How was your cycle commute?

[Orang Utan]

It's more the horror of watching television or radio in the morning that made me chuckle. It reads like you're appalled at the very thought of something so gauche.

not really. was just talking about me. it takes a while for me to adjust to the fact that i'm still me. i was just explaining why i assumed it was the radio.

 

[Onket]

It's the snob/troll conundrum.

 

[Orang Utan]

It was a lovely day today - had to go for an aimless spin around London.

 

[The Boy]

It was a lovely day today - had to go for an aimless spin around London.

I was sorely tempted to do same (well, not round Lunduhn, but you know what I mean), but a very unproductive day meant I spent it at my computer trying to catch up with studying.

 

[Orang Utan]

Cycling is the best therapy. Until some twat pulls out without looking or indicating. Then it's back to the usual gloom and despondency

 

[Virtual Blue]

Morning All,

Do you think cycling 23.4 miles each way is realistic as an everyday commute?

Does anyone do these miles here?

 

[The Boy]

Morning All,

Do you think cycling 23.4 miles each way is realistic as an everyday commute?

Does anyone do these miles here?

What's the route like? Hills?

edit: Fwiw, there's a cycling forum I follow where some people do that sort of commute. You would probably want to make sure you have an alternative in place though for days you're not up to it.

 

[Virtual Blue]

What's the route like? Hills?

edit: Fwiw, there's a cycling forum I follow where some people do that sort of commute. You would probably want to make sure you have an alternative in place though for days you're not up to it.

Route is Streatham to Uxbridge - i am considering a job there.
It'll take 1hr 30 mins by public transport and the thought of such commute is overly depressing.

Yes, I just googled that question and there's been some discussions on this topic.
Alternating seems the most valid option.

 

[Rebelda]

Also depends on what you've got to do for the day when you get to work Virtual Blue.

 

[DownwardDog]

Morning All,

Do you think cycling 23.4 miles each way is realistic as an everyday commute?

Does anyone do these miles here?

I know somebody who does 38km each way every day and has done for 10 years. He is very thin and walks like Galen from Planet of the Apes.

 

[Virtual Blue]

Also depends on what you've got to do for the day when you get to work Virtual Blue.

nothing too excessive. mostly be on my arse with the occasional visit to the toilet.

I know somebody who does 38km each way every day and has done for 10 years. He is very thin and walks like Galen from Planet of the Apes.

 

[The Boy]

Route is Streatham to Uxbridge - i am considering a job there.
It'll take 1hr 30 mins by public transport and the thought of such commute is overly depressing.

Yes, I just googled that question and there's been some discussions on this topic.
Alternating seems the most valid option.

No idea what that is like in terms of topology, but maybe give it a ride on a day off and see how you get on? Fwiw, when I was commuting I would average a little over 20km/h but was mostly hills and a lot of red lights to contend with. If it's flat and there aren't too many obstructions i can see it could be doable - especially if you aren't having to do a lot of heavy lifting at the other end.

 

[Dogsauce]

Is there a combined cycling and public transport option that works out for you?

My commute is about 14km each way, but occasionally if I'm on the heavy bike taking some equipment in (or just tired) I can do half of it on a train - I'll go into the city centre downhill then take a train out of the other side of the city to a couple of miles from work, since it's heading away from town it's never crowded. Takes about the same amount of time, sometimes longer, but if I take it easy I can get away with not needing a shower at the other end.

There used to be someone in our office that was a commuter from Skipton, about 30 miles away. One of the other guys that still works here remembers regularly passing him on the way to catch the train in Skipton and then seeing him already in the office when he got her.

I did a sixty miles commute home as a one-off a few years ago, Warrington to Leeds over the Pennines. Just about managed it in daylight.

 

[tommers]

Morning All,

Do you think cycling 23.4 miles each way is realistic as an everyday commute?

Does anyone do these miles here?

Hi. Yes. I basically did your route last year up until December. It's doable.

It was 20 miles each way. I just got fucked off with it once the weather turned shitty.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Cycling that distance through London every day would sap the joy out of cycling for me, tbh.

 

[tommers]

Cycling that distance through London every day would sap the joy out of cycling for me, tbh.

You should try driving it.

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

Don't you have some big bits of dual carriageway to contend with near the end of the journey tommers ?

 

[tommers]

Don't you have some big bits of dual carriageway to contend with near the end of the journey tommers ?

Kind of. Once you get past kew bridge you are basically cycling along the A4 but there are pavement cycle paths. You've just got to watch the cars coming out of side roads or the car parks of some quite big firms. The path itself is pretty deserted.

I did start cycling down the A4 on the way back sometimes as it felt safer but not sure I'd recommend it.

The rest of the route is great - back streets through Crown Point, down to Streatham, across Wandsworth Common, through to Putney, Mortlake, Thames Path to Kew Bridge and then about 7 miles up the A4 (for me).

 

[Lord Hugh]

Morning All,

Do you think cycling 23.4 miles each way is realistic as an everyday commute?

Does anyone do these miles here?

I find morning cycles to work are great, but evening cycles after work are much more tiring. I've only done my commute (32/33 miles) both ways once and I was exhausted afterwards.

 

[BigTom]

Morning All,

Do you think cycling 23.4 miles each way is realistic as an everyday commute?

Does anyone do these miles here?

Colleague of mine does about 25 miles from Warwick to central Birmingham, he rides in one day, gets the train home, train back in the next morning and then rides home - but he does this as part of a fully worked out training regime for competitive cycling, so he probably does other stuff as well. He is very fit, does it in an hour or so. I'm not sure how much his position can be translated to yours, because I don't know if he doesn't do both ways on any one day because it'd be too much or because he's balancing out training or something. Hopefully the information is useful to you though.

 

[iamwithnail]

Similarly, a friend of mine (incredibly fit) used to cycle from the far side of Teddington into town every day, about 14 miles, and he'd only do it 3 of 5 days, or do the split with the train that BigTom 's colleague did, he said it was just too much otherwise, traffic hassle and logistics (clothes, showering, factoring in the time) being a factor in that. (I kinda concur with his view that the worst places for bad drivers is z4-6, cause people expect it in central london). I'd happily cycle under 10m/each way now (I do 5-6 each way atm), so it'd be a huge jump - I'd probably split it to start with if you can.

 

[Orang Utan]

My current commute is too short. Two miles. I barely break a sweat. I've been going a roundabout way home, but I'm still getting fat again.

 

[han]

How about running it instead, OU? Or fast walking?

 

[Orang Utan]

How about running it instead, OU? Or fast walking?

I don't like running. I like riding my bike.

 

[plurker]

Nutters. Full of nutters.
Bus-driving nutters. Cyclist nutters. Pedestrian nutters. Police nutters (L@@K when you wander out into the road you imbeciles). HGV nutters.
Today had them all, in spades. Couple of hairy moments, but all good in the end.

 

[han]

I don't like running. I like riding my bike.

Fair enough, but yeah, the only way 2 miles each way will make a difference to your fitness or weight is if you do interval training. How about short bursts of a minute very fast alternating with one minute of normal pace?

 

[han]

This is probably only practical if you use sidestreets (the only way to get around London properly fast on a bike anyway).

 

[Orang Utan]

Fair enough, but yeah, the only way 2 miles each way will make a difference to your fitness or weight is if you do interval training. How about short bursts of a minute very fast alternating with one minute of normal pace?

I don't know what interval training is, but I only really want to use my bike for fitness. I was just complaining. I shall have to go on bigger rides, that's all. A much longer route after work and more riding at the weekend is the answer, I think.

 

[plurker]

This is probably only practical if you use sidestreets (the only way to get around London properly fast on a bike anyway).

Not sure I'd agree with that. I tried a quiet-street route and found it much slower; certainly didn't get anywhere near the average speed I get normally.

Fair point in that you can avoid lights etc, but on a narrower street, the vehicle coming toward you takes up most of the road so you have to cede, and I felt far less safe riding at 25mph on a residential road where car doors open and ppl walk out, than I do on the A23/A3 where I'm in a lane of traffic moving same direction as me and same speed

 

[Orang Utan]

This is probably only practical if you use sidestreets (the only way to get around London properly fast on a bike anyway).

Wot? The other way round, surely? You can't really be going fast on side streets.