My first commute

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redcard

Veteran
Location
Paisley
As per title, did my first commute today. 8.5 miles each way.

Left the house at 6am, giving plenty of time to make my connection. Average speed of around 14mph into town, changed my shirt and pants, and waited on the bus. Was a bit sweaty, but cooled down pretty quickly.

Coming home was a different story! I was completely knackered after a few miles. THe first part is all downhill, and the traffic was horrendous, so started off slowly, but as soon as I hit any sort of incline, or even flat stretch, I felt like my legs had gone. My rucksack felt way heavier that it did this morning, and that was without the D-lock that I left at the station. I only real had spare clothes and some small essentials. Weird. And annoying! I also made a couple of silly mistakes, like not getting in the right lane quick enough, or signalling my intentions when coming up to roadworks etc. I blame the fatigue for that!

Speed on the way home was 10mph. Not sure if I didn't fuel up well enough towards the end of work (I had a Snickers and High5 drink on the ride), or if it's the temperature that slowed me down. Must have been 18c when I got on the bike. I felt fine all day at work, felt more alert that normal, but my legs weren't saying anything offensive.
 

BlackPanther

Hyper-Fast Recumbent Riding Member.
Location
Doncaster.
Congrats on the first (of many?) commutes. It quickly gets easier, just take it steady and you'll soon build up to riding every day. I do 23 miles per day, and I've been doing it every day (barring illness) for 2 years. I take it steady to work so as not to break sweat and ride home like the Devil for a proper workout. IMHO rucksacks make commuting a lot more sweaty. A basic seatpost mounted rack/panniers met all my commuting needs.

Keep up the good work.
 

simon.r

Person
Location
Nottingham
It gets easier. I've been commuting for 6 months now (though not daily) and my 'legs have gone' rides are rare - they were regular when I started!

I really enjoy most of my rides and don't find them at all difficult but I still have the occasional ride where I struggle, for no obvious reason. A couple of weeks ago I had to stop and rest and buy some food about 1/2 way through my 13 mile commute, I think I'd have seriously struggled had I not. I've only 'bonked' properly once, years ago when MTBing, but I could tell I wasn't far off that. I don't know why, I'd not done anything obviously different to normal. Not a good feeling.

FWIW I've found that a few days off the bike from time to time makes life a lot easier.
 
Good job! It does get easier but I still get the odd day when I feel like my legs have been filled up with sand overnight - I'm working on the assumption that this isn't the case but, well, you never know....:cycle:
 
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