The daily "I cycled to work" thread
Discussion
GuinnessMK said:
My boss and his boss both followed me on Strava today. Commuting just got competitive...
There's a guy in my office who has been to Elevenerife where cycling is concerned. He asks me about my rides just so he can say he's been on one which was harder, faster, and better. He's not on Strava though. I wonder why...
Usget said:
There's a guy in my office who has been to Elevenerife where cycling is concerned. He asks me about my rides just so he can say he's been on one which was harder, faster, and better.
He's not on Strava though. I wonder why...
He sounds like the type of guy who would do Strava in a car/on a motor/electric bike anyway if he did...He's not on Strava though. I wonder why...
Just set my bike up ready for a spot of winter commuting for the first time. My thinking if I can do it in the pissing wet and dark the summer will be a pleasure.
I will be doing 16 miles each way on mostly unlit roads. I have decent lights 2 x front and back. Anyone have good advice for not dying?
I will be doing 16 miles each way on mostly unlit roads. I have decent lights 2 x front and back. Anyone have good advice for not dying?
Don't let them sell you a hybrid if you don't want one. Either get a road bike if you're only using it on road or a hardtail mountain bike and put road tyres on it, then you always have the option of putting knobbly tyres on it and hitting the trails. Hybrids are like the worst bits of both worlds (slow, upright position but not strong enough for rough terrain) with few benefits.
If you do need a compromise/do it all bike, look at CX (cyclocross) bikes. Great for commuting as they often have better brakes than road bikes and fatter tyres, but are designed with off road in mind.
If you do need a compromise/do it all bike, look at CX (cyclocross) bikes. Great for commuting as they often have better brakes than road bikes and fatter tyres, but are designed with off road in mind.
Silvs said:
Just set my bike up ready for a spot of winter commuting for the first time. My thinking if I can do it in the pissing wet and dark the summer will be a pleasure.
I will be doing 16 miles each way on mostly unlit roads. I have decent lights 2 x front and back. Anyone have good advice for not dying?
Passive aggressive defensive riding is my chosen commuting style, no matter how well lit you are, no matter how much hi-viz you wear, no matter how much you pull in, the fact remains that drivers of cars, vans, buses and trucks are bigger, harder and heavier than you! I'd rather not fight a battle I can't win?! I will be doing 16 miles each way on mostly unlit roads. I have decent lights 2 x front and back. Anyone have good advice for not dying?
With this in mind I try to take my road position (out of the gutter), cycle a consistent line, look far ahead and assume the driver behind hasn't seen me?! I like to give clear, strait armed hand signals and check over my shoulder before changing road position.
I commute 15km per day through Peterborough and I have to say that the vast majority of drivers are pretty good. I can only think of a couple of occasions that drivers haven't given me decent clearance when over taking and the only real incident being punted off, fully broadside by a Polish guy in a Transit turning right on the wrong side of the road at a T-junction! (he was 'strait lining' the RH turn as it were!)
I've loved my first six months commuting and hate driving to work now!
Vocal Minority said:
How on earth do you London commuters cope?
The last 4 miles of my commute is through the middle of Brum and it is a pain in the arse from start to finish. Definitely endured rather than enjoyed.
If Brum is a pain I cannot imagine what London must be like...I'd go mad
Interval and hazard anticipation training. I do between 2 - 4 miles through London, and smash it as hard as I can away from every set of lights and maintain as much speed as possible (for my ability and the fact I'm on a Brompton). Then do the same from the next set of lights. The last 4 miles of my commute is through the middle of Brum and it is a pain in the arse from start to finish. Definitely endured rather than enjoyed.
If Brum is a pain I cannot imagine what London must be like...I'd go mad
Vocal Minority said:
How on earth do you London commuters cope?
The last 4 miles of my commute is through the middle of Brum and it is a pain in the arse from start to finish. Definitely endured rather than enjoyed.
If Brum is a pain I cannot imagine what London must be like...I'd go mad
Maybe worth looking for alternative routing?The last 4 miles of my commute is through the middle of Brum and it is a pain in the arse from start to finish. Definitely endured rather than enjoyed.
If Brum is a pain I cannot imagine what London must be like...I'd go mad
I use NCR 5 and then back streets to get into Victoria Square and it's hassle free, whereas using the Bristol / Pershore road route would be bloody vile.
Silvs said:
Just set my bike up ready for a spot of winter commuting for the first time. My thinking if I can do it in the pissing wet and dark the summer will be a pleasure.
I will be doing 16 miles each way on mostly unlit roads. I have decent lights 2 x front and back. Anyone have good advice for not dying?
I have a similar 15 mile commute through South Bucks into Uxbridge and my advice would be to minimise the clobber you take with you each day, take stuff in on days when you can't cycle or bring enough for a week on Monday etc. to avoid having to carry a backpack every day.I will be doing 16 miles each way on mostly unlit roads. I have decent lights 2 x front and back. Anyone have good advice for not dying?
Consider spares for things you might not normally carry. I had a very awkward ride home one day when a cleat bolt fell out 1 mile from the office and left me with a cleat jammed in a position where I couldn't clip in and the bolt hole full of a small stone I couldn't dislodge so I had to cycle the remaining 14 miles with only one foot clipped in. Needless to say, I always carry a spare now and bought a new multitool with a narrow enough prong to clear out any offending crap in future.
Festoon yourself and the bike with 'here I am' lights and Scotchlite tape/snapbands etc. No matter how visible you think you are there are always folk who will drive like they haven't seen you, maninly because they haven't. You can't mitigate for the worst out there but it does little harm, other than making you feel like a bit of a pillock for the first 5 miles or so.
Also, no idea what kind of lights you have but if you've never used your lights for commuting before then there's a good chance you'll quickly appreciate that you need more and ones that can be 'dipped' to boot.
Cycling along a potholed country lane in the pitch black you need lumens and lots of 'em in almost every direction. A car comes towards you though and you should really be able to angle the floodlights down or dim/disable them quickly, and then re-light the fire as soon as the car(s) pass when you really won't be able to see a damn thing due to their lights. For some reason this is always the place that the gutter is collapsing or there's an innocuous dinnerplate-sized puddle hiding a 4" deep pothole...
Being able to 'flash' cars is also a good way of reminding oncoming cars that you are there and that they should really consider dipping their own lights. Amazing the number of people that wouldn't think of driving towards another car with full beam on but who are quite happy to do it to a cyclist. I find a drift towards the centre of the road with an arm held up shading my eyes also has the desired effect, where conditions allow.
Other than that I'm with Banana Boy on the defensive riding. Control the road and you're a lot less likely to end up in serious bother, with the only downside the odd frustrated pillock being held up for an additional 20 seconds or so.
loudlashadjuster said:
Silvs said:
Just set my bike up ready for a spot of winter commuting for the first time. My thinking if I can do it in the pissing wet and dark the summer will be a pleasure.
I will be doing 16 miles each way on mostly unlit roads. I have decent lights 2 x front and back. Anyone have good advice for not dying?
I have a similar 15 mile commute through South Bucks into Uxbridge and my advice would be to minimise the clobber you take with you each day, take stuff in on days when you can't cycle or bring enough for a week on Monday etc. to avoid having to carry a backpack every day.I will be doing 16 miles each way on mostly unlit roads. I have decent lights 2 x front and back. Anyone have good advice for not dying?
Consider spares for things you might not normally carry. I had a very awkward ride home one day when a cleat bolt fell out 1 mile from the office and left me with a cleat jammed in a position where I couldn't clip in and the bolt hole full of a small stone I couldn't dislodge so I had to cycle the remaining 14 miles with only one foot clipped in. Needless to say, I always carry a spare now and bought a new multitool with a narrow enough prong to clear out any offending crap in future.
Festoon yourself and the bike with 'here I am' lights and Scotchlite tape/snapbands etc. No matter how visible you think you are there are always folk who will drive like they haven't seen you, maninly because they haven't. You can't mitigate for the worst out there but it does little harm, other than making you feel like a bit of a pillock for the first 5 miles or so.
Also, no idea what kind of lights you have but if you've never used your lights for commuting before then there's a good chance you'll quickly appreciate that you need more and ones that can be 'dipped' to boot.
Cycling along a potholed country lane in the pitch black you need lumens and lots of 'em in almost every direction. A car comes towards you though and you should really be able to angle the floodlights down or dim/disable them quickly, and then re-light the fire as soon as the car(s) pass when you really won't be able to see a damn thing due to their lights. For some reason this is always the place that the gutter is collapsing or there's an innocuous dinnerplate-sized puddle hiding a 4" deep pothole...
Being able to 'flash' cars is also a good way of reminding oncoming cars that you are there and that they should really consider dipping their own lights. Amazing the number of people that wouldn't think of driving towards another car with full beam on but who are quite happy to do it to a cyclist. I find a drift towards the centre of the road with an arm held up shading my eyes also has the desired effect, where conditions allow.
Other than that I'm with Banana Boy on the defensive riding. Control the road and you're a lot less likely to end up in serious bother, with the only downside the odd frustrated pillock being held up for an additional 20 seconds or so.
Also spare batteries for lights and / or a backup light.
I run 3 rear lights on the bike, one on the seatpost and one each on the rear stays. If one fails, gets water ingress, flat battery or simply falls off (Lost one like that last year, not sure how!) then you've spares.
My ride where my front light failed and the backup battery was flat ironically proved to be my charger failing and claiming batteries were charged when they weren't.
So an emergency backup light is also a good idea.
Headtorch or small clip on white light on the front of your helmet is useful too, if you need to stop to fix things in the dark or find your keys when you get home etc. Also positions a light higher up than the handlebars, making you more visible for e.g. cars are pulling out behind a row of parked cars.
I always carry 2 x lights on each end of bike and should carry a spare for each in the rucksack
I commute down pitch black lanes, so if lights fail, I'm proper fcked! Only had one of my crees suddenly die once, didn't bother me as I had the same model on the handlebar as well. I did start thinking what happens if it is the charger that is broke, so the other working Cree could die soon after. I now carry a spare be seen Cateye as well just in case.
When I did the Dunwich Dynamo , in the first 200 metres one of my rear lights fell off and smashed! I was down to one rear light on the bike. Then 2 miles later I rode over a cattle grid (in North London/Essex!!) and the other fell off . The road was bloody busy, I had to stop cars and bikes so I could lay down and fish it out the water! Thankfully I also had a spare in my bag, but due to sods law everything that can fail does!! I did almost take out a roadie later on in the ride who was in the middle of nowhere with no lights or high viz @ 2am on at all doing the ride, but head to toe Rapha and rode a Pinerello! He was on his own as well down pitch black lanes
Having a spare light in the bag is great if you need a torch for a puncture etc.
I commute down pitch black lanes, so if lights fail, I'm proper fcked! Only had one of my crees suddenly die once, didn't bother me as I had the same model on the handlebar as well. I did start thinking what happens if it is the charger that is broke, so the other working Cree could die soon after. I now carry a spare be seen Cateye as well just in case.
When I did the Dunwich Dynamo , in the first 200 metres one of my rear lights fell off and smashed! I was down to one rear light on the bike. Then 2 miles later I rode over a cattle grid (in North London/Essex!!) and the other fell off . The road was bloody busy, I had to stop cars and bikes so I could lay down and fish it out the water! Thankfully I also had a spare in my bag, but due to sods law everything that can fail does!! I did almost take out a roadie later on in the ride who was in the middle of nowhere with no lights or high viz @ 2am on at all doing the ride, but head to toe Rapha and rode a Pinerello! He was on his own as well down pitch black lanes
Having a spare light in the bag is great if you need a torch for a puncture etc.
Something happened to me today that has never happened before...
As per usual, someone pulled out in front of me while I was going down a hill, then proceeded to do walking pace. So I overtook them, and left them behind.
About half a mile later there's a long steep hill. They caught me up at the junction at the top, chap wound down his window and APOLOGISED for pulling out in front of me.
I know. I couldn't believe it either. I was so gobsmacked I missed the gap in the traffic.
As per usual, someone pulled out in front of me while I was going down a hill, then proceeded to do walking pace. So I overtook them, and left them behind.
About half a mile later there's a long steep hill. They caught me up at the junction at the top, chap wound down his window and APOLOGISED for pulling out in front of me.
I know. I couldn't believe it either. I was so gobsmacked I missed the gap in the traffic.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff