Now is this 4 miles a day going to help my fitness whatsoever!? Last time I did this my food bill for the week doubled!

Seriously? Did you also double in size? That’s what… 15 minutes of exercise? 150 calories or so? Do you not eat normally?!

I’m looking for some puncture proof semi-slick tyres then. Assuming i want something fairly lightweight too? How wide?

Personal, I just use 23c road tyres, GP 4Seasons in winter and Hutchinson Fusion 3s in summer.

Seriously? Did you also double in size?

Nearly doubled in size, was 49kg, now a healthy 70kg! 😀

The sun is actually out!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

And I’ve got a nice ride home to look forward. I’m going to try a new, rather extended off-road route. Taking in a few rather tasty descents. 25 miles I reckon. Thats if I don’t get lost. Which I will. Might stop for a pint (or 3) at the back end of it too

Just thought I’d share 😀

Damn, its totally persisting it down here now 🙁
I best stop looking at slick tyres…

Slicks are fine in the wet on tarmac. Raining lightly here, again!

Does anyone else find commuting X miles a week far more tiring than just doing X miles in one go at the weekend? You’d think my ~60 mile commute would be easier than doing ~60miles at the same pace at the weekend

absolutely. it’s not so much the length of rides but the frequency. your body has ~ half a day recovery. for me it’s leave home bout 8 and work ~6, then repeat the next day. my commutes not long but the time off the bike is reduced. i *only* do 80 miles a week (if i do every day) but it’s more tiring than 80 miles in one hit.

well done in getting on the bike and motivated!!! its easy when the sun is out, but the wind, omg, its been bad recently.

32K each way, 4 times a week max, road, minor undulations, some traffic too. road bike with contis gators.

best i’ve done with a tail wind of 20+k/h 49mins, worst ive done back against the persistant easterly , ranging from 5 to 30k/h is 1h26!
the downsides are
1- only 1 route in and out due to avoiding a96 & traffic
2- mega hunger cravings that come from nowhere some days
3- aforemention wind

positives are far too many to mention….

this morning me and a Hare had a race, the Hare won as it left me for dead at 38km/h !!!!

On the tyre front I have become a BIG fan of the Schwalbe Marathons over the last few months. Good on everything but snow/sheet ice!

18 miles won’t seem far enough on a warm sunny evening in the (possible) near future.

🙂

Really enjoying my little commute at the moment. I’ve got a singlespeed cross bike (Genesis day one disk) and in the morning I stick a childseat on the back, and ride along the thames with my 2 year old giving me encouragement, drop him at the nursery, absolutely hammer it back home, pick up my bag and team it to work which is 3 quarters of a mile away. Its only 5 and a bit miles all in all, but its scenic, I spend a little time with my son who loves it and its a little sprint work out. In the evening, I just reverse everything and extend the journey to the nursery if I have time. Works out around 50-60 miles a week which keeps me in shape.

Inspired by this thread I intend to ride in to my new work for the first time tomorrow.
Through the centre of Bradford.

This may be my last post…

Lovely commute of 14 miles of south Devon roads including 3-4 castles and 2 big hills here. If I take the longer route I can go home via haytor for many miles of punishment bliss

Good to see a few others getting involved 🙂

Got drenched last night, the road turned into a stream! After the first 2 miles or so getting out of town it totally stopped and the sun even came out! It was actually quite enjoyable and cooled me down for the rest of the ride. Im sure everyone was thinking what is this loon doing with a grin on his face
34 minutes to get back with a very slight headwind at times.

Same again today, shaved a mintue off yesterdays time (without the tailwind) so fairly happy. I’ve ordered a set of Schwalbe Kojaks and im hoping to do the full 18 miles in starting next week 8)

Snapped a spoke on my road bike on Monday half way through the commute. Managed to release the brakes and tweak a couple of other spokes to get it to spin through the frame and continue into work. Due to after work stuff I wasn’t able to pick up any new spokes but when I tried to tweak the wheel a little more at home later two more spokes snapped so it looks like I was very lucky to have made it into work without breaking any more! I bought my road bike in 1998 so the wheel has had a good life 😳 😉
Rebuilt with new spokes last night and back to the commute this morning. Time for my 28mile commute has dropped from 1h45m to 1h35m so I might add on another little loop to bring it closer to the 2hr mark I was originally thinking it would take… or perhaps one day a week I add a massive loop? Really enjoying it now.

I’ve recently started driving half, cycling the rest. This cuts out the busiest of the road sections. I have zero interest in road riding, too dangerous IMO.

This leaves me with a 8 mile route though Hopetoun estate, with a couple very quiet back roads to the office.

I bought some Schwalbe Land Cruisers for my 29er. Dirt cheap and work well.

I’ve recently started driving half, cycling the rest. This cuts out the busiest of the road sections. I have zero interest in road riding, too dangerous IMO.

Agree with you there! Although I love road riding, I always go at weekends (or avoiding rush hour at the very least) and on roads I know will be quiet. Respect for those who do commute in heavy traffic though, but it’s not for me!

Good work on riding half though. Commuting by bike is the best thing I ever did. It means I get to ride almost every day – plus I get at least an hour and a half of exercise (although I don’t even think of it as that any more) every day even if I don’t fancy doing anything else so I’m the fittest I’ve ever been!

My slicks arrived yesterday so got them fitted last night ready for the ride in this morning.
Did the same part car/cycle journey. The 9 miles took me 30mins (3 mins faster than my previous best with nobby nics 🙂
Looks rather nice too (apart from the muck)

There is still room for improvement i think, was a little tired this morning and worked a bit hard at one point and felt a little sick so had to coast 😳

I will see how i get on tonight, thinking i may do the full 16 mile route tomorrow!

Regarding riding on the road, i don’t like it too much. I get really pissed off when people pass giving me no room and pulling out of junctions without even realising i’m there. Doing the 9 miles route i cycle alongside a dual carriageway (off the road) and along 30mph roads in town. If i do the full route it will involve 13 miles or so of NSL back roads, which does worry me slightly.

Know what you mean about the other road users.
I bought one of Smudge’s Luminator lights and the epileptic mode certainly highlights that I’m there even in daylight. In fact, since using these I have only had one person almost pull out on me and that was a cyclist who didn’t look until I shouted.
I’m gradually discovering new routes home, most of which are back roads/farm tracks and sustrans routes. Don’t really notice the extra mileage when using these. Grin is bigger though when I arrive home.
Off the bike so far this week as I had a slight headset/maintenance problem at the weekend. Ball bearings everywhere. Cartridge bearings are the way to go. Just praying for Royal Mail to get a wriggle on and deliver my shiny new Hope kit.

17 miles each way.

Thankfully, living in Cheshire its pan flat.

Try and commute as often as I can by bike, unless I’cve got client meetings, or have to be on site..

Doing the 9 miles route i cycle alongside a dual carriageway (off the road) and along 30mph roads in town. If i do the full route it will involve 13 miles or so of NSL back roads, which does worry me slightly.

my usual route involves a singlecarriageway trunk route and i will not lie, it is not pleasant. Feeding my mums cat this week and the detour has taken my commute to 25miles. but it is on back lanes, so much more pleasant, but the way some of the drivers behaviour!!!. It really is a case of knowing which roads are safe, which are dangerous and which are unpleasant. Remember an unpleasant road isn’t necessarily a dangerous one.

Just 6 miles each way

Downhill on the way in so not too sweaty by the time I make it to the office. I have a couple of nice alternative gentle off-road options available on which this is more than capable.

18 miles each way, I try to do it once a week but I am a bit of a fair weather rider! I need to MTFU…..
I use a RoadRat for it, there are a couple of hills in the journey but it’s the first 5-6 miles from home that get me, the boredom of a cyclepath along the dual carriageway does my head in.

Takes just over an hour, I try to leave at 6am to be in and showered by 7.15. Lucky I can leave at 4pm so I’m normally home by 5.15 at the latest.

7miles each way, singlespeed on a langster I paid £150 for about 4 years ago, running on halo twin rail couriers 700×24,
5 days a week, takes about 25 mins in and 30 minutes back, can do it quicker if I really push it, normally set off an hour before I start, gives me time to freshen up and change ready to start

10 miles each way, with a 300m climb in the middle. Great on the way in, that’s a couple of miles you don’t have to pedal, and I don’t get to work all sweaty. Less good on the way home.

Well… its now a month since this thread started. How are those that started riding to work getting on?

I’ve been riding my 28 mile commute one way 2 or 3 days a week. My time for the ride has tumbled from 1hr45min to 1hr30min; and I’ve learned to only time the first 1hr 15mins as the last bit is in traffic so no place to be trying to beat the clock (cooling off time). When I used to ride some of this route with a chain gang 15 years ago using the small ring on the road bike was sign of weakness. One month ago when I started I hardly used the big ring, but now I can do the whole ride in it again. I’ve lost nearly a stone in weight and am feeling better with more energy despite the extra miles… I’m loving that feeling.

My ride is 28 miles and 1685ft of climbing according to Strava… yes… running Strava on my commute has given me a whole other reason to get up at 5am and hop on the bike and give it some beans. Clmbing that leader board is addictive.