Commuting

From CycleSheffield

Commuting by Bicycle

(This article originally appeared in "The Pedaller" the magazine for the South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire District Association of the CTC)

All those hours spent in a car behind a wheel, growing impatient at the queues of traffic in front, growing too hot inside in the summer, or when it’s raining, struggling to see past the rain on the windscreen and adjusting the fan so that things don’t steam up. All the money spent on fuel simply used to burn up and pollute the atmosphere. Encouraging car driving by driving a car yourself so that more is invested in bigger and faster and more cycle unfriendly roads…….…..why not commute by bike?

The benefits of communing by bike:

Commuting is good exercise. It keeps you fit, burns up excess calories and can be done at your own pace. I recommend a bike with lots of low gears for Sheffield so that almost any hill is attainable. Just drop into bottom gear and keep peddlin! It really does amaze me how many people join a gym to keep fit, but then drive there and drive back so that their exercise is in a “sterile” environment but not in the real world – no sunshine, no rain, no breeze, no traffic fumes, no “real” hills or challenges. This is not real purposeful exercise.

Commuting by bicycle can be just as quick. For journeys of less than four miles commuting by bicycle at rush hour is just as quick as commuting by car or bus. Even at other times of day, there is little time difference in it. When I had a car and drove to work occasionally at 7am (a distance of 3 miles), by the time I had parked my car and walked to the main door, I had only saved 5 minutes by driving rather than cycling. But by cycling there, I had also had some exercise for the day. Who needs a gym when you’ve had 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week? (Incidentally, I have found that is often quicker to walk short distances up to 2 miles than to catch a bus as well, by time you have waited 10 minutes or more for the bus and the got stuck behind all the traffic).

Commuting by bicycle is also reliable. I have cycled to work for several years now and have only ever turned up 5 minutes late to work because of a puncture or breakdown. I have had more problems with oversleeping than I have with traffic jams or parking or mechanical problems! Cycling is even reliable in the snow if you are careful, allow a little more time and use knobbly tyres.

Cycling to work wakes you up for the day. Ever fallen to sleep on a bike? Cycling gets your circulation going so you arrive with fresh air in your lungs and ready to start the day. Having worked lots of night shifts and discussed this with my colleagues, it is much easier to fall asleep on the way home at a steering wheel than balanced on top of a pair of handlebars!

Cycling is much cheaper than driving. Lets face it, cycling is free. There is no road tax or petrol involved. Admittedly, you have to eat to convert food into energy, but most Britons don’t have a problem with that! It may work out more expensive if you have an expensive taste, I suppose…. Especially for commuting short distances, more money is burnt in the form of petrol on shorter journeys in cars and in situations where there is a lot of stopping and starting. Parking is also free; I have yet to find parking meters for cyclists anyway. Then of course there’s the gym membership for the car drivers that a cyclist does not need….

Cycling is environmentally friendly. This is true both in terms of the fuel consumed and the pollution produced (as discussed earlier) and in the waste when the mode of transport is disposed of. There’s more scrap metal in one car than in a whole load of bicycles. It also causes less wear on road surfaces so that they need resurfacing much less often.

Parking is not such a problem for cyclists as it is for cars. This is by virtue of the fact that bicycles are much smaller and take up less space. Cyclists do need an immoveable object to tie their bike to so that it does not get stolen, but lampposts tend to be quite immoveable, as do large trees, railings and metal bins….. Also, with this flexibility, the cyclist can find a place to park much nearer to their final destination than a car. And of course parking a car in cities and towns costs money.

Some people are put off by car drivers. In my experience of commuting, most car drivers are very considerate of cyclists (except on tram tracks, where they never seem to realise our needs, but more about that later). So long as you make your intentions known clearly and are well seen, most car drivers respect your use of the road. However, being much smaller, cyclists must assume they have not been seen until they are sure that they have been. Advanced stop lines for cyclists at junctions make visibility easy at these junctions, but in other situations, techniques such as cycling in a middle of your lane when it is unsafe for cars to overtake can also help.

So then, what disadvantages are there in cycling?

Traffic fumes are an integral part of rush hour in urban environments. Not a great deal can be done about this though there are masks on the market that can be used to filter this out, though I imagine they are not the most comfortable to wear. For myself, instead of taking the main roads, I use minor roads or trails where possible and this is much less polluted. However, I am convinced that cycling in Sheffield city centre is not as polluting as travelling on the London Underground, and most people don’t think twice about the pollution they pick up by travelling this way. (You can confirm this by nose blowing colour observations after each activity!)

What about arriving to your destination sweaty? Well, the amount of perspiration you produce will vary depending on the individual, how hard you have pushed yourself, and the climate conditions at the time. Some places have showers and changing rooms for cyclists, which can be very useful, though there is the issue of what you do with that wet towel. For myself, for a distance of 3 miles cycling to work, so long as I do not push myself too hard I do not sweat that much. So if I a shower in the morning before the ride, things evaporate quickly on getting to work. The “smelly” problem with sweat is the old stuff that bacteria have been able to multiply in. The new stuff that evaporates on a clean body with clean clothes on does not smell.

What about rain? Take a change of clothes. Presumably, if you are doing a moderate distance, you will take a change of clothes anyway. You must hang the wet clothes up though; otherwise these will smell for the return journey! If you are fortunate, they may have dried out by the time you need to complete your return journey. Wet roads from after it has finished raining will also throw a lot of dirt on you. Again I would recommend a change of clothes for this, though mudguards do go some way to alleviating the problem. Wear darker or patterned trousers if you are not getting changed and this way things do not show up as much.

Oil is another issue. If your chain comes off you get oil on your hands or if you brush up against your chain, you get oil on your clothes. That is unless you are prepared…..a pair of latex gloves come in very handy for repositioning displaced chains. A chain guard can help to protect clothes from stains, but I have ruined many a pair of trousers from oil stains. I have learnt that wearing long dark socks and tucking trousers inside is helpful, but it is probably best to wear clothing that will not show up oil stains, a pair of shorts in the summer (legs are easier to wash than clothes), or dedicated cycle clothing.

In Sheffield, tram tracks are a major issue. I have come off on them twice and most people I know have also suffered with them, even if they were using a mountain bike with chunky wheels. My best advice is to avoid them as much as possible and if you must use them, then go slowly, cross them at a very wide angle when you have to, cross them as little as you have to (I prefer to travel between the tram tracks than at the side of them. At least you can be seen by traffic behind) and watch out for traffic behind you when you do cross the tram tracks. Most roads with tram tracks also have an alternative route on a different road. If you are lucky, there may be a cycle route beside them. Even a dual carriageway is more attractive to me than tram tracks though.

Cycling is flexible. You can integrate it into your life. If it is a gorgeous day, you can extend your route and make the most of the weather, or go the scenic route on trails and enjoy yourself in a park enroute. If it is tipping it down with rain you can take a day off cycling, catch a bus, use the train or even a car for part or all of the way. Having said that there is something nice about cycling through a rainstorm for a short distance so long as you have a change of clothes at the end.

You can use it to reduce the mileage you would normally do by taking short cuts only cyclists can use (most bus lanes allow for cyclists as well). If you have panniers or a saddle bag (or even a rucksack, but you tend to sweat more with one of these), you can use it to post letters, pick up shopping, take the recycling to the nearest depot, or meet up with friends in town without having to worry about parking. And all this may be enroute to your final destination. If you take waterproof, lights, and a repair kit, you can be prepared for most situations England will throw at you as well.

Cycling the scenic route has its own entertainment, but going along that long stretch of urban road or up that long drawn-out hill in the suburbs can be boring at times. I make my own entertainment by singing, counting lamp-posts, tracking my speed and time using a speedo, counting the turns of the pedals used to get up a hill, or dividing the boring bit up into stages. I recently discovered somebody who strapped a tape player to the front of their bike for musical entertainment enroute! Use your imagination and find what helps you.

Wearing dedicated cycling clothing can be easier for cycling but it is by no means necessary for shorter distances. Besides, if I’m not getting changed after the ride, I don’t always want to arrive at my destination looking like a cyclist. I have already advised on colours of trousers and socks. I would also recommend polyester clothing as this tends to dry out pretty quickly when wet and does not look so obviously “wet” when it is. A lightweight waterproof also is useful for rain and cold.

Hopefully this article will have got you thinking about commuting. Commuting by bike is convenient and an ideal form of exercise. It is economical with both money and the limited resources of the environment. It chucks out less pollution into the atmosphere. You do not have so many problems with parking, and is not as dangerous as you think. With a little planning and preparation for the elements, it is possible in all weathers. And commuting by bicycle is enjoyable, especially if you go the scenic route when you can.

So for commuting….. get on yer bike!

Ruth Packer