Grimy, I think that's a good point. I'm not sure how you just get on bike and ride kev but chapeau
ap, I'll drop you an email anyway if that's ok
During my last stint I in London I rode from Bounds Green into the West End. All the other suggestions are top notch but I would also say that no matter how depressing the weather is for riding on the commute it is still a hundred times better than being crammed on the tube with a thousand other bodies for 40 minutes each morning. I used to arrive at work in such a bad mood after having to do that! After riding in I was raring to go!
22 mile each way commute - once a week.
Would do it more but play football and mountainbike after work some nights.
I work from just one location which isn't in London and just do 9-5:30. I keep spare clothes for 4 days in a draw by my desk and a towel on the coat rack. Another draw has sachets of porridge and packets of cereal bars. We have a disable toilet with a shower, and secure bike storage.
I get up in the morning and drink a black coffee while putting on riding gear. Kiss the family goodbye and get on my bike. Ride to work, shower, make some porridge, start work. At the end of the day I get changed, ride home, and shower.
I'm lucky that I don't do shift work or work from different locations, so I can get a routine going, but this stuff is only as difficult as you make it.
I can see Grimy's point of view, but I think that's as much a problem with shift patterns etc as commuting. I'd love to get rid of my car but I recognise that I can't at the moment. If I can get my commute down to 10 miles next we move then I'll definitely consider it though.
I'd cycle the 6 mile journey
You drive 6 miles! Not in London though eh?
Suppose it depends on what you do for a living and where you work. but you could easily do 6 miles in your everyday clothes and not turn up stinking.
but I would also say that no matter how depressing the weather is for riding on the commute it is still a hundred times better than being crammed on the tube with a thousand other bodies for 40 minutes each morning.
This for me is the best reason to ride a bike London, it's even worse on a hot summers evening with all those 'ripe' bodies around you.
20 miles a day is do-able. I'm (almost) 62 and I started doing that distance last September to save on the rail fare. You'll have to be committed to it, though. It took about four months for the pain to recede (just weakness leaving the body, right?) and now I can do it without any feeling of collapsing knees or daily exhaustion.
I'm even thinking of doing the LEJOG next year, as a result of the 200-miles-a-week schedule.
Accept the challenge and feel good about yourself!
Medics call London cyslists 'Organ Donors' for a reason.
I thought that was *motor* cyclists.
I've a 16 mile each way commute.. All can only be done on main roads sadly.
The first 8 miles are through the countryside, and the last 8 through the centre of Warrington.
Its a bit tasty in places.. 😕 But I try and do it a couple of times a week- meeting/ site visit depending..
Putting all your cycle gear on and getting dressed four times a day whislt maintaining a steady flow of clean gear to wear day in day out will get tired quickly. Packing your backpack with clean clothes, packed lunch, tools / office work etc, every day, seemed to take longer than it should and was a PITA. Showering up to three times a day didnt do my ecema much good either. Even just maintaining the bike properly each week soon eats into your free time.
I think Grimy has a point. I stopped commuting by bike last year when it got super cold and the roads were freezing, and I haven't picked it back up.
To be honest, one of the reasons is that there's a section of road that is awkward to avoid without huge detours that worries me.
I don't think I scare that easily - I've been riding on the road for over 20 years - but I've found generally outer London rush hour traffic is more worrying than it is in central London. At a guess I'd say people concentrate less, probably because traffic is moving more and there's less going on around them.
Add that to a narrow and unlit road, bad visibility and lots of quick moving traffic, and you have a worried cyclist (OP - You'll probably know the road too - between Staines and Old Windsor. My commute is from Addlestone to Slough.)
I regularly ride from Trafalgar Square out towards Bromley. It's about thirteen miles all in and is perfectly commutable. In general, London drivers seem very cycle aware and if you don't go in with the attitude that you'll remonstrate with everyone who transgresses the Highway Code you'll be fine.
Busses though are generally driven by psychopaths.
I did 23K there and and 23K back when in Netherlands. Was a pleasure even the rain was not too bad. Did find myself drifting off by Friday though.
Cant ride on the road very often here in Aus as I am terrified even though there are some cycle lanes. I imagine riding in that there London would be even worse than here. I have seen the loons on Utube with their video footage muttering registration numbers every few seconds. Rather you than me I think.
20 odd years of bike commuting in the 10 - 30 mile each way bracket.
It's rare for me to bike commute 4 or more times a week and I have the advantage of different routes as take my fancy. I also use every bike in the collection which ranges from full on bling disk wheeled time trial bike through to a full susser.
Never had showers available so used to strip washes. However this limits MTB commutes, especially in poor conditions. You can't really arrive at work covered in mud.
Winter commuting can be gutty and the weather over the past few months has certainly been challenging.
Even a couple of miles of mid sized town traffic can be a ballache and I take my hat off to folk who commute in to busy cities like London.
My recommendations (in no particular order):
Mudguards for poor weather
Decent gloves and overshoes
Two (or more) pairs of shoes
Enough bike clothing to cover three consecutive days riding
Good lights and ideally double up on front and rear for redundancy
Variety of routes if poss
Choice of different bikes for riding variety
Try and ride with others - makes the time go quicker / good training if they're fitter
I didn't shower or get changed when i commuted 6 miles!
You wouldn't get changed to walk 20 minutes to the shops!?
I've done a 10 mile each way commute for about 7 years now from NW London into the outskirts of London town. A few things I've thought about:
1. Use a relevant bike. I use a road bike with mudguards, decent tyres, rack/panniers, dynamo lights and a hub gear. Means you rarely have to think about whether the bike is working and even worse cleaning it! I can't remember the last time I had a puncture (28c schwalbe Duranos).
2. You DONT have to do it everyday. Sometimes I ride 2 times, somtimes 5 times a week. All depends on whether I'm going out after work and how my legs feel. Always have the option of the tube. Plus eventually you'll miss it if you don't do it at least 3 times in a week!
3. Keep clothing simple. I have tons of bike clothes, but I tend to use the same one set for commuting. Means I dont need to decide in the morning! Merino baselayers and Torm sportwool jerseys are good: dont smell. This may sound weird but I also think about how long stuff takes to put on/off. I dont want 4 layers to take off and hang up. I just want 2.
4. Pick a good route. No-one wants to sit on an A road getting buzzed by traffic for 40 mins. Even in London, you can always find a less busy route you'll find more enjoyable.
I've never found my commute stops me riding at the weekend. Still want to go out on the club run every Sunday. Thou if I've got big weekend of riding planned, I'll just get the tube in for a few days.
Do it, you'll love it.
My commuting has been on and off for years (living rural where distancs are just too great for regular bike commuting, 22 miles each way and a lot of ups & downs), but when I moved to a city I have almost completly ditched my car*
**the fact its borderline broken and I need to spend £k on it to get it to a decent condition again is part of that. Also parking in the city is a total ballache, money and finding a space wise.
Driving to work (3 miles) 20-60minutes depending on traffic & parking situation
Riding to work (1 mile less as no gyratorys) 12 minutes, except if I miss the first set of lights, in which case 14 minutes, never ever takes longer
Also you know when you get to work, you make a cup of tea/coffee/bovril and around 9.45 you sort of bonk into your desk, yeah? I don't get that when I ride to work.
After a while you hate travelling by car.
Mine is 15 miles each way, I'll do it every day unless I have an offsite meeting or some personal reason for not doing it, like I can't be arsed.
It's all great while the weather is nice but it takes real character to continue to ride when it's properly nasty and you have a choice. Make sure you store some danger pants and socks at work.
Find fun routes. An extra half mile in a nice place is completely worth it. Don't discount offroad routes, even in London I'm sure there's plenty.
Your bike choice should be based entirely on robustness. Tyres in particular should be spectacularly tough. Forget about them needing grip, puncture resistance is the most important thing on earth.
Get a decent bag. I'd avoid rucksacks if I were you. The old fashioned courier bags are excellent in my opinion.
Get some shoes dryers in work. Again, you're welcome.
Hold up your thumb now and look at it. That's how thick your skin needs to be because you'll be sharing the road with the most hopeless drivers, the stupidest people and the most dangerous psychopaths in the world. Your best approach is avoid getting killed by them and then generally ignore them.
Hmmmm.....doing 20 miles a day everyday might make me go off riding bikes for fun
I don't think so, any more than commuting by car puts you off driving somewhere great for a holiday.
I wouldn't bother with a singlespeed either. I've only got geared bikes, and they don't suddenly stop working when the roads are wet. The only maintenance required is brake pads, a bit of cleaning the frame, and de-griming the chain periodically. All of which applies to SS as well. Gear cables never much of an issue on commuter bike, if you are worried get ride-on cables and you never have to worry.
I'd say that if you are going more than 7 or 8 miles a proper road bike can make it better, unless it's proper urban riding. More than that I'll always take the road bike unless I haven't got a good place to lock it.
As for the weather issue - it depends on the alternative. 45 mins cycling in the rain to do 10 miles is still way better than 45 minutes sat in a car to do 10 miles. And if you don't give yourself an alternative, then you just do it, the same as driving or getting out to get the train. You'll never resent it, because there are always nice mornings and you will always be fitter for it 🙂
Driving to work (3 miles)
If I lived 3 miles from work I would NEVER drive. That's scandalous!
I have never cycled to work and thought i wish i had driven, whereas i have driven to work and thought i wish i had cycled.
I didn't shower or get changed when i commuted 6 miles!You wouldn't get changed to walk 20 minutes to the shops!?
Good for you, if I rode it hard then I'd be quite sweaty, and thus would want to change.
It's probably been mentioned already, but also consider what you will be wearing at work. If it's suit and tie, you might have to skip riding in Monday and Friday to take in a suit and clean shirts for the rest of the week.
If it's jeans and a t-shirt that you can shove in a riding bag it's not such an issue.
I started commuting a couple weeks ago with the main aim of reducing money spent on petrol. Only a 3-4 miles each way, rode slowly enough to not bother showering at work. However, according to Google it's only 80p each way, so maybe a tenner a week, so back to driving as it's a lot less faff! Might ride in on the odd day if I fancy it though..
I live 5 miles from work which works really nicely. I only cycle 2 - 3 times per week (mainly because I have evening commitments 2 days per week which I go to straight from work and which don't lend themselves to arriving by bike), but I tend to do a 10 mile route in to work in the morning. Depending on my energy levels after work I can either cycle straight home or do something longer (or cycle straight home, swop to my road bike and head out again).
I have hub gears, tough tyres and disk brakes, and after 900 miles on my "new" bike the extent of my maintenance has been changing the oil in the hub gears and occasionally lubing the chain.
Not London but I have a 15 mile, quite hilly, commute into Manchester and same home. TBH the worst part is other road users. I also have an alternative route of 17miles each way that is mostly traffic free which I try to use wherever possible (time allowing).
few pointers from my experience;
Leave with enough time - it's horrible being late then realising you've got a strong headwind all the way in!
Full mudguards are brilliant.
Shimano winter MTB boots and Aldi gloves will keep you happy through winter.
Vary your route to stop the boredom / complacency setting in.
Decent lights are worth every penny (I use exposure ones as there's no cables).
Get a breathable waterproof.
Hope that's some help! 😀
This:
This may sound weird but I also think about how long stuff takes to put on/off. I dont want 4 layers to take off and hang up. I just want 2.
And this:
Make sure you store some danger pants and socks at work.
And this:
Full mudguards are brilliant.
And this:
Get a breathable waterproof.
😀
Buy some quality waterproofs & gloves for winter.Might also be handy if you could grow some eyes out of your arse(to be on the lookout for inconsiderate drivers).Hi vis gear probably wouldn't go amiss either!.
Ive just done another route check on google and it looks like 23 miles each way for me (In Rural Norfolk)so I guess I better try it one of these days.
Real pain is no showers at work, but at least dress code is pretty informal.
Does anyone have any recomendations for clothing I could commute in without needing to get fully changed or is that just not practical ?
If you are cycling from Twickenham way to Chertsey then it is nothing like riding in central London. In general the worst places are Hampton Court bridge in the morning (~7am) and Twickenham high street in the evening (~8pm). I cycle from near Twickenham to Weybridge and have a pretty good route through Hampton/Molesy/Walton. You could go through Hampton/Sunbury/Shepperton. Either way the roads are all pretty wide and the traffic is pretty good. Weybridge can get a bit busy especially if there is an accident on the A3 and Walton bridge can get a bit maniac but the old bridge is being kept as a cycle/pedestrian bridge. You can get along the Thames towpath to as far as Weybridge as well - one of my colleagues comes in that way from Surbiton. Fortunately I have secure bike parking, lockers and showers at work so can take clothes in and leave them there for work.
Can't agree with Grimy.
It's only one extra shower per day. The only cycling kit that I change daily are the shorts, which i wear under baggies, and with a merino top which certainly don't get changed daily.
I do occasionally drive to work, and I hate the feeling of not having ridden to work - I spend the whole day trying to wake up.
I also find cycling less stressful, as I know exactly how long it'll take me, whereas in the car it's a lottery.
As for single speed vs geared, I'd definitely say geared. Even riding all year round, I simply don't have any problems with gears getting gummed up with road grime to the point of not working, and when you're tired and carrying a heavy bag, even the smallest hill gets boring pretty quickly.
I've been commuting in for about 5-6 years and would recommend it, it can be a bit tough in the wind/rain/snow/ice etc but the past few days have been lovely and remind you how nice it is to do - anything has to be better than public transport!
My direct route is about 4 miles but it can be up to 40 miles on the way home if I take a 'scenic' route home via South Birmingham in the summer.
A single speed should be fine in and around London, just get a nice gear ratio of 66-70 gear inches
The following are invaluable to me:-
Full length mudguards
Schwalbe marathons or something similar
Carradice Saddlebag ( I hate commuting with a rucksack ) or Rack/Panniers
Merino base layers can help avoid constant washing of cycling gear
Ice tyres for the Winter months ( I stuck some on my mtb and managed to commute all year round )
Aldi gloves and leggings (winter only)
I did 14 months 7 miles each direction now moved a bit closer 🙂 But still ride of course 4 days a week.
But my thoughts are
Choose the best most direct route not via roads (ideally) canals are excellent for this.
Buy the best water proofs you can afford £90.00 for over trousers £150.000 decent jacket both worth there wait in gold when it's not raining....... it's like a bloody monsoon (I'm based in Greater Manchester what can I say 😀 )
Buy the best lights you can afford
Buy the VERY best backpack you can afford that will take all your gear for work PLUS you water proof and tool kit.
Have a towel at work plus spare pair of socks + can of deodorant plus the work clothes of course, once you have got them there.
On the roads treat every one as though they are trying to kill you e.g your on a main road slow down and expect the prick to pull out from the side road.Or the dick that has just pulled up to open his door in front of you as they will!
Clean the bike once a week (IMPORTANT ONE!) , always carry pump, a couple of extra tubes plus tire levers and multi tool and you will not be so far short of what you need.
And have fun in summer you will get a tan for free, in winter those hot drinks will feel all that much more special LOL
I do ~20 miles a day, usually 3 days a week. I try to do it year round. I'd be tempted to give it a go, see if you can get on with the time/distance etc THEN worry about getting the kit.
Bad weather - it's never as bad as you think it's going to be. Even in the snow & ice over winter, I still got to work happy I'd gone by bike. Maybe I'm weird. Good weatherproof clothes help, but mainly it's mental - don't think about it, get your kit on a get out of the door 🙂
Just do it, even the shittest ride to work is still a ride, and way better than being in the car.
I've only read the OP so may be repeating what other people have said.
I commute 20 miles each way at least three days a week, sometimes 5 and do it all through the year. I also do longer rides at the weekend and in summer 200 miles weeks is the norm. This is my 7th year of doing it and I absolutely love it. Of course there are some days that I feel like shit and think how can I do this but once on the bike I always feel fine.
The key things are being organised, cycling being the default way to get to work and building in some rest days. Riding Monday/Wednesday/Friday works very well for me and gives me plenty left for a long weekend ride either Saturday or Sunday, or both. Rest days are also 'take lunch and clothes to work' days which means I don't have to carry a rucksack or panniers.
Just read the post above - two 20 mile commuters in a row!
Only days I miss are when there's black ice, frost and ice patches are fine but black ice is horrible, came off last January on black ice and it hurt a lot.
I don't use over trousers, I think I might get a bit hot over 20 miles.
11.5 bumpy miles. Sometimes I love it sometimes Id prefer not to start out but when I'm not doing it I miss it like hell. Strangely enough I also prefer autumn and winter. (light fetish)
Oh and it gets you seriously fit btw.
Another thing - eating, a lot of bike commuters say you need to eat loads, your hungry all the time, etc. I think in general this is just an excuse for people to eat more than they need to. I don't eat huge amounts, not feel the need to. I could if I was a greedy bastard I suppose.
Clean the bike once a week (IMPORTANT ONE!)
Huh? My bike gets cleaned about once a year and still works perfectly.
My commute into London was between 15-20 miles depending which route I took. It's a perfectly doable distance.
You don't get as wet as you think you're going to.
Panniers and mudguards make life more pleasant.
Plenty of good cycle clothing make life more pleasant too.
Having a spare set of wheels helps, spare bike easier still. Often i would go to get the bike out and realise that I had a slow puncture which had deflated overnight. Easy jump on other bike or swap wheels.
I went through a lot more components than i do know that I'm not commuting.
You'll get fit, really proper bike fit. To the point if someone were to say fancy riding to the coast after work you probably wouldn't bat an eyelid.
You may lose interest in riding at the weekend. I found that i was pretty much ridden out by Saturday morning if I'd done the full 200 miles option.
If it looks a bit daunting to begin with then you may want to start with a couple of days a week, say Tue and Fri then make it Mon Wed and Fri, then Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri then every day.
Its all in the mind!
[i] Clean the bike once a week (IMPORTANT ONE!)
Huh? My bike gets cleaned about once a year and still works perfectly.[/i]
Agreed, the winter/wet day commuter very rarely gets a clean, bit of lube on the chain and its fine. Summer commuter gets more care though. And I'm usually pretty fastidious about my kit. But I'm not going to spend time cleaning a bike at the weekend thats going to be manky after one ride.
Mine gets cleaned once a year and is totally and utterly shagged! Clear daylight between teeth on the big ring and the chain all the way round now, it's not far off being a useful bash ring frankly! But that's why it's a winter bike!
Back on the Madone now the sun's reappeared, that may get a quarterly hose off.
It is great, mornings like today it's a lovely start to the day, wakes you up all day! Love riding the 45 miles home on a summer evening too, leaving the City of London, through the suburbs, over the North Downs then through the back roads home. You don't need more food though, for most people it's less than an hour of exercise. If you need to shift a few pounds do it without breakfast, eat at work.
My 30th anniversary of commuting by bike this year. The distance has varied over the years, currently is a base distance of 14 miles each way, which I can vary (upwards) by detours. I do this 4x per week. Here are some of my thoughts:
Get mudguards. Proper ones. Getting wet on your mtb is a laugh, getting wet twice a day, every day, on your commute is not even slightly funny.
I have always used geared bikes. Why? Because on a Friday, when you're tired, it's windy and raining and you have a heavy pack, gears are very good - include a nice low one for that last, long, lonely slog up the hill to home.
Get lights.
Get a D lock, spend a bit of money on this, it's well worth it. Remember if you have quick release wheels or seat post to secure them too. (Don't do what a newbie here did and just lock your q/r front wheel to the stand).
How cycling-specific your clothing is is up to you, but I would get padded shorts and a helmet for starters - you can add special shoes/gloves/etc later. Glasses are good, keep rain and sun out of your eyes and, at this time of year, Plane Tree pollen.
Don't skulk along in the gutter, ride at least a metre into the road. Keep good observations, look over your shoulder a lot and when manoeuvreing (as long as it's clear) indicate clearly and make a big bold move.
Gods, I could go on all afternoon - that'll do for now.
Enjoy
Key is working out the 'idal' zones on your route. I have these on mine when I do the long commute:
City of London to Aldgate: SUICIDAL Zone
Aldgate to Bow: SUICIDAL/HOMICICAL Zone
Bow to Chadwell Heath: HOMICIDAL Zone
Chadwell Heath to Harold Hill: Neutral
Harold Hill: HOMICIDAL Zone
Harold Hill to Chelmsford: Neutral
In the suicidal zone, it's pedestrians randomly stepping out infront of you
In the homicidal zone it's people trying to kill you wil metal boxes of various sizes
In the Suicidal/homicidal zone, it's a mixture of both
Unfortunately this was proved all too well to me yesterday when a myopic tart in a Micra overtook me to turn left. First I knew of it was when she collided with me. How I stayed on the bike and didn't get a ride in an ambulance is a bit of a mystery to me. Just a sore hip as a result. This happened in teh Chadwell Heath Homicidal zone!
Commuting by bike is brilliant. I don't think I'll ever be able to do another job where I can't ride to the office
+1
Minimise the stuff you carry each day - keep a load of stuff at work and you should only need underwear and shirt on a daily basis. Keep a D-lock at work so you don't have to carry one.
5 miles is frustratingly short (but you really wouldn't need to change clothes). 10 miles is great. 20 would be great some days and a real drag on others. Hated singlespeeding in London - nothing worse on a cold dark evening when you're tired. Get mudguards, even if only clip on ones.
Find a good route - a slightly longer trip on more pleasant roads is a good compromise. Going through a park, or along a river or canal, makes a big difference.
The right bike will depend on your route - minimal traffic lights on major roads very different to stop start. Hub gears and disc brakes FTW.
njee - how often do you ride the 45 miles?
Key is working out the 'idal' zones on your route
I surround myself in a zone of zen. It is impenetrable and only contains magical flowing riding of contentment.
Apart from Monday mornings, if it's raining or head-windy, dark, if I'm late or being pursued.
Leave with enough time - it's horrible being late
It's one of the best training aids going though - I've put in some of my best performances trying not to be late 🙂
Does anyone have any recomendations for clothing I could commute in without needing to get fully changed or is that just not practical ?
For me, that would not be practical. That kind of distance I'd be in full road gear. I used to not get changed when I had 4.5 miles into town, but I'd still get sweaty unless I really held back, which I hated. In the summer I'd wear a technical tee and stick another in the bag. So on arrival at work I'd nip into the loos or changing rooms, wipe myself down with the old tee, spray some deodorant and put the clean one on. Cool air conditioned building and smell wasn't a problem.
Mine gets cleaned once a year and is totally and utterly shagged! Clear daylight between teeth on the big ring and the chain all the way round now
But is that down to it not being cleaned? I keep my bike well maintained so it runs perfectly smoothly, I just don't clean it - it gets a new chain more often than it gets cleaned.
