The clocks have gone back , the weathers turning shite so why do I have a yearning to start trying to get some regular bike commuting in?! I’ve had all Summer FFS!

I got a Topeak trunkbag in the summer on a Halfords special. I’ve not even used it yet.

So come on, Tell me to delay watching Blue Planet 2 tonight and get the thing packed for work…
tell me it’ll be worth the 5.15am alarm and the hours ride in (it’s 18 miles each way)
tell me I need to start making this a twice a week occurrence to start with.

I will add that I genuinely do enjoy it once I’m moving.
I guess the early start and the distance makes the car an easy option.

Go on, send me some motivating words and / or pictures.

I’ve decided to commute tomorrow just because it’s he first real chance I’ve had for years, I’ll be riding a 160mm FS, I don’t have any lights and it’s likely to be dark on the way home, but **** it, what’s the worst that could happen.

It will suck arse. Take the car.

I commuted in on Friday, similar distance each way. It was a magical sunrise and strangely satisfying re-taking all the cars that had passed me earlier when I went through Prestwich.

Got to work feeling energised and ready for the day.

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#5

i am 51 and fat. infact i reckon i have always been fat, oh and ugly.
and my body is packing in. various surgeries over the last 5 years. one of them very serious.

since leaving school in 1982, the one constant thing has been cycle commuting. in fact since leaving school i have never taken a job that i cant cycle to. that comes before the wage. odd? i dont think so. it is just me.
i enjoy my commutes just has much as i enjoy mountain bike rides, and cycle tours.
but deep down, i enjoy it more….it is free miles. it also gives me a good freason to change bikes on a regular basis.
a new bike can be bought on say NYE, then used for a year and then thrownaway the following NYE. and a new one bought. this will still be tons cheaper than paying for a car to get to work, or a train ticket.

the winter is my fave time to commute. i have various routes i can choose. some apretty traffic free. in winter they are mine alone.
all the summer TDF wannabees have gone back to the driving range or the gym. i love it.
days when it is minus and dry are the best. days when it is raining mean a change of coat. windy days are hard, but a good workout.
embrace the weather and it becomes less of a problem.

i get a wash at work with a flannel. some deodorant is handy. i take a clean shirt daily.
i try to maintain 500 miles per month. the majority of this is commuting miles. free miles.

invest in some full guards and some quality puncture proof tyres.
all modern lights are good. oh and a good waterproof is not really needed. when you commute every single work day, the days you get wet are not very often.

now MTFU. 😀

Do it, it’s awesome once you get out, just the thought of is sometimes worse.

Clocks changing is a good thing, getting up will be easier for a couple of days and at least I will have some daylight for a week or two on the morning leg. For the last couple of weeks it has been dark both ways.

Thanks all .. great post Ton. Not sure how far your commute is – i’d Like to think if I had a job that was closer to home and didn’t start at 7am I’d commute much more often. Every day If possible.
However Leaving the house at 5.40am for 18 miles isn’t always so easy! I do enjoy it tho and I always look forward to the ride home.

I’m pleased to say, the bike is packed!
Since I’m doing this without any prep (no shirts, shoes left at work etc) it’s looking like I’m going away for a week but that’s good – I bought the trunkbag hoping it would allow me to commute in ‘on the fly’ so it looks like it can hold everything I need. First time using it so I expect it’ll feel a bit heavy in the morning :-/

The fitness improvements after the first month are staggering.

You’ll be sweating like a sweaty thing, and knackered the first week. By the sixth, you’ll step off thinking it’s a breeze.

Just. Get. On. With it.

I decided on a whim to commute tomorrow 13.5 miles to work on my overbiked Hightower running Nobby Nic tyres…..it’s going to drag but my XC bike is still at lbs a victim of the Fox stupidity currently. 0530 up 0600 start bet I arrive done but brain awake. I used to commute more couple years ago but it became a chore after a while even only twice a week, but I strangely missed it.

use this week to finesse the routine, decide what days you are going to ride and which to rest, take clothes in on a rest day, next week do the routine. go for it and well done!

…some motivating words…

Hmmm. Commuting’s great if you don’t overdo it; two or three times a week max (25 mile round trip for me).
Buy some tyres, lights, and other new, shiny stuff, choose your weather conditions, and there’s all the motivation you’ll need.
I do cold and dry but I won’t start from home in the rain, it’s not enjoyable and the bike will need some attention later. If I get caught in a shower then that’s ok, there’s just something about starting out wet…
It’s a perfect morning outside as I write this, hope you did it

It is a lovely morning .. so glad I took the bike 🙂
Cold feet tho so need better socks. Now tucking into some overnight oats and looking forward to the trip home.

Hopefully I’ll gdt another in this week. Monday is a good day for it so going to try to make that a regular day

Well done chief, (nearly) always the right decision. Bottled it this morning. Am in a grump with my lazy self now. 😡

Checked in this morning to see if you made it out.

Well done. It’s great innit.

I really miss my 25 mile each way twice a week commute. 75 miles each way now so not really feasible ??

Good work! I’ve managed my twice a week target since I started to be able to (nursery runs ended in september, now my progeny is in school near our house it means I can ride in).

I love how awake it makes me feel when I get in. However, this morning was a real struggle. When Google told me it was 0 degrees outside it was bad enough, but the fact my forehead hurt and then my poor circulation kicked in made it pretty grim. Totally worth it when I hit the higher ground though, the sunrise over the northern extremes of the Cotswolds was mega.

Lovely ride in today, lovely. Crisp air, clear skies, top class.

submarined – Member
I love how awake it makes me feel when I get in

Unfortunately for some of us that means the last thing I actually think about is work 🙂

This thread is fairly inspiring. Haven’t commuted since moving house, but now have a bike to hammer along the canal paths that would make up most of the journey. Might have to get myself sorted!

Lovely ride in this morning, just got the sun coming up. A bit of frost on the the off road section but dry and no wind. Not many others cycling, just a few keen runners.

Ton, one of the best posts ever.

I was at a course all of last week so didn’t cycle

Back to cycle commuting this morning. Was great as usual but blimey it’s got cold, got my winter kit out!

I do twice a week – it is only 7 miles each way but I have to pick up the little guy on an evening so I finish work at 3 bike straight home, grab the car and then go and pick him up. I only do it twice a week as the rush to get home and get back out again can make it a bit stressful especially if I get a puncture (like the other week). But I really enjoy the ride in in the morning. On Fridays I extend the route. I go as fast as I can so it gives me a decent work out and equates to an extra 30-36 miles per week depending how much I extend the route by. It just requires you to be organised and getting up at 5.30 can be tough (but then I get up at 6 if I am driving in anyway!)

Cheers

I’ve just ordered some deep winter gloves and a balaclava.
So, enjoy the warm mornings for the next 2 months 😀

well done stox, it is all easy from now on.

1st cold day this year. was nice and dry through miggy woods. dry leaves make a nice surface to ride over. 8)

Much like Robbo – i need to work mine around picking kids up from nursery etc

I finish work at 4pm so I can usually be home by 5pm. I clocked it at 15 miles this morning. It’s a slightly longer commute in to work because the Transporter Bridge doesn’t run that early for me to use it on a morning but I can hop on the transporter bridge on the ride home (assuming it’s not too windy or they close it) which saves me a mile or two and cuts out some really crappy roads and junctions.

Monday is a good day for me to commute because my parents have the kids so there’s no major rush to be home. I just need another day through the week as my second day – which will have to be Wednesday or Friday.
Hopefully if I continue with it those will be the 3 days that I have available to me.
I don’t think I’d want to do more than 3 days. Not at this time of year anyway.

I do need some better socks – my toes were freezing this morning.

Thanks Ton … my commute is pretty bleak – middlesbrough centre and Teesside’s industry is all the view I get !

Since my moving flat 13 years ago. This put me within a 3 mile ride to work. Quieter roads and parks for my commute to work. Some decent lights and a waterproof jacket for the yukky days. I’m home in 15 minutes most days. Keep socks, a towel, some wet wipes in work. Fitter now than I was in my youth.

I got on the bike to commute in this morning too. It was much brighter this morning than I remember it being lately, so much so I didn’t even need lights! It was brilliant!

I was absolutely shattered by 9pm last night … couldn’t keep my eyes open!

Car today … a chance to leave a shirt at work and some food supplies 🙂

Still hoping to get another one in later this week – Friday all being well.

Some great posts there.
I’ve been not riding in all summer, after buying a titanium charge to do it on. At 44 miles round trip it’s headwind in and headwind back, definitely a mind ****.
Will try once a week to start.

Kudos to those long cycle commutes!

Mine is only a couple of miles each way, but it’s a damn sight quicker than a car in the city centre, and keeps my fitness levels up, alternating between chilled cycle lane cruising and sprinting off from traffic lights (yes I stop), to get across roundabouts before the motor vehicles have even released the handbrake 🙂

Ride your bikes when you can and appreciate it. The waiting for a replacement to arrive is killing me…

First commute today after exactly 4 weeks off all bikes with the saddle sore from Hell. 18 quite pleasant miles from Derbyshire to central Manchester.

I think my second commute is on the cards for tomorrow 😀

I had a very pleasant 28 miler home on Tuesday evening. It was so nice I repeated the route back to work on Wednesday. The light morning was fabulous, despite some driver’s best attempts at upsetting me. I’m trying to decide on tonight’s route. It’s a minimum of 21 miles but a few extra miles may well be in order as there’s virtually no wind and it helps justify the couple of beers with a mate later.

Pretty much what Ton said, except that instead of “All the Tour De France wannabes” it should be “All the Tour De France wannabes (except me)”

It’s great commuting every day as I endure the bad weather (it’s never that bad, and when it is that bad nobody else is making it into work anyway), and occasionally get absolute belters that you just don’t get if you commute any other way.

My commuting by bike pretty much funds all my cycling. And without my cycling I really can’t imagine being happy!*

*OK I could probably run or something.

First commute back tomorrow after 12 days off ,just packed the bar bag ready for the 445 start in the morning , I’m pretty lucky really it’s 9 miles of tow path and 1/2 mile of road so pretty much traffic free ,also just took delivery of some new alpkit thicky bib tights and jersey for once I’ve got the perfect size for my rotund figure so hopefully they are nice and warm

Love the commute! Been doing it for 2yrs now, 200km a week in total so not much in comparison to some here.

I now have a slightly longer route but with next to no traffic which is great – all on cycleways into Lausanne, though i dont get to see Mont Blanc if i do this..

Ton’s write up is making me wish I had somewhere to commute to!