This Morning....

Dundee-G
Dundee-G Posts: 9
edited November 2011 in Commuting general
Hi All,
Been hanging around here for a good few weeks whilst preparing for and completing my first commute. Approx 5.5 miles through countryside/woodland/cycle path with a wee bit of road to negotiate too. All very scenic and enjoyable. Most days per week I have done is 4 with most weeks being 3 days on the bike.
Cycled Mon & Tues with Wed off. Woke this morning with the rain almost cracking the windows and the wind sounding hellish. On with the bike gear and I had to push the bike between our 2 parked cars to get out of the driveway.
With a cry of "bye Daddy" ringing in my ears off I went. First part is down long steepish hill and I was properly dripping after about 30 secs! Did not even think about turning back and felt wonderful when I arrived at work. That feeling was compunded with the looks I got travelling up in the lift, wet and muddy and bedraggled! Weather cleared now so thoroughly looking forward to the ride home.
Reckon I can cope with most now and can I now call myself a commuter?
Thanks for getting me to do it in the first place to all on here, Cheers.

Comments

  • Dundee-G wrote:
    First part is down long steepish hill and I was properly dripping after about 30 secs! Did not even think about turning back and felt wonderful when I arrived at work. That feeling was compunded with the looks I got travelling up in the lift, wet and muddy and bedraggled!

    ha, same for me first time I commuted in the rain... Felt really refreshing when I got to work, going home was another matter... I had no waterproofs in the morning or a change of clothes, thankfully it was still raining on the way home and I don't think anyone noticed.

    Well done tho :D
  • Initialised
    Initialised Posts: 3,047
    Well done, now you just have to do it in snow, fog, hale, gale force winds and on ice, preferably all at once then you'll be a commuter.
    I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.
  • I've had similar looks when I've cycled in in heavy rain. I quite enjoy it. I get soaked with sweat anyway, so what the hell, why not. I'm looking forward to a snowy commute.... as long as it's just for a day or two :D

    Putting the cold, wet kit on in the afternoon on a rainy day isn't quite so much fun though :(
  • alidaf
    alidaf Posts: 147
    I still avoid strong wind days if there is a reliable report for the next day. Cycling into a head wind isn't fun and strong sideways gusts can be a little unnerving, especially when being overtaken.
  • alidaf wrote:
    I still avoid strong wind days if there is a reliable report for the next day. Cycling into a head wind isn't fun and strong sideways gusts can be a little unnerving, especially when being overtaken.
    On that note is there a "reliable" website that offers info on conditions that does teh job for anyone? Cheers
  • I have found the met office to offer fairly good information over the last month or two - can be a pain to find where to change your location, but once done and set default its fine :)

    http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/beta ... cId=351637

    I use the 5 day forecast to get a quick view of conditions like wind speed and direction.
  • I use http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=47901 or http://magicseaweed.com/UK-Ireland-MSW- ... 1/wind/in/.

    Magic seaweed tends to be a bit more accurate but wind guru's not bad either.