"16.4 miles commute? Are u nuts?"

cjcp wrote:

Depends on your commute ie hilly or flat, or somewhere in between.

The short answer is that it's very doable - folks in here do that mileage and more - so don't be intimidated. Just build up gently, doing two or three days a week to start with. You'll soon be hooked.

Make sure your tyres are in good nick, and that you carry spare tubes etc.

+1 Cannot agree more!

My distance (which I started before Easter this year) is 13-14 miles and takes ~an hour on a CX using 35 mm tyres. Just phase the commute initially and do not take too 'bold' steps. For myself, once the weather and fitness improves, I aim to commute twice a week. Make sure you practice the 'commute route' over a weekend and I always carry a spare tube, min pump etc....

For me, the commute represents freedom in open air (being couped up in an office all day) and also it helps when I cannot do any cycling in the weekend and because I enjoy it. I have to admit, I have done less than 5 whole commutes and initially the first few does tire you out. Be sensible and listen to your body.

Let us know how it goes....

Very doable but as others have said, build up weekly mileage slowly.
I used to do a 30 mile round trip commute 5 days a week. As I worked a split shift I would go home at least once a week so this built up to 60 miles in one day over 4 journeys. On sunny days I used to take the long way home.

I would say - ensure that you have decent cycling kit if you haven't already - I started cycling in the winter in ordinary day clothes. It didn't work too well so I built up a wardrobe of cycling wear that is far more comfortable. Padded shorts, windproof jacket, base layers etc.
I started riding a Halfords chocolate teapot that cost £80 and cycling in work boots. Again not too hot an idea. I damaged my knee quite badly so I moved over to decent cycling shoes, bought a good quality road bike, had it set up for me and got to the point of looking at my bike longingly all the time.

Sad I know. Hope you enjoy your commutes.

Would echo the build it up the miles as you go along. Maybe drive the car halfway and get the bike out at that point for a few days. Also ride in one way and get the bus home and then the reverse the next day. Make sure you've got spare gear such as tubes, a pump etc. I'm quite lucky cos my commute is only about 4 miles so don't carry much but I've had to run to work cx style a time or two.

If you have a locker/spare desk drawer etc it's probably an idea to keep stuff like a spare shirt, folding tyre, really good hand cleaner like swarfega. Some guys keep latex gloves in their carry kit to save the mess with chain/tyre problems.

The fact you're 16st is no boundary. As for time, at least 1hr 30 mins.

Don't be scared to take a day off for instance if the weather is real bad etc.

I did 32.75 miles including ~1250 ft climbed yesterday, it took 2 hours 12 minutes with a stop for a drink.

If you're new to it, have lots of hills in the way or have a slowish bike allow 1h20m to start with. Maybe you could do a dry run first.

I'm the same weight as you, and started commuting a couple of times a week back in Jan. my aim is to cycle 3000 miles this year. so far I'm up to 935. my 15.5 mile commute is pretty flat and is taking me about 55 mins at the moment and I've worked up to doing it 3 times pw.

just do it, if you don't push yourself your motivation will fizzle away.

maybe give it another week for the wind and rain to settle though

Mine's only 16.2 ew so I hope I'm man enough to chip in ...

It's not so far, you'll very quickly get used to it. I thought it would be way too much for me but the fourth or fifth time I barely felt it in my legs. You'll be amazed what the body can adapt to

I've got a longer commute @ 23 miles (and probably more hills too) but only do it upto a max of 3 times a week. I also have the choice of a car or m/c if I don't feel like it.

So physically the distance should be fine - you just have to build up to it.

Echo the sentiments about having the right kit. The way I did it was - dont splash out on stuff until you know what you want and why. So for me that meant starting on my old rockhopper (pretty light actually as it has a small frame and no suspension) and the bare mimumim = slicks and toolkit (puncture repair kit and pump).

Quickly realised that I wanted/needed: padded shorts :-)

Soon after that I started to lower the handlebars to get more aero becuase I cottoned on to the fact I could get free speed/easier ride just by changing my position on the bike .. soon after that realised I wanted/needed proper road bike with drops.

I started in Summer and so when Autumn arrived realised that I needed better clothes (comfort - combat sweating and the cold) and spds+shoes (falling off wet, slippy pedals and even managing to wrap a shoe lace around a pedal). I also needed some good lights (XM-L handtorches and magicshine rear lights - all duplicated in case of failure so I will always have a backup) to both see where i was going and to be seen.

Then Winter happened - bloody cold (though dry so not complaining) - so bought yet more clothes; wind proof jacket, neck warmer, loads of gloves (hard to find ones that worked in really cold weather) and my favourite possesion - overshoes. Oh yeah and some crud racer mudguards - to save my rear lights from a drowning (they do get soaked if you don't have mudguards and that's killed a rear light) and saves me from having to wash the bike everyday.

In the first year I've spent maybe £800 on all the kit and saved maybe £600 on petrol (havent included wear and tear on the car, just working out saving on petrol)

..and as of two weeks time, I'll be starting my second year :-)

Good luck - spend time on choosing your route(s), don't rush to buy your kit until you know why you want it.

17.5 miles each way every day - started last November on a crappy hybrid - took 1hr15...fitness improved, bought a road bike, now disappointed if I take over an hour. First 6 weeks was the hardest - won't go back to pt for as long as I can ride now!

Hiya
Certainly doable. I do 25 miles each way but in a slightly odd way. I drive in then bike home on monday, bike to work Tuesday and drive home. Same deal on thur / fri gets me 4 x 25 miles a week which is perfect right now. The prob with doing both wys is it takes so long to do o top of working one way ech day is less of an impact on home life. Also means never having hassle with transporting clothes laptops etc.

Oh yeah, I'm closer to 19 st than 18... After. Few weeks people top complaining about the Lycra gear, although most people think I'm nuts.

Get on with it and have fun!

The distance is very do able - but the way I started (my daily commute is 12 miles each way) was to start by cycling about 4 miles and I built it up by a mile every 2 weeks roughly. When I got to 10 I did a dry run to the office (have a much better route now). Very quickly the time it took halved for me - the next trick is to make sure that you don't try and do it every day to start off. Start with once or twice a week and then build it up. Sometimes though you find you can get weary by day 5. Now I do the ride most days with occasional days off to carry large loads etc. and often go to the gym afterwards for an hour or two.

Now after a year I am doing 60 mile rides more regularly. Just give yourself time to build it up - if you push to hard you will loose the motivation. As for cost savings - hmmm I may save £9 a day in travel but I seem to spend more than that on new bikes and kit now (I have the bug). Just make sure you have the right kit (lycra under baddies generally does the trick) - but invest in proper cycling gear in the mid price range, it will make it more enjoyable in the long run.

Make sure you carry a saddle bag or something with inner tube, gas tyre inflater - one or two tyre leavers some latex gloves, a few of the most used hex keys - esp for saddle adjustments when you start off and some cash - enough for a taxi if something goes wrong!

Just enjoy it. It beats the crud out of being squashed in a train with someone suffering from flu or being stuck in a traffic jam.

If you aren't comfortable doing the full distance in 1 go then maybe you can sling the bike in the car and ride in part way ?
The main thing I'd add would be to advise you to get your preparation for the ride in done the night before.
Get all of your kit, shoes, gloves etc, ready, check the forecast to see if you might need those thicker gloves and the heavier jacket.
Don't leave it to the morning for checking if the tyres are inflated to then find a puncture - clean it when you get home and whislt you do that check the tyres etc.
If you've had a punctue then get that extra tube out of your stock of spares that evening and replacing a tube is worth being familiar with, front and rear, so you can be confident if the worst comes to the worst. Run decent tyres that have decent protection built-in and replace before they become too worn.

Running around like a blue arsed flea as time runs short in the morning isn't conducive to a relaxed stat to the day.

i do around 45 miles a day round trip, with a break in between because of train journeys, if I decided to skip the train journey one way then its a 60 mile trip, so your mileage will be very doable, your motivation is saving the money on petrol, parking etc... and determination is to build the mileage up and enjoy the ride in no matter how long it takes, with you eventually doing the ride daily your speed and time will soon pick up and drop, its not going to happen straight away but you will get there. I am complentating scrubbing the train journeys in the summer, which would mean a jump to a 80 mile round trip, now that i must be mad!!!

I think one thing worth noting is that once you get to a place where you can do 10 miles with ease then doing 20 or 30 or 40 miles actually doesn't seem to wear you out any more than 10 miles (provided you take enough carbs on board and drink) - well sometimes you ass is more sore!

I often come back from a 30-40 mile ride and feel less tired than a 10 miles (mostly because I pace myself when doing longer distances). Just take your time and build up the basic fitness.