As it's a quiet Sunday, may as well say hello...

lastant
lastant Posts: 526
edited July 2009 in Commuting chat
...been 'ghosting' on the forum for a good few weeks now, thought it was time to actually contribute*!

Have commuted in and out of central London on and off since moving back down here three years ago - first of all from Archway and Turnpike Lane, then I moved out to the Docklands and it kind of got put to one side with the extra distance involved along with other (pathetic!) excuses.

Now summer's here and the interchange to the Central Line at Bank's getting more crowded and sweaty I've decided to ditch London's public transport and get to work and back myself...managed the last two weeks, and I'm loving it!

It's just over eight miles each way, and I'm covering it in around 45-50mins (each way, not in total!) which I'm hoping to bring down over the next couple of months - but it's so nice in the morning to come into London and actually see the o2 / the Thames / the Tower / etc. whilst doing something to improve yourself - as opposed to being crammed in on the DLR / Tube as it crawls along...

Current bike is a Marin Bear Valley that I got years ago (must be around 1998/9 I think), no way near as quick as some of the road bikes out there but it's doing the job fine. I have fitted road tyres to it and added a CatEye cycle computer because I'm hoping it'll give me the motivation to get quicker week on week.

Oooh, may as well upload a pic of it seeing as I can...

marinbearvalley.jpg

It's been good reading other people's thoughts day by day - altough it is worrying how tempting it is to buy more bits as you read how others have got on better with them. This cycling lark's not the cheapest in the world once you get into it I'm guessing!

Oh dear...I appear to have rambled, sorry! Will keep things to the point in future.

* Apologies if introductions are supposed to go somewhere else, please move it if so!
One Man and LEJOG : End-to-End on Two Wheels in Two Weeks (Buy the book; or Kindle it!)

Comments

  • prj45
    prj45 Posts: 2,208
    lastant wrote:
    It's just over eight miles each way, and I'm covering it in around 45-50mins (each way, not in total!) which I'm hoping to bring down over the next couple of months

    I wouldn't force it, let it sort itself out and the faster speeds will just come naturally, although if you stop at lights you're never going to get abve 12-14mph for the overall journey.
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Howdy. Welcome to the forum , and to commuting again! :)

    You've done the right thing leaving the Dodgy Little Rollercoaster behind you.

    As PRJ says, don't push it, as the fitness will come. Just enjoy the fact that you're not stuck on a skanky train!
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • Sirius631
    Sirius631 Posts: 991
    prj45 wrote:
    lastant wrote:
    It's just over eight miles each way, and I'm covering it in around 45-50mins (each way, not in total!) which I'm hoping to bring down over the next couple of months

    I wouldn't force it, let it sort itself out and the faster speeds will just come naturally, although if you stop at lights you're never going to get abve 12-14mph for the overall journey.

    If you have an auto start/stop setting on your computer, turn it on so that it can ignor those enforced stops like traffic lights. 'Twill give you a better guide to your real performance.
    To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.
  • afternoon. Welcome
    The doctor said I needed to start drinking more whiskey. Also, I’m calling myself ‘the doctor’ now
  • lastant
    lastant Posts: 526
    Quick update, as I'm sure you're all desperate to know how I've got on...!

    Anyway - out of a possible five days of work I managed five days of commuting, yay!

    Seventy eight miles covered. I did make a note of times after setting the auto stop-start on the CatEye (thanks Sirius631) and without wanting to work it out exactly, I've averaged roughly 11.25 mph. Not the quickest, but gives me a mark to start from.

    My bike is clicking every time the pedals go past the 12 o'clock position, which I'm assuming is a loose / worn bearing in that bit (Crank? Bottom bracket?) - tried to get them off using tools at home but can't so may have to find a friendly shop somewhere to take a look at it at some point.

    Still, happy with it so far. Just need to keep it going so it's habitual rather than a 'nice to do'.
    One Man and LEJOG : End-to-End on Two Wheels in Two Weeks (Buy the book; or Kindle it!)
  • Oddjob62
    Oddjob62 Posts: 1,056
    Great work. Good weather atm to get you addiced to cycling :)

    Wouldn't worry too much about average speed if you're mainly going round London. at 11.25 you're still going a fair bit faster than the non cycliing population ;)

    Yeah unfortunately bike repair needs a few specialist tools. Spent the first few months of cycling building up a collection of tools, but i love to tinker so i knew it would save me ££ in hte long run.
    As yet unnamed (Dolan Seta)
    Joelle (Focus Expert SRAM)
  • benno68
    benno68 Posts: 1,689
    Top effort. Sounds like you've got the bug. :D

    I hope you're out and about today training hard - now you've got SCR action to worry about :D

    I managed 5 days commuting out of 6 this week (100 miles), I foolishly wimped out today. I accept the error of my lazyness, so no need for any MTFU comments.
    _________________________________________________

    Pinarello Dogma 2 (ex Team SKY) 2012
    Cube Agree GTC Ultegra 2012
    Giant Defy 105 2009
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    lastant wrote:
    Anyway - out of a possible five days of work I managed five days of commuting, yay!

    Seventy eight miles covered. I did make a note of times after setting the auto stop-start on the CatEye (thanks Sirius631) and without wanting to work it out exactly, I've averaged roughly 11.25 mph. Not the quickest, but gives me a mark to start from.

    Still, happy with it so far. Just need to keep it going so it's habitual rather than a 'nice to do'.

    You know what you have to do next... join the stats page, now with added Monthly Targets.

    C.

    Welcome, btw.
  • lastant
    lastant Posts: 526
    join the stats page, now with added Monthly Targets.

    Done. I now fear I'm tied in long-term...

    Damn you all! :)
    One Man and LEJOG : End-to-End on Two Wheels in Two Weeks (Buy the book; or Kindle it!)