Commuting around 17 miles
Discussion
I live in Ruislip and am thinking of commuting into London, say 2 a week.
I have a road bike and have not ridden anything since January 2012.
I am simply not finding the time to get out to do some short runs (being ill at the moment hasn't helped).
Am I correct that its going to be a bridge too far to do this in one hit?
Should I try and get to Shepherds bush and go from there or something i.e. half train and bike (although it means leaving at some ridculous hour)?
thanks
I have a road bike and have not ridden anything since January 2012.
I am simply not finding the time to get out to do some short runs (being ill at the moment hasn't helped).
Am I correct that its going to be a bridge too far to do this in one hit?
Should I try and get to Shepherds bush and go from there or something i.e. half train and bike (although it means leaving at some ridculous hour)?
thanks
You could try what I do. If I cycle all the way there and back its a 60 mile round trip which is too far. I put the bike on the rack and drive halfway, park up in a free car park and cycle the rest of the way. Some times I get the Mrs to take me to the halfway point and I cycle all the way home. Works for me.
17 miles shouldnt honestly be a problem if you find a comfortable bike and suitable attire and pace yourself, a cheap bike computer is invaluable at monitoring your speed before you realise you are getting tired.
Do a recee at the weekend so you arent looking for signs, junctions etc on a busy morning with traffic. Take fluid with you etc, all the regular advice applies... Give your legs time to rest between riding days and consider taking an alternative to the shortest possible route if it allows you some quieter roads, you are more likely to keep it up if you take your time and enjoy the ride.
can you shower etc at work? makes a huge difference as you can leave gear/suits etc in work overnight and thus ride with nothing on your bike
two final words. Chamois Cream
Do a recee at the weekend so you arent looking for signs, junctions etc on a busy morning with traffic. Take fluid with you etc, all the regular advice applies... Give your legs time to rest between riding days and consider taking an alternative to the shortest possible route if it allows you some quieter roads, you are more likely to keep it up if you take your time and enjoy the ride.
can you shower etc at work? makes a huge difference as you can leave gear/suits etc in work overnight and thus ride with nothing on your bike
two final words. Chamois Cream
17 miles sounds a long way now, and it probably is, but if you start riding more regularly in a few months 17 miles will be your warm up!
Start small and build up, that way you won't give up before you start - hitting 17 miles from day 1 is a big ask for anyone! My suggestion would be to give yourself a target of riding in a couple of days a week by the end of April, and start by doing a couple of 8-10 mile circuits 3 or 4 times a week, building up from there.
Assuming you are in a reasonable state of health your biggest challenge is your state on mind, if you tell yourself it is going to be difficult and miserable it will be! A good motivator is to 'chunk' your ride up into sections and challenge yourself to go slightly faster each time, or focus on your average speed and try to keep it above say 18 mph. Let's face it, we all hate commuting but at least in a car/train you are in the dry, can read a paper, listen to your iPod or radio - it takes a lot more resolve to jump on your bike at 07.30 in the morning than it does to get into a car or on the train! - Free your mind and your legs will follow!!!!
Also, get organised! Pack your suit into your backpack the night before and lay your stuff out, again its really easy to lose time in the morning which makes it easy to justify jumping in the car or train as you are 'running late'.
As for fitness you need to make time. I have a friend who has been trying to get fit for over a year, we went for a spin this time last year - did 23 miles and damn near killed him. One year on and we did the same ride, guess what - it also nearly killed him! The reason was he simply does not have time to train, yet he has time to sit in front of the telly in the evening or go to the pub!
You have to make a commitment to your health if you want to get fit, and make a routine that fits your life. I cannot get out riding every night (as much as I would like to), so I come home from work, get changed and jump on the turbo trainer for an hour, I can always find something else to do, or find a reason not get train - that's easy, the difficult bit is doing it!
Set yourself some easy to achieve cycling fitness targets, with the ultimate one being the ride to work a couple of times a week, and with the right resolve, focus and rewards you will do it!!
Start small and build up, that way you won't give up before you start - hitting 17 miles from day 1 is a big ask for anyone! My suggestion would be to give yourself a target of riding in a couple of days a week by the end of April, and start by doing a couple of 8-10 mile circuits 3 or 4 times a week, building up from there.
Assuming you are in a reasonable state of health your biggest challenge is your state on mind, if you tell yourself it is going to be difficult and miserable it will be! A good motivator is to 'chunk' your ride up into sections and challenge yourself to go slightly faster each time, or focus on your average speed and try to keep it above say 18 mph. Let's face it, we all hate commuting but at least in a car/train you are in the dry, can read a paper, listen to your iPod or radio - it takes a lot more resolve to jump on your bike at 07.30 in the morning than it does to get into a car or on the train! - Free your mind and your legs will follow!!!!
Also, get organised! Pack your suit into your backpack the night before and lay your stuff out, again its really easy to lose time in the morning which makes it easy to justify jumping in the car or train as you are 'running late'.
As for fitness you need to make time. I have a friend who has been trying to get fit for over a year, we went for a spin this time last year - did 23 miles and damn near killed him. One year on and we did the same ride, guess what - it also nearly killed him! The reason was he simply does not have time to train, yet he has time to sit in front of the telly in the evening or go to the pub!
You have to make a commitment to your health if you want to get fit, and make a routine that fits your life. I cannot get out riding every night (as much as I would like to), so I come home from work, get changed and jump on the turbo trainer for an hour, I can always find something else to do, or find a reason not get train - that's easy, the difficult bit is doing it!
Set yourself some easy to achieve cycling fitness targets, with the ultimate one being the ride to work a couple of times a week, and with the right resolve, focus and rewards you will do it!!
hellsbuddha said:
Its not flat though, Ruislip seems very undulating and I am trying to find that canal that runs from Greenford A40 somewhere into Maida Vale.
Does anyone else go from there into C London (Kings Cross)?
You do have some climbing around sudbury by the looks of it 200ft but that would seem to be about it unless I am missing something ?Does anyone else go from there into C London (Kings Cross)?
Edited by The Walrus on Tuesday 6th March 14:47
kers in suits to get here!Lots of good advice above. I commute c. 30 miles each way into central London. It means a 5:15am start which is probably the hardest part of it, but it is eminently doable. The fitter you get the less it takes and I reckon the time penalty against getting the train is about 20 mins or so (excl showering but I'd have to do that anyway).
hellsbuddha said:
Its not flat though, Ruislip seems very undulating and I am trying to find that canal that runs from Greenford A40 somewhere into Maida Vale.
Does anyone else go from there into C London (Kings Cross)?
I've cycled the canal quite a few times, although I've started at Bulls Bridge rather than Greenford - not sure where you could join it, but there is plenty of access.Does anyone else go from there into C London (Kings Cross)?
IIRC it's paved all the way from Greenford to Paddington Basin. I'd consider it if you didn't fancy the road.
I started doing 15 miles each way in to Central London last year. I've not got much less fatter yet, but I have got a lot fitter under the insulation. A couple of thoughts I'd add to the above.
1. If you're at all motivated by being competitive and assuming you've got an iPhone, Android phone or other suitably enabled GPS device, sign up to www.strava.com. You upload your rides to this and you can compare your time to other people riding the same route segments you take and see where you sit on the rankings. If you're not motivated by competition, don't bother!
2. If you've got a bike to which you can fit a panier rack, do so. I find my shirts get to the office in far better condition in a panier bag than they do in a rucksack, and over that sort of distance, I also find it more comfortable riding with nothing on my back. This is doubly the case when I have to take my house brick of a laptop in and out.
3. On the days when it's pissing down, take extra special note of the sheeple coming out of the tube stations. Look at them dodging the puddles. Watch them cowering under their umbrella, or trying to keep the rain off their shirts with a copy of Metro whilst their trousers get soaked. Then think of the nice warm shower you've got at the office, and the nice, clean, dry shirt, trousers and underwear you're going to be getting into after your shower. Don't put them on in that order though. Then look around the office at all your colleagues in their damp, clammy clothing in which they had to battle through the elements to reach the office whilst your wet kit is hanging up and drying out in the changing rooms. Then realise that rainy days are the best days on which to ride to work!
4. As an extension to 3, however, if you do really get into it and ride in heavy rain on a regular basis, you could do far worse than investing in a pair of Goretex boots and waterproof overtrousers. Nice, warm, toasty feet!
5. How do you get to work at the moment? Unless you walk, I assume it has a cost, be it petrol, tube fare or whatever. Work out what that is, then divert it into a slush fund for completely selfish, guiltless pleasure. Whenever you spend from it, it will make you feel good about cycling to work, and whenever you don't cycle to work, you'll feel annoyed about not growing your fund. It's much easier telling my wife I've just spent 17 days of train fare upgrading the groupset on my imminently arriving new bike than it is to tell her the sterling amount!
6. Initially, it is going to hurt. The sore arse will go in a couple of weeks at most, especially with chamois cream as previously recommended. Your legs, however, might take longer. I initially made the mistake of thinking my legs would start to feel knackered towards the end of the ride, and was therefore absolutely gutted to find that they were feeling knackered at the start of the ride a couple of days into the week, to the point where on one or two occasions, I actually turned round, went home and got the train instead. It took me a few efforts at pushing through that to get to the realisation that in fact once I'd ridden through the first mile or two of leaden legs, I was absolutely fine for the rest of the ride.
1. If you're at all motivated by being competitive and assuming you've got an iPhone, Android phone or other suitably enabled GPS device, sign up to www.strava.com. You upload your rides to this and you can compare your time to other people riding the same route segments you take and see where you sit on the rankings. If you're not motivated by competition, don't bother!
2. If you've got a bike to which you can fit a panier rack, do so. I find my shirts get to the office in far better condition in a panier bag than they do in a rucksack, and over that sort of distance, I also find it more comfortable riding with nothing on my back. This is doubly the case when I have to take my house brick of a laptop in and out.
3. On the days when it's pissing down, take extra special note of the sheeple coming out of the tube stations. Look at them dodging the puddles. Watch them cowering under their umbrella, or trying to keep the rain off their shirts with a copy of Metro whilst their trousers get soaked. Then think of the nice warm shower you've got at the office, and the nice, clean, dry shirt, trousers and underwear you're going to be getting into after your shower. Don't put them on in that order though. Then look around the office at all your colleagues in their damp, clammy clothing in which they had to battle through the elements to reach the office whilst your wet kit is hanging up and drying out in the changing rooms. Then realise that rainy days are the best days on which to ride to work!
4. As an extension to 3, however, if you do really get into it and ride in heavy rain on a regular basis, you could do far worse than investing in a pair of Goretex boots and waterproof overtrousers. Nice, warm, toasty feet!
5. How do you get to work at the moment? Unless you walk, I assume it has a cost, be it petrol, tube fare or whatever. Work out what that is, then divert it into a slush fund for completely selfish, guiltless pleasure. Whenever you spend from it, it will make you feel good about cycling to work, and whenever you don't cycle to work, you'll feel annoyed about not growing your fund. It's much easier telling my wife I've just spent 17 days of train fare upgrading the groupset on my imminently arriving new bike than it is to tell her the sterling amount!
6. Initially, it is going to hurt. The sore arse will go in a couple of weeks at most, especially with chamois cream as previously recommended. Your legs, however, might take longer. I initially made the mistake of thinking my legs would start to feel knackered towards the end of the ride, and was therefore absolutely gutted to find that they were feeling knackered at the start of the ride a couple of days into the week, to the point where on one or two occasions, I actually turned round, went home and got the train instead. It took me a few efforts at pushing through that to get to the realisation that in fact once I'd ridden through the first mile or two of leaden legs, I was absolutely fine for the rest of the ride.
okgo said:
Rucksack for me.
I'm showering when I get there regardless, who cares about a sweaty back
I'm generally drenched by the time I get there regardless! I'm showering when I get there regardless, who cares about a sweaty back
For me, it's more that I find I start to get a sore lower back after about 10-12 miles with a rucksack on. This might just be a poor-fitting Camelbak, but I don't get it if I don't have a rucksack at all, so go with that.
I ride into work 4 times a week plus any weekend overtime have rode in every day (except Monday's) since March 20th last year with the exception of a couple of weeks when it was very icy.
It is 16 or 17 miles depending which way I go on a Monday I drive this keeps my place in the 5 strong car share and take in clean clothes for the week I work on the tools/office so in overalls this means I don't needs a clean ironed shirt every day. Also I take in fresh pasta and packets or tubs of sauce this I then freeze at work and have access to a hob to cook on at lunch time.
All this means I can ride in with just my Lycra on which makes the ride much better.
Showers at work so clean and fresh for the day ahead
The ride can be changed to suit my needs ie add speed or distance as required and it is only adding an hour and its been a 2 hour training session.
It is 16 or 17 miles depending which way I go on a Monday I drive this keeps my place in the 5 strong car share and take in clean clothes for the week I work on the tools/office so in overalls this means I don't needs a clean ironed shirt every day. Also I take in fresh pasta and packets or tubs of sauce this I then freeze at work and have access to a hob to cook on at lunch time.
All this means I can ride in with just my Lycra on which makes the ride much better.
Showers at work so clean and fresh for the day ahead
The ride can be changed to suit my needs ie add speed or distance as required and it is only adding an hour and its been a 2 hour training session.
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