5 tips to make your cycle commute more enjoyable!

Commuting by bicycle can be by far the most enjoyable way to commute to work. But like anything, if you are not careful, it can become a chore, especially once those long summer evenings turn to dark and wet winter nights. So how can we keep our cycle commute enjoyable?

Here are my top 5 tips....

1. Prep Time
If you leave prepping your kit till the last minute you're undoubtedly going to take the easy way out on those mornings where you don’t quite fancy the ride. Early morning lethargy can be a massive de-motivator, but when you’re sat on the bus that evening watching cyclists breeze through the traffic you’ll be absolutely gutted.

I’ve had plenty of mornings and evenings where I’ve wanted to skip my cycle commute, especially when it’s raining or I’m not feeling great, but every single time that I've bitten the bullet and hopped on the bike I've been glad that I did. I can genuinely say that I’m yet to get off the bike after a commute and think “I hated that.”

Having your bag packed and your kit all laid out and ready to go the night before forces you to get up and go even when you’re not quite feeling up to it. It’s usually those rides that I end up enjoying the most as on those days the adrenaline always has an extra kick to it.

2. Lose the ego
Cycling is one of those hobbies steeped in bravado. However, commuting is about getting to work. You should make sure your commute is comfortable and sustainable for your level of fitness. You will also want to make sure that you arrive at work in the best possible condition to do your job. There is no need to punish yourself in the name of cycling.

It may be possible to work a bike ride in either side of a train journey or using an e-bike may make the distance more manageable. It’s your own personal journey and so there is no cheating, you should be proud of every mile you can manage on the bike.

I currently work intercity and so the train is a major part of my commute. Most mornings I will ride to my local station, bringing my bike into the city centre before jumping onto an intercity train. I then ride home from the city centre in the evening. This allows me to rock up at work ready to go with most of my commuting miles coming in the evening when I have more time and am less worried about getting caught out in the rain.

In the summer when the weather is better I do sometimes enjoy riding to town in the morning too, but due to the length of my journey I don’t want to be turning up for work soaked or sweaty each morning.

Find what works for you rather than worrying about justifying your commute to other people.

3. Set goals
It sounds simple but having a goal to achieve is another way to avoid those hump days. The intercity train element of my commute can really put a downer on commuting each morning, but the motivation to smash out the miles to achieve this year's goal has really helped push me to make the effort, even on the days where I don't have to. I set myself quite a stretch goal this year to encourage me to ride in as much as possible and it really has worked. Here Strava is your friend to make sure every mile is totted up!

4. Take a diversion
The obvious place to start when commuting is by drawing a straight line between your house and work, but it’s not always the safest or most fun route. You’ll quickly find the junctions that are clogged up every morning, those roads that just don’t feel safe and the hill you just can’t stand grinding up. It’s definitely worth looking at variations of your route to see if you can find a quiet side street, a cut through the woods or an off road jaunt down a cycle / tow path. It may add a few miles but is usually preferable to fighting with traffic or stopping at traffic lights every two minutes and on those nights where there is no rush, why not try a new route altogether? After all, variety is the spice of life!

Google maps, Ordnance Survey and Komoot are all great tools for figuring out new routes.

5. Don’t get caught in the rat race
It’s so easy when you are out on the road to get competitive with other cyclists. You see someone up the road, you want to catch them, someone overtakes you, you want to hold their wheel, you smashed your segment PB on strava yesterday, you want to go one better today. As much fun as it is to put the hammer down at every opportunity your legs will feel like jelly come Friday evening. Everyone has their own little journey and that wheel you’ve been flat out holding may only be doing half of your ride so remember to pace yourself.

Sometimes that internal competitiveness can be fun and it can be a motivator on some rides. However, it's good to be able to turn it off sometimes, forget about your average speed, heart rate or FTP and just cruise along and enjoy the ride.

So on that note take it easy and stay safe.

James