Car-borne cycling trips.

[Dave 123]

There's nowt wrong with using the car to see new territory for a ride. We're lucky here west of Cambridge city centre that we get lots of quiet roads, but once in a while it's great to go to Norfolk or Suffolk for the day.

 

[NorthernDave]

It's not something I do a lot, but I do it - and why not?

I did a 70+ mile sportive in April - I could have (theoretically) ridden to the start point and home again afterwards, but that would have added well over 50 miles to the day and if I'm being perfectly honest, 120+ miles would probably have broken me at the time.

Similarly I'm doing an 80-miler in August and that starts 35 miles from home - half an hour in the car, or near enough three hours at my typical speed. That ride simply wouldn't get done without a car. Doing a hilly 80 mile ride plus adding another 70 miles / 6 hours travel time on top of it is outside my abilities.
In theory I could get there and back by train, but the reality of that is unnecessarily expensive and impractical.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Several of the ladies in my group do this, to cut the distance or to avoid busy roads.
I don't have a car, sometimes I take the train with my bike to start the ride in a quieter or less boring stretch.
Several times we have returned from a bike tour by train.
I wish train companies would open up to bike transport: we had to hire vans a few times, as the trains simply would not accept the number of bikes we needed to transport to the start.

 

[mustang1]

All seems fine to me whether you want to ride the bikes to your riding location or drive to your riding location: whatever works best for you!

 

[DaveReading]

Is it mentioned in the book of rules?

Yes - you are hereby no longer entitled to call yourself a cyclist.

Joking aside, I can identify with the sentiment. My motivation definitely suffers when I end up doing the same handful of routes over and over again, so I grab the opportunity when I can to ride on some different roads for a change.

When I changed my car a year or so ago, I agonised for months over whether a rear- or roof-mounted bike rack would be better, until it dawned on me that folding the back seat down was so much easier than in my old car (no more faffing around with removing headrests, etc) that sticking the bike inside was the way to go.

 

[Globalti]

Back to this thread to read all these replies and glad to see how many agree with me. And yes, I have never understood why you would want a valuable bike displayed like a trophy on a roof or boot, vulnerable to theft, damage and road salt, when most cars can take a bike or two safely stored inside. For us with an estate car it's a well-practiced routine geting 2 people + 2 bikes inside and we sometimes have 3+3 and have even had 4+4 when two were children.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Leave the Garmin on when the bike is in the car, makes the ride look impressive.

I did this the other week, I live 18 miles from work, I drove the 1st 15 & cycled the last 3 into Sheffield centre, forgot to switch the Garmin off & had some good sectors on the way home, although I couldn't find any sectors on the M1 strangely. But it did mean I found https://www.fitfiletools.com/#/top which I used to fix the issue.

 

[screenman]

Although I use a Garmin I have never uploaded anything, I might get a moped and go for some points.

 

[Sixmile]

I know a few who do this. Get in the car, drive 20 minutes to the gym and cycle on a stationary bike for an hour and then drive home.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I know a few who do this. Get in the car, drive 20 minutes to the gym and cycle on a stationary bike for an hour and then drive home.

Then complain they haven't the time to go out riding

 

[Globalti]

God yes, that's the ultimate stupidity. If you only want vigorous exercise, in 45 minutes out from and back to the front door you can cover a decent distance, catch some UV and fresh air, spy out your neighbourhood and come home feeling beasted and happy.

 

[Mile195]

I don't have a car, but I am able to transport my bike on my motorbike. The whole process of taking it apart and tethering it is a bit of a faff so I don't do it too often. But even so, It's nice to have the option of going somewhere new and exploring, without having to lose the first and last portions of the ride cycling to and from the intended start point.
For example, sometimes I might fancy a ride along the coast somewhere. But to find any proper coast, I'd have to cycle for a good 90 minutes or so from my house to find it. So that's at least 3 hours gone just to get to and from the start point.
I'm not sure I'd bother transporting my bike just 4 miles to the start point like the OP does, but then if you're in a car it's much easier, so why not I guess.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Another for me is to put the bike on the back of the car, go out with my wife for breakfast, she then drives back & I ride back, any excuse for a full English breakfast.

 

[mjr]

Back to this thread to read all these replies and glad to see how many agree with me. And yes, I have never understood why you would want a valuable bike displayed like a trophy on a roof or boot, vulnerable to theft, damage and road salt, when most cars can take a bike or two safely stored inside.

Because it's so much easier just to hang the bikes on the back or roof. No cleaning, no dismantling, no bagging or risking oil on the surrounds.

But I'm about to pack the bikes into the car and drive them abroad because Stena Line are cocks who have sold out of bike spaces on the car deck but still have space for cars and Southeastern Failway make it too awkward or slow to get to/from Dover. It's also likely to be £50 cheaper unless fuel prices soar, but I'd pay that not to drive!

 

[Nonethewiser]

As a regular car driver I'd feel a bit of a hypocrite for slagging someone for using their car to transport their bike(s) to a ride. I'm lucky that I live in a semi-rural location and don't have to pedal very far at all to be away from the main roads but if I wanted to, say, cycle in the Dales or North York Moors the bike would be in the car, no question!