Soon be commuting

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Colin B

Well-Known Member
Location
Manchester
Right I've decided on the bike a marin MTB and I'm frantically buying gear for my ride be it going to work or pleasure , but I can't decide what to do with regards to commuting .
A. I live right next to the canal path and riding down it I come off at the velodrome which is near work distance is 1mile and its traffic free
B. I take to the road distance 2.5 miles and I have to contend with major traffic and the tram lines .
Now I know both distances are nothing , but firstly I've not been near a bike in years so distance may be hard to start and also traffic up this road is chaotic and I see cyclists coming off regular getting trapped in tram lines so what would you do take the easy relaxed route and maybe get a bit dirty or take the mad traffic route and build confidence
 

ScotiaLass

Guru
Location
Middle Earth
Right I've decided on the bike a marin MTB and I'm frantically buying gear for my ride be it going to work or pleasure , but I can't decide what to do with regards to commuting .
A. I live right next to the canal path and riding down it I come off at the velodrome which is near work distance is 1mile and its traffic free
B. I take to the road distance 2.5 miles and I have to contend with major traffic and the tram lines .
Now I know both distances are nothing , but firstly I've not been near a bike in years so distance may be hard to start and also traffic up this road is chaotic and I see cyclists coming off regular getting trapped in tram lines so what would you do take the easy relaxed route and maybe get a bit dirty or take the mad traffic route and build confidence
For me it would be the canal route. Mudguards will help a bit and over trousers/over shoes will take care of the rest.
You won't have the dirt issue in the summer :smile:
 
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Colin B

Colin B

Well-Known Member
Location
Manchester
Yeah I thought of extending it at some point but how you do that (sounds daft I know) I mean I go from A to B and the distance is x .
I plan to get mud guards to limit dirt going to work and probably waterproof gear should help too
I'd ride both routes but right now its the tram that worries me , a few days back I saw a guy on a bike come off cos he went into the rail line and a tram nearly went over him he literally just about got himself and the bike out of the way and its kinda worried me a bit
 

Supersuperleeds

Legendary Member
Location
Leicester
Yeah I thought of extending it at some point but how you do that (sounds daft I know) I mean I go from A to B and the distance is x .
I plan to get mud guards to limit dirt going to work and probably waterproof gear should help too
I'd ride both routes but right now its the tram that worries me , a few days back I saw a guy on a bike come off cos he went into the rail line and a tram nearly went over him he literally just about got himself and the bike out of the way and its kinda worried me a bit

You'll soon get the hang of extending your route. Don't look at it as going from A to B, look at it as going from A to B via C, D, E, & F, it does however feel strange at first riding in the wrong direction.

I would also go the canal route, when you are ready to extend the route you could look at another point to get on the canal path further away from the one you are proposing to use.
 

MikeW-71

Veteran
Location
Carlisle
From the routes described, I'd be heading down the canal route :smile:

My commute isn't long (when I do it) and some of it is pretty much traffic free. I otherwise have to contend with 4 miles of rush hour traffic. Whilst I will do it (as there's no option), I can't say that I enjoy dealing with heavy traffic.

No harm in trying the road route a few times to see how it goes, it still isn't very far.
 
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