Is city commuting "really tiring"?

[661-Pete]

My eye lit on this story, from a one-time cycle-friendly city (alas! less friendly now):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8538221.stm

In particular this quote (OK it's a shopkeeper with a vested interest):

Zhang Zhiyong, the manager of a store selling a brand of electric bike called "Capital Wind", said it is easy to see why sales are booming.

"Beijing is not like other smaller cities - it's big. If people ride their bicycles to work, they get really tired. If they drive to work, the roads are often congested," he told the BBC.

Now: nothing wrong with electric bikes, but I just had a google-maps look at the urban sprawl of Peking (alright then: "Beijing") and it seems to stretch about 25 Km across - about the same as London. So, OK it's big, but not that big that a reasonably healthy person couldn't cycle (by human power) any distance across the city. And I believe it's fairly flat.

So: do cycle-commuters get tired on their journeys? My reckoning is, if they do, unintentionally, then they're doing something wrong. I'm older than some, and a lot slower than many, but I pace my 2-mile commute accordingly and I don't turn up for work the least bit tired.

Some may of course prefer to make their commute more 'aerobic' and push themselves to their limits: better health benefits true, but to some detriment to their performance once they reach work.

What do people think? How do you pace your commute?

 

[BentMikey]

I think that's written by an unfit motorist to come up with that comment. I'm otherwise with you, I don't get massively tired by my 22 mile one way commute unless I choose to ride fast.

 

[ianrauk]

If anything I am more awake after a 16 mile commute, taken at a fair brisk pace.

 

[gaz]

I think that's written by an unfit motorist to come up with that comment. I'm otherwise with you, I don't get massively tired by my 22 mile one way commute unless I choose to ride fast.

But your lying down, you can have a nice kip down there.

At the end of the week i start to feel it a bit in my legs, but i'm going for it all the time

 

[HJ]

I don't see why city cycle commuting should be "really tiring", that is just nonsense. Driving in cities is really wearing and frustrating...

E-bike riders tend to be fat and lazy, just like drivers...

 

[Twenty Inch]

Beijing is horribly polluted - perhaps that plays a part?

Plus the operating environment - I cycle eight miles each way. Eight miles is more tiring in the city than in the country as there is the constant stop-start, and you need to be super alert. I can imagine Beijing is a lot worse.

 

[eldudino]

Constant stop-starting is certainly tiring. Though who would commute the full 25k across the city in any case? And as for the tiredness issue - I feel much more alert at work since commuting full time.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Beijing is horribly polluted - perhaps that plays a part?

what I was going to say.

 

[cyberknight]

And maybe the owner of an electric bike store is really just touting for more business !!

mines a rural commute and i feel more awake when i get to work than i did when using the car btw

 

[eddiemee]

If anything I am more awake after a 16 mile commute, taken at a fair brisk pace.

This. Granted I only do six miles each way, but I find that even on the mornings where I hit the snooze button and am tempted to lie in bed for another hour I still feel wide awake within the first mile of my commute. The odd time I have to get the bus I find it's actually more tiring, waiting at the stop, getting stuck in traffic etc...

 

[Debian]

I'm older than a lot of people on here and I have a 7 mile each way commute. I like to push it - I average just under 17mph door to door including all stops. I did once do the homeward leg at an average of 21 mph, only once though!

I definitely feel much more alert at work than I ever do when I drive in and I get more done during the day.

 

[jimboalee]

City commuting tiring?

When I commuted through the city ( Birmingham ), I had to stop so often, I didn't have chance to get tired. I needed to ride up to the top of Barr Beacon twice a week to exercise my legs a bit.

I commute now along country A & B roads. A steady 85% HR pace and a couple of 10% hills. Much better.

 

[jimboalee]

I'm older than a lot of people on here and I have a 7 mile each way commute. I like to push it - I average just under 17mph door to door including all stops. I did once do the homeward leg at an average of 21 mph, only once though!

I definitely feel much more alert at work than I ever do when I drive in and I get more done during the day.

I presume your avatar is a photo of your grandson.

 

[summerdays]

I think it can be mentally tiring/ exhilarating - which can make you feel physically tired. If you are in heavy traffic you don't have an opportunity to switch off/relax even for a moment or two. Which is one of the reasons I enjoy little bits of quiet roads or cycle paths that may be my route.

 

[jimboalee]

If I go on a 50km ride to Nuneaton through the countryside, when I get home I want a shower and a sit down.

When I ride a 50km round Birmingham's outer circle No. 11 route, when I get home, I want a cup of coffee and ride the 50km again.