Commuting to work on a bicycle
In Canberra, cycling is a great way to commute to work/school. There is a vast cycle-path network which means I spend most of my journey off the main roads. The trend though is to put bicycle lanes on the main roads as the roads tend to offer a more direct route. Well, I'm lucky that for my journey the cycle path is not much longer than the on road riding (no bicycle paths on those roads though).
In the winter, getting into the car is torture. You pants are cold from the walking to the car; which feels extra cold when you sit down and you skin comes into full contact with the pants, the car interior is cold, the steering wheel is freezing, and the heaters don't really work until the engine is warmed up. Not surprisingly, I expected cycling in winter to be worst. I couldn't be more wrong!
Riding in winter is all about how to keep yourself cool!
In the beginning, I dressed as I would if I were driving. Two layers of T-shirt, sweater, and windbreaker. I found that this was synonymous to wrapping your potato in foil and leaving it in the oven. Next I tried one layer of T-shirt, sweater and windbreaker; same result. The problem was the windbreaker; it essentially is the foil that wraps the potato. So without windbreaker, I tried running singlet, T-shirt, and sweater. Still too hot.
My current setup is running singlet with sweater in the dry; plus windbreaker for the wet (my windbreaker is a little water resistant). You still end up very hot, but I've learnt to regulate the heat by varying the cycling speed. Duh! Obvious! Well... in the beginning, I was all about speed and the trill of cycling again after 3 years; I wanted to see how fast I could do the journey.
Exactly how fast is the journey? The timing on my first day, including making a wrong turn (cycle paths are not sign posted! And you shouldn't overtake other cyclist if you don't know the way! :p ), was about 22 minutes for the 6.5-7.0KM journey. How slow is that man! And I even injured (chest pains) myself with a sudden sprint to beat the red light; it seems I can't ride like I drive!
That's another thing, I've learnt to take my time, look at the scenery, watch the birds in the sky, and avoid crashing at the same time!
Today is the last day of June. Today is the day my parking permit expires. This means from tomorrow, I don't have to decide whether to drive or cycle. There is no more choice, no more temptation from the dark side. Today is a wet day. And today, I rode the bike. The time taken from packing the backpack at home, to sitting at my desk is 35 minutes. Not bad at all! And I wasn't even exerting myself.
Things I need to get:
Things to do:
In the winter, getting into the car is torture. You pants are cold from the walking to the car; which feels extra cold when you sit down and you skin comes into full contact with the pants, the car interior is cold, the steering wheel is freezing, and the heaters don't really work until the engine is warmed up. Not surprisingly, I expected cycling in winter to be worst. I couldn't be more wrong!
Riding in winter is all about how to keep yourself cool!
In the beginning, I dressed as I would if I were driving. Two layers of T-shirt, sweater, and windbreaker. I found that this was synonymous to wrapping your potato in foil and leaving it in the oven. Next I tried one layer of T-shirt, sweater and windbreaker; same result. The problem was the windbreaker; it essentially is the foil that wraps the potato. So without windbreaker, I tried running singlet, T-shirt, and sweater. Still too hot.
My current setup is running singlet with sweater in the dry; plus windbreaker for the wet (my windbreaker is a little water resistant). You still end up very hot, but I've learnt to regulate the heat by varying the cycling speed. Duh! Obvious! Well... in the beginning, I was all about speed and the trill of cycling again after 3 years; I wanted to see how fast I could do the journey.
Exactly how fast is the journey? The timing on my first day, including making a wrong turn (cycle paths are not sign posted! And you shouldn't overtake other cyclist if you don't know the way! :p ), was about 22 minutes for the 6.5-7.0KM journey. How slow is that man! And I even injured (chest pains) myself with a sudden sprint to beat the red light; it seems I can't ride like I drive!
That's another thing, I've learnt to take my time, look at the scenery, watch the birds in the sky, and avoid crashing at the same time!
Today is the last day of June. Today is the day my parking permit expires. This means from tomorrow, I don't have to decide whether to drive or cycle. There is no more choice, no more temptation from the dark side. Today is a wet day. And today, I rode the bike. The time taken from packing the backpack at home, to sitting at my desk is 35 minutes. Not bad at all! And I wasn't even exerting myself.
Things I need to get:
- Mud guards for the wheels. There's still a bit of sand in my mouth. Yucks.
- Water resistant top for cycling (better ventilation). The windbreaker is too hot.
- Underseat pouch to hold keys and security card. Getting them out of the knapsack, wrapped in it's own waterproofing (my deuter backpack comes with a "raincoat" tucked in its arse) is a bother.
Things to do:
- Leave spare cloths at work.
posted by peterpiper at
10:52 AM
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