Commuting Distance
- Thread starter adam2008
- Start date
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30 miles in one trip?
fairly serious distance, gonna depend on lots of things, route (lights) and bike and your fitness
if you're in reasonable nick and you get stuck in I'd have thought you'd be fairly comfortable after three to four weeks and improve steadily from there
that amount of riding justifies a decent bike and some decent clothing inc cleats
fairly serious distance, gonna depend on lots of things, route (lights) and bike and your fitness
if you're in reasonable nick and you get stuck in I'd have thought you'd be fairly comfortable after three to four weeks and improve steadily from there
that amount of riding justifies a decent bike and some decent clothing inc cleats
OP
OP
adam2008
Well-Known Member
My bike is a BH L31D-R1 105
http://www.sidcupcycles.co.uk/acatalog/Race_Bikes.html
I got the bike with the cycle to work scheme. It is my first road bike. I got it on Friday, went out on Saturday and did 32 miles where I averaged 17mph (sore bum and numb bits... some of you have already answered my question on that one!). I have 2 routes I can take... the main car route which is single carriage way and a 'country' route which is another few more miles.
Clothing... no idea what to get... I have some good cycling shorts and I do us cleats but upper body... I'm a bit in the dark. The troubler I have is I usually have to carry things to and from work... with a rucksack I tend to get a bit sweaty!!!
http://www.sidcupcycles.co.uk/acatalog/Race_Bikes.html
I got the bike with the cycle to work scheme. It is my first road bike. I got it on Friday, went out on Saturday and did 32 miles where I averaged 17mph (sore bum and numb bits... some of you have already answered my question on that one!). I have 2 routes I can take... the main car route which is single carriage way and a 'country' route which is another few more miles.
Clothing... no idea what to get... I have some good cycling shorts and I do us cleats but upper body... I'm a bit in the dark. The troubler I have is I usually have to carry things to and from work... with a rucksack I tend to get a bit sweaty!!!
adam2008 said:
I love panniers for carrying gear to work and back, OK they dont look cool
but they hold tons of stuff, without additional sweating. Ive got several different types depending on my loads, but best of all they have magic car repelling powers, I find I get way more space on the road when Ihave panniers attached than when I dont 
for top half clothing, a wicking base layer and a windproof cycling t-shirt Ishould think for the summer.
As for the distance it sounds a long way. I do about 19 miles each way, takes about an hour. So thats 2 hours cycling every day. I rarely manage 5 days a week. You'll be doing closer to 3-4 hours each day so building up in 3 weeks is too much, you'll exhaust yourself.
I'm just starting back after some time off the bike due to theft of my bike (and winter). I find that the best thing to do is to try one day a week for a few weeks. Then every second day for a few weeks. The real killer change is two days in a row. So try Mon, Tues, Thurs, Friday for a bit. I'd say you're looking at 6-8 weeks to build up to 5 days.
Don't rush it or you'll injure yourself or end up hating the ride. You'll also find that most of your time outside work is spent eating and sleeping to get ready for the commute. Which is perfect, eating, sleeping and cycling are some of my favourite things.
Good luck with it.
(of course, I may be an unfit wuss and thats why it takes me so long to build up!)
I'm just starting back after some time off the bike due to theft of my bike (and winter). I find that the best thing to do is to try one day a week for a few weeks. Then every second day for a few weeks. The real killer change is two days in a row. So try Mon, Tues, Thurs, Friday for a bit. I'd say you're looking at 6-8 weeks to build up to 5 days.
Don't rush it or you'll injure yourself or end up hating the ride. You'll also find that most of your time outside work is spent eating and sleeping to get ready for the commute. Which is perfect, eating, sleeping and cycling are some of my favourite things.
Good luck with it.
(of course, I may be an unfit wuss and thats why it takes me so long to build up!)
domtyler
Über Member
Sixty miles a day, five days a week? That is some serious undertaking. Three hundred miles a week on the road. Not saying it's not possible but to do that all year round will take more grit and determination than I have. Might be nice in the summer but battling the bad weather for that kind of time will be a great challenge. If you do manage to keep it up you will go straight into the upper echelons of the cycle commuting community I know that much.
If you can do train and bike thats the best option. Some days I'll take the bike on the train if the weathers grim and cycle home if its cleared up. Nothing worse than leaving the bike at home due to the weather and it turning into a stonker of a day weatherwise.
Unfortunately train one way then cycle costs as much as train both ways but thats an argument I keep having with my rail company.
Unfortunately train one way then cycle costs as much as train both ways but thats an argument I keep having with my rail company.
adam2008 said:
I didn’t spend as much as you on a bike, but mines an aluminium framed racer. 700x23 wheels etc. Its not designed to carry a pannier rack or have mudguards. However it does have threaded holes down near the hub, so I used these for the rack. Up the seatstays theres nothing integral to the bike, so I fabbed a couple of stainless steel ‘P’ clips. Bit of rubber between the 2 to stop slippage.
I’m always aware with an ally frame that it’s a soft metal, so I’m a bit lighter with applying torque to any bolts and apply a bit of loctite to the threads.
Like I said earlier tho’ might be an idea to check out the Carradice SQR saddlebag systems also?
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
gambatte said:
I love my Carradice longflap camper:
