T123

I'm on a bit of a high here. I started riding 18 months ago, and have been really getting into it in the last 3 months as it has gotten much easier with my mileage building up. I hadn't been on a bike for 30 years until I restarted. I live about 12 kilomtres from the city where I work but planned a really pretty commute into Brisbane (Australia) which finishes with a ride into the city along a nice wide floating pontoon pathway on the river with great views. The route I used is 28 kilomtres and took me 1.25 hours of mostly very pleasant riding. Driving in along a direct 12 k route takes 40 to 60 minutes depending on traffic. Savings are $24 a day parking plus about $6 in gas.

My weekend mileage is usually about one 100k ride so I had no difficulty with the ride. I was looking forward to the ride home all day and enjoyed that immensley too. It was great to use my bike for transport! The only wierd thing was when I got the office I really didn't want to change into a suit after a shower - rather stay in shorts and t-shirt! I put a lot of planning into this (overplanning more like it) and did a few test runs on the weekend but this was the real thing. I met a very advanced cyclist/commuter on the way home who gave me some tips with my setup which i'll be implimenting too and it was great receiving help and recognition from such a person. We rode together for a while before he blasted away at a great pace. I have been lurking here for quite a while gleaning all the tips I needed to get started. If someone had said 12 months ago I would ever be doing this, considering this, or even capable of doing this I would have thought they were crazy. When I got home I cleaned and lubed up the bike which was particularly grotty after my urban assault and have it parked in the lounge where I can keep an eye on it. I think I have an obsession developing. Anyway I just wanted to share a bit of my first time and say what a buzz it was!! I'm still excited about it and it finished 5 hours ago. Going to do this once a week and ramp up to hopefully 3 times a week by January.

Cheers to all

Charles

jackieK

Congratulations.

After a 20 year hiatus, I started cycle-commuting this past spring. It does feel good. My weekend mileage is nowhere near yours but my daily commute is 7.5 miles each way. So far I dropped over 20 lbs. (so the spouse is happy too).

You may want to keep an extra suit at the office. Since I don’t actually put on my “work clothes” until I’m at the office, occasionally I may forget something.

Good luck.

SSP

Good-O!

Keep those pedals turning and enjoy the ride.

My daughter and I both bike to work and agree that one of the benefits is the feeling of "righteousness" that it engenders...before the day has even started, we've gotten in some good exercise, saved wear and tear on our cars, and helped to save the planet. What could be better than that?

nashcommguy

Cheers to you as well, Charles. Have been cycle-commuting for 20 years now and it's posts like this that re-inspire and fire me up. There's a sense of confidence and humility that only grows stronger w/each ride. Don't know where you are in terms of being your own mechanic, but can say w/certainty doing your own mechanical work is the BEST. 2 years ago I wanted to learn how to build and true wheels, so I posted an ad at my lbs. A guy answered the ad who's now one of my best friends and I've learned a ton from him. I've got 2 commuters, both of which sport my own hand-built wheels. The first ride I did after my first wheelbuild I was grinning the whole time...for like 40 miles! I'm a clinical cycleholic and a daily trip to BF/Commute only feeds the addiction...welcome to the dark side.

BTW, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post as did my wife. Please, continue to share the steps in your journey.

Allister

Woohoo! Another Brisbane bike commuter! Lord knows there'e precious few of us out there.

Where are you riding in from? I come in from Wynnum most days, which is about 12km. I take the direct route, but I can certainly vouch for the views along the river bikeway. (I love tanktop season)

Welcome to the ranks. Keep an eye out for a blue highracer recumbent and say high if you see me.

T123

Thanks everyone for all your comments and good wishes. JackiK a daily commute is such a fantastic achievement. My immediate aim is to get a solid one day commute going probably on Friday and then add a regular Wednesday. When that’s bedded down I’ll add Monday. I would be very happy to be able to maintain 3 days commuting and leave two days by car for resupply and late nights at work. I keep a few changes at the office so I should have that aspect covered.

With respect to your comments SSP I certainly agree! One really good thing I noticed was that I really felt like I got something for myself out of the day. My wife and I managed to have a good chat before I left as I was preparing myself with a decent breakfast (for a change) and I got a reasonable workout in, spoke to a couple of helpful cyclists, and had women in the elevator talking to me about the bike and the ride whereas usually there is little pleasant contact in my day outside of work itself and then, in that case, of course it is just business anyway. I got to see the sun rising, the tide moving, the weather changing before my eyes and the sun setting on the way home. Hard to describe but I felt like I had lived a full day and it wasn’t stolen from me. I was also full of life and ready for human contact when I got home instead of wanting to retreat for a couple of hours to “chill” so my wife and I had fun talking about real life instead of work and mundane nonesense. All in all that’s a whole bag of benefits up for grabs.

Nashcommguy I am very interested in the mechanics and maintenance. I told my brother recently the great thing about bicycling is that you get the health aspect and can play with components to your heart’s desire. I have finally found a couple of places to get a bit of training but not exactly what I want yet. I can adjust brakes, strip the pedals (and get them together again!), do an overhaul on both hubs and regular chain maintenance. I also adjusted the gear system reasonably satisfactorily but would like to have an expert go over that aspect more with me in person. My other desire is to do a bottom bracket and headset overhaul but having only got the bike together again after stripping the drive train and wheel hubs into what seemed like a thousand pieces I’ll leave that for another time! I can appreciate the smile on your face after building up wheels and I have been looking on the web and admiring some components to give it a go!

Hey Allister – I ride from Aspley on the northside. As referred to earlier I am doing a very round about tour not a direct run. I go from home to the Nundah cycle circuit, from there head down to Racecourse road, along the river, and once over Breakfast Creek bridge I do the bit I like the most which is following the river as close as possible and get onto the floating MUP and glide the last couple of kilometres right into the CBD. Of course there a many shorter routes and I will develop a good direct commute but all these areas I have ridden a lot over the last year so I’ll stick with it for a while building confidence. I am confident on the road but except for Tuesday’s ride my riding was done recreationally on weekends and the traffic does have a different character during the week to and from work. There’s not a lot of bicycle commuters here I agree but I think the numbers do seem to be increasing – at least I have felt they have been. That’s probably what tipped me over the edge to take my first big step. Just seeing guys beating me in every morning on bikes and I thought, eventually, I can do that! I figured I was riding so much further on the weekend than even my long-way-round but relatively safe flat commute which I developed from various fun rides that surely a commute would be achievable. I’ll be sure to say hello when I see you – love to chat with people who know more about bikes than me – which is just about everyone on wheels!

If you’ve read this far give yourself a big pat on the back. Got to run as I play lunch for Australia so I better get some rest – practice is every Wednesday and the big game is on Friday! Hope everyone’s Friday is a breeze and have a good weekend.

Charles