Cycling for breakfast

[Pale Rider]

In the latest of my attempts to undo best part of 50 years of a poor lifestyle I have taken to going for a ride before work.

I've been genuinely surprised how much perkier I feel on the days I manage it.

The benefits may not be a surprise to many of you, but for me it's been something of a lightbulb moment.

To my simple way of thinking, riding 10 miles before going to work would make you feel more tired during the day, not less.

Commuters may like to comment on the beneficial - or otherwise - effects of riding early.

And do many non-commuters on here go out for a ride first thing in the morning?

 

[ianrauk]

By the time I get to work I am usually buzzing from the ride, even if the weather is crap or the traffic is shyte. There is really no better way to start the working day.

 

[13 rider]

I don't bike commute everyday but have managed 1 day a week this year . I always get to work feeling refreshed after a ride a I do a fairly physical job but always feel better on cycle days bizzarre ! . Mind you commuter home is always slower .

 

[united4ever]

Agree. It doesn't make sense from a logical point of view but its a great way to arrive feeling fantastic most days. What's the biological reason? Release of endorphines?

 

[smutchin]

Well done you!

A few years ago, I got into the habit of riding the first 16 miles of my loooong commute before getting on the train the rest of the way, which meant leaving the house by 6.30am at the very latest. I loved it. Fantastic way to start the day. Some days I was getting off the train at Bromley and riding the rest of the way in to central London (either as well as or instead of the early ride), but it was always that early ride that I liked best, and not just because of the traffic. Then work circumstances changed and it was no longer feasible. Boo!

Another benefit of riding early - as in before breakfast - is fasted riding. Going for a ride of no more than an hour at moderate effort before you've eaten is reckoned by many to be a good way to boost your metabolism and shed weight quickly, and my experience backs this up - I can't make any scientific claims for my anecdotal experience but I'm sure this is one of the reasons my weight dropped dramatically when I was doing that ride pretty much every day. That 16 mile ride took me around 50-55 minutes, so was ideal (I usually pushed moderately hard but it was also a very flat route). Ride for much longer than that on an empty stomach, though, and you risk the dreaded bonk. I would take my breakfast with me and eat it on the train - usually a couple of hard-boiled eggs for protein plus some oats with honey and yoghurt for carbs and fibre. My fellow commuters must have loved me.

Now that I've started working from home, I really should get back into the habit of early morning rides but for the moment I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have to get up at stupid o'clock for my long commute and have been staying in bed until 8.30, which feels extremely decadent. I go riding at lunchtime instead but it would probably be better to get it out of the way early before I start work.

 

[Berk on a Bike]

My morning commutes (followed by a wash, a change of clothes then coffee and porridge) make me start my day feeling fresher and far more alert than the car journey would. In a few weeks I'll be riding into daybreak which I really enjoy; the city centre streets are brilliant before 6am.

 

[ColinJ]

I used to commute by bike now and then, but only on sunny summer days. It was about 15 miles each way and like the posters above, I found that it actually energised me for the day, and it relaxed me for when I got home. If I hadn't had a very cheap 'help with cost of petrol' lift option, I would have done it more often, and I think that I should have - perhaps then I would not have succumbed to stress.

As for 'undoing poor lifestyle' ... It took a near-fatal illness to make me start the undoing of mine and I feel so much better for it now!

Keep up the good work, @Pale Rider, and I hope to see you on more of my forum rides in the future!

 

[Pale Rider]

Thanks @smutchin and @ColinJ for the encouraging words.

I'm using my Cannondale MTB for my morning excursions for the extra (above my ebike) resistance.

My usual circuit thus far only undulates at most, but reading @smutchin's interesting post, an easyish ride is probably a good idea.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I need motivation to get up at 04:10 in the morning, and then do a 12 hr shift. Cycling does it.

 

[biggs682]

In the latest of my attempts to undo best part of 50 years of a poor lifestyle I have taken to going for a ride before work.

I've been genuinely surprised how much perkier I feel on the days I manage it.

The benefits may not be a surprise to many of you, but for me it's been something of a lightbulb moment.

To my simple way of thinking, riding 10 miles before going to work would make you feel more tired during the day, not less.

Commuters may like to comment on the beneficial - or otherwise - effects of riding early.

And do many non-commuters on here go out for a ride first thing in the morning?

I do a regular 10 - 13 mile loop before commuting to work , it wakes me up and i certainly dont feel any more tired through out the day

 

[bikeman66]

In the latest of my attempts to undo best part of 50 years of a poor lifestyle I have taken to going for a ride before work.

I've been genuinely surprised how much perkier I feel on the days I manage it.

The benefits may not be a surprise to many of you, but for me it's been something of a lightbulb moment.

To my simple way of thinking, riding 10 miles before going to work would make you feel more tired during the day, not less.

Commuters may like to comment on the beneficial - or otherwise - effects of riding early.

And do many non-commuters on here go out for a ride first thing in the morning?

Top effort Pale Rider!

I work in the building trade, so cycling to work is not really viable with tools and materials to be carted around. I do, however, sometimes find myself in a position where it is possible to leave the truck and tools on site. In these cases, I will take the opportunity to ride back and forth from work for as long as I can do without the truck for. I totally agree, that an early morning ride can really set you up for the day, both mentally and physically.

On a similar theme, regarding early morning rides, I nearly always take the opportunity to ride my mountain bike in to the sunrise on mid-summers day. I guess it has become a bit of a personal tradition for me to leave home at around 2.30-3.00am, ride westward on my favourite trail for an hour or so, before turning to head east, in to what can sometimes be a totally stunning sunrise. The deserted bridleways, a slightly dewy chill turning to early morning warmth are to behold. Usually back home by 6.45-7.00am, but the memory of each ride lasts forever.

Hope your early morning "feel good factor" rides continue to hit the spot for you, and that you realise the obvious health benefits as you go! Well done matey!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

By the time I get to work I am usually buzzing from the ride, even if the weather is crap or the traffic is shyte. There is really no better way to start the working day.

Same here. I'm used to doing the ride, then having a bit of breakfast after arriving at work. There's no way I'd regularly get up at 4am for any other reason.

 

[screenman]

I do an hour in the office before going for a 2k swim at 6.45 am and then a day's manual work. The day I do not swim always seems the toughest to cope with both physically and mentally.

 

[jay clock]

+1 for the ride helping. I spent the last couple of years doing 4 days a week cycling/train to work. Clapham to Chiswick and back by bike. A stunning ride of quiet roads and cycle tracks. I loved it. Current assignment much harder to allow biking, but for the next month I can fit one or two days a week getting the train to Basingstoke then a 52km round trip cycle across lovely lanes and a couple of fords.

And agreed days with no exercise I feel very lethargic.

From June I possibly have a (semi self imposed) summer off, and very keen to do an early ride a few times a week

 

[drummerbod]

Works for me too.