Started commuting this week!
 

Hey guys!
Greetings from Vancouver, BC!

I started commuting this week after years of thinking about it. I could not afford a fancy bike so I bought a cheaper hybrid bike, $325 - but it's brand new and comes with one year of free service.

Asama Luddite
http://nas-photos.smugmug.com/Cyclin...4luddite-M.jpg

My commute to work is about 10 miles. I have done two days so far and I am LOVING it. Simply amazing. No traffic, nice bike paths and quiet streets, fresh air - can't wait for my next ride :)
It is also only maybe 30 mins longer than taking public transit but you don't have to get squished on the train during rush hour. A friend of mine drives to work in my area and it takes him 40-60 minutes due to traffic.
I don't own a car, I'm more of a motorcycle or transit kinda person.

However it is quite harder than I thought, this whole cycling thing! :D There are no major hills on my commute, well a couple of short ones, but quite a few of those very minor but quite long elevation changes.... my legs are weak! I thought I was in good shape but apparently not. My legs don't hurt next day they're just super tired and weak. Going down the stairs is a challenge :lol:

I will keep doing it and waiting for it to get easier. I don't go crazy, takes me about just over an hour each way.

Any tips on what to eat / drink to help my muscles recover faster?

Already learned the lesson that a $10 headlight performs according to its price! Also after riding in the rain already learned that I need fenders :D

Anyways, stoked to become a cyclist and I look forward to riding everywhere!

Congrats and welcome .... regarding recovery, protein to assist in recovery, generally soon after a ride.

And rest. In your exuberance to start you could overdo it and burn out, especially at 10 miles (I'm assuming that's one way so it's a 20 mile day?).

Me personally, it's taken me a lot of time to get to the point where I could commute back to back to back ... in fact, this week was the first time I've ever gone four straight days commuting. My commute is 12 miles one way, so 24 miles round trip. Today my legs are/were pretty tired no doubt. I probably would try for the full week tomorrow but I have an appointment that's an hour away in the morning.

But, I crossed over 1,400 miles for the year today ... feels pretty good and I'm leaps healthier than I was before :)

Nice Bike!

Now you can add cyclist to the kind of person!

Yeah it's 10 miles each way. I was thinking that I might be overdoing it, going from nothing to 20 miles per day all of a sudden. I will go to bed early tonight and see how I feel tomorrow morning.
I will not be riding over the weekend so that should help too.

Thanks! :)

Don't be afraid to take some days off. My ride is 7 miles each way and it took me about two months to work up to riding 5 days a week.

Welcome to bike commuting. Ten miles one way is not too crazy to jump into. It sounds like you're going at a comfortable pace. As you get stronger and more used to it your overall time should easily be under an hour. The bike looks fine for what you're doing, but adding some accessories as you see you need them will make the routine easier.

Welcome! The bike looks like it will work out fine. I like the tan gumwalls. I have commuted for many, many years, but really began to enjoy it on a whole other level after I began reading bikeforums.net! So many good ideas and encouragement! Be smart, be safe and go, Go, GO!

sounds like a sweet commute! no shame in resting the legs until you feel better. try a couple days off every week. going from zero to full time 7 days a week is a bit ambitious. especially with a new bike. next year you'll be shopping for a road bike ... ;)

Congrats! The first day is always the hardest

I ended up taking a day off today, after 3 days of biking to work when I got home last night I could feel I needed rest. I was just absolutely done, nothing left in me! :D

Strangely enough, I was able to go up a couple of steep hills even though I was very tired. I kind of feel it is more about technique than strength when you need to go uphill.

I am going to recover this weekend and will be back at it on Monday. I already miss my bike :)

Welcome! There is not any shame in taking time off.

Where do you go?

Now that this weather is in on us head over to MEC this weekend and get a Planet Bike Superflash Turbo LED Rear Light - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available and a MEC Cosmic One Watt LED Light - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available

These are the best bang for your buck I have found over the years (I have used them and their older sister for 8 years or so). They are easy to use and easy to take off with you (must do or they will be gone when get off work). I usually use two now a days, one flashing and one solid. I also use two rear lights (sometimes three); at least one flashing usually two.

Fenders are a nice addition as are MEC Drencher Shoe Covers (Unisex) - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available

With them and comfortable rain gear you can go all year if there is no ice.

On the hills as long as you keep pedaling and are in the right front gear (chain ring) it will be easy enough to keep going. Find he right cadence (rpm of pedals) that works for you on the hills; it should be effective for forward progress but not get your legs burnt out from spinning or mashing (too fast pedaling with little progress or too hard pedaling with gains but too much effort).

It gets easier! Good for you. Do it as often as you like. You will probably get tougher with weather. At least I did. You will definitely get stronger. Chances are, you won't consider your hills to be challenging. That may happen in as little as two weeks.

as noglider said it gets easier and for sure to the hills will not affect you after a few weeks. I come up from the Fraser every afternoon and I do not mind the hill. It is the wind that I hate.

I have been commuting for years and my legs are sometimes very tired, this week they are like to leaden logs it seems. Last week they were strong and nimble. But it never seems to change how long it takes from A to B; unless you go from A to C with B, E, E and R in the middle.

Congrats on hoping on the bike. I started in June and have did around 740 miles - 6.3 miles one way and still can't do a full week. Take Wednesday off typically but still pooped by Friday. If you don't have alot of hills should be ok.. mine takes me through the bottoms to hospital hill (and they ain't lyin).

Hi Nas, congratulations on your decision to commute on your bike!

Ah, some local people showed up :) Hey guys :thumb:

I commute from South Burnaby (Edmonds) to downtown Vancouver.

Thanks for the links, joeyduck ! Multiple people told me already that boot covers are really good to have, so I will definitely buy them.

My legs are definitely better already, so I'm looking forward to Monday!

A few of us lurk around. I used to ride through your neighborhood when I lived in Bur-quitlam and commuted to Richmond. Your route is nice but very meandering, is it not? I particularly the spring between those locations especially the longer detour through the 40s around Main to Granville with the magnolia, plum, apple and cherry blossoms.

Now I have more pleasant commute from Mt. Pleasant.

Grab a bell from MEC also, they are nice (IMO) to let people know you are there.

Feel free to ask questions, people are always willing to give their opinions and suggestions. Meanwhile explore and enjoy all the information. The best way to search the site is to type in Google your search term followed by site:bikefourms.net i.e. commuting fenders site:bikeforums.net

You certainly have to get fenders to keep it going. I left Vancouver 20 years ago but I commuted from my home in New Westminster (Massey Heights/Crest Shopping Centre area) to our office in either Downtown Vancouver or out in Richmond.

Fenders and you can keep going pretty much all year in Vancouver. You guys have all sorts of nice trails now that didn't exist when I was still there. Trip to downtown for me back then was down Cariboo to Government, out by the old Dairyland plant and then up by Broadway to North Burnaby school and down Hastings to around the PNE, scootch over to the waterfront and down Commissioner to hook up at Burrard.

Yeah much easier now :) I've only been living here for 7 years. Now there are bike lanes in DT Vancouver, trails, paths, all kinds of good stuff :D

joeyduck,
Yeah it is a bit meandering but sure is a nice ride! I look forward to exploring more of this gorgeous city on a bicycle!

Where do you bike because I commute from Poco to Downtown Van each day and I am in nothing but traffic.

That is great to hear you made the move to cycling. It will consume you now:)

Have fun and keep the pedals turning,

Dave

Congratulations! As others have said, there's no shame in taking days off while you build up strength and stamina. I started commuting just over a year ago. It took a few weeks before I rode five days straight, and that was with just a six mile (12 r/t) route. It is definitely addictive!

^^^THIS^^^

Longer, not so steep, hills as you describe are more of cardio test than how strong you are. It got a lot easier for me once I got a computer with the cadence feature. I found out my 80-90 rpm was really around 50-60. Speeding up a bit made it easier and the more I did it the longer I could stay at it. 80rpm is quite fast, at least it was to me.

You didn't mention your physical condition. What ill.clyde said is quite true, a lot healthier now. It got easier and easier as the weight came off. I'm 59 and have been at my high school weight for the last year.

Chocolate milk is reported to be an excellent post exercise drink. I usually just eat lunch consisting of real food, not fast food.

+=1 My one way is between 15 and 18 mi. It takes some time for me each year to be able to do this without a day in between. But I am old. Anyhow, don't overdo it and take some days off, but on other days push very hard in intervals and soon you will get the stamina.

Congrats! Took me years before I gave it a try and I wish I wouldn't have waited so long!

I love Vancouver and that area - I have been up there several times on business trips and it is a wonderful area. Would love to bike there. You are lucky!

That's awesome, Nas! When I got my bike out and commuted to work 8 miles, my legs were wobbly too. I rode every other day for the first couple of weeks. It does get easier. The overpasses/underpasses get easier as you build up muscle and endurance. 10 miles is nothing to sneeze at; it's a good ride. It's great to hear that you are enjoying cycling. It is addictive after a while. If I don't ride for 3-4 days, I get very antsy.

I found it took me a long time to be able to handle a short distance (12 miles) round trip for the whole week, if your legs feel bit heavy during the week, its ok to take a day off...