[Closed] So, who rides to work?

Oh right, there's some downhill sections on my commute where I average 35mph 😀

i do about 8 miles each way - depending on route. however the first 4 I do with my 8 & 9 year olds as i ride to their school then head into sheffield for work.

I like to do it all year round but if the boys have stuff to do straight from school i sometimes drive to their scool and get my bike out of the car and ride to town - it's always faster to do the last bit by bike especially when it's bad weather and the city becomes gridlocked.

Even on a grumpy day it only takes a couple of miles of riding for everyone to be smiling - can beat a bit of bicycle induced happiness in the mornings 🙂

Edit - ride either my in-bred 29er or genesis croix de fer, both great fun as we sometimes do an off road route. I like the genesis when i'm late though!

5 miles each way , ride it everyday as only one car and the SO takes it. Ride a [url= http://m.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/lithium-two-2012-hybrid-bike-ec035872 ]Pinnacle Lithium[/url] at the moment .

10.5 miles each way on a fairly beat up old city bike, hoping to get a Whippet built up with spares to run as a single speed commuter in the next few days.

8 miles each way (4 on-road, 4 off) which I do virtually everyday. Best thing I ever did was starting to commute by bike! So much less stressful than driving, I really enjoy it (even in the pissing rain). Use a Croix de Fer with guards/rack most of the time but use my hardtail with Ice Spikers when it's icy so I can commute all year-round.

Full guards, good bag that ensures your work shirt stays in good nick on ride in and a comfy riding position.
Having a couple of non bike days means you can change the suits you keep at work then you look forward to the next bike commute.

Before I changed jobs I was commuting 10 miles from coast to newcastle on a singlespeed.
It kept the monotonous nature of the route interesting and i got fitter.

I do 11 miles each way, every day, all year round.
Used to do it on my FS, which was getting knackered- so now do it on singlespeed MTB.

Just do it- accept you get to work on your bike.
You will get fit and you can use the money you save in petrol to get a road bike a few months down the line.
The more you do it, the easier it is.

Every day, without fail. It's the only regime that works for me. Once you start opting for other transport because it's hailing, snowing, raining, windy etc. you're in danger of becoming one of those people that cycles to work about three weeks a year when the weather's nice (but not too hot).

5 miles each way plus probably another 30 - 50 miles a week during the working day, going to meetings at other sites etc, so commuting / working it's about 80 - 100 miles a week on the bike.

26" full suspension mountain bike (for me, N=1).

I do run more roady tyres (Schwalbe Land Cruisers, fairly fast rolling and tough for potholes, broken glass etc, never had a puncture) although quite often I can't be fagged putting them on at the end of a weekend so the On-One Smorgasbords stay on for the week. At this time of year, that also gives me the option of longer, off-roady routes home. I do put a bit more air in them when roading it (no idea of PSI, I use the pressure gauge at the end of my thumb to tell when they're done).

no shower and betty swallocks puts me off

10 miles each way. Rain or shine. On a fixed wheel road bike

Car-free anniversary was last week. Well, alright, a one-car family anniversary, anyway.

Ride to work, bit of road, bit of greenspace, bit of woods.

Ride at work, lovely trails in the middle of town.

Ride home from work via the hills.

Love Edinburgh.

I ride 5 miles in to work and back to home every working day, that might change to 18 miles there and back if my new boss decided to relocate me back to the main office.
I have the luxury of choosing between my orbea road bike and my Claud Butler mountain bike (running on slicks).

Music is my biggest motivation to ride to work.. nothing beats burying a set of ear buds in your ears and mashing on the pedals for half an hour.

Couple of miles here, but carrying two kids on the cargo bike to school, then on to work. Rain or shine, & was great fun in the snow. 🙂 Office moving a couple of miles away soon so another 10 mins on the journey, that I'm actually looking forward to.

Commute now and then, did today .. 19 miles each way on the road bike, got a bit damp on the way home 🙁 .... enjoyed it though 😀 ... But i can do a mixture of road, bridal way and canals but thats 26 miles on the mtb ..... could do with a crosser if im honest !

When in the office, always. A nice 20 minute pootle along the river, past the scenic finery of That London.

12 miles each way for me, 4 days a week on a proper lovely Devinci Leo road bike.

I've always ridden to work - its an important factor in any new job for me, and do it whatever the weather. As said before, if you have the attitude that it is the only way, you just get on with it!

Just changed jobs and trying to find a good offroad version of the route, but not being too successful at the moment, anyone know the trails between Lingfield & Redhill? Too many footpaths with many stiles and not enough good trail is my experience so far 🙁

13 miles each way for me, 3-4 days a week (I work at other sites on the other days so can't ride every day). Mixture of dedicated cycle paths, cycle lanes at the side of roads and roads, but I'm really lucky as all are quiet. Great showers, changing rooms, drying room and secure bike store make it easy for me.

Done on a rigid Mtb with narrow slicks. Best bit of advice I can give is full mud guards.

2 miles each way for me.
Singlespeed Mango bike, 42x16, 700x23c wheels is the ideal bike for this. I don't actually own a car so i'm on it rain, shine or snow every working day of the year.
Also used for shopping trips, local transport and general getting about.

14.5 miles each way for me on a SS Pompino, 42-18, 25mm Schwalbe Duranos. It's a new job, so still getting my bearings /routine down with showers, changing and routes.

Work starts at 7am, so leave at 5.30. I'd be interested to know how early people set off.

I start work at 8am , but leave the house at 6 ish ... usually takes me 1hr 10mins to do the 19 miles

[i]I'd be interested to know how early people set off. [/i]

I start work at 9am, so leave at 7. Usually in work for about 8:15 so plenty of time for a shower plus I always like to factor in extra time for headwind, punctures, etc.

Leave house at 5.30 to be in before 7.30... so I can head home at 4.00 😀

Which brings up an interesting question about breakfast before an early commute. Off to start another thread.

I'd be interested to know how early people set off.

I start officially at 8.55am. But I like to get early and do any paperwork/planning to let me leave at the end of the *school* day. So I leave the house at 6.45am for 5.5 mile each way commute. Gives me plaenty to time to shower, breakfast and do any bits and bobs for the day I need to do.

On another note.... my courier bag that I use absolutely reeks! Can you stick a cordura bag in the washing machine?

[i]I'd be interested to know how early people set off. [/i]

6:00 normally. Arrive about 7:00. Have a poo in the company lav, shower and at my desk for 7:30. The plan is to be out the door at 16:00 but that rarely works out. I used to set off half an hour earlier but particularly in summer, the changing rooms were full of guys starting the 7:00 shift in the call centre so I find getting there a bit later works better for me.

As for not having showers being a reason to not commute, it's not. It's just an excuse. I'm not having a go but it's how much you want to do it. For four years I worked at sites with no showers,no changing facilities,no lockers,no bike lock area, nothing. Shower before I left, wipe down with a wet cloth in the disabled toilets on arrival, plenty of deodorant.

So today was my first day riding most of the way in. Had to give yesterday a miss since i needed to drive to parents after work and pick some stuff up.

I thought it was 12 miles but after a check on google it is only 9 miles. It took me 33 minutes with a couple of stops at traffic lights, whih works out at about 16mph average (with a gentle tail wind). Energy levels seemed surprisingly good. Although the wind will be picking up through the day so it will be a bit harder on the way back.

Set off at 7:20 from parking the car and got to work, showered, had some cereal and at my desk by 8:25 🙂

Will see how tonight goes, the full route from my house is 17.8 miles, so twice as far nearly. Hoping to give this a go when i have some new tyres!

good on ya, im always amazed how much better i feel when i do it.

Nice one - once you get into a routine you will miss it when you can't do it!

Nice one Yorkshire 89, welcome to the commuter fold!

For the record I do 25 miles each way, 50/50 on/off road, fairly hilly. At least once a week, but try for twice, but need to keep a bit in reserve for weekend riding/triathlons etc. We have secure bike parking and showers too, which is great.

As before, get everything ready the night before, and don't be swayed by weather forecast, it's often wrong. I actually revel in the sense of achievement when the weather is foul 🙂

I'm home based so have to carry everything with me including laptop, papers, clothes, shoes, toiletries etc. I use a road/cross bike with panniers and full mudguards.

My missis works in the same office occasionally, she walks to the local station and takes the train. We set off about the same time, I get there about 20 mins before her :-). Similar result if she takes the car as there is no parking at the office.

+1 with ddmonkey
I do 3+ days of 10 miles each way each week. I miss it when I have to use the car.
If you have the right phone use Endomondo or other tracker to see how you get on. There may be routes of others that cross yours that may be a good diversion or help finesse bits of your route.
The Winter Warrior Challenge on Endomondo by GrahamS helped get me to turn on the tracker and was another little push to get out of the door and on the way.
Easy in the summer.

I've done just over a week of it after messing up whilst playing with the electrics on my car.

6.5miles by road on the way in, or 7 on footpaths/bridleways/byways on the way back. Nothing technical, just 'riding round the edge of a field' and green lanes type stuff. But it makes a nice change in the evening avoiding the rush hour or if it's dark/miserable and I CBA dealing with SMIDSYs or ISYMBCOA (I saw you mate but carried on anyway), usualy encountered when not using the outside lane of roundabouts, they decide to try and overtake round the outside, or when indicating right the car behind decides to overtake.

I enjoy commuting by bike, but some days it takes the paitience of a saint not to rip every wing mirror within a half mile radius off it's mountings!

Well done,

Weather wise, the only things that stop me on a morning are heavy rain (roads end up lethal and flooded) and snow (for safety).
I really miss travelling on the bike if I drive in. Added bonus for Friday is a bacon butty if I ride.
I use Runtastic Mountain bike to track my rides and generally keep track on what I am doing.

I know how thisisnotaspoon feels. Just ride in a manner that keeps you safest.

Enjoy.

13 miles each way for me 2 or 3 times a week on quiet country lanes, bought a road bike now so its loads quicker and means I can eat ANYTHING!

Yea, slowly learning where the blackspots are and developing a don't give a poop attitude to holding up trafic if all it's going to do it overtake dangerously to reach the back of the que ahead quicker.

Used to do 15 miles each way (record was 41 minutes), flat out on the road bike, given how tired my legs feel now I'm not sure how I ever managed it! Plan now is to build back upto that distance by the end of the summer (and maybe the pace, but I'll be happy if I can survive the distance).

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.

yes I ride a bike to work. It is quite a boring experience. And then I boringly ride back. I suppose it is good exercise. 3 miles each way.

Cheers 🙂 Did feel nice and awake once i got sat down compared to driving in.

Not massively looking forward to riding home in a couple of hours since its just started raining but i suppose it will keep me cool.

Can anybody recommend any decent road tyres for my 26" MTB?

I just use normal (tubeless) MTB tyres. But then I'm on the SS so speed is limited by off-road biased gearing as much as anything.

If your commute involves any non-rural roads then tubeless or puncture proof is a nececity. Mine involves a few busy roundabouts with the usual gutterfulls of headlamp glass.

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.

Not really the question, but I find my commute into London tires me out far far more than a ride of the same distance nearer home, I can only think it's the repeated sprints from a standing start and all the lights.

Yes there is some urban roads once i get into town. I'm looking for some puncture proof semi-slick tyres then. Assuming i want something fairly lightweight too? How wide?

I will be buying new wheels soon and going tubeless for off-road so my current wheels will be kept for commuting.

ETA: Here's a couple of tyres im currently looking at. One semi slick and one fully slick. Both have puncture protetion.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=24626
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=24794

Will i die with a fully slick? The other option has bits to help with cornering when its damp i guess. The slick would look cool though 🙂
Would i have to go for a 2" wide tyre with a MTB rim?

All good things must come to an end! My free car of 6 years is being scrapped at the end of the month and I must then ride everywhere! 😯

I have a biiig commute of 2 miles each way! 😯 This will get extended to 16 miles round trip once summer is here, as I'll be helping a friend with his car/farm. Depending on conditions I can make this 80% off-road or 100% road/cycle path.

I'll have to buy some waterproofs and a decent lock for when popping to the shops.

I'm going to be a proper bicylist for at least this summer and winter.

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! 😯

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?

[b]The sun is actually out!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!![/b]

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 [s]punishment[/s] 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.

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)
[img] [/img]

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 [url= http://flic.kr/p/enFrtR ]this[/url] 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 700x24,
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.