New Commuter ... Soon

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Ride

Active Member
Hi all,

I've recently decided to start commuting after years (since a child) of not cycling and not owning a bike. We purchased our son a bike a couple of years ago that happened to be a Trek. I figured that Trek would be as good a company as any to start researching bikes. As it turned out I liked what a saw and reviews supported the brand so I ordered a Trek from the same shop a couple of days ago with a few commuter accessories.
smile.gif



2012 Trek 7.5 FX Disc Bike (was fitted to the 15 inch frame)
Bontrager Commuter Road Fenders
Bontrager Back Rack Classic
Bontrager Interchange Waterproof Pannier Large
Bontrager Trip 5W Computer
Bontrager Trek Flare Bseen taillight
Bontrager Ion 2 Headlight
Bontrager Convert helmet
Bontrager Sport Commuter Rainshell

The commute is 15.1km, according to Google Maps. There are actually 3 routes, 2 of 15.1km and 1 of 16.1km. The roads are windy and undulating but I've been weight training for about a year so I think I can handle it. I plan on riding in on Mondays and Wednesdays, and riding back on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Once I adjust I'll move to round-trips on Mondays and Thursdays. The plan is to work up to doing round-trips 4 days a week. My weight trainer is happy since he has been telling to do cardio since we started.

A side goal is to drop 30 pounds of excess fat; ok, maybe its a little more than a side goal. I'm 190pds with 60pds of fat according to this fancy bathroom scale. Less 30pds will put me about 18% fat with is not to bad considering elite athletes are about 13% fat or so. I tried out the row machine in the gym earlier this week: 5000m in 27 minutes burned just over 250 calories. I think the commute will take me just over an hour at a similar steady but deliberate effort. Roughly 500 calories one way. That should be about 1 pound every 8 one way trips; all things being equal.

I'll post a picture when the bike arrives. I ordered a few other goodies on the internet that I'll save for mention then. :tongue:

I hope to use this forum to learn a more about commuting and share my newbie experience with a few veterans.

Thanks for reading,

Ride
 

Steve H

Large Member
Sounds like a nice set of goals and a great bike to achieve them on!

I think your plan sounds like a good one. Couple of suggestions I'd throw in for your consideration:

  • When the new bike arrives in the shop, take your time with the assistant to make sure you get the bike set up really well for you. Having everything set up and adjusted just right to fit your body shape will make a big difference to ride comfort and enjoyment
  • Take it really easy at first. Much easier than you think you want to. Let your body get used to these new movements gradually.
  • Consider throwing in a rest day in the middle. Rather than riding everyday Monday - Thursday, why not ride Mon & Tues and Thurs & Fri and have Wednesday as a rest day. This will give your body some time to properly recover and adapt to the new demands being placed on it.
  • From a fitness and fat-loss perspective, once you get used to commuting, you may want to consider throwing in a longer ride at the weekend. Start small and then gradually build up to riding for 2, 3, 4 hours and a gentle pace.
Most importantly, enjoy yourself!
 
My commute is around the same 15km each way. I was fairly fit before I got a bike for the first time in 20 years (around 2 months ago).

I found it better to do the round trip twice a week and then build up from there. It means your legs get the odd day off to recover properly rather that doing half the journey everyday and not getting time to rest them.
 
OP
OP
Ride

Ride

Active Member
My commute is around the same 15km each way. I was fairly fit before I got a bike for the first time in 20 years (around 2 months ago).

I found it better to do the round trip twice a week and then build up from there. It means your legs get the odd day off to recover properly rather that doing half the journey everyday and not getting time to rest them.

Actually there is little difference in the rest pattern between our two approaches. Taking 12 hours to be a unit of rest. Your suggestion has a rest pattern of {1, 3, 1}. Whereas my plan has a pattern of {3, 1, 3}.

Since I am just starting out I am thinking it would be better to get the 3 units of rest after the first commute. The alternative is to hit myself hard on the first commute with only 1 unit of rest. Do you think it would be better to shock my body from the outset with a double punch? I'd like to get up to the 4 round-trips as soon as possible. Would this help?

I also noticed that your suggestion has the 1 unit of rest over the workday while mine as it over the night. I was thinking that it would be better to have the 1 unit over the night as our body repairs while we sleep. However, there is the risk that I awake with tight and sore muscles and abandon the morning commute. Do you think I should avoid the overnight resting in case I can't move in the morning?

Ride
 

gaz

Cycle Camera TV
Location
South Croydon
Stretch when you get home and you won't be too tight.
I would do it the way you want to, and build up when you feel comfortable, listen to your body :smile:
 
I agree with Gaz - do what works for you.

Pschologically, I found it better to wake up in the morning and know this was a day for riding in/out or a day off.

Other thing to note is that when I started I was 'reasonably fit' but not cycled in a LONG time. When I did the ride in and out I was suprised how much easier I found it than I thought I would. I had a plan of building up slowly and gradually but found pretty quickly I would just ride in as often as I felt like it.
 

400bhp

Guru
Post up your prospective route (leave out the 1st few hundred yds if you like to avoid sharing your house position to the public) - we might be able to offer some suggestions.
 
OP
OP
Ride

Ride

Active Member
Post up your prospective route (leave out the 1st few hundred yds if you like to avoid sharing your house position to the public) - we might be able to offer some suggestions.

Here are the 3 routes I can take.

Middle Road and South Road Routes
This one has the Middle Road route and the South Road route (click the "S Rd" option under "Suggested Routes"). The South Road one probably has more hills and they are longer and taller. Middle road might have the less extreme of the hills but will be the busiest. South Road is the one with the "extra" kilometre. It also has a pretty terrible climb in the area of Elbow Beach. Strange that I can't tell outright which is hillier. I travel these roads regularly. There is a difference when you have to consider that you're the one, not the car, that will be doing the work.

Harbour Road Route
This one has at least one nasty hill; turning off Middle Road onto Burnt House Hill. I know that one will be a killer. This is perhaps the most technical route as it has the most turns and bends. Going home on this route will be nastier as the hill on the back side takes forever to crest.


You can see how hilly the island is if you switch to Terrain view on the map. Not a flat stretch in sight. If I'm not pushing up then I'm flowing down. I do plan on trying to work on the downhill as well to get an even burn through the commute. I've been reading up on cadence and the pedal circle (down, back, up, forward). I don't have a fancy computer so it will be mostly the pedal circle and getting a good rhythm.

So ... what do you think?


Ride
 

BrumJim

Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
:ohmy: ^_^
 

matthew

Senior Member
I think you will soon be riding laps of the island to extend your commute once 15km is too short. *no envy emoticon*
 
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