Hacienda71
Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
- Location
- Wilmslow, Cheshire
Like many others, fitness and because I enjoy it. 
Why did you start cycle commuting?
- Thread starter HJ
- Start date
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Matthames
Über Member
- Location
- East Sussex
Took too long to get there by public transport, too far to walk and I can't drive. So the only option I had was to cycle.
germanicdogman
Veteran
on and off for 16 years luckily i have always worked locally no car the buses are rubbish every half hour
it's only about 5 miles i try and get home for my dinner too
it's only about 5 miles i try and get home for my dinner too
Downward
Guru
- Location
- West Midlands
Well Glad it was Summer because looking out the window currently you have to be pretty determined to want to give up the car and cycle to work !!
Saying that biking is still the preferred method (apart from the really icy days)
Suppose it's just a great way of getting to work beating the traffic and keeping fit, and being able to scoff junk at work while everyone else diets ! Although I have stopped doing this to shed a couple more pounds.
Weight loss - 1 1/2 Stone - Waist down from 36" to 33". Fitness improved a fair bit too but still plenty of room for improvement.
Saying that biking is still the preferred method (apart from the really icy days)
Suppose it's just a great way of getting to work beating the traffic and keeping fit, and being able to scoff junk at work while everyone else diets ! Although I have stopped doing this to shed a couple more pounds.
Weight loss - 1 1/2 Stone - Waist down from 36" to 33". Fitness improved a fair bit too but still plenty of room for improvement.
I started in the summer in order to;
Save money (although i have a free bus pass with my job i'm now considering selling the second car)
Save time (quicker than the bus and quicker than the car getting home)
Get fitter and loose weight
Now i really enjoy it and feel so much better during the day, i get a real buzz from riding in and passing all those queing cars!!
Save money (although i have a free bus pass with my job i'm now considering selling the second car)
Save time (quicker than the bus and quicker than the car getting home)
Get fitter and loose weight
Now i really enjoy it and feel so much better during the day, i get a real buzz from riding in and passing all those queing cars!!
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
I started so i could get back to some level of fitness compared to the days when i used to train maybe 20 hours a week in the gym/martial arts/cycling when i was in my early 20s after many years of working shifts and the arrival of mini CK meant i had less and less free time where i could get out.
I got a subway 1 on the C2W and it blossomed from 2 days a week in fair weather to OMFG its an ice sheet maybe i had better not as my passion and equipment expanded in an inverse proportion to my waist
I got a subway 1 on the C2W and it blossomed from 2 days a week in fair weather to OMFG its an ice sheet maybe i had better not as my passion and equipment expanded in an inverse proportion to my waist
GrasB
Veteran
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
I didn't so much start as rather never stopped. I cycled to school from the year dot, then that continued through to college & when I started work.
Sheffield_Tiger
Legendary Member
Why did I START?
Becuse at 13-14 it was my independance to make my own way to school under my own steam. To cycle the 18 miles or so up to my parents' boat up at Brandesburton after school without having to be picked up at the school gates like a little child
Then I stopped because it was more "grown up" to drive, when I could. Cycling was forgotten
So why did I RE-START?
Because I'd got lazy. Then just over 3 years ago, too many years of heavy smoking had furred up some arteries so much that circulation in my legs was so poor that walking 1 mile was agony. So I gave up smoking, in enthusiasm for a "new me" bought a bike and couldn't ride it. Giving up smoking was more vital so I stuck at that and piled on the pounds (stones) and the bike sat unused. But I could walk without pain...the trouble was then that I'd just get exhausted instead - but it was an improvement.
Something made me start walking and exhausted one day after 3 miles I felt like I'd walked the world(!!) but something had clicked and I started walking more - walking at weekends and walking to work every day. Then I wanted to go out walking in the peaks in the evening after work, but an hours' walk home would have taken up too much time.....but I didn't want to return to DRIVING to work. Then I remembered that shiny and yet unused bike I'd bought and one evening, just as a trial to see if I could make it to work and back without being a wreck, I tested the waters.
That was about 18 months ago and I think I've only driven to work about 10 times since, and only when something has necessitated it
Becuse at 13-14 it was my independance to make my own way to school under my own steam. To cycle the 18 miles or so up to my parents' boat up at Brandesburton after school without having to be picked up at the school gates like a little child
Then I stopped because it was more "grown up" to drive, when I could. Cycling was forgotten
So why did I RE-START?
Because I'd got lazy. Then just over 3 years ago, too many years of heavy smoking had furred up some arteries so much that circulation in my legs was so poor that walking 1 mile was agony. So I gave up smoking, in enthusiasm for a "new me" bought a bike and couldn't ride it. Giving up smoking was more vital so I stuck at that and piled on the pounds (stones) and the bike sat unused. But I could walk without pain...the trouble was then that I'd just get exhausted instead - but it was an improvement.
Something made me start walking and exhausted one day after 3 miles I felt like I'd walked the world(!!) but something had clicked and I started walking more - walking at weekends and walking to work every day. Then I wanted to go out walking in the peaks in the evening after work, but an hours' walk home would have taken up too much time.....but I didn't want to return to DRIVING to work. Then I remembered that shiny and yet unused bike I'd bought and one evening, just as a trial to see if I could make it to work and back without being a wreck, I tested the waters.
That was about 18 months ago and I think I've only driven to work about 10 times since, and only when something has necessitated it
Domeo
Well-Known Member
- Location
- By the Ching
The Central Line.
Absolutely hated it. Even though we've moved twice since have been commuting by bike nigh on 20 years.
Absolutely hated it. Even though we've moved twice since have been commuting by bike nigh on 20 years.
I hate doing exercise alone, I've pretty much always competed in team games or martial arts, but I like cycling. I cycle a lot at work so figured why not cycle to work also. I started in August and at the end of October I had realised I had only filled the tank of the car once, where usually it would be 4-5 times, so saving myself £45 or so a time.
May I ask, how much weight have you now lost? Sounds like you were pretty damn motivated!
May I ask, how much weight have you now lost? Sounds like you were pretty damn motivated!
In the RN, usually lived close to work, and then used to cycle around locally. When I moved ashore it made sense to cycle in.
Then when I got married It simply stayed that way, and I have commuted every day for the last thirty years
In 1994 I bought a Trice form Peter Ross, and then got a "crash draft" to RNAS Culdrose near Helston in Cornwall so took a few days leave and cycled down!
Technically that makes my longest commute to work as 270 miles!
Funniest thing was presenting the mileage claim, and the Users would not believe that I had cycled the route!
Then when I got married It simply stayed that way, and I have commuted every day for the last thirty years
In 1994 I bought a Trice form Peter Ross, and then got a "crash draft" to RNAS Culdrose near Helston in Cornwall so took a few days leave and cycled down!
Technically that makes my longest commute to work as 270 miles!
Funniest thing was presenting the mileage claim, and the Users would not believe that I had cycled the route!
Peter88
Veteran
- Location
- Failsworth
Started in April 2010 (always had a bike but never commuted) was asked at work to do early shifts and late finishes whenever requied. The wife refused to get up early and needed the car to get to her work so i got my bike out and havn't looked back since. I have lost 2 1/2 stone and gained a healthier outlook on life.
Only used the car for work on 4 days since April.
Only used the car for work on 4 days since April.
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
I had just returned to cycling after the children had all started school, and was going for an interview ... and decided to see if I could go by bike and still look presentable at the interview. Got the job and carried on cycling from there. I get the odd occasional lift ... but usually I've cycled one way and they chuck the bike in the back ... but 99.99% of the time its by bike.. and so is the school run by bike - feels very odd when I walk it and I don't allow enough time.
Chamfus Flange
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Woking, Surrey
Quick.
In and around Woking it's the quickest mode of transport for distances up to 10 miles. Especially this time of year when everybody and there mother is in a car going to the shops. This is for me how it all started. Woking to Guildford by car was taking 45 mins to an hour in December and January, yet it only takes 30 mins by bike. QED
In and around Woking it's the quickest mode of transport for distances up to 10 miles. Especially this time of year when everybody and there mother is in a car going to the shops. This is for me how it all started. Woking to Guildford by car was taking 45 mins to an hour in December and January, yet it only takes 30 mins by bike. QED
subaqua
What’s the point
- Location
- Leytonstone
1. Exercise, and the need to lose a lot of weight
2. the vagaries of ( in no particular order) the central line , the 257 bus, the 58 bus, the DLR from stratford to Pudding mill lane
3. Green commuting and i get a 1 mile walk on site too so burn those calories
4. zip around around breathing fresh air instead of standing sardine like on a train breathing stinky BO at 6am.
5. See loads of new bits of London
6. Get home from work quicker than those who have to use the site buses can get off site
7. the useless site buses on the olympic park.
I did well riding in every day from september to mid december when the bike slid out from under me. 2 weeks of no riding has near killed me and i have gained half a stone . rode round the block yesterday and knee felt better than it has for nearly two weeks . hurts like hell today though. will have a little ride later to see
2. the vagaries of ( in no particular order) the central line , the 257 bus, the 58 bus, the DLR from stratford to Pudding mill lane
3. Green commuting and i get a 1 mile walk on site too so burn those calories
4. zip around around breathing fresh air instead of standing sardine like on a train breathing stinky BO at 6am.
5. See loads of new bits of London
6. Get home from work quicker than those who have to use the site buses can get off site
7. the useless site buses on the olympic park.
I did well riding in every day from september to mid december when the bike slid out from under me. 2 weeks of no riding has near killed me and i have gained half a stone . rode round the block yesterday and knee felt better than it has for nearly two weeks . hurts like hell today though. will have a little ride later to see
