The Proverbial commute

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jongooligan

Legendary Member
Location
Behind bars
I've been doing it for years and years and years but I'm gonna pack it in.
My current commute is 7 miles by the shortest route but I spin out the return journey up to around 50 miles sometimes. That's because it's easy to get out into some fantastic cycling countryside (Durham Dales). But my job is moving to the top end of Newcastle and I'm going with it. That makes my commute the worst kind of urban cycling and I don't find it enjoyable at all.
Plus, as part of my redeployment package they're paying my travel expenses so I'm determined to get as much out of them as I can.
 

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
I bike commute because I don't like sharing my personal space on trains with plebs and I'm not rich enough to have a chauffeur.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
The alternative would be to endure the misery of sitting in traffic for a lot longer than the bike journey.
Yes, same here. I don't commute every day, but when I do, it's quicker and better by bike, plus I don't usually have to pay for parking. I didn't think it was, but I timed the 5ish mile trip when I needed to do it by car one evening (so clear roads) and even that was only about 3 minutes quicker, which is easily wiped out at junctions in rush hour (many of which are avoidable by bike).
 

andyfraser

Über Member
Location
Bristol
My commute is 6 miles and way more convenient by bike. At this time of year I never get out in the evening and struggle to get out at the weekend so my commute is my exercise. I the warmer months I extend the route home to put more miles in. If my commute was more than 8 to 10 miles that would make the morning commute too long for that time of day, especially at this time of year so I'd have to rethink then.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
Some of us do it for the joy of cycling, some for fitness, some for convenience and some to save on transport expenses. And in many cases it would be a combination of these factors.

I did it for a while and my workplace was well organised with bike park section and showers whoch made it so much easier.

But I stopped as it was eating too much into time and sometimes the weather which made it unpleasant at times. I now do it selectively, a few days a month at most and used the saved time to go out in the evenings and enjoy the ride. In fact I think I going to stop commuting as the evening rides are more enjoyable.

I wonder if there are others that felt and do the same.

I've been cycle commuting for over 30 years now, when I started I had a mortgage and a growing family, I couldn't afford to do it any other way, now the mortgages are paid off, the kids are grown up and have left home, and I can afford to run an old car, but I'm still on the bike, four days a week most weeks, I'm not the all weather commuter I used to be, if its raining in the morning I'll take the car, but that doesn't matter, I've done my share of foul weather commuting, but the bike is still my favorite way of getting to and from work.
 
My commute is by car for large part but I've found a couple of villages I can park in along country roads and cycle in and Im quite enjoying doing that. When the lighter evenings come it may be tempting to drive in further so I can make a quick get away to club TTs but at the moment I'm leaning towards the more enjoyable commute.
 

Biscuitfrisky

Active Member
I bike commute because I don't like sharing my personal space on trains with plebs and I'm not rich enough to have a chauffeur.

This, the trains into London Bridge have been awful since the turn of the year, luckily it's only been a few days I've had to do it but it's cost me money and have been late for work everyday I haven't cycled in.
 

400bhp

Guru
Cos I bl00dy love it. There's so many reasons which many have been touched on, but heres another:

On really really hard days with really difficult conditions I implicitly think of it as climbing a mini Everest. Every day brings some kind of achievent, be that just getting to work, to taking a slightly different route, or adding a few extra miles. How many people achieve something like that by simply getting to work. Very few.
 

die_aufopferung

Active Member
Location
Derbyshire
I've been cycle commuting year-round for years. Darkness, cold, rain, snow, high winds, and torturous hills are all things that can easily put a person off, but that feeling of satisfaction you get when you get off the bike at home/work/shops/the pub having endured the shitty weather and conquered those bastard hills is ample reward. I do think a certain combination of masochism and sheer stubbornness is required for year-round cycle commuting ;).

Plus, cycling everywhere means never having to find time specifically to exercise as it's incorporated into your daily routine already.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
I'm a lazy being by nature, and so for me the habit of commuting is one way of ensuring I get some exercise, and the minute I'm on the bike I love the feeling of gliding along under my own power. Yes there are bad days, but to be honest if we didn't have the occasional off day, then we wouldn't appreciate the nice stuff as much, it would just become normal, and when something bad happened ... say it rained, it would be a much bigger deal.

That said I've recently been taking it easy on the bike! I need to do a bit more riding and a bit less giving in to offered lifts:whistle:
 

4F

Active member of Helmets Are Sh*t Lobby
Location
Suffolk.
I have a company car which if I chose to use would reduce my daily journey time by an hour. The car is handy in the evening for running the kids about to clubs etc as we live in a small village with virtually non existent bus service etc.

I aim to cycle in 4 days a week and will often do 5. So far this year I have only used the car 6 times to commute in
 

jonny jeez

Legendary Member
Some of us do it for the joy of cycling, some for fitness, some for convenience and some to save on transport expenses. And in many cases it would be a combination of these factors.

I did it for a while and my workplace was well organised with bike park section and showers whoch made it so much easier.

But I stopped as it was eating too much into time and sometimes the weather which made it unpleasant at times. I now do it selectively, a few days a month at most and used the saved time to go out in the evenings and enjoy the ride. In fact I think I going to stop commuting as the evening rides are more enjoyable.

I wonder if there are others that felt and do the same.
Yup. I'm in the same boat, cycling is actually taking me more time that my commute would otherwise take, with showering, changing, securing of bike etc. it also encourages me to leave later to join the ride with a few buddies who also take the same route, so I get to work late to start with.

At the time that I now commute, the roads are empty, congestion charge free, fast and very attractive to driving a warm comfy car.

Starting to feel my cycle commute passion dwindle...especially with so much ice, snow, cold, wet, dark...shall I go on?


I may resign myself to being a fair weather commuter, it's quicker, more pleasant, easier for changing ( no wet gear to dry and less gear in general).

We'll see, right now I am struggling to find the time, shall be in Amsterdam tomorrow, Cambridge on Friday and Surrey all day on Monday...cycling is very low on my to do list compared to organising weeks like this.
 

winjim

Smash the cistern
As I've said before, if it wasn't for the fact that I work with my wife I'd ride in every day. With her being ill at the moment, I have very little time for leisure cycling, but more opportunity for cycle commuting.

The alternative is a busy tram full of people with coughs and sneezes and morning breath, and wet overcoats and bags and brollies. No contest.
 
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