especially on the way home.
There's a BMX track in the park on one of my routes to work, makes it more fun.
I tend to go in the mornings when there nobody around to see me falling off the crest of a berm. Downside is after a few laps you start to get dizzy.0 -
Been there, done that. Make it fun for yourself, definitely. I will often vary the route, especially on the way home.
I also don't worry too much if I fancy bimbling in, or whatever. I've stopped for a pint on the way home before; the world didn't end. I don't worry about "junk miles" either. Sure, there are probably more efficient ways of using your time to train etc, but do you actually care? I'm never going to be a racer, so why should I train like one?
I ride when I can and when I want. I'm considerably fitter than I would've been if I didn't ride. I'm not going to berate myself for making it enjoyable.
The "slow HR" thing is a phenomenon i can't recall other folks mentioning, except some guy complaining about his blood pressure meds. I'd like to get a power meter for my bike to see what's really going on.
Basically the received wisdom is that if your HR is elevated for the same power output, you must be ailing with something, and that the lower the HR for the same HR the better you're probably feeling. In the last few years though it seems the other way for me. When my HR is unusually low for the gear i'm holding, i find the going very hard indeed. Last week, I was nagging myself to go faster, only averaged 120. Actually got to work in 1hr 13minutes. My best time is 1hr 9 minutes - with a 13mph tailwind. All along, I felt like i couldn't be bothered, and my leg muscles seemed to hurt in the same way they do with lactate buildup - yet i was only making 120bpm? Also, whenever i tried to force it, my hamstrings started to cramp - even though i'm just using flat pedals so they're inactive. It just felt like my legs were being starved of blood flow, because my heart was saying " you do realise it's not even 6am yet, i'm going to do the bare minimum".
That said of course, i spend all of my time chugging around in economy cruise mode, don't encounter heatstroke or dehydration on my rides, so abnormally elevated heart rates not likely to be a problem for me".
oh, ok. I really couldn't be bothered with all that heart rate stuff. Sure, it might be interesting for a bit, but it seems like more stuff to put on and fiddle with.
I enjoyed the ride once I took the computer off, so I never bothered even thinking about HRM clobber. The fewer numbers I had to think about, the more I enjoyed the ride....Guess it's different strokes...Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.0 -
I do 26 miles in, 31 miles home, 2 to 3 times per week. I try not to do 2 days running, but this week I've had to do yesterday and today so I'm feeling tired. I find it difficult to get an early night after a commute day.
I think you just have to try to ride within yourself until you get used to it. On a good day it's glorious, but on a bad day I can be struggling to ride home into a bitch of a headwind. It's particularly soul-destroying when I'm having to pedal down the Severn Bridge off-ramp just to stay above 10mph.0 -
22miles each way for me from Fareham to Romsey. Worst bit of the commute is Fair Ok to Chandlers Ford.“Jij bent niet van suiker gemaakt”0
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My tuppence worth (for all not just OP)
Work out why you do it - that will determine your motivation and goals. If it's just easier/cheaper than other methods then treat it as such and don't over do it. If it's a love of cycling then enjoy the journey and every ride, regardless of speed/effort etc. if weight loss then a diary of food married to logging your miles/calories is pretty important. If it's training then plan a couple of weeks (a month maybe) in advance around race schedule for when you should be increasing efforts and when rest days should be.
I'm a mix of all above. Started due to completely sick of transport and the car park that my commute became. Bought a bike through cycle2work and then got truly bitten by bug. Fast forward 5 years and now use HRM to log performance and just bought my first TT bike. Organisation is the key, but once it becomes routine you will wonder how you put up with buses etc before the bike! Punctures etc will happen, so don't worry when they do, if you keep bike well maintained its not common. My biggest mistake when I started was too hard, too often, too soon. I burned out pretty quick and didn't know my own body. A "rest week" (riding at 80%) every couple of months makes a huge difference. I am also pretty disciplined with my sleep. Sky+ is a godsend, so bed by 930 and asleep by 10 means I'm good to go by morning. Eating is each to their own. I'm calorie controlled and a vegan during the week (veggie on a sat, Sunday all bets are off!) so constantly wolfing fruit, cereal and nuts. The shakes are great, as is soya milk, ready brek and jam all mixed up. (Cheaper than SIS stuff!!)
I have 2 rules that I always obey;
Fail to prepare then prepare to fail - organise clothes, food, spares and keep bike in order. If the are all ready then you will be.
Plan A is the bike. plan b is your other bike. Plan c is fixing the least broken bike - if you get your head around the fact you are cycling regardless of the weather/legs then it takes anxiety away.
Most of all - enjoy it, don't make it a chore and pass it on! more cyclists = more people to improve infrastructure and the mindset of everyone.0 -
My tuppence worth (for all not just OP)
Plan A is the bike. plan b is your other bike. Plan c is fixing the least broken bike - if you get your head around the fact you are cycling regardless of the weather/legs then it takes anxiety away.
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I have Plan A through to Plan K sorted, before I need to move on to the "fixing the least broken bike" - in theory at least.
In practice, only 8 out of the 11 are anywhere near roadworthy.
I do like this as the mentality though.Commute: Langster -Singlecross - Brompton S2-LX
Road: 95 Trek 5500 -Look 695 Aerolight eTap - Boardman TTe eTap
Offroad: Pace RC200 - Dawes Kickback 2 tandem - Tricross - Boardman CXR9.8 - Ridley x-fire0 -
55 miles return trip. Started last week. I was planning to do it on alternate days but... First Great Western decided otherwise (rail strike). Am already starting to lose weight and have to eat, eat, eat. Also I need to fit in the time to go to the gym to do some weight lifting and stretching as various muscles not a little sore. Looking for a Pilates class and a good physio halfway between my workplace and the town where I work. Getting a second bike is a good idea: if mine breaks down, then I face a 2 hours and a half journey by train + bus or bus + bus, and have to wait till the weekend to go to a bike shop!0
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I'm on my first week of commuting with my new bicycle, 15 miles each way.
https://www.strava.com/activities/351385849
Got a sore arse and wake up with a mild ache in the legs wondering if I should go back to sleep and take the car.
Porridge when I get up at 6:10am, then get off around 30 minutes later.
I have been determined to cycle every day this week, but friends are already planning a 60 mile bike ride on Saturday, so I might have a break on Friday and take the car.
So far so good, I've picked a very quiet route - it's quite a joy
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^^^ This looks fantastic.
Checked out the route on strava - anything that goes through an area of outstanding natural beauty is gonna make a cracking commute0 -
^^^ This looks fantastic.
Checked out the route on strava - anything that goes through an area of outstanding natural beauty is gonna make a cracking commute
Yup it's a nice cycle, low stress
I've been trying to timelapse my commute, instagram's hyperlapse has a max record limit of 45 minutes and does not compensate the exposure, so woodland is almost black at times.
the iphone's timelapse is not configurable and by default is so fast that a 15 mile commute is over in 37 seconds, I slowed it down 4x but quality is diminished.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95sCVx30wgM0 -
It's a bit like a bad trip0
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15 miles each way. My job also involves being on my feet all day. I will cycle in when its not raining, and occasionally when it does but this is never anticipated. I find that I am eating stupid amounts of food tho. The fact that I dont ride when its forecast to be wet means I often dont cycle in and have to resort to being a bloody motoringist, which annoys me because it costs me money AND I have legal, draconian speed limits imposed when this happens.0
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[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19679233#p19679233]ShimanoBottomBracket[/url] wrote:I find that I am eating stupid amounts of food tho.
30 mile round trip as well, find it difficult not to eat out every time I cycle..0 -
thanks friends
very interesting, Thanks0 -
[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19679233#p19679233]ShimanoBottomBracket[/url] wrote:15 miles each way. My job also involves being on my feet all day. I will cycle in when its not raining, and occasionally when it does but this is never anticipated. I find that I am eating stupid amounts of food tho. The fact that I dont ride when its forecast to be wet means I often dont cycle in and have to resort to being a bloody motoringist, which annoys me because it costs me money AND I have legal, draconian speed limits imposed when this happens.
That's why I limit myself to 30g fat a day but don't count calories. You're going to crave carbs after burning so many off on a ride, but they will burn off. The problem is if you refuel after cycling with stuff like chocolate, where you're getting 1 fat calorie for every one of carbohydrate. I used to refuel after cycling by grabbing a load of chocolate and junk food, and wondered why i couldn't loose weight. Now it's coming off nicely.
Breakfast (after cycling to work, eaten at around 8.30) is usually -
four slices of wholemeal toast, no butter or marge, with jam or marmalade
about 50g kellogs bran flakes eaten with low fat yoghurt
i also grab a couple of bananas in case i get hungry between breakfast and lunch
Lunch
jacket potato with baked beans, more yoghurts
grab another banana as insurance policy
Afternoon Tea
Bowl of soup with bread roll, another banana or yoghurt according to need
Supper (after cycling home)
Tin of baked beans with some Quorn pieces
Couple of tins of pineapple slices0 -
I occasionally commute into Cambridge, usually on a Friday so if I don't feel like moving much the next day I don't have to. The ride is either 23 or 27 miles each way, depending on which route I choose. The longer one avoids most of Cambridge's legendary city centre traffic. As my job is also cycling (courier, 20 -25 miles on a freight bike) this comes to between 65 and 80 ish miles per day, which might explain why I only do it now and again. Although having said that I did once do two in a row and didn't feel noticeably any tireder, so I could probably do a full week if I wanted to. But I doubt I'll be doing that as I think that if I'm going to put in that much effort on a working day I'd prefer nice weather, and how often do you get that many nice days in a row?!
Foodwise, it's porridge for breakfast (rocket fuel for cyclists I call it), no lunch as such, but things like fruit, kendal mint cake, energy bars, flapjacks etc while I'm working, with an energy bar and a gel or two on my way home, followed swiftly by some proper food when I get there. Plenty of water all day. Oddly, I seem to be faster on the return leg than going in, when I ought to be tireder, which I put down to the pull of the end-of-the-week beer waiting for me in the fridge!
As for recovery, I'm usually fine to ride again the following day, most often just a shortish, slowish ride, but sometimes as much as a century.0 -
40 y.o. all day on my feet at work.
30-35 miles round trip (used also as training) every week day + ocassional social weekend ride with less fit people.
I have a well established feeding/cookin routine but I've never counted calories etc. After a while you know what works for you and what doesn't.
Lots of sleep and recovery after rides are the key, especially to avoid any illnesses (cold etc...)
I need perfectly 9-10h of sleep. At work I drink 1,5l of home made chocolate milk (not in one go
) with peanut butter on the top of the lunch. 0 -
I commute the 17 miles or so from my house to work a couple of times a week, more in summer. Sometimes I'll ride back, but more often than not I'll cycle 5 miles to the train station and cover the rest on a nice comfy seat.
I've two bikes at the moment - a Carrera Subway One with panniers, water, pump, saddle bag and 40mm M+ tyres; and a Boardman Team Hybrid with nothing on it, which has 32mm M+ on it for winter - and there isn't a hell of a lot of difference in speed, particularly in town, between the two, although the Boardman leaves my legs feeling less tired than the Carrera.
I suspect the Boardman would be quicker with thinner summer tyres on it, but I'm quite happy to give up that extra one or two mph average speed in lieu of freezing my bum off in the pouring rain changing inner tubes.Carrera Subway 2015
Boardman Hybrid Team 20140
