Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.Svend Karlson
08-02-04, 05:01 AM
I hope it's okay to do the 1 millionth "my first commute" thread . . . !
Today I did my first ever commute to work, after buying and riding a cycle for the first time in 15 years last weekend. I've bought a Ridgeback Nemesis, largely because it has enclosed gears and brakes (Shimano Inter-8 I think) and because it was one of the few bikes that felt comfortable to me (I have shorter legs and a longer upper body)
Over the two previous weekends I had gone out in the early morning to practice and also do trial runs. At first I just stuck to some very quiet areas, as the idea of being part of traffic terrified me. I did slowly force myself to tackle a few lights, but only turning left and straight on (I'm in UK). I'm pretty cautious my nature, and I found myself wanting to pull up onto pavements before reaching intersections, not to cycle, but to observe the intersection and plan my passage through it before actually approaching it. At one particularly complicated intersection, I think I stood watching the traffic for about 5 minutes before working out what I would do.
Since I plan to commute to and from work and also travel to my gym, I tried out both those routes the 2nd weekend. They went fairly well, although I discovered that I was not as fit as I thought I was - although I'm not too hard on myself, as I am also a 17st bodybuilder. I was much happier on the roads, but roundabouts scare me greatly, and I have already adopted the practice of dismounting and walking my bike across them.
I also notice that I'm so busy trying to watch the pavement for hazards, watch nearby pedestrians, watch nearby cars, and pedal, that I don't think enough or fast enough about where I'm going next, which emphasises my want to pull over and plan ahead.
The practice runs had gotten me all enthusiastic about the commuting idea, and I went out over the weekend to get bottle rack, a courier bag, a second lock (I now have Abus Granit and Steel'O'Flex) and some good clothes for cycling in.
The area in which I cycle to work and to my gym has a lot of very heavy traffic, and narrow lanes, so I'm just not confident that the truckers sitting 6ft above me are going to notice, often I see flatbeds and juggernauts take corners with barely an inch between their vehicle and the pavement, which doesnt help.
So today I cycled uphill to work, I still dismounted at a major roundabout, but partly because doing so let me access a dedicated cycle path (actually paid for by my company) set aside from the road. After I leave the cycle path, and before I get on the home stretch to work, it's all uphill, so my quads were really really burning to move me along the road, luckily, being a keen weights trainer, I'm very much used to that. At the final set of lights I was delighted to find a red cycle area marked out, which let me pull in front of the motorbike and car that were already waiting. I had to pull over to the right hand side of the road to pull alongside the security office to my site, so for the first time used a hand signal to indicate what I was doing to the car behind (I felt a bit awkward about using hand signals before). Once at work I have a great set up, with lockers and showers available.
Tonight I cycle to my gym, all downhill, my office is on the top of a hill overlooking the entire town + surrounding area, but in heavier traffic. For the first time I challenge myself to take a roundabout and not turn left on it (I need to go straight on). I've sometimes managed to walk into town from my work site more quickly than cars on the same journey, so the potential time saving on a bike is significant.
Good luck me! :)
Cheers
Today I did my first ever commute to work, after buying and riding a cycle for the first time in 15 years last weekend. I've bought a Ridgeback Nemesis, largely because it has enclosed gears and brakes (Shimano Inter-8 I think) and because it was one of the few bikes that felt comfortable to me (I have shorter legs and a longer upper body)
Over the two previous weekends I had gone out in the early morning to practice and also do trial runs. At first I just stuck to some very quiet areas, as the idea of being part of traffic terrified me. I did slowly force myself to tackle a few lights, but only turning left and straight on (I'm in UK). I'm pretty cautious my nature, and I found myself wanting to pull up onto pavements before reaching intersections, not to cycle, but to observe the intersection and plan my passage through it before actually approaching it. At one particularly complicated intersection, I think I stood watching the traffic for about 5 minutes before working out what I would do.
Since I plan to commute to and from work and also travel to my gym, I tried out both those routes the 2nd weekend. They went fairly well, although I discovered that I was not as fit as I thought I was - although I'm not too hard on myself, as I am also a 17st bodybuilder. I was much happier on the roads, but roundabouts scare me greatly, and I have already adopted the practice of dismounting and walking my bike across them.
I also notice that I'm so busy trying to watch the pavement for hazards, watch nearby pedestrians, watch nearby cars, and pedal, that I don't think enough or fast enough about where I'm going next, which emphasises my want to pull over and plan ahead.
The practice runs had gotten me all enthusiastic about the commuting idea, and I went out over the weekend to get bottle rack, a courier bag, a second lock (I now have Abus Granit and Steel'O'Flex) and some good clothes for cycling in.
The area in which I cycle to work and to my gym has a lot of very heavy traffic, and narrow lanes, so I'm just not confident that the truckers sitting 6ft above me are going to notice, often I see flatbeds and juggernauts take corners with barely an inch between their vehicle and the pavement, which doesnt help.
So today I cycled uphill to work, I still dismounted at a major roundabout, but partly because doing so let me access a dedicated cycle path (actually paid for by my company) set aside from the road. After I leave the cycle path, and before I get on the home stretch to work, it's all uphill, so my quads were really really burning to move me along the road, luckily, being a keen weights trainer, I'm very much used to that. At the final set of lights I was delighted to find a red cycle area marked out, which let me pull in front of the motorbike and car that were already waiting. I had to pull over to the right hand side of the road to pull alongside the security office to my site, so for the first time used a hand signal to indicate what I was doing to the car behind (I felt a bit awkward about using hand signals before). Once at work I have a great set up, with lockers and showers available.
Tonight I cycle to my gym, all downhill, my office is on the top of a hill overlooking the entire town + surrounding area, but in heavier traffic. For the first time I challenge myself to take a roundabout and not turn left on it (I need to go straight on). I've sometimes managed to walk into town from my work site more quickly than cars on the same journey, so the potential time saving on a bike is significant.
Good luck me! :)
Cheers