Dont be put off commuting...

[gbb]

by reading commuting
Where i empathise and sympathise with all you guys that post your close calls and incidents ( we've ALL been there at times)....but anyone coming in here for advice and information might be forgiven for thinking 'Jesus H Christ..bugger commuting for a lark' after reading a deluge of negative posts........ about commuting .

In NOT suggesting the incident's shouldnt be posted, before someone thinks that, but there's not much balance in the Commuting page.

FWIW, ive commuted for years, not in London granted, but an average urban / city environment. Yes, you get an occasional lunatic, yes you have an occasional close call, occasionally it may even come close to fisticuffs if you let your temper go.....but in all the years i've been commuting, the good aspects FAR AND ABOVE outweigh the bad.

A lot of it's about having an alert...but chilled attitude toward everyone else. I thoroughly enjoy commuting, dont think i'll ever go back to regular car use for work..

It's difficult to post about an incident free commute....because happily, there's nothing to tell. Thats maybe why the Commuting page is relatively full of negative stuff.
So all you potential commuters....dont come here, read the negative stuff and let yourself be scared off.

Ride, be alert, be chilled, enjoy....and accept that just once in a while..that inevitably you'll have an occasional incident.

If anyone disagrees...please feel free to disagree (i'm sure you will ). These are MY thoughts on the matter, not the gospel according to.....

 

[domtyler]

It is extremely rare to have a journey in London where you don't have at least one bad negative incident. Generally not a serious one but enough to piss you off, a close overtake or someone beeping you for just being on the road, minor stuff. Coupled with the occasional more serious incident, near left hook, shouting match, someone driving at you deliberately, it is easy to see why commuting is full of these stories day in day out.

Cycling every day on the roads is a challenging activity that is also extremely rewarding for those who can overcome the obstacles but we shouldn't paint an artificially rosy picture of what it's like 'cos it can be bloody tough out there.

 

[Landslide]

Very true. I was discussing commuting with a colleague, and pointed out to her that chances are you'll often get cut up by motorists when you're in a car, yet collisions are still very rare (in relative terms). Why shouldn't the same hold true for cycling?

FWIW, I had a very pleasant commute this morning. The sun was shining, I shared a wave of thanks with a car that stopped to give way to me at the start of my route, and I saw the same car at the other end! Always nice to know that my commute is as fast as any other form of transport (if not faster)!

 

[First Lift Last Call]

I agree. I commute in London, using a fairly busy route. In 4 years I've had four bumps, only one of which has actually injured me. Actually, the little knocks are quite useful. They remind me to slow down a bit, concentrate a bit and remember that I am on a busy road (being on my bike tends to make me a bit dreamy). I can't wait to get my bike back after yesterday's knock (it's gone for a little check up) and get back on.

 

[waytogoyet]

I've been thinking the same thing actually and that I'm feel relatively lucky that my commute seems relatively quiet, having read some of the stories on here.
The one thing I am seriously worried about is when it gets dark, I've had lights put on the new bike but not too confident yet, 6 miles of the 17 have no street lights!

 

[magnatom]

Well said gbb. I do post incidents, but they should always be put into context.

I've cycled for 3 years now (just a newbie!) and I've posted just over 50 incidents. Some of those have been drivers on mobiles, pavement cyclists, errant pedestrians, people weeing on cycle lanes etc. So only about half of them were incidents as such. Of those, the vast majority are there to highlight the bad driving around cyclists, NOT to show that cycling is dangerous. In fact I would say that in only two incidents, possibly even just one, have I felt in an danger. Even then, there was room for escape.

So to conclude, commuting is really great fun, keeps you fit and healthy, is actually very sociable (I often get into friendly chats with drivers, although I don't post them!), and faster (for me) than taking the car!

Do it, do it, do it, DOOO IIIIT!!!

(P.S. I think this thread should become a sticky!!)

 

[magnatom]

It is extremely rare to have a journey in London where you don't have at least one bad incident. Generally not a serious one but enough to piss you off, a close overtake or someone beeping you for just being on the road, minor stuff.

You've contradicted yourself there. It can't be bad and generally not serious all at the same time!

 

[domtyler]

You've contradicted yourself there. It can't be bad and generally not serious all at the same time!

Yes you're right, a poor choice of wording there. When I say a bad incident I just mean as opposed to a good one, rather than a serious one which is how it tends to read.

 

[redjedi]

Well said.

And to provide a little balance, I've been commuting for about 18 months in London, and have yet to be hit, shouted at, fallen off or had a clipless moment.

I've had a few moments where I wished a driver had given me a little more room when overtaking, or left me a bigger gap when I was trying to filter. But overall a very enjoyable experience.

Being aware of other people on the roads is the key. The few close calls I have had were mainly my fault for not paying attention.

Patience is also a usefull virtue to have. You don't have to force your way to the front of a queue or past a stopped bus everytime !

 

[magnatom]

Yes you're right, a poor choice of wording there. When I say a bad incident I just mean as opposed to a good one, rather than a serious one which is how it tends to read.

Feeling faint......

Dom agreed with me.........

 

[Losidan]

The decision to start commuting was one of the best I have ever made. Granted a fair bit of my commute is off road (Canal Towpath) and I dont live in london but I find even riding on the roads in rush hour is great.

Monday is the real pressure day for me at work and this monday was particularly stressful....An hour battling the rain and the terrain and by the time I got home I had forgotten all my troubles.

Riding to work on a morning is great too. The canal is lovely and quiet and scenery is brill to look at....just the thing you need on a morning rather than 40 mins sat in traffic fighting ten cars for the same inch of tarmac.

 

[HLaB]

FWIW as gbb says its difficult to post about positive commutes and the vast majority of mine particularly the latest. With the bad weather/ greasy surface I'd been preparing my self for stupid manouvres but they've not come, touch wood.

All WVM aren't bad for instance this morning whilst cycling up Dundas St WVM who wanted to turn right (comming down the street) waited till I was past (which took a while as the roads steep there). Also a couple of days ago I was following a transit through road works and for some reason he slammed on the brakes. We never touched but before accelerating off however, his passenger poked his head out the window to check/ ask If I was OK, IMO a nice touch

 

[AndyB]

I've been commuting by bike for four years now and it is by far the best decision I have made.

I love the fitness aspect, I am enormously fitter now in my mid 30s than I ever was when younger. My waist measurement is smaller than when I was at school! I save a fortune in time and money not sitting in traffic jams and instead enjoy the filtering. I can easily cover distances that I would never have believed possible as a non-cyclist. In my 20s I was completely dependent on my car, it took my spare money and caused no end of stress as I would worry how I would get to work if it didn't start etc.

I had similar thoughts when I started posting the bike camera footage on youtube. I really don't want to put anybody off. It can make things look a whole lot more dangerous than they really are when you only see the bad bits. I do try to keep things in perspective by putting funny and interesting things on there.

In reality, in 4 years I have only had 2 dodgy incidents lasting less than a minute in total, one of those being on Monday. So thats 1 minute out of 4 years cycling and commuting daily.

Maybe we should have a separate section for discussing "incidents"?

 

[magnatom]

Maybe we should have a separate section for discussing "incidents"?

That is a very good idea.

What do people think about having a general commuting section and an incidents section?

 

[Twiggy]

I'd agree, using my bike as my primary means of transportation has been a real boon.

I've had more than my share of close calls since I've been using my bike, but I'm quickly clocking up the miles. I think it's something like one incident every 50 miles or so when you average it out. And that's riding busy A roads and the Coventry ring road. (where civil engineers get shown how not to build a road system)