Viewing 26 posts - 41 through 66 (of 66 total)
  • Who does a 20mileish commute (by bike)? I'm considering it…
  • noltae
    Free Member

    I did 18 each way – during a 20 months driving ban -I had good days but sometimes it was a nightmare .. If you’ve got the option to drive I’d bet good money your motivation will dwindle – The worst was putting wet clothing back on – And then again the next day – often I’d get home and couldn’t be arsed to dry clothes – It’s also mega time consuming.. Seriously dude wouldn’t bother – sorry to sound defeatist ..

    squin
    Free Member

    I have a 34 miles each way commute. Until I’m really fit, I drive in one day and cycle home, then cycle back the next morning and drive home – tomorrow being the case.

    I find that the biggest challenge with a 68mile ride plus a full day at work, is that the commute alone burns 3000 calories and I struggle to get enough food into me during the day. 5500 decent calories in a day is hard to do!

    ir_bandito
    Free Member

    23 miles or so each way, I ride it once a week. Get the train the other days and last week I managed to beat the door-to-door time of the train. (extra 15 mins for a shower though so its not perfect yet)

    If I plan ahead, I take clothes in prior to biking in, and try and avoid needing the laptop at home so I can reduce the load.

    lunge
    Full Member

    35 miles each way here, on a good week I do it 3 times, a bad one its just once, there are many more good weeks than bad. I’ve found getting the train Monday and Friday means I can drop off and take home clothes whilst also leaving me fresh ish for the weekend. I can do it in 2 hours on a good day so it’s not that much slower than the train.

    It does wear me out though, I’m dead on Fridays but can live with that. It also means I can eat like a horse and not get too fat.

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    I can’t understand how people can do 20+ per day for 4 or 5 days a week. I just don’t get it. They must be machines.

    I guess I’ve just got used to it and some days I ride in and don’t really feel like I’ve done any exercise at all. It wasn’t like that at the start though.

    I don’t have a lot of climbing though, only 700ft on the way in and 1000ft home – most of which is gained on a 4 mile climb.

    I disagree on the point about only making you good for that distance, riding twice a day does huge amounts for your endurance, throw in a couple of days a week where I do intervals, traffic lights are great for this, and it doesn’t harm speed either.

    rone
    Full Member

    Off road 12-15 miles each way.

    Like a lot say it wears you in a way regular riding doesn’t. Doesn’t feel like a proper exercise to me either.

    Do it 2-4 times a week.

    But then I like to ride harder at the weekend and sometimes feel a bit stuffed from the gentle commute.

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    I do 12.5 in and sometimes a bit further home. Not regularly, it’s not a good road particularly in cold dark wet winters, and because i need to be home and fresh in good time to take my kids to various after school sports clubs I can only do it once or twice a week from clocks forward to clocks back, and then up it in the holidays (twice this week, maybe 3x a week in summer holidays). Takes about 45-50 mins depending on traffic / traffic lights and whether there’s a train at the level crossing.

    It does increase fitness, but here’s a question; most of my weekend mtb’ing is substantially longer than these 45 mins, typically 3-4 hour rides. To get the best out of the commutes, my impulse is to push hard particularly up the 3 short hills (total is about 130m climb) and try to use it to build some top end speed and power rather than endurance. But then I hit the office sweating like a DJ at the computer repair shop (no showers at work, wet wipe wash only), and spend the next 2 hours coughing. Am i getting any significant benefit from doing this a couple of times a week or should I just ease back and enjoy the ride?

    grenosteve
    Free Member

    I do 10 each way, but it’s more often than not extended to about 14. Quite hilly though (300m of climbing average).

    I don’t think there would be much in it between a 20 mile and 10/12/15 mile commute. Its another half hour on the bike (the fun bit!), but just as much getting changed and packing clothes etc.. (the boring bit).

    Getting changed in the toilets at 5 while everyone else is out the door like a shot gets me down. Then I have to lock up and close the office down… Also, making sure the bike kit gets washed every night and I have a supply of clothes to take into work. That stuff makes commuting everyday hard, not really the riding. You can always get up 20 mins earlier and have a steady ride into work if you’re tired.

    mcj78
    Free Member

    I do ~37 mile round trip usually 4 days per week – half rural cyclepath, half main roads, determined to do it every day at least once this year but usually bad weather / headwind induced fatigue has caught up with me by Friday! Having Wednesday as a rest day works well for me just now, used to do 3 days per week & take Tuesday & Thursday off which was good to start with – this was coming from a 18 mile round trip before we moved & to be honest I was surprised at how quickly I got used to it – the good weather last summer helped massively.

    Give it a bash & don’t beat yourself up if you simply can’t be arsed some mornings, likewise if the weather is horrible – i’ve tried doing it through heavy wind & rain but it’s really no fun being cold & wet for an hour + first thing in the morning, then putting wet gear back on at night to do the same & you end up burst the next day.

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    Getting changed in the toilets at 5 while everyone else is out the door like a shot gets me down. Then I have to lock up and close the office down… Also, making sure the bike kit gets washed every night and I have a supply of clothes to take into work. That stuff makes commuting everyday hard, not really the riding. You can always get up 20 mins earlier and have a steady ride into work if you’re tired.

    Everyone getting out the door before me doesn’t bother me, its not a race and I’m happy knowing generally they’re either going to stand and wait for a bus or sit in a queue of traffic.

    I have enough kit that I don’t need to wash it every night, usually do a wash on a Wednesday and Friday. Buy more kit.

    I take a supply of clothes on the days I drive, or if I pass the office at the weekend but I have a locker.

    whitestone
    Free Member

    Like @theotherjonv we’ve no showers at work (meant to be getting some at some point as there’s a few who cycle in to work) so I tend to take it easy on the way in to avoid working up too much of a sweat, then it’s wet wipes and a bit of deodorant. It helps that it’s generally downhill on the way to work.

    I leave a pair of shoes and a pair of trousers and coat at work so I don’t have to take those every day – we don’t have to wear formal clothes at work so so long as I’m presentable it’s not a problem. I also leave a pair of underpants and socks at work just in case I forget to put those in my saddlebag and don’t have to go commando 😳

    After a while you get in to the swing of things, my saddlebag has tools, spares and rain jacket in it permanently so I don’t forget them, I just need to shove t-shirt, underpants, socks, wallet and phone in to a dry bag which can be done the night before.

    If it’s chucking it down in the morning then I get the train – I’m cycling to work because I want to, not to make some kind of point – putting wet cycling kit on to ride home isn’t pleasant and you have the whole day to think about having to do it.

    HansRey
    Full Member

    I do a massive 4 miles 😀

    I leave some a poloshirt, jeans, socks, underwear and shoes in my office. But, I carry my laptop, lunch and other clothes on the panniers each day to and from work. I try to stay under the sweat/effort limit as I’ve not got any showers available here.

    I’ve found that cycling with luggage takes a lot more effort. Try to avoid that if you can.

    philwarren11
    Free Member

    Im about to do my first ride home tomorrow, 18 miles off road, cant be arsed with on road even tho its about 5 miles shorter. 13 miles on a Alpine 160 doesnt appeal to me if im honest. lol.

    Brought my bike and stuff in today, will catch the train to work tomorrow morning and ride home after work.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    20 miles each way, every day is a lot of endurance miles. Whilst the distance isn’t so bad, the intensity will mean that you will be great for endurance but struggle to recover – think 12 mph or less average speed at least two days a week. If you are riding intervals on the way in as well to raise intensity then the ride home should take about an hour and a half or more. That’s a lot of time in a week.

    I ride a flat 20 miles into work at least twice a week (including hard intervals), plus recovery 7 miles on the way home. On Tuesdays I ride 7 miles in followed by a 40 mile club ride. On other days I ride 9 miles both ways. Finally on Fridays I ride to a different site which is 14 miles each way. If I work late Friday evenings and am racing Saturday then I sometimes catch the tube home with the bike.

    20 miles each way, every day would see me struggle for variety and time commitment, to be honest. Recovery is important.

    hels
    Free Member

    I ride my bike to work when I can – it does require careful planning with clothes etc – you don’t want to lug a heavy bag or panniers. And sometimes you have those meetings where a clean smart suit is required.

    The facilties make a huge difference, where I am now we have a brilliant and mostly empty girls locker room and shower, with this giant clothes dryer thing to dry kit during the day.

    No secure bike storage tho, so I have to drive in, leave the car overnight then cycle home, other way in the morning. Out of respect and admiration the security guys upgraded my pass so I can leave the car in the secure compound with the fleet cars, which was nice !

    monksie
    Free Member

    18 miles each way. Just about every day, each way Monday to Friday. I hate it sometimes.

    fingerbang
    Free Member

    I don’t get this ‘washing kit being a drag’ bit. Maybe im a scruff but I wear one set of coolmax-y pants per week and get them washed at weekend with my mtb gear.

    I’ve got another 2 sets of the same pants so can be (relatively) fresh as a daisy. Shoes can be put on a shoe dryer in the bike shed at home or sneakily put on a radiator at work if the morning commute is wet.

    keeping on top of kit isn’t a hassle I find but I do about 7 miles each way and don’t have to work up a sweat

    whitestone
    Free Member

    Facilities do make a big difference, one place I worked at had locked internal bike storage (only those who biked to work and asked had a key); showers; drying facilities and didn’t mind you using your desk drawers to store clothes or personal hygiene products or charging lights.

    No doubt a few firms won’t install cycling facilities because “no-one bikes to work”, it’s a chicken and egg situation.

    mikemorini
    Free Member

    12 miles each way, but with longer daylight hours that goes up to about 23 in and 16 home. I found the sweet spot to be three days a week with Tuesday and Thursday off. We finish early on a Friday so I try to stretch the run home out to 30 miles with some hills thrown in.
    I feel no guilt going to the pub on Friday evening after walking the dog.

    IHN
    Full Member

    I think I’ll start with drive in Monday, ride home, ride in Tuesday, drive home and drive the rest of the week. For one it means that once I’ve ridden home on the Monday (when I should still be reasonably fresh) I’m committed to riding in on the Tuesay morning as the van will be at work. I’ll see how that goes for a few weeks and then maybe repeat on Weds/Thurs.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    It does increase fitness, but here’s a question; most of my weekend mtb’ing is substantially longer than these 45 mins, typically 3-4 hour rides. To get the best out of the commutes, my impulse is to push hard particularly up the 3 short hills (total is about 130m climb) and try to use it to build some top end speed and power rather than endurance. But then I hit the office sweating like a DJ at the computer repair shop (no showers at work, wet wipe wash only), and spend the next 2 hours coughing. Am i getting any significant benefit from doing this a couple of times a week or should I just ease back and enjoy the ride?

    Probably, I always figure any ‘training’ is better than nothing unless you’re too tired for the next session. I usualy tried to do the morning at a regular pace then aim for a PB on the way home. Did it by setting the computer to display average speed then aiming to be 0.1 mph over the target at the start (which was fairly flat) then killing myself on the hills so it didn’t drop, then getting a bit of a boost down the other side. If I missed the target the next day was a rest day at an easier pace, then try again the day after. This was in the days before strava.

    Selled
    Free Member

    I used to commute Cirencester (Siddington) to Swindon. I would not have done it everyday off road. Did it a few times for fun but my standard route was on road. I remember a lot of cars used to fly around those lanes.

    I also had a deal with my wife that if I did not want to cycle home she would pick me up en route between Swindon and Cricklade. This worked well as she avoided the wonderful rush hour traffic in Swindon.

    Point is, its ok, but have a back up plan.

    will
    Free Member

    Do it. It’s a long way to do every day, but you’ll get fit and save alot of money!

    samunkim
    Free Member
    dirtyrider
    Free Member

    22 flat miles each way, 2/3 times a week (i work long hour shifts, only 3 a week) so leave at 5:30am to be in work showered at 7:15am, and finish at 20:30pm, don’t do it when I’m on nights, if I’m on a late sometimes ill take a 2/3 hour ride to work

    sometimes i do the car to work, leave car ride home thing, always checking the weather apps, if its icy i don’t, its all back roads, if its due to rain i wake up check outside and if its hammering down have another hour in bed, all common sense.

    smartboy
    Free Member

    30mile round trip for me. 3,500ft of climbing (Bristol!).

    Been doing that for about 4years every work-day (and about another 8 years before that around 1/2 the distance and climbing).

    Used a road bike for the last 18mths but was on various HTs with knobblies before that.

    Just about to move jobs to a 40mile round trip, but probably less than 1,000ft of climbing.

    Clean shirt in the camelback every day (and a laptop, lunch and 2 D-locks). Current work has showers but old work was a refresh in the disabled loo!

    Manage one weekend MTB rise of about 4hours and have one weekend day off the bike.

Viewing 26 posts - 41 through 66 (of 66 total)

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