Monday to Thursday – crossing the Thames on Southwark Bridge escaping the many pedestrians with zero road sense.
Friday – mountain biking home via the Pentlands knowing I’ve got a weekend at home.

I like the warm sunny summer days when I sneak a few extra miles in on the way back. I can take a very small detour and see some great bits of the peak district.

I like how fit I get, and how it means I can beast many of my mates when on group rides.

Perversely, I also like commuting past standing traffic. I guess it’s a bit more dangerous to be around lots of cars, but it’s much more satisfying.

As I commuted in on my bike today along deserted roads through the white peak, I didn’t love it. I should love it, and I’m sure many people would be jealous. It was cold, wet, tiring, but most of all dark. And slower than when I take the car.

Work from home these days but when I used to commute the best bit was the Thames path between Kew and Hammersmith. More than once I’d stop and sit on the wall to watch the river flow by for a few minutes before carrying on to work. On the days that I was running late and didn’t go along the river my favourite bit was Shepherds Bush Green up to Notting Hill, traffic was always a bit manic on that section but I had my lane positioning and timing absolutely nailed after a couple of years of riding it so quite enjoyed it.

The view east of downtown Vancouver with its skyscrapers all lit up by the rising sun, contrasting sharply with the dark forest of Stanley Park in the foreground and the ever magnificent, glacialated Mount Baker soaring into the sky in the distance as I ride into work over Lions Gate Bridge.

Or the snow-capped North Shore mountains directly in front of me as I return home over the same bridge.

(I’m convienently ignoring the stench of the sewage plant directly under the bridge though, and the incessant drizzle with obscures everything for weeks on end at certain times of the year!)

The fact that there is 4m climbing in it on the way to work…

By the time I get to the Tay bridge I can see my office so although the views are great my mind is elsewhere by then. It can also be the worst part of my commute depending on the weather.

I think my favourite part of my commute is just the feeling of being in the great outdoors for an hour or so before and after work. Seeing the occasional fox, deer or owl is often a highlight and having so many route options means that every trip just feels like a mini expedition. Whenever I get on a bike of any kind it feels the same way as it did when I was 5 years old, like I’m free to explore and go wherever I please, even if it was just to the end of the road back then and now just into work. For me it’s an invaluable hour for putting things in perspective and appreciating the simple things in life.

This morning it’s going to be fun being smug while I get moaned at for riding in the snow, hopefully.

The hot shower when i get there 8.2miles in each direction of people trying to kill me its not fun any more 🙁

I have a stretch between 6 and 12 miles in that I love. Its across a moor heading to the top of Glasgow, when the sun starts to come up on a cold day the mist just hangs over the city. Thats on the way in.

On the way home it’s pretty much the same stretch, I get to the top of the city after 8 miles and it’s like an escape, the next 6 miles in winter is really quiet and peaceful, its a segregated cycle path so away from the traffic and there aren’t that many cars pass anyway. That section really is total escapism.

Oh that would be wonderful! for various reasons we didn;t make it over to see the Monatgu’s harrier that was seen around the Blacktoft Sands area last summer – hopefully this year though!

i dont commute on the bike any more due to a change of circumstances, nut when i did the best bit was getting in the shower at the end of each journey. 2 showers a day left me feeling as fresh as a daisy!!

The wildlife, bacon roll and the feeling I’ve already done something I want to before work.

20 miles each way – love it.

None of it. 14miles from Cardiff to East Newport. The shortest route has me rattling in and out of drain covers and dodging big trucks. The scenic route (16 miles) has cars flying passed with little room to spare and at unnerving speeds, also a very lumpy road at the Cardiff end.

That’s why i’ve stopped for now.

My last commute was through woods and nature reserves. Lovely view through the woods onto the Helsinki archipelago. Took ages though, as I’d want to take all the cheeky berrypicker paths.

Best bit, no cars and no cyclists. If there were cyclists, I’d naturally end up racing and break the sweat limit.

Blasting through the untouched powder snow on the fat bike on my Pentlands traverse this morning was frickin’ awesome!