COMMUTERS: What do you like most about cycling?

StaggerLee

kennyb3 wrote: »

Im in malahide too, once you get out past drumcondra its very fast home from there. Are you going the malahide road way or the swords road/airport way?

Malahide Road way, I work up near Ringsend so it over the Samuel Beckett bridge, onto North strand and up the Malahide road. I turn off at the Feltrim road. I think thats the shortest route.

Might extend the route when I get a bit fitter, head out the coast road then in through Portmarnock.

NeedMoreGears

StaggerLee - The route from Malahide thru Baldoyle and down the coast is really lovely and you have one of the better cycle tracks along Clontarf - even better these days as you can see again now that it's bright at 7am.

For me the best things about cycling to work are

I just like cycling
The Route is a perfect length at 22k
I don't have to do it every day - the train is a backup when I knackered
I'm definitely more alert
I can continue to eat too much on the basis that I need the energy back

07Lapierre

My commute is 25k each way. A nice distance along mainly rural roads. I've been doing it now almost every day this year. I agree with all the points made so far. Cyling is safe, fun, healthy and sure beats sitting in a car in traffic. I usually regret taking the car but i never regret taking the bike!.

Cookie_Monster

It's cheap
It's healthy
and it takes about 8 minutes each way

Lawrence1895

Passing by all those motorists who are stuck in traffic and who think, a car gives them independence. This always puts a big smile on my face

G rock

coming into my sixth week off the bike.

using car just makes you realise how much more enjoyable commuting by bike is.

especially those evenings after a s**t day, nothing clears the head like bombing it home

nitrogen

BostonB wrote: »

Its gonna depend how long your commute is. Under 20 mins you'd probably get away with work gear. Beyond that you'd probably have to change. Mine is about 40~70 mins. So I leave a gym bag in work will a change or two. Too hot to cycle in work clothes. or over garments for me.

Mine is under 20 minutes. However to get it under 20 involves you getting off the bike dripping wet.

But what I enjoy most:

• Freedom, lack of a time table, no waiting.
• Journey time, and arriving within a minute of my estimation.
• Endorphins and arriving with a fresh head.

unionman

The smug satisfaction.

petethedrummer

The not having to do any excercise other than my commute.

monument

I should post...

It started being a freedom thing -- getting to friend's houses, primary and then secondary school on my own. When I got older I never really seen the point of a car, the bicycle still got me most places I wanted to go without any cost. I love the health benefits too, but freedom is main thing for me. Going anywhere on a bicycle, you don't have to rely on buses or trains or worry about traffic or parking.

I don't understand how people can sit in cars in traffic, it would drive me mad -- I understand it less given that stats show so many of those trips are under 5km or even under 10km or more. And even beyond, not being stuck in traffic, cycling just makes you feel better.

It leads me to view that commuting cycling is marketed all wrong or just not well enough. Maybe part of it is that some cyclists -- including myself -- are not great ambassadors... or maybe people only hear us complain? The myths are very strong -- "cycling is dangerous", "the weather is too bad in Ireland", "you need a shower at work", "only poor people cycle", "most people can't cycle because they live too far away", "it's too slow", "it's too hard" etc.

Cookie_Monster

monument wrote: »

"the weather is too bad in Ireland",.

my answer to that is "that it rains more in Amsterdam than Dublin and look at all of them out cycling the whole time..."

seamus

monument wrote: »

It leads me to view that commuting cycling is marketed all wrong or just not well enough.

It's probably more to do with the "car as status symbol" thing that's ingrained into young Irish people.

Let's face it - to an 18-year-old who's been so far getting around on busses and bikes, a car is awesome. It takes you where you want to go, when you want to go, and you can pile all of your mates in at the same time. The end of my original cycling days came when I got a car. My parents were moving 40 miles away (with the intention that I join them) so a car was really essential at that stage because there was going to be nothing else between home and college.
At that point I was riding an MTB and BMX, so it's not like cycling was uncool in my mind or anything, I still maintained the BMX for a while after I started driving.
But the car was more convenient and had more street cred. Your girlfriend isn't going to appreciate being brought home from the cinema on your crossbar. And eventually you get lazy; you use the car to go everywhere instead of the bike, and bike use drops off.

BostonB

Since I started back cycling I've come to realise that it actually rains far less than I thought it did when I drove all the time.

Driving instead of cycling, becomes a habit. When you start cycling you start thinking driving is more hassle than cycling.

jimmycrackcorm

The most enjoyable aspect of my cycle commute was passing all the cars during rush-hour standstill along the canal.

coolbeans

I love the freedom, I love both the lack of stress and the opportunity to de-stress. I love the sensation of speed, the opportunity to perv both on fellow commuters' bike on and on females in general. I love the way it maximises my exposure to the sun in a country where in winter you could go for months without catching any rays over the working day. I love my bike and the fact that it's mine and can be seviced by me, a cack handed spannerman if ever there was one. I love pulling up beside fellow commuters and having a brief parley about something vaguely bike related before red turns to green. I love being by now a commuting veteran commuter of ten years and listening to work colleagues continually tell me that I'm a great man for cycling in over such a distance. I love advising others on bikes and commuting and being asked to help by rookies when others decide to commute for the first time.
I also love the fact that I save so much thus enabling me in the not too distant future to buy both my dream weekend car and bike.

Undercover Elephant

monument wrote: »

It leads me to view that commuting cycling is marketed all wrong or just not well enough. Maybe part of it is that some cyclists -- including myself -- are not great ambassadors... or maybe people only hear us complain? The myths are very strong -- "cycling is dangerous", "the weather is too bad in Ireland", "you need a shower at work", "only poor people cycle", "most people can't cycle because they live too far away", "it's too slow", "it's too hard" etc.

I think also that a lot of people don't realise that you can. I mean, obviously it's possible because people do it, but it looks like it involves a major reorganisation of your life. CTW normalised cycling to work in Dublin, but I'm not sure that the vast list of qualifying equipment was a good idea. It sent the message that you need to prepare as if you were Shackleton going to the Antarctic.

What I'd say now to anyone who is thinking of commuting by bike is just to get up and do it. Dig out that bike you never use, check your brakes, pump your tyres up and get on the thing. Don't bother with any other equipment apart from a good lock. You'll work out soon enough what will make your life easier, by which time you're likely to be hooked.

tomasrojo

Undercover Elephant wrote: »

CTW normalised cycling to work in Dublin, but I'm not sure that the vast list of qualifying equipment was a good idea. It sent the message that you need to prepare as if you were Shackleton going to the Antarctic.

Yes, I agree. I guess the dublinbikes counteracted this somewhat. They really are quite minimal, and return to an older concept that the bike incorporates all the equipment you need. Three-gear bikes implicitly tell people that cycling short distances is not hard.

NamelessPhil

Whatever about ogling the women, there is nothing worse than being stuck behind the sight of some bloke's greying boxer elastic or worse hairy backside and a***crack. It's really bad in the summer time, sometimes combined with smell of BO that would knock an elephant over. :rolleyes:

However, the upside is that it gives you great motivation to overtake, commuter racing FTW!

The benefits of commuting for me are:

My daughter singing in the back of the trailer on the way to/from creche.

Dropping daughter and trailer off and then bombing off down the road, the freedom and speed you feel when you've just shed a load off the bike is brilliant.

The fact that it is possible to have a small child and still cycle everywhere.

Trying to get a PB on the way to and from work without turning into a sweaty heap.

Turning up for meetings on time without looking like you've just got off the bike.

Knowing exactly how long it'll take to get somewhere on the bike vs. public transport or car. My bus route takes anywhere between 40 minutes to an hour and half to get to my work not including the walk at the end. I've gone door to door on the bike in 18 minutes! It's 9.5km by bike.

doozerie

NamelessPhil wrote:

Whatever about ogling the women, there is nothing worse than being stuck behind the sight of some bloke's greying boxer elastic or worse hairy backside and a***crack.

So very very true! I was stuck behind a guy this morning whose boxers were higher than his trousers. They were dark stripey boxers which resembled the pattern you'd expect on your granny's ancient curtains. Thankfully the curtains were closed.