Getting hacked off with cycle commuting

Hear what the OP is saying. 15 miles each way for me. Try and do it Tue, Wed, Thu. Drive in on Monday with food/clothes etc and drive in on Fri to bring dirty stuff home.

For me however my weekends are just too busy to get any good cycling time. Plus if it’s nice I can take the scenic route home via the edge of the Peak District.

Finally if I didn’t cycle I’d be a proper fat chuffer as opposed to a semi fat chuffer!

13k each way, 3 times a week. 10 years in i’m no fitter, i’m just knackered. All. The. Time. My wife thinks i should see a doctor

I really really don’t want come across as rude here, but if less than 2hrs (split between beginning and end of day) of exercise 3 days a week is leading to you being that tired maybe you do need to see a doctor!

i’m confident i’d be fitter if i drove more often, as i’d have the time/energy to train properly

Use your commute as training, intervals, sprinting, resistance, spinning, all built into your ride to/from work. 13K is too short for building endurance, but you can work on everything else.

amedias – Member

Use your commute as training, intervals, sprinting, resistance, spinning, all built into your ride to/from work.

i’m already knackered, where do i get this extra energy from?

i’m already knackered, where do i get this extra energy from?

I’d be surprised if the reason for you being knackered is solely down to you riding 16 miles a day 3 days a week.

awhiles – Member
i’m confident i’d be fitter if i drove more often, as i’d have the time/energy to train properly

amedias – Member
Use your commute as training, intervals, sprinting, resistance, spinning, all built into your ride to/from work.

awhiles – Member
i’m already knackered, where do i get this extra energy from?

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That makes no sense! it’s not ‘extra’ energy, if you did as you say and drove (to save time/energy) and then used that energy to train, you might as well just use the energy to train on the commute, it’s the same overall, just training while commuting, you’d actually save time overall as you wouldn’t have to waste time driving before you could do your training 😉

Why are you so knackered? genuine question as I really doubt its from the commute unless you’re hammering it at TT pace each day, but it sounds unlikely given the above comment. Especially if you’ve been doing it for 10 years, you’d think you’d be well adapted to it by now!
Do you have a manual job, 8hrs on your feet doing stuff kind of thing, or other sports hobbies that are tiring you out?

I often find it strange when some of the guys I work with, drive to and from the office (stuck in traffic for a while too), then go home, get on their turbos, or go to a gym etc. and then whinge that they don’t have time to ride their bikes much or go for a run, a little bit of routine change and they could just substitute exercise in one form for another while also getting to/from work.

I’ve sacked off my 6 mile commute for a moto.

Don’t need the exercise (never rode hard anyway as it meant getting too hot and trouble cooling down) and the route was boring and I pretty much hate riding on the road at the best of times. Then you have all the shower faff (two hills made it impossible to not shower).

So I ride in one day a week and extend the route home for training.

Best to mix it up but 5 days a week of cycling was annoying and riding as my hobby is far more important anyway.

amedias – Member
…Why are you so knackered?

until about 20 minutes ago i assumed it was because i commute by bike a bit, and try to fit in a run or 2 plus extra riding at the weekend…

(185cm, 77kg, i’m kinda skinny, so i’m not karting around an extra 10kg or so either…)

(cushy indoor job with no heavy lifting fwiw)

until about 20 minutes ago i assumed it was because i commute by bike a bit, and try to fit in a run or 2 plus extra riding at the weekend…

Guy I work with does 6 miles each way 4 to 5 times a week, so similar miles to you. He’s about 4 stone overweight, just stopped smoking and manages to stay awake, I don’t think its the riding 🙂

FWIW, you’re taller than me and weigh less (171cm 78kg 35y/old), I also have a desk based job.

I clock up about ~50-70 miles a week commuting (depending on route) and errands, and then normally another 50-80 on recreational rides mid-week and weekend.

I yoyo between 90 and 130 miles a week with occasional 200+ weeks if I’ve done an audax or something, and then the occasional lazy one <75, but I know many more people who do a lot more miles than me, I’m fit enough but not super fit and I do other stuff during the week in evenings too volunteering for local charities and apart from the odd day when I feel a bit tired I’m not exactly suffering.

Might be genuinely worth you putting some thought/investigation into whats going on as it sounds like you lead a relatively active life but don’t overdo it, you should be fit and bouncy by the sounds of it and I certainly wouldn’t expect your current commute to be leaving you as knackered as you describe?

I used to enjoy a 15 mile each way commute – played football on a Monday, so took all my kit in then and rode the rest of the week, usually resting Fridays, out of sheer laziness and not being a riding god like Gary_M!
The only thing that really pissed me off about it was the drivers.

Now I do 7.5miles each way and it is a pain in the arse..! It doesn’t seem to help with fitness and as the site is on a hill its harder going in than going home. Also, the drive is about 15 mins and really stress free, so riding is a lot more effort than driving!
Like Graham, I just tell myself it’s how I get to work, and driving is only an option when I have to. Saves fuel anyway.

being a riding god like Gary_M!

I didn’t suggest anywhere that I’m a riding god, I just explained what I do and how I feel. I didn’t suggest there’s anything special about it. There’s plenty of people ride more and ride faster than me.

I’m exactly like ahwiles. I commute 20 miles a day, 3 or 4 days a week and usually ride Monday evenings. I feel tired a lot, heavy legs and nodding off at the drop of a hat in the evening.

However, I’m also aware that my diet isn’t always the best, I like a beer most evenings, don’t like to go to bed before 11 at the earliest, am mid forties and have 3 kids under 8 😉

Commuting is ace though, as has been said before it’s a great time to just think about nothing and have a bit of headspace. Free exercise too, what’s not to like!

I hear what the OP is saying.
I commute three times a week with a round trip of 30 miles and 1400 feet of climbing across the hilliest and busiest parts of the black country (Walsall to Stourbridge) I got knackered and lost my joy in any kind of cycling, even though I’ve been commuting various distances over the last 6 years this is the longest commute I’ve had to do

I even got to the point of not even tinkering in the shed!!

But looking back I have been ill 4 times with chest infections, colds and the flu since January and yet I still rode through them only taking the car when I was really ill and it made hate cycling.

I’ve just had two weeks off work and decided that the only cycling I would do is mtb days at trail centres so I did 4 plus two long canal path routes taking it easy and its cured me!!
I’ve rode in this week to work and absolutely flew in and even though I’m still a little wheezy, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So I reckon you might have some sort of lingering illness that’s holding you back.

Then again commuting through heavy traffic in the dark is no good for the soul if you ask me

Guy I work with does 6 miles each way 4 to 5 times a week, so similar miles to you. He’s about 4 stone overweight, just stopped smoking and manages to stay awake, I don’t think its the riding

Some people are different, shocker.

Some people are different, shocker.

I think you’ll find that everyone is different, shocker.

If you’re losing motivation just patch it for a week or two, then i’d echo the comments about taking a pile of clothes / food etc. in & cut it down to 2 days with a rest day in the middle.

I’m about 18 ish miles each way & this time last year after a winter of abstinence I was flattening myself trying to do it every day, just to prove that I could – after a couple of weeks of proving that I could do it, I felt like flinging the bike in the river. I was also pretty burst at the weekends & couldn’t face going out on the bike again just for fun, cycling had turned into a bit of a chore – plus I had to be fresh for the ride to work on Monday, right?

This year, with a new baby & a shorter working week i’ve re-addressed it somewhat – no more beating myself up about missing days here & there, and if I need to be back early or whatever, commuting takes a back seat – likewise if there’s a hint of drizzle, or the possibility of a headwind stronger than 5mph 😆 – the days I cycle in I get up & head out at 6:15 so i’m in work early enough to make sure I can leave early enough to get back at a reasonable time. 2 days out of 4 is plenty, although it usually seems to be back to back days which isn’t ideal, but what is…

Most importantly – a new bike is a fantastic motivational tool.

There’s no prizes. If you enjoy it or can make some minor changes to enjoy it great. If you don’t enjoy it, want to chill in the car to the radio crack on.

I’d not take the risk of hating cycling for ever lightly.

I think you’ll find that everyone is different, shocker.

Surprised you can see that from all the way up on that steed of yours… 😆

I think you’ll find that everyone is different, shocker.

Including sense of humour.

Hate to do it, but we’ve not discussed the ‘S’ word yet.

I got my personal top 3 times for all the Strava segments done and dusted as soon as I could. Now I don’t bother even trying to beat them though occasionally if the wind’s in the right direction and I’ve got a head of steam I’ll get a cup.

Generally my commutes are closer to a pootle: I’ll slow down/stop and talk to people. This morning there was another cyclist with a puncture but no tyre lever so stopped to help him. Stop and look at wildlife – the other morning there was a pair of Red Throated Divers on the canal.

Other than that, I’ll do things like stick in one gear all the way home (there’s 250 metres of ascent) or no dabs, etc. to keep things interesting.

Generally my commutes are closer to a pootle: I’ll slow down/stop and talk to people. This morning there was another cyclist with a puncture but no tyre lever so stopped to help him. Stop and look at wildlife – the other morning there was a pair of Red Throated Divers on the canal.

I’m with you on that one, unless I have a tailwind on the way home 🙂

I stopped using my garmin on my commuter so don’t even know what time it is until I get to work.

Distance alone isn’t the whole story I don’t think. Do you like your job?
I’m currently doing about 8 miles each way, probably about 2/3 through parks and finding it a drag. I get changed and with that it’s about 1 gr each way. My motivation for the weekends is the lowest it’s been for years. I’m doing it on my MTB which doesn’t help. It made me a bit unhappy to realise that riding had become basically just a way to get to work that wasn’t as cr@p as the train.

But I’ve perked up a bit since a) the weather’s got better/lighter and b) I’m starting a new job soon (although it will be a very similar commute).

I’ve done further in the past (about 11 miles each way) and don’t remember getting so jaded by it, but that could be selective memory or just being fitter then! But I think I was generally a bit more carefree then as well.

I know the area where you are OP and did a lot of cycle commuting around there. 125miles per week over 5 days at my peak. It’s surprisingly difficult to vary your route in that area without making it significantly longer. What I’d say helped me was make sure you look and listen around you. Notice the trees, leaves, birdsong, animals, sunrise / sunset (mindfulness). Notice how they change. Make sure you’re not in a head down, stare at the front wheel mindset.

Treat yourself to a train ride occasionally. Do Dalmeny – Inverkeithing on the train. Appreciate the view from the forth rail bridge. Go for a play on the Dalmeny estate on your way home. Depending where you are in town drop down to the coast from Cramond Brig and cycle along the coast to Granton. Can be beautiful and peaceful with loads of wildlife if there’s not many people around. Can you use some of the old railway cycletracks in Edinburgh?

Plank a bag of cans on your way in, neck them on the way home. That’ll spice it up a bit. 😆

Not really. It’s alright, just not very stimulating.
Though I have just applied to go back to uni in September to do something totally different

Jumping on the train at Dalmeny isn’t such a bad idea, neither is the estate or Cramond/Granton. I’ll give them a try once I get back on the bike. Still having the next fortnight off!

I think that the time pressure annoys me a bit/ As in I have to leave at X time to get somewhere for Y time. I kind of have to get back to do things in the evening – feed cats, meet people, volunteer etc. Though I am deliberately cutting back on that stuff. I’d piled a lot on after splitting with my wife last year and needed the distraction.

Could be a real winner for the Thursday night (last day of the week) ride home.

Maybe just smoke a big spliff in the woods!

😆

Now these are starting to make sense, found them in the woods one day & wondered who would do such a thing (they now have a big bag of cans planked next to them) 😆

Distance alone isn’t the whole story I don’t think. Do you like your job?

Ah-ha! This explains why I liked my 15 miler and hate my 7.5! Never really occured to me that what I’m riding for may effect my enjoyment of the ride. Still, I’d rather have a short commute to a bad job than a long drive to a better one (I really do hate driving!)

Got all my chores done last night and had a refreshing nights sleep and up early. Got a slow cooker full of chilli going to put in the freezer in tubs, the bread machine set to bake a loaf for when I get home and have ordered up some plastic stackable shoeboxes to come to work so I can have a wee wardrobe/linen bin thing going on.

It’s a slow day at work too so going to see if I can find some online grocery offers or maybe one of those food clubs – like Graze but not bollocks and get some stuff sent to work for lunches.

Have arranged a day out to Glentress on Saturday and got some new 3/4 bib tights coming in the post.

Will drive again next week then get back on the bike for 1 or 2 days and see how I get on. Maybe just the one day and go for a play in the Dalmeny estate on the way home.

Just remembered the singer out of my band told me there’s a great wee American BBQ shack thing in Port Edgar too so will may try that out.

Thanks for all the tips guys!