UKH

I'm going to start commuting on my bike a couple of days a week on the basis that it will improve my fitness for the weekend rides, save a few quid on petrol and improve my zen like calmness in the office.

But it's a reasonable distance round trip (25 miles each way...50% countryside A roads -  50% greater/central London)) so over an hour each way for a punter like me.

Question I have is will these be wasted miles if I just get into a boring routine of grinding my way into work (very likely) I cannot see myself using the journey to break it up into useful training segments as I am not that disciplined and I need a computer (or a hill) to tell me to increase effort...otherwise it's cadence and gear of least resistance all the way.

I'm going to try it anyway, just wondered if others have done similar and did they see good gains, or did it just kill their cycling mojo and they were tired all the time?

I've been doing 15 miles into London for the last year or so. It takes me about an hour. A few of my observations:

- Sometimes even 15 miles (which wouldn't be worth getting the kit on for at the weekend) feels like too  much after a week of work. It's good to have a back up plan, and don't be too hard on yourself if you are knackered

- If I cycle in 5 days I AM too tired for a big day on the bike at the weekend. But maybe I'm a wuss

- I have seen gains but I've also bought a new bike so who knows...

- I managed to do more 'training' and have more 'fun' on my commute by having a computer with a heart rate monitor. Then a couple of days a week I decide to keep my heart above 180 for a particular 10 minute section. I find without arbritary little targets like this I just grind along...

I did 21 miles each way to get to my last job, my 3 tips

only go 1 way to start with, leave your bike locked secure, and lift share take public transport home.

Pack a really big lunch 

don't take your afternoon nap  on your keyboard, curl up under the desk where your boss can't see you

I am thinking two days a week. And I can be choosy depending on weather. I don't want to spoil my weekend ride so that's good advice in regards to doing too many days. I have a bolt and HRM so could use that to add a training element to it.

I could by an ebike <ducks for cover> ? But that would be cheating right?

I do 13 miles each way into London every day.  Home is actually 19 miles away, but it's on top of the Epsom Downs and the last 6 miles mostly uphill is too much in the evening at the end of a long day. I do the full monty occasionally, otherwise I drive, park up and get the bike out of the car. 

There are 100 sets of traffic lights between me and the office (the 6 miles closest to home only has 5 of them).  You get really good at quarter mile efforts, and tend to swear under you breath when you get a full run of greens because you were banking on a breather at red.  Equally you curse when every one is red

It is way better for training than taking the train, but you end up being really good at one hour efforts. The average speed is not representative - 14mph average is the equivalent of 19-20 mph on the open road. I find that there is a big difference between riding 3, 4 and 5 days a week.  Add in a day at the weekend and it needs care.

25 miles each way will have a marked impact on your weekend rides, but it will be hard work.   I also find that on a club ride I have to be careful to ride within myself in the earlier stages.  You also do need to be careful with eating - if you have a small evening meal and breakfast, maybe a sandwich for lunch, you can come unstuck on the way home, especially if you're on the second ride of the week.  If you look back you may realise that you're trying to do 100 miles and 3 days' work on not nearly enough food.  Something like a Belgian bun at 4pm is a good insurance policy.

Riding at pace through London will also improve your bike handling skills.

Punctures in the rain in London at night in winter are the very definition of misery.

If you persevere, you will find that it gets easier and easier and you will get a lot stronger. 

If that were me, and you've used the word "training", I think the greatest drawback would be that I'd try to ride too competitively on busy roads -- cutting in and out &c, racing, essentially, particularly with all the others doing these same -- which is never a great idea. It's why I stopped cycling in London, because I couldn't help myself and there was only ever going to be one outcome in the long run. But maybe you're different?

Some tips and learning from a seasoned 15 mile each-wayer:

-  Launch your own Operation KOMmute by targeting (sensible) Strava segments on your route.  Plan ahead and aim for a different one or two each day.  Short sprint segments or long sustained efforts for different days.  Don't do this every day but just when you're "training".

- Ride fasted in the morning if you can handle it (i.e breakfast at work) (and at an easy-ish pace).  This will seriously help your staying power on longer rides.

- Commute as light as you can i.e. leave sufficient clothing at work.  Panniers, pannier top bag, small rucksack - your choice - but keep them light if possible.

- Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are essential for me.  They make about half a mile an hour difference to my average speed but I have literally never punctured with them.  Freezing/raining/windy/dark puncture repairs are no fun and worth the speed compromise for me.

- Decent mudguards keep everything and you clean-ish and and working nicely.

- Don't ignore a poorly performing brake.  Fix it now.  A&E awaits.

- If you have an alternative method of commuting, use it on those days that it's grim, you're a bit ill or your have a big ride this weekendand need a rest.

- Plan lots of alternative routes if you can and do a different route each day.  I admit I'm spoilt with this and have many pleasant iterations of my route that vary between 45 minutes and 1h10.

- Don't put cold hands into your gloves on cold mornings and expect them to warm up.  Get your bike ready, go back inside, warm your hands and put on warmed gloves.

I genuinely enjoy my 2 hours of commuting most days and is infintely better than the train or driving.

Hope this helps and have fun. 

I do 2x per week...... 20 miles each way commute but only when there is natural light....usually start in March and go through to end of September.

My thoughts:

Eat to fit in with your rides...

Conti gotorskins....punctures commuting are bad news.

I ride in to work quite steady....last 5 miles are cool down.

If I push hard its always on the way home.

Keep clothes/wash kit in work....travel light.

It takes a while at work to properly cool down.....I tend to wait 20 minutes or so before a wash etc and just do emails etc

Frequently I leave the bike and jump a lift home.....especially in grim weather.

Good waterproofs

I reckon its a great way to add miles in to the legs.....I still ride at weekends but id say commuting reduces my summer evening rides.

Mine is just under 20 miles each way. All country roads bar the first and last mile. I'll happily do it once a week in winter and more in summer. Twice a week in winter  is possible if I take it easier elsewhere. Three days takes it out of me, so reduces other training... In winter I try to pick (1) dry days, (2) days when the wind is with me in the way home. ) 3) non icey days

Today was so so going in  great in the way home.

Not sure how I'd feel about London traffic ..

Edit : added ice factor

I'm not sure this is long enough to  count as training (and I don't ride for fun anyway - yet) but I'm a total covert to the cycle commute. 12k each way, takes the same time as public transport but almost never delayed (punctures aside, only 2 so far on  schwalbe marathons), and a shedload of cash saved. So irrespective of whether its good for for longer rides, there's no going back for me.

Great point. I try to organise my 'efforts' for long sections of road without junctions, roundabouts, lights etc, and try to switch to zen like calm recovery phases around busy junctions. Occasionally the red mist descends, but I make a conscious effort to avoid it, and remember that most people are just not actually trying to kill you but just get home. If you commute aggressively regularly you will end up having a crash and, whether or not you're 'in the right', it's you who'll end up worse off. 

Why does no one do Kms?! I had to look it up, I only do 10.5 miles each way, normally 3 times a week. I used to do 25 Kms (16 miles?) when I lived in Helsinki but that was much flatter than Derbyshire. My commute is mainly downhill going in but of course mainly up going home! This is actually better as it makes getting into work less stressful (teacher, so have to be there and ready at a certain time, no flexibility), and you've got no choice on the way home. I also find on the way home I can face the longer more scenic route when I have no time constraints.

A few ideas, see if there are off road routes then get a gravel bike or similar. Half of my route is a long a canal towpath and much less stressful than busy roads. 

I'm eating less in the morning now than ever before (mid 40s) but that seems ok. A banana sets me up well for my ride in and seems pretty healthy too. I have maybe a bit more in my lunch box when I ride in and a cereal bar is nice just before riding home.

I had an insulated bottle from my Finland years but just saw on a recent GCN video about winter commuting to put hot tea in your insulated bottle. Not sure why I never thought of it before but it works great! Help me get out the house and on the bike even faster in the morning.

Well done...must say though for me that type of distance would take some effort.

I only do 24 miles in total and I rarely manage 5 consecutive days..whilst it’s immeasurably better than driving, it only takes 10 minutes longer by bike and is much more fun, it doesn’t seem to be keeping me fit at all.

I remember reading something by, I think, Chris Froome, and it was his opinion that getting out on your bike whenever you can, regardless of length of ride, was great training. I work 3 days a week and have a short (6km) but very hilly commute an it has an undoubted effect on my fitness. I do ride a hardtail mtb with chunky tyres which makes it a bit more challenging!

+1 to those emphasising your gear. Keep yourself warm and dry, wash your stuff or it get’s really minging. Have changes of clothing at work. A few journeys without using petrol can justify a wee spend on gear.

Get the right sort of bike for the journey, hybrid, cx, whatever, there are plenty of specialist tasty looking commuting bikes now. Keep it clean, oiled and obviously well lit (check after every journey).

Nutrition of course.

If you set yourself the target of twice a week, I’d commit to the days you do it on, regardless of weather, excepting extremes. It’s very easy to cop out in the morning unless you’ve got everything ready the night before ‘because Tuesdays are my commuting days’.

Sounds like good advice to me. I'm sure there are some hardcore lyrcra machines on here but for the average joes like me I think with most sports you can get too bogged up in the science of training and over complicate things. We have excellent resources and access to information these days but sometimes the best advice is the simplest and having your mind towards volume is usually the way to go.

I'm not a big road cycler but when I commute it's about 18 miles there and back on country roads apart from a stretch of dual carriageway, I generally just pootle and try and link days together (i.e. thinking that commuting two days is better than one even if you do one 5 minutes quicker but it means you need a rest day). When I was communiting 4/5 days a week I noticed when the winter climbing season came round I was a lot fitter than usual despite not doing much of the usual carting bags up local hills kind of training. Sometimes just getting out regularly and not thinking about it can make a big difference. Unless you're an athlete and you're having to chase minimal gains with carefully created training plans then volume counts for a lot. Obviously if you're actually training for sprint cycling or something then long endurance focussed cycles aren't going to be as beneficial!

There's a mental component as well, getting up at 5am and dragging yourself out into a wet hell every morning can be good for you, as can feeling drained at the end of a hard days work and having to crawl into wet cycling clothes and drag yourself out into the night.

I don’t think wasted miles are really a thing until you’re getting into huge volumes. A lot of pros do polarised training, with 80% at low intensity and 20% at high intensity.

I think it was Shane Sutton who said that until you’re doing 16 hours a week don’t even think about intervals and stuff. It’s a bit  simplistic but I think in the main it holds true. 

Thanks for all the replies.

I am going to wait until April for the light in the morning and evening.

My bike is fine for the commute and I have all the clothing I need. I just need to purchase a rucksack and a shirt folding box thing (not sure what they are called) and some decent lights. Have an excellent gym and showers in the office and secure bike parking.

I know I mentioned training in an earlier post, but I am not interested in racing other commuters, jumping lights or weaving in and out of traffic. It was more in reference to hours in the saddle. I think the countryside section of the commute might offer some segments that I can push f I feel like it.

I have a summer objective of cycling to my holiday place (125 miles) which is further than I have ever ridden in a day so hoping these commuting miles will give me a good foundation.

125 miles is 200 Kms roughly and I've done that on a number of occasions without any training beyond commuting so sounds a good plan!

Why wait to April though? It's quite light now when I leave at 0715. My lights are Aldi and Planet X cheapies and they're great so that doesn't need to be a huge expense. 

Main reason I am waiting is personal safety. The roads near my house (for approx 10km) are fast, sweeping, bendy A roads that cars hurtle along. No lamp posts, no speed cameras and no police so if your a bit late for work...just turn the music up and put your foot down.  Also currently lots of standing water in sections  plus the ubiquitous pot holes.

All in all, I would feel safer tackling these roads in daylight.

Oh, and I would be leaving approx 5.45am

Regarding lights, I think I will order these...checked them out in Evans and they were very bright and seemed bomb proof....£25 cheaper on Wiggle though

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-macro-1100strip-pro-300-pair/

If you follow GCN they have some commute training videos e.g.  youtube.com/watch?v=-hhYe0GczAE& worth a watch.

My only tip (not sure if its been mentioned) is to keep some dry kit at work. Just before Christmas I got soaked on the way to work and, since its underfloor heating, its hard to dry stuff. I had to ride home (~8miles) in soaking gloves and my hands were the coldest they've ever been. Big mistake.

LR (Just done 10 miles to the office and I'm boiling!)

I'm not a commuter (work from home mainly) but have a cyclist coaching company, Rowe and King, as a client.  Their principles are, if you want to use commuting to get stronger/faster for your weekend rides then quality not quantity are most important.  This mean doing some specific intervals on your commute and then riding the rest nice and easy.  If you ride every commute at a steady pace, you'll just train your body to become good at riding quite fast.

Those videos were interesting thx !

I would reccomend getting panniers and a rack over a backpack. It makes the ride a lot more comfortable not having the weight on your back but on the bike iinstead.

I got one of these seat post bags....surprisingly robust and worked for me

https://www.altura.co.uk/products/detail/ALAR2EXP/arran-2-expanding-postpac...

Pedals and shoes?

SPD winter mountain bike boots much nicer than faffing with dirty wet overshoes that aren't as water resistant.

I just have road shoes and shimano road pedals. Don’t plan on cycling unless weather is good. But have over shoes.