Cycle September
“Are you a cyclist?” “Well, I cycle to work”
I’ve always cycled places. My bike has always been a form of transport and it still feels a bit odd to go out for a ride just for the sake of it. When I was a kid I’d often bike to school (once riding into the back of a parked car, not my finest hour); I’d ride to lectures and labs at university (getting numerous bikes stolen in the process); I'd cycle to training sessions for various sports (where I realised what a good warm up cycling was and how effective it was at getting/keeping you fit); I've been on the turbo when suffering various sporting injuries and have ridden to many workplaces, in London, North Wales, Cumbria and Lancashire. I don’t really like driving and I do like cycling. It’s a no brainer.
Cycle commuting is the only way that people like me will ever be professional cyclists...get paid to ride!
The benefits are immense. From a training point of view, it’s superb: you have to get out, twice, whatever the weather. You get to use the wasted hours that you spend commuting on your bike. And it’s pretty much all sweet spot, unless you are late and need to gun it. From a mental health point of view, it helps me to keep everything in perspective: I am so much more resilient if I’ve cycled to work. It gives me some headspace, quiet time away from it all. It physically limits the amount of work I can bring home. And, last but not least, it GETS ME OUT OF GETTING THE KIDS READY FOR SCHOOL. This is the real reason I am a bike commuter. There, I’ve come clean.
It’s not all rosy, mind you. Cycling to work makes me absolutely ravenous. I save a lot of money cycling to work but I often think I spend every penny I save on fuel on food (and of course any I have left from what I have saved I spend on bike repairs or replacement lights...) And some of my hardest rides have been home from work, hauling a heavy backpack full of more work, into a headwind in the dark and rain while running on empty.
I’d be the first to admit that there are also many barriers to riding to work. I’m incredibly lucky to have a very supportive (he might say long-suffering) husband, who sorts out our kids in the morning and ensures that my bike is in working order, often shaking his head at my attempts at bike maintenance.
If your commute is too long, or you’re not yet fit enough, or you don’t have time, maybe consider driving/getting the train/bus part of the way, then ride the rest? Or ride one way then get a lift home (or do train/bus/drive...) ? Try to persuade a colleague to ride with you? (ideally in front of you so you can get a draft!)
Traffic. I can totally understand why this might put people off riding to work. I’ll ride for miles and miles and not be bothered at all by drivers but there are times when I have calls that are too close. (That said, occasionally I ride my bike in Surrey and Hampshire and that reminds me that I have no right to complain about the traffic around the Kent Valley!) I think very carefully about my route and I ride seriously defensively. I try not to undertake anything, ever. I avoid HGVs and buses like the plague. I have no interest in Strava segments when I am commuting.
Organisational tips!
- Find a good radiator to dry kit! And get some tolerant colleagues...
- Have a stash of spare kit at work. Gloves, socks for when all is too wet for radiators to touch the sides; spare shorts/longs for if weather changes, keep shoes at work, oh, and spare work clothes for the inevitable day when you forget smart clothes.
- Invest in a charging station! Get computer/lights charged at same time.
- Have a non-perishable food supply. I have cereal, pot noodles, nuts, cereal bars, milkshake...
- Somewhere to store bike. Cupboard? Office? Laboratory? Radiation store?!
- Ideally access to bike repair kit...I am really lucky in that I have access to a track pump, GT-85, tools, cable ties/tape and knowledgeable cyclists at work.
- Encouraging workmates – most of my department cycle or are at least keen on keeping fit and all are very supportive of colleagues who ride to work.
- Be lit up like a Christmas tree. In winter I ride with two front lights; a “Brightside” light on my top tube and three rear lights. All my commuting kit is high viz, I am an 80s throwback with luminous overshoes, but I figure you can never be too visible.
- Showers. Get some at work! And make liberal use of any available hand-driers to dry hair.
- Respect ice and stick to gritted main roads if the mercury drops: or commute another way that day.
- Pack bags the night before. Be ruthlessly organised about this so that there is no excuse not to ride when the alarm goes off. I’ve lost count of the times I would have bottled my bike commute but haven’t, simply because it’d be a waste of the time I’ve spent packing my bags.
- Get a winter-proof bike. Mudguards, decent brakes, wide tyres.
It’s Love to Ride Cycle September at the moment. There are lots of prizes to be won and much encouragement for cycling. Riding to work has been my saviour in getting a semblance of fitness back after two kids. It makes me smile and I cannot recommend it enough.
Claire Rushton
Love to Ride Cycle September https://www.lovetoride.net/uk