This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Just keep going, it gets easier. Well, it doesn't get any easier, but you get fitter, so it feels easier. If I don't ride in a day I feel worse now.

keep up the good work, its well worth it, left everyone for dust on the ride home

If it's really really hurting and you're getting really fed up there's nothing wrong with giving your legs a rest and getting the bus. No shame.

I'm a total hypocrite though, because I've got the bus once since I started my new job in October =)

Do it long enough it becomes normal, then one day you'll take the bus/tube and you'll hate the journey...then you won't look back!

Do it long enough it becomes normal

That's what I kept telling her

Sorry

Do it long enough it becomes normal

I've tried that with a few things but the police still tell me it's not normal..

Great minds neu :)

I always say 'it's only kinky the first time'... Amounts to the same thing.

Just keep going, it gets easier. Well, it doesn't get any easier, but you get fitter, so it feels easier.

It never gets easier, you just go faster.

Don't worry mate, you'll get used to it, give it time for your body to adapt to your new activity.

sooner or later you'll arrived at work without even feeling breathless.

I don't think i'll ever get to work not sweaty

nude.

Do it long enough it becomes normal, then one day you'll take the bus/tube and you'll hate the journey...then you won't look back!

I think I had that today. I haven't even been riding in every day, but I had been out of work for 8 months and only started my new job last week. I got the tube for the first time, as rain is forecast and the bus was delayed, and I hated it. Horrendously hot, sweaty and smelly (all the things that people see bike commuting as being) and full of grumpy people, including me.

I refitted the mudguards and rack to the hybrid over the weekend. Today I buy a pannier. All-weather commuting FTW.

...Horrendously hot, sweaty and smelly ...

its not so bad if you're hot and sweaty, its when you get some arse holding the top rail with his/her airpit in your face, and then everyone piles in behind them and shoves them into you because they cxan't be bothered to wait 2 minutes for the next one!!

I'm on my first few weeks of a new commute to. Also can't believe how quickly one gets into central London. Only have to do 5 miles each way though.

I rode freewheel for the first week or so to get used to route and get some fitness up then switched to fixed. Made quite a difference to the work out and my legs were very sore after the first 5 days and still a little sore after the weekend's rest. Getting easier though (or maybe I should be going faster now).

Loving it and definitely beats the overland Victoria line combination.

I suffered that situation years ago when I commuted from east ham to hanger lane every day. Sweltering train, face in armpit, hungover, then a train breakdown for 40 minutes under st pauls. Worst journey ever. Not sure I would have ridden it back then. A bit too far. Now? Who knows.

full of grumpy people, including me.

at first I find it funny how grumpy people on public transport are (especially when compared to the smiling faces of natt and hillbilly! Who I occationally spot on my commute), but it's infectious and no matter how much you try and laugh at the sad lives of people who spend aproxamatly 1/12 of thier lives in metal tubes (close to five years of their life!) it can't help butbring you down.

I refitted the mudguards and rack to the hybrid over the weekend. Today I buy a pannier. All-weather commuting FTW.

^ this
(although I don't have mudguards or a rack, or a hybrid... Just the last bit about all weather! :)

If I had decent facilities at work, I'd be more blase, but I don't even have a drawer to keep stuff in yet so I'll have to transport everything with me. Keeping myself and the belongings dry wil be high priority.

If I had decent facilities at work, I'd be more blase, but I don't even have a drawer to keep stuff in yet so I'll have to transport everything with me. Keeping myself and the belongings dry wil be high priority.

Pop to Itchy Feet on Wardour Street, 10% off everything, plus the dry bags they had there were pretty cheap anyway, picked up one yesterday for £4.50

Bike radar commuting section >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

whole not-trying-to-look-like-i'm-racing-you-but-secretly-I-really-am thing is quite amusing

That it is :OD

It's when you have someone who is trying really hard to race you that it's funniest. They keep getting left behind and catch you at the lights, then get passed again. You even see them speed up as you're getting close. And I'm thinking "I'm not even trying here - this is my normal runabout speed". Which is doubly funny really, because I'm both fat AND slow and they still get left behind.

@the OPer
OKR is hell. Find a better route. Don't ride 'round E&C. It's not hard to find alternatives.

My commute doubled, up to what yours is, almost a year ago. I was happy, more time on my own and on my bike.

Actually ^^^^ this is a really good point. All you need to do is add Vauxhall Cross and some of the South Circular to that journey and the OP can enjoy all the worst bits of road in south London.

When I first started riding, I stuck with the main routes I knew. Then you hit roadworks or traffic, take side roads, discover little cut-throughs and alleys that join up streets that you can't see on the map. If you have time on your hands, tail some cyclists who look like they know where they are going. Even if they're not going quite where you wanted, you learn new routes from X to Y.

I like to tag along with forumengers for a while when they leave beers. They'll often use a side road here or a cut-through there that you didn't know was there. Even if you don't use it on your commute, you can file it away for a day when there's killer roadworks and everywhere else is gridlocked.

@OP, where is your commute from and to? There must be a better route than OKR + E&C.

Stalker.

I go from Lee in Lewisham up to the middle of Soho, I've just been going the OKR route because it's the most direct according to the googlemap route but any detours would be welcome. I don't find it all that bad really, from things I've read I thought OKR & E&C would be much much worse during rush hour....

Legs are already adapting to the exercise, I'm not really out of breath at all when I get to work/home, just sweating from the heat at the moment!

Already fed up of the sweaty bag back and strap lines on my top half, so ordered a large saddlebag and carradice bagman so I can say goodbye to the over the shoulder bag I'm currently using.

So nice to be out in the (not very fresh) air in the mornings, I can't ever go back to public transport commuting, when I used to do it on my old work commute it just made me so miserable for that first hour of being awake!