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I appreciate this is a ridiculous claim to make, but I had an awesome commute home last night, and it got me thinking about where it would rank amongst Britain's best commutes?
What makes a good commute? Distance? Terrain? Variety? Weather? Solitude?
The basic ingredients of mine include the following:
Start in a busy city centre; onto a canal tow-path to dodge other commuters for a mile or so; onto another path continuing away from the city and into the hills; sharp climb, followed by nice singletrack through the hills; long, fast descent to home, mostly still off-road; finished off with a short technical climb, which sometimes I clean and sometimes I don't, which makes it all the more fun!
In the hills:
[url] http://www.flickr.com/photos/dair2009/4702603787/in/photostream/?rotated=1&cb=1276606716130 [/url]
Out of the hills:
[url] http://www.flickr.com/photos/dair2009/4702603871/in/photostream/ [/url]
Cheeky climb:
[url] http://www.flickr.com/photos/dair2009/4702603955/in/photostream/ [/url]
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🙂
that looks near enough unbeatable to be honest.
I like mine buts its not a patch on that
Thank you, BigD! I have been scrabbling around trying to figure out how to do that. I have managed it before, but couldn't remember!
What makes a good commute?
Getting to the destination alive and unharmed.
Might not be quite so idyllic in the winter though!
I've been meaning to pack my Jetboil and head off early one morning and make my breakfast up on top of Hare Hill or Bells Hill before continuing my commute to the office.
Dair, that's lovely. I enjoy my mixed 'trail' commute but that is special.
mine is 13miles of this, door to door. Perfect for me cos we don't have showers at work, I can scoot along without breaking into a sweat.
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I'm not sure I can beat the OP's to be honest, it looks great but mine was (and will be again) pretty good. A bit flat but virtually all offroad and in summer it was amazing rolling along between the fields with the mist lying low.
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I work from home but do a 12.5 ride three days a week (run on the other days).
A few bits of it:
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Do you [s]commute[/s] 'ride' partly by helicopter?
No but I'm good at 500ft high jumps
Aaaah. You're a flea.
I'm too busy riding to stop and take photos, but I don't think I could vote a commute that starts (or ends) in a city centre as the best in the country! Mine goes from a little village, either on some flat roads through other little villages, or over some hills on pretty quiet roads and ends up at the leafy end of a relatively big town, can be done off road if I wanted, I must say though that I never have!
Don’t think my commute either Road (more often than not) or MTB & Train can compete on views or indeed enjoyable bit (both routes mean dealing with arses in cars) but I do get the odd quiet moment on many of my journeys and a coinciding nice sunrise or clear view across the hills does make you feel a lot more at peace with the world all of a sudden…
no way this beats it but here is mine from google
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Ah you get the picture no hills anywhere really and cant do it in Winter
MrsG has a great commute which can either be 5miles along big wide dedicated cyle path, or 4-5miles all off road over the North Downs depending how she's feeling wether it's muddy etc...
Mine is:
Start in a village, cycle alongside a river to town (small town), cross river, cycle back up it (fairly urban), back into countryside, 1.5 mile off road track, into very rural hilly terrain, nice 1m DH section off road and back
njee20 - commuting away from the busy city centre into the hills is one of the highlights of my commute! That sense of leaving it all behind. There are a couple of points where I look back down on the city from the hills, and all of the bad things that have happened during the day, and that knot that lives in the pit of my stomach at work, largely disappear.
Hills are good, commuting is how to get fit!
If we're doing 'Google' routes, I do this:
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Think I'll take the long route home as it's a nice evening, chuck a few more hills in!
You're all wrong. Surely the ultimate commute has to include the element of danger! Not the danger of a rocky descent or some sOme slippery roots, but that ever present risk of some thieving knife wielding scumbag jumping on you at the next set of lights and having your bike away.......
jee20 - commuting away from the busy city centre into the hills is one of the highlights of my commute!
Fair enough, I can understand that! When I lived in Bristol I detested the section out of the city, much more of a country lad myself!
epicsteve - that sounds like a plan! The light in the morning is pretty special, it's justheading the wrong way, i.e. to work.
I'll bring the pains of chocolat!
I did actually attend a Pentlands breakfast ride years back, organised on the old STW site. There was only myself and one other chap but cooking bacon sarnies up in the hills was a nice start to the day. The breakfast location that time was the ruins part the way down from Maidens to Glencorse - same location as this was taken from:
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Some pretty nice commutes. Mine doesn't really hit a city centre.
[img] http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3956433918_f3579d3683_m.jp g" target="_blank">
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/gothandy/sets/72157624158619101/ ]View on Flickr[/url]
epicsteve - MemberMight not be quite so idyllic in the winter though!
I've been meaning to pack my Jetboil and head off early one morning and make my breakfast up on top of Hare Hill or Bells Hill before continuing my commute to the office.
I try to do that a couple of times over the summer. Haven't managed yet this year but usual plan is to ride from home up into Pentlands, bacon rolls on Black Hill/ Harbour Hill then Scalextics/ Poet's/ Water of Leith into work. Means a 6am start but I think it's worth it 🙂
Sounds like we need to get a Pentlands breakfast meet organised.
I'm pretty chuffed with my route, three miles all in the country, around or up and over the Eildons in Scottish Borders.
Road Option is mainly on a closed to traffic road, can be snowy
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Road was also part of last years Tour of Britain Route
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Cyclocross Option, single track and farm tracks, often see Hares, Badgers Deer and Red Squirrels
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Offroad option, climbs, views, singletrack descents
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Work has bike sheds and showers, distance is short enough that when in a rush I can do it in 10 minutes or so, but have options to extend as long as I want. I work flexi so if the sun is shining I often do another lap before arriving at work!
Commute is so good I got rid of my car, now cycle every day and love it every single day
Many years ago I commuted past the Seabrook Crisp factory, near Bradford.
A sublime smell - but you can't stop yourself licking your lips so I always got chapped lips in winter!
[url= http://davedibble5930.fotopic.net/c186336.html ]My commute[/url] pics are a few years old now but you get the idea.
Um.. surf Matt. Yours is just a ride not a commute?
Mine's not too bad - off road cycle path almost all the way, pretty much flat, and this view on the last/first bit.
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26 miles from Launceston, through Callington and onto the Naval Dockyard on my Bandit 1200, love it (last Winter was painful though).
Grum, where is that? That last picture is stunning!
Morecambe Bay - looking towards the Lake District fells.
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some video on my commute this morning[/url]
First try with the Go Pro Wide on a chest mount as well.
Grum, where is that? That last picture is stunning!
It would not if he rotated the camera 180 degrees
[i]It would not if he rotated the camera 180 degrees[/i]
lol!
It would not if he rotated the camera 180 degrees
Why would turning the camera upside down make any difference? 😉
Um.. surf Matt. Yours is just a ride not a commute?
It's a "fake" commute - done before work three days a week.
Mine via google, West Mids is a dump btw-
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I worked for about a week at a place that was on the other side of my local trail area. So about 2 miles of lane and all my fave trails.
The job was a joke though so packed it in.
Epicsteve - great footage. Where are the trails at the start and finish of the clip? I think the start is the NT, but where is the one at the end?
So, where and when and we all having breakfast?...
The first trail is Pistachio and the last one is a little bit of trail that drops down from Currie to Riccarton Mains Road. The dirt track part of it runs parallel to the golf course before joing tarmac and crossing the railway line.
I'd nominate the top of Harbour Hill as the "where" for breakfast - not sure on the when though.
I'll need to check that out. I have been looking for offroad trails that link Lanark Road with Cammo/Dalmeny.
It might be useful for that. When the dirt track ends it joins with a tarmac route (pretty much traffic free I think) which can be followed into Wester Hailes. I turn the other way at the point they join though as my office is in the research park at Heriot Watt.
My commute is from houses bottom right, along the loch shore (or over hills) to woods on far hill...
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I have road option, as well as gert big 'ill track from old hydro scheme, or some nagery singletrack.