Forum menu
A bit of a lightweight here - try to do one commute a week (27km each way) but have had a few weeks off while I tried to sort out my tubeless and airless setup.
Back on it this week hopefully.
Commute every day, but I'm lucky that 95% of it is off-road. I might not be so enthusiastic if I had to contend with more crazy driving.
I used to commute round the edge of London from Surrey to Slough a few times a week. I now WFH. Despite the fitness bonus I have no wish to go back to it. The Runnymede section from the old Siemens Staines building to Old Windsor is horrible in broad daylight; add in low sun, fog and darkness and it becomes positively sphincter twitching. Made the climb past Royal Holloway on a SS a viable alternative.
As an aside, I never did work out which island on the Thames Natalie Imbruglia lives on.
Year round here, I quite like riding in the dark with good lights!
I have a jacket that I reproofed a while ago but haven't been able to test it's waterproofness (apart from less than 20 minutes stints in the rain). Will hopefully give it a test tonight!
Vast majority of my cycling is extended commutes through the fireroads of Cannock Chase. Joined a road very briefly yesterday and immediately had a very close HGV pass, ironically having two very bright Aldi rear lights on and the wagon was from Aldi.
Don't like the unavoidable busy road stretches, the rest is fine.
Drop bar #Gravel is great bike. I worked out the other day how much money I save not driving my short commute and it was about a grand, which I spend on waterproof jackets.
Every day, but it is only about a mile and a half. My commuting kit is a pair of trouser clips...
still on it here, 10 miles each way although mostly cycle paths. I even saw a kingfisher this morning.
No longer commuting, will start again when its light in spring. I will ride in any weather but its the light that gets me, I simply don't like riding the road section of my comute in the dark. Also when there is more light I tend to work in a training session (hill climb intervals etc) into the commute, this time of year there isnt enough time to do that so I'd rather drive and do a decent turbo session instead.
Occasionally, I need to drive to work, and it never fails to remind me why I cycle in the cold, wet and dark.
I'm still going though I must admit I have the fear cycling down Union St in Glasgow at 5pm in the dark - will need to find an alternative route I think. Only tend to ride in when I don't need the car for meetings or if the weather isn't too bad (office doesn't have a shower unfortunately).
All year round for me. Over the few years I've been doing it I've acquired suitable kit and it's relatively short (5 miles). It takes almost as long to walk from the bus stop on the other side of the city centre to work as it does to ride the whole trip.
I adjust my route - some roads are a bit more sheltered if it's windy and others are more likely to be properly gritted if it's cold, and I sometimes use the cross bike rather than the roadie. I also sometimes run/walk it if I really don't think the bike is safe.
This thread just makes me feel bad. I could cycle to my work, and a large portion would be off-road. In the summer it's nice and I tried to do it twice a week. But going up and over the South downs in the wind and rain just doesn't appeal at all... haven't ridden in a good 6 weeks it's only 12 (steep*) miles or so each way.
*for someone of my fitness
How do you people do it? Work offer a small disabled wet room as a shower. Just find it difficult to lug everything I need - full office outfit including shoes, towel, lunch etc etc.
My commute is fairly flat apart from the couple of Km up to the house. It's about 1/3 rural or semi-rural roads, 1/3 urban, 1/3 canal tow path. The worst bit is actually convincing myself to head out of the door, once I've been riding five minutes it's fine. If things haven't been too wet then I can do a slightly longer route and pick up the canal much earlier so might use either hardtail or fat bike.
I avoid icy mornings though, I don't bounce well at my age, and if it's chucking it down in the morning then I don't bother as having the wet kit lying around to have to put back on in the evening isn't pleasant.
I've a few options for route choice, especially on the way home when there isn't quite the time pressure of the mornings.
I'll still commute 3 or 4 times a week. Broke out the Aldi winter gloves yesterday and boiled on the way home!!. As they arounds these parts 'sonely watter thall not melt'. My motorhome is parked at work so I have the electric plugged in and have somewhere nice and warm to get changed and dry my kit ( although having 7 metre process ovens running at 200degrees helps with that)
How do you people do it? Work offer a small disabled wet room as a shower. Just find it difficult to lug everything I need - full office outfit including shoes, towel, lunch etc etc.
Could you drive twice per week and take in/ take home all of your spare clothes? Then cycle the middle three days of the week with much less stuff to carry.
Having said that, spare clothes etc only takes up a couple of small panniers.
I'm quite lucky with my commute route and where I work.
If I go direct, and mostly on the road it's about 4.5 miles, but I if I go an extended 8.5 mile route then the majority of the ride is on the Bristol - Bath cycle track. Although I'm seeing more accidents on there as Lycra clad nutters take unnecessary overtaking risks in heavily populated areas.
Work have 6 individual shower rooms in the basement of the building - and I've got a locker there. Means I take in trousers at the start of each week and keep them in the locker with shoes / wash kit / towel and only have to carry a shirt / socks / boxers in my bag each day (as well as lunch and my laptop - grrr).
I must admit I have the fear cycling down Union St in Glasgow at 5pm in the dark
mmm union street is a bit mental, I used to ride it daily about 25 years ago, wouldn't do it now. Surely Buchanan street would be a better option?
I get what you mean about the fear though, on the first dark commute home last Monday I hated going through shawlands, you soon get used to it again though.
35 year cycle commuter here. commutingtrackworld would suit me better.
Everyday all year rain or shine..... It’s the wind that grinds yer down.
Commuted all year normally the Birmingham mainline canal is busy last few days not a single bike on it ,as for the rain you never see a rusty man 😆
Still going, and plan to all through the winter. Living in Oslo so getting pretty cold mornings now, studded tyres and pogies went on this week and will come off again in the spring...
I take some clean trousers and a couple of t-shirts at the start of the week, then clean undies/socks every day. Only half a dozen or so people in our office at any one time, so I just sit there stinking most of the time and don't care. My sweat is earned 😉
I use a med bridgestreet saddle bag and that fits everything I need in it, including the clothes when I take them in.
All year round for me too. Mainly offroad, varying length ride. From SW sheffield out towards or just into the Peak then back into another part of SW sheffield.
Can be houndkirk/burbage/lady cannings/blacka/stanage/wyming brook most days on the way in/out or both if I'm on it.
Secure lockable indoor bike storage, a proper power shower, a wardrobe in my office for spare clothes and flexi-time means I will not be voluntarily looking for another job any time soon.
full office outfit including shoes, towel, lunch etc etc
My shoes live in the office so that solves the first and largest part of the problem.
A tiny t-towel sized towel is enough to get dried on (the second reason going bald is good, first was being ginger)
Leaves a pair of trousers, a shirt, socks & pants to fit in.
Lunch is a tin of soup, an apple and an orange.
All goes into a normal sized rucksack easily for me with a spare tube, tiny pump and tool kit.
I just started commuting by bike for the first time in 6 months. All my colleagues think I'm stupid. But it only took me 5 mins longer than driving in and I'm very out of shape at the moment. Hoping after a month or so I'll be able to match the time in the car or better it. 😀
Still going, its only 5 miles each way into west London. Just had a new seat post sleeve and rear pivot bushing on my Brompton so its not quite as waggy, and definitely not as noisy.
Going to be wet tonight though...
With the change in clocks though with it now being definitely dark at 6:30 the standard of driving is more worrying. And its clear that a greater proportion of drivers just don;t give a toss about cyclists - its as if the Olympics never happened.
Me. Pretty much everyday unless i'm on site visits, the days I have to drive I remind myself why I cycle. The weather doesn't bother me too much as the shortest route is only 25 minutes. Plenty of good lights and reflectives with warm, winter clothes, lovely!
I take the view that if I can cycle once, there's no reason not to cycle most days. So I do, unless heavy rain in winter. 24km each way.
2-3 times a week here, year-round, into Dundee from the north. Access to work showers and lockers helps considerably, especially in the depths of winter. The biggest problem for me in the autumn is the herd of beef who are moved up onto the higher ground in September. My choice of hill route is over the Sidlaws, where the cattle beasts normally churn up the trail and colour it a deep shade of sloppy green. So I'm currently on back roads and cycle paths until the cattle head indoors for the middle of winter, when the trail rapidly improves again.
Once or twice a year I'll get really lucky and be up on the hill at maybe 6 or 7 on a moonlit, snowy or properly frosty night. Ground's frozen and moonlight over a dusting of snow means I can switch the lights off and ride the trail without. Stunning...
Nice one highlandman.
What way do you go over the Sids?
[i]I am a lowlander coastie commuter[/i] 😉
My commute is only about 20 mins so I ride almost every day, should really get some mudguards though, it's only when it's totally torrential it's a pain.
Really not feeling so safe these days though, been riding in Edinburgh for 20 odd years and the standard of driving feels so bad now, especially when it's dark. Everyone seems to be speeding in powerful cars these days or texting or just driving like an idiot. Having been in a bad accident with a car I'm very wary of going through all that again.
How do you people do it? Work offer a small disabled wet room as a shower. Just find it difficult to lug everything I need - full office outfit including shoes, towel, lunch etc etc.
Same here, just a toilet and sink.
Shoes, jacket and trousers along with shower gel, deodorant and toothpaste stay at work. Just leaves underwear, shirt, flannel and a towel to bring in.
Wash at the sink with the flannel, dry off with a small towel (a tiny hand towel is fine), take the towel and flannel home with dirty clothes each day (you never quite get clean so they stink after a few days).
Fit's in a 5l drybag bungeed under my bars with room to spare for lunch.
I try to keep going all year round. I'm never a 5 days a week commuter though as some days I just can't be bothered and don't see any fun in riding in wet and windy conditions.
Unfortunately my 6mile commute is all on busy Aberdeen city streets (apart from the 1 mile stretch along the beachfront most evenings) so sometimes the traffic fumes make me think it's doing me more harm than good. The standard of driving is generally appalling and I find it extremely hard not to get angry with close passes every ride. I wish I could chill out but I find myself swearing under my breath at every second car! I envy anyone with an off-road commute.
that is ace.
you lucky man.
cheers yeah its nice. No pubs or Greggs though, cant have it all
I commute by bike every day I can, in all weathers.
I tend to work 2-4 days per week in an office (14-mile round commute), with 1 day at home and 1-2 days travelling. Living in central Bristol, the car is a total waste of time for any journey apart from occasional longer trips to places not well-served by rail (when I use my Brompton).
I keep suits, shoes etc at work - and just bring undies, ties and shorts on a daily basis.
Thankfully, traffic is either at a standstill or I'm riding along quiet or traffic-free sections.
It's worth remembering that all types of deaths on the road are nearly half what they were 15 years ago and that cycling deaths are static for the last 5. Any death is an absolute tragedy and any injury is bad too, but it doesn't seem that death is more likely than in the past - and that's what often puts people off.
I have cycled to work every day for the past two and a half years, until Thursday morning last week when a young guy in a Toyota decided he didn't want to be overtaken when stationary and tried to force me off the road, when asked "what was that for?" he jumped out and assaulted me, its difficult to defend oneself when clipped into a bike, dressed in waterproofs and helmet/gloves.
Nursing a very bruised shoulder and a swollen face.
I live in a village with only one exit route out and don't really want to bump into this individual again.
The irony is he was wearing a halfords work uniform.
So I have decided to stop for a bit as this is just the final straw, I was getting used to close passes, abuse of bus/cycle lanes, crazy overtake followed by crazy cut-in. Its turned into a survival test.
I served for ten years and I never felt as scared then as I do on UK roads today.
I have two children to consider.
My 15yr old son. He cycles to school and back pretty much everyday 3 miles there 3 back. I worry about him on the road of course. Think hes only got another couple of weeks before its too dark.
a young guy in a Toyota
I live in a village with only one exit route out and don't really want to bump into this individual again.
The irony is he was wearing a halfords work uniform.
A fairly easy individual to find I would have thought. I hope nothing happens to him.
Still riding to work, only 10 minutes for me though so I can't get too wet or cold before I arrrive 😀
And all that does is escalate. Trust me I couldn't sleep very well on Thursday night, and the thoughts raged through my head. But by doing anything you have reduced yourself to his level. The police were called and have recorded common assault against him and he has admitted to doing it, what his reason was, is he had overtaken me a few minutes before and felt I was riding dangerously by overtaking a static line of cars, so had to stop me!
You can't reason with this madness.
I have contacted Halfords and informed them and they were going to start a disciplinary against him, who knows, he may lose his job and have to give the keys back of his 17 plate car.
Fasthaggis- From near Glamis, up Denoon Glen and over the top to Auchterhouse, then back roads to Templeton woods, Camperdown and into the town. Return route is very similar with slight alterations to get better singletrack in places. There's a decent amount of fun trail along the way, including sections of the Glamis circuit in the likes of the Murley woods. If you've been on the fat bike day in Angus, you'll have ridden some of that.
Thanks all. I previously had the impression that everyone was going 30 mile roud trips like heroes every day, and then smashing the weekends up in the mountains
Mine is 10 miles each way, more if I want to extend. Fairly flat though, only a few hundred feet of climbing in that. Done 4 days a week (1 day a week at home), with the odd day by tube if I have a meeting offsite or something else, usually take the Brompton in for that and cycle part or all the way home
Now makes my commute feel more impressive! It's usually a steady pootle, rarely trying to set any records
ive been listening to the rain hammer down for the last couple of hours and slightly regret not picking the correct clothes on the way out this morning
My commute is only 3.5m so no worry, got soaked on way home today but Home!
I commute everyday to work, nothing has stopped me yet!
Yep, yesterday had to dig out the winter gloves & merino base layer as it was only 4 degrees, I had to take fresh clothes & fill the fridge today so drove in but will ride tomorrow & Thursday, day off Friday walking on Exmoor then riding Quantocks Saturday.
Comute is 12 miles 35% offroad but the roads I use have grass growing up the middle & I see more tractors than cars 😆
Took these last few days.
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
I’m still commuting, but it’s only 1.8miles!