Going for it!

[baldycyclist]

I can only admire those amongst you doing 5 days a week and well over my 5.3 miles each way. So I am a wimp of totalness when I chicken out I suppose.
What I do do though is run in every so often (slightly different route at 5.5 miles each way) to keep the body somewhere near to hovering around obese and not morbidly so!
Been riding and 'old' Giant OCR 2 which I am told is heavy and today went in on my newly purchased Eddy Merckx EMX-1 Veloce Road Bike which went like a dream I have to say.


I think of my commute as an excuse to buy more and more clothing and as a challenge to see if I can save cash.


Both moving house nearer to work and using the bike over the last two years I have saved...
...£1000 per month on my mortgage by slightly downsizing and moving closer to work (got a great fixed rate as well)
...£60+ per week on petrol (current prices)
...£10 per week toll charges in a tunnel


So - basically I have saved over £1300 per month for the last two years.
Gave up smoking (how righteous I now feel) 11 years ago - so that is over £5 per day over 11 years (say 3500 days roughly) that is another £17500 I have saved.


Can you beat me folks? (and feel righteous at the same time?)


I noe have well over £50k in my offset account for my mortgage because I have made these changes!!!

 

[superbadger]

I can only admire those amongst you doing 5 days a week and well over my 5.3 miles each way. So I am a wimp of totalness when I chicken out I suppose.
What I do do though is run in every so often (slightly different route at 5.5 miles each way) to keep the body somewhere near to hovering around obese and not morbidly so!
Been riding and 'old' Giant OCR 2 which I am told is heavy and today went in on my newly purchased Eddy Merckx EMX-1 Veloce Road Bike which went like a dream I have to say.


I think of my commute as an excuse to buy more and more clothing and as a challenge to see if I can save cash.

Both moving house nearer to work and using the bike over the last two years I have saved...
...£1000 per month on my mortgage by slightly downsizing and moving closer to work (got a great fixed rate as well)
...£60+ per week on petrol (current prices)
...£10 per week toll charges in a tunnel

So - basically I have saved over £1300 per month for the last two years.
Gave up smoking (how righteous I now feel) 11 years ago - so that is over £5 per day over 11 years (say 3500 days roughly) that is another £17500 I have saved.

Can you beat me folks? (and feel righteous at the same time?)

I noe have well over £50k in my offset account for my mortgage because I have made these changes!!!

well done

 

[BSRU]

Can you beat me folks? (and feel righteous at the same time?)

For me cycling to work has proved more expensive than driving as I always seem to be buying bike related stuff every month. Although not a fair comparison as commuting by car is just 7 miles per day whereas commuting by bike is 27 to 40 miles per day.

 

[mrmacmusic]

Can you beat me folks? (and feel righteous at the same time?)

Well, I can only beat you with my commute distance... but that's some serious savings you're making there! Frankly, I wish I could afford a £1000 mortgage in the first place

I've had to buy bike-related stuff over the past couple of months since getting the hybrid, but I've tried to keep the cost to a minimum – a couple of spare inner tubes, LIDL clothing, SPD shoes and pedals (on sale), and recently the ALDI rack and a pannier bag that again was on special offer.

These spends all add up but not to a massive amount, and even the bike itself was essentially a swap having sold my old MTB... Given that I'm saving at least £25 per week on diesel (without doing a full "running costs" calculation), and being more active than I ever have been in my whole entire life, I think I can feel pretty good about commuting on 2 wheels

 

[jonny jeez]

For me cycling to work has proved more expensive than driving as I always seem to be buying bike related stuff every month. Although not a fair comparison as commuting by car is just 7 miles per day whereas commuting by bike is 27 to 40 miles per day.

LOL...but you've lost me on the maths...do you just have a really bad sense of direction when you're on the bike then?

 

[jonny jeez]

I can only admire those amongst you doing 5 days a week

Here's a funny thing (and a bit of a secret too). The whole 5 day a week thing is a bit of a fib...

its actually easier to ride more days than less... Honestly

You see, the more you ride the easier it gets to ride and after a very short while (like 2-3 weeks) you become a bit..well.."addicted" to the feeling of having ridden, so that you truly start to miss it if you dont ride.

When you ride less often, it's a real struggle to keep up motovation because every ride is like a brand new one as your fitness has dropped off since the last attempt and you never get "in tune" with riding. It's proper tough to do

I'm not up to 5 days yet but I really want to be and miss the day's that I dont ride to the point that I get a little grumpy about it as they are forced upon me by work commitments.

So I guess what I'm saying is...dont beat yourself up if you chicken out, its a totally natural reaction.

 

[BSRU]

LOL...but you've lost me on the maths...do you just have a really bad sense of direction when you're on the bike then?

My "sat-nav" gets confused when I tell it to take the scenic route in Swindon .

Basically cycle commuting is my only opportunity have some decent regular exercise, without it I would turn into a lard boy .

 

[mrmacmusic]

Here's a funny thing (and a bit of a secret too). The whole 5 day a week thing is a bit of a fib...

its actually easier to ride more days than less... Honestly

You see, the more you ride the easier it gets to ride...

I sure hope so... having started off easy (only commuting a couple of days a week), I thought it was getting easier about 6 weeks in. Now, I have to say my legs are feeling tired – I don't feel quite like I've hit a wall, but it's been a struggle this week and today was hard going. Maybe it's because this is my 12th commute in a row, or maybe it's because the extra few kilos of weight in my rack and pannier bag (which was loaded today) is making the bike that bit harder to push... I don't know. Maybe it's just because I'm human

...and after a very short while (like 2-3 weeks) you become a bit..well.."addicted" to the feeling of having ridden, so that you truly start to miss it if you dont ride.

When you ride less often, it's a real struggle to keep up motovation because every ride is like a brand new one as your fitness has dropped off since the last attempt and you never get "in tune" with riding. It's proper tough to do

I'm not up to 5 days yet but I really want to be and miss the day's that I dont ride to the point that I get a little grumpy about it as they are forced upon me by work commitments.

I'm only on my second 5-day week so to speak, but even when I had just started out and was doing a couple of days, I felt so much better the days I cycled in, and yes, a touch grumpy when I had to take the car

So I guess what I'm saying is...dont beat yourself up if you chicken out, its a totally natural reaction.

Can't argue with that – do however many days you can, and if you really don't feel like cycling (and have alternative transport), then leave the bike at home... otherwise there's a danger it will become a chore!

 

[superbadger]

The rack and panniers will make a difference but you soon get used to them . I remember when i set off to do my tour and i was like before i set off!!! Once i got going i was okay though . I agree with your 'chore' comment.... Always try and enjoy it,can be hard to on days that are full of wind and rain......