Why don't you cycle?

[deltic]

Sadly never learned to cycle when I was young

 

[lachlan]

I cycle to the station and back and for appointments as it's much faster than taking the bus and it's good exercise. I can't drive due to being partially sighted. I use an old road bike so the only expenses have been lights clothing and a service.

If I were to ask family members - where I used to live we could walk to anywhere in the town easily so it wasn't worth the effort. Where I am now the answer is either a lack of safe routes or just that they don't walk or cycle anywhere due to fitness levels.

 

[jmh59]

For me it was simply impractical. When I worked there was either me and the wife (same place of work) or us plus 2 kids (same school, on the way), plus we had bags full of stuff (yes we could have rationalised that). Now I am retired the wife takes the bus and my 'commute' - 1 day a week to the railway - is a 50 mile round trip with a shed load of tools and kit.

But our employer is very pro bike, with showers and changing rooms, bike lockers, bike repair stands (forgot what they are called, a pillar you put the bike on with tools attached on chains etc), a bike hire hub etc. Had I been on my own I would have only ever cycled to work.

 

[Ghostbus]

Personally because I live in a place where a bicycle is likely to get stolen.

Exact same reason here, key places that I would love to cycle to such as rail station and towns for lunch/ shopping are not safe enough to leave your bike locked anywhere.

Having had two bikes nicked from a tube station bike rack on the main high street in clear view of people & cameras, the police were just not interested.

I would have thought it was common knowledge these days that bike theft is rife and the police don't care? Or maybe that's precisely because I do live in a crime ridden city where you regularly see bikes that have clearly been nicked, abandoned.

I can only repeat, in my experience, if your bike is worth less than the lock, nobody is interested in stealing it, not an opportunist career criminal, professional bike theft crew or a random crackhead. It isn't worth it, not even scrap value. And just because the police won't catch you, doesn't mean you won't get a kicking if you nick the wrong bike and someone managed to get your picture on the neighbourhood Facebook. My bike looks like a drug dealer's bike for a reason. It's the bikes belonging to the children of drug dealers that thieves are after. Worth a lot and never traceable. Just make sure to steal them when nobody is around.

I've parked in all those places, and never had a single bike stolen. Can't be luck. My bike is kept in the shed. No security lights or stockades. If someone wants to take the risk of actually scaling my back fence, breaking the shed lock, and doing all that inches from my bedroom window, fair play. They have bigger problems than me filing a police report would bring. Nobody tries, because I make sure there's nothing about my house or garden that suggests there's hundreds of pounds worth of bike in the shed.

Although I cycled to and from the station regularly for 19 years before I retired, mainly on quiet residential back streets, through the park, pedestrianised areas where cycling was allowed and so on, this stopped when I retired and moved to the Peak District.

The OP definitely needs a few more 'negative options', certainly including steep hills (I now live on a long 1:5), potholes (diabolical), bike getting nicked if parked up (too many visitors with work vans full of bikes around who can 'accidentally' load up an extra one); add more vehicles to the Car and Bus list (heavy lorries, agricultural vehicles driven by 16-year-olds, motorcyclists on wrong side of roads, etc.); road 'design' (narrow, winding carriageways hard between dry stone walls, blind summits and hidden dips); and environmental conditions (regular flooding, mud and manure all over the road, strong headwinds apparently in all directions, roads not treated in icy and snowy conditions, loose gravel...).

I need the car to take my bike for occasional rides on the 'trails' - disused railways, canal towpaths and forest tracks.

To get to a supermarket means a 30-45 minute drive over roads up to over 1,000ft in any direction. Totally infeasible to cycle there and back unless you are Tour de France standard.

Yeah, not having off road cycle routes was obviously going to come up. Roads are the problem, if you genuinely don't have alternate routes. Seems to definitely be an issue in rural areas. Although I use a fair few bridleways out in the country, and they're usually passable. It's actually urban development that's churning them into unusable messes, if not closing them for months, until eventually being tarmacced.

I'm a short ride away from manure and mud/gravel tracks that are regularly flooded, I've got hills all around, I go out in winter conditions and I regularly lock my bike up in random public places like public parks. I seem to do fine, just using a cheap bike and basic tyres/mudguards and a pair of gloves, standard clothing and a wooly hat.

Fair point on the wind. Can be a real struggle. But that's when I take the bus. Happens maybe once a month.

Sadly, at my place of employment, the "drowned rat in the rain" and/or the "sweaty like a certain Prince after a night at Pizza Express" looks aren't professionally acceptable yet.

I don't think it's acceptable anywhere, certainly nowhere I've commuted to. I can only repeat what I said, it doesn't rain as much as people think in this country, not drowned rat rain, and forecasting is good enough in my experience to be able to choose the bus when it is going to rain that hard.

I did once arrive at work wet through in my jeans, but that was a calculated risk, the predicted normal rain (simply absorbed and then drying in minutes) getting heavy for the last mile or so. But since I knew for that job nobody would care, and I would be dry in an hour just overcoming my normal work, with the forecast clear for the ride home, it was worth it. Another bus fare saved, another day's exercise done. And once you're bike fit, you've no need to get hot and sweaty if you don't want to. I didn't believe it, until I did it.

Sadly never learned to cycle when I was young

Totally hadn't considered that! Wow. Never given it a go as an adult?

I have a theory about one generation of motorists, however, who grew up in the '80s - Thatcher's children if you will - who never rode bikes as kids. They are now late middle aged / early retired and generally drive stupid SUVs. They are the worst for close passes, left hooks etc and you get the usual 'Daily Mail' abuse - you don't pay road tax / insurance , roads are for cars etc. etc. Conversely I find younger drivers tend to pass with plenty of room as if you were a car, which is great.

I don't think you could be more wrong actually. I'm a Thatcher kid. Ours was perhaps the last generation that parents were glad to let out for hours on end on our bikes, because otherwise we would be boooooored. Games consoles were in their infancy, games specifically were rubbish and expensive. There was no widespread fear of paedophiles or older kids forcing us to take drugs or carry knives. And as we grew up, we got attached to hot hatches and then salloon cars, the lower and sleeker the better.

It's Blair's kids who don't seem to have a childhood borne appreciation of the power and beauty of a kickass BMW 3 series and instead prefer to be trundling around in identitik boxes loving their high driving position because it's oh so scary out there in the big bad world of paedophiles and drug dealers. They don't know they're born. Our parents whizzed along inches from the road surface in a tiny Mini that a truck would turn into a 2 dimensional piece of metal in seconds. We learned to drive without airbags. All that safety and visibility means Blair's kids ironically don't know how to drive properly, probably because they feel too safe, insulated from the reality of what they are doing, in basic physics/friction/reaction terms. They don't even hear the wind whistling.

We hail from a generation where you could afford a fast car at a young age, and were allowed to legally drive it fast without being shamed. And it was actually possible, given the lack of traffic and traffic calming. And if you crashed it, congratulations, because now you're back on your bicycle or the bus until you had your own house and could do what you wanted. Our parents were the last to make sure we paid dearly for our adolescent mistakes, because they knew what hard work was and from their hard work, we had stuff they never had, and could take from us without someone calling the social on us. We had no rights to a car, we were teenagers or stay at home young people.

The people who get too close to me on the extremely rare occasion I venture onto a country lane, are exactly who you would expect. Anyone and everyone, from a hot hatch to a range rover and everything in between. But thankfully, by some miracle, it is only 1 driver in a 100. Which is still not very good odds, but was quite surprising to learn.

 

[AHBD]

An interesting point (although I’d be worried about security at the supermarket). A neighbour (younger than me) spent £1,000 on an electric bike and found that it could only manage about 25 miles locally. I don’t know how familiar you are with Winatts Pass and Snake Pass ( on the way to Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith or Glossop) but a round trip would eat through the charge.

(Plenty of other less-notorious climbs are also available around here.)

Carry a spare battery or 2 or 3? Perhaps a converted ordinary (and scruffy?) is less nickable(desirable) than an ready made oven baked one and some conversions use off the shelf power tool batteries so extras are cheaper..

Edit conversions based on reputable branded power tool batteries and chargers could avoid the charging fear...

England is being made to sound rather lawless here but that is the original reason the police force was created long long ago.

 

[jon0844]

I cycle more on the road than I ever did before, as the cycle lanes (and shared pavements/cycle lanes) are a nightmare now, thanks not only to leaves that aren't swept up and make the paths like ice rinks, but also overgrown vegetation that despite encroaching in and making some pavements/cycle lanes about a metre wide at most, the council looks at the reported locations and comes back with 'sorry, we don't deem it bad enough to need doing - sorry if that's not what you want to hear'. The pavement surfaces can also be worse than the roads and I assume they get the funding for them as a one off and then spend close to zero maintaining them (contrary to other countries that sweep the paths and cut back the vegetation, as well as resurface, as required).

Given I've only fallen off my bike on a cycle path, I am now on the road most of the time and by and large other motorists are actually pretty good at passing - only the odd white van or minicab seemingly wanting to get me off the road. I do make a point of moving out to block overtakers when there's no room (i.e. a car approaching the other way, or a traffic island) and then immediately pull over to make it clear I'm saying 'you're safe to pass now'). I suppose some might see that as arrogance, but it works for me as people seem to acknowledge that I'm aware of their presence and not out to try and hinder their own progress - but at the same time, I don't want them squeezing through when not safe to do so.

Perhaps it's because I drive a lot that makes me see things from both sides. Much as I detest many cyclists who are militant a**ses and don't follow the highway code, I still make sure to give them room. If they want to jump lights and end up wiped out by a lorry, or don't have lights at night, more fool them.

One reason I don't cycle more isn't just the failing infrastructure, but the risk of theft. It does mean I only cycle to places where I can be sure of secure parking facilities, which rules out using the bike to go shopping most of the time. Some shops have no issue with me bringing the bike inside, but most wouldn't allow this as they couldn't cope with everyone doing it. That means no trips to Tesco, but the local shop benefits!

 

[Magdalia]

Growing up in Cambridge, I learned to cycle as a small child. In those days a child that did not own and use a bicycle would have been regarded as something odd. For all journeys in and around the city cycling was the default option.

Working in London and commuting I didn't do much cycling, though I did take an old bike up to London to use during the 1982 strikes. Cycling in London was a very scary contrast with cycling in Cambridge. When I retired I got a new bike, and I'd hoped to use it to visit preserved railways not directly connected to the main rail network. I didn't get to do much of that before my health deteriorated. When I moved back closer to Cambridge I found that I was using the bus more and more and was about to give up cycling, especially as I'd got to the stage where I had to get off and push on bridges.

Then we had the pandemic and I didn't want to be on the bus. After the first lockdown I bought an electric bike, and it is one of the best things that I have ever done. I use it for most local journeys, including the supermarket shop, I can fill up 2 big panniers and buy a lot more per visit than I could carry on a pedal bike or on the bus.

Personally because I live in a place where a bicycle is likely to get stolen.

No option just for "nowhere to store one securely". I can afford any cycle I want, but if I'm spending a wedge on an electric bike (which is needed where I live as its years since I cycled regularly) I need somewhere at home to keep it locked away, that is something I don't have.

Exact same reason here, key places that I would love to cycle to such as rail station and towns for lunch/ shopping are not safe enough to leave your bike locked anywhere.

Having had two bikes nicked from a tube station bike rack on the main high street in clear view of people & cameras, the police were just not interested.

An interesting point (although I’d be worried about security at the supermarket).

I would have thought it was common knowledge these days that bike theft is rife and the police don't care? Or maybe that's precisely because I do live in a crime ridden city where you regularly see bikes that have clearly been nicked, abandoned.

I can only repeat, in my experience, if your bike is worth less than the lock, nobody is interested in stealing it, not an opportunist career criminal, professional bike theft crew or a random crackhead. It isn't worth it, not even scrap value. And just because the police won't catch you, doesn't mean you won't get a kicking if you nick the wrong bike and someone managed to get your picture on the neighbourhood Facebook. My bike looks like a drug dealer's bike for a reason. It's the bikes belonging to the children of drug dealers that thieves are after. Worth a lot and never traceable. Just make sure to steal them when nobody is around.

I've parked in all those places, and never had a single bike stolen. Can't be luck. My bike is kept in the shed. No security lights or stockades. If someone wants to take the risk of actually scaling my back fence, breaking the shed lock, and doing all that inches from my bedroom window, fair play. They have bigger problems than me filing a police report would bring. Nobody tries, because I make sure there's nothing about my house or garden that suggests there's hundreds of pounds worth of bike in the shed.

One reason I don't cycle more isn't just the failing infrastructure, but the risk of theft. It does mean I only cycle to places where I can be sure of secure parking facilities, which rules out using the bike to go shopping most of the time. Some shops have no issue with me bringing the bike inside, but most wouldn't allow this as they couldn't cope with everyone doing it. That means no trips to Tesco, but the local shop benefits!

Apart from distance, the main thing that restricts use of my electric bike is risk of theft. It is interesting to get confirmation here that risk of theft is one of the biggest barriers to more people cycling. I'm very fortunate that I live in an apartment block that has a secure cycle store with keyfob entry, hoops fixed to the floor and cctv, so I don't have concerns about security at home.

I'm very choosy about where I leave my bike when I'm out. My regular supermarket has a small bike park which has lots of passing traffic because it is next to the post box and a trolley park, and has cctv. Another supermarket I don't use because the bike park is bigger, but with less passing traffic, and does not have cctv.

I would never leave my electric bike unattended at a railway station. Cambridge station has the multi storey bike park but I don't use it because of risk of theft. Cambridge North was "top of the league" for railway station bike theft in some recent statistics, though that has prompted some security improvements.

Recently I went to a not very local pharmacy for my covid jab. I did a reconnaissance trip and thought I had found somewhere secure to park my bike where I could see it from the pharmacy. When I got there for the covid jab the person with the previous appointment caused a delay, and I found that the sightline to my bike was obscured. Amazingly the pharmacist picked up that I was anxious about something and spoke to me. When I explained that I was concerned about my bike they invited me to bring it into the shop, and that's what I did!

 

[ChrisC]

I had a bike from when I was about 9 years old and through my teens. I can remember going to school on it whilst still at primary school and taking my Cycling Proficiency Test around a course in the school playground. I can also remember going on a few bike rides with friends but as I progressed through my teens I think I cycled less and less. I mainly walked or used the bus. When I went to college at 18, I didn't take my bike with me and never cycled again.

Move on almost 50 years. After I had retired I tried to do at least one reasonable length walk each week which were usually between 5 and 8 miles in length. Most of these walks were in very rural areas and along public footpaths over fields and through woods. In winter, if it was very muddy, I would walk along long distance cycle trails and well surfaced paths in country parks etc. When out on those walks I saw many people cycling, and often they were older than me. The most I could ever manage to walk was around 10 miles and I began to think about cycling along these trails so that I could cover much longer distances.

Two years ago, at the age of 65, having not been on a bike since I was 18, I decided to buy myself a bike. After much thought and research I bought myself a rather expensive folding electric bike and I love it. On only my second trip out I cycled just over 15 miles and at the end of it I didn't feel anywhere near as tired as I do after a walk half that distance. It is, of course, a perfectly legal and safe electric bike, from a very reputable manufacturer and cycle shop.

I decided that a folding bike, which would quickly and easily fit into the back of my car was essential. I had no intention of cycling on busy roads. All of my cycling is for leisure and is on reasonably well surfaced cycle trails or along very quiet country lanes where there is little or almost no traffic. I am also fortunate to have nearby some country parks and country estates where cycling is permitted along trails and quiet roads. Although I live in a village, and much of the surrounding area is very rural, that does also have its problems just like others have described the problems of cycling amongst heavy traffic in urban areas. The main road through the village and out of the village to get anywhere is very busy with fast traffic. There are no pavements, it's winding in places with poor visibility, with steep grassy banks each side and on some sections not even a grass verge. No street lights too, but I wouldn't cycle after dark. Unless you are an experienced, fast cyclist, I don't think busy main roads in country areas, with fast traffic are safe places to cycle. Therefore my electric bike goes in the back of the car and I drive a few miles and park up in a location where there are plenty of relatively traffic free trails and lanes to cycle along. In the 2 years that I have had this bike I have never ridden it direct from my home as within a mile of where I live, in all directions I would have to negotiate busy roads. Now each week I try do do a walk and a cycle ride both for exercise for leisure purposes. Anywhere else I go, including shopping is by walking, bus or occasionally train, and of course using my car. The last bus here is around 7pm and no buses on Sunday, and the buses are at best hourly, so I need my car.

I understand the worries people have about the security of their bikes. Mine was expensive and I don't think I would dare leave it anywhere outside a shop or cafe. Fortunately I have somewhere very secure to store it at home. I would quite like to take it with me on when I go on holiday to cycle around some quiet country lanes in other parts of the country. Even though it is hidden from view I don't like leaving in the back of the car for more than a short time and so overnight in a hotel car park would be a worry if they wouldn't allow me to bring it inside although perhaps not such a problem with a folding bike. Perhaps a self catering cottage or even caravan would be an idea. Another thing that does concern me is the safety of the area where I cycle. There are a number of very good old railway trails in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire that I often walk along. Some of them are in ex mining areas and although I find the local youths quite harmless and reasonably friendly when walking, would I be quite as safe riding on my own past them on an expensive electric bike. All things to consider.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I love and prefer walking and hate or the helmets being worn. So personally, I will stick to walking though I have nothing against cycling per se.

 

[AHBD]

I love and prefer walking and hate or the helmets being worn. So personally, I will stick to walking though I have nothing against cycling per se.

Helmet wearing is optional

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Helmet wearing is optional

Ahhrr thanks for that. I did not know. I have lived out of the UK for too long. Retiring back to the UK July 2026 though.

 

[Tetragon213]

Leathers/kevlar jeans on a motorbike are also optional.

Doesn't make you any less daft to go for a ride without them.

Same applies to cycling; you'd be beyond daft to go for a ride without a helmet. My mum would've smacked me into next week as a kid, if I went beyond the front garden wall without a helmet on.

 

[AHBD]

Leathers/kevlar jeans on a motorbike are also optional.

Doesn't make you any less daft to go for a ride without them.

Same applies to cycling; you'd be beyond daft to go for a ride without a helmet. My mum would've smacked me into next week as a kid, if I went beyond the front garden wall without a helmet on

I dont want to start a helmet war (pages and pages... ) but in population studies cycle helmets dont even seem to deliver the modest protection one would expect from their specification never mind the claims campaigners make ... Wear a helmet if you want, but less calling people daft, cycling without a helmet is like walking or driving a car without a helmet: both classes suffer head injuries such a helmet could have theoretically reduced, but calling them daft would not be acceptable...

Cycle helmets: an international resource

Cycle helmets: an international resource

www.cyclehelmets.org

 

[Crithylum]

I cycle quite a lot, however, if theft wasn’t a thing most of my journeys would be by bike

 

[alex397]

Mainly I’m not fit enough due to a disability, but that doesn’t stop me using e-bikes or e-scooters. I only ever do this in continental Europe though, where in many places (though certainly not all) the cycling infrastructure is far superior. It feels safe there to do it. I really enjoyed doing this in Berlin recently, where even when cycling in the road it feels safe as the roads were generally wide.
Apart from hiring a TfL bike a few years ago to go around the Olympic Park, I have not cycled in the UK since childhood.
In East Kent, where I live, it generally seems only the most dedicated cycle as a regular means of transport. Seems a shame really.

The other thing putting me off is theft. Bike theft is rife, and I’ve seen it happening in broad daylight with loads of people around. Those stealing them tend to not care if they are being watched. Colleagues at work were all talking about this. Everyone in the discussion who cycles have had their bike stolen when visiting Canterbury.

 

[ls2270]

One factor that is a major issue for me and that I don’t think anyone has mentioned here is that if you wear glasses then cycling in the rain is impossible! They quickly get rain soaked and steam up giving you zero vision. That combined with the fact that bicycle brakes don’t work in the wet either gives a lethal combination that was one of several reasons why even as a non car driver I gave up cycling in favour of walking or taking the bus.

 

[Magdalia]

One factor that is a major issue for me and that I don’t think anyone has mentioned here is that if you wear glasses then cycling in the rain is impossible!

There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes. In this example a cap or helmet with a peak keeps a lot of the rain off, and, if wearing gloves, it is easy to wipe off any excess water from glasses while waiting for traffic lights to change. But carry a decent lens cloth for a proper clean at end of journey.

That combined with the fact that bicycle brakes don’t work in the wet

My ebike has disc brakes.

Although it is by no means impossible, the evidence in Cambridge is that lots of cyclists switch to cars or buses when it rains, with the inevitable result of more traffic congestion.

 

[ls2270]

There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes. In this example a cap or helmet with a peak keeps a lot of the rain off, and, if wearing gloves, it is easy to wipe off any excess water from glasses while waiting for traffic lights to change. But carry a decent lens cloth for a proper clean at end of journey.


My ebike has disc brakes.

Although it is by no means impossible, the evidence in Cambridge is that lots of cyclists switch to cars or buses when it rains, with the inevitable result of more traffic congestion.

Each to their own but I will stick with walking or taking the bus. Safer, drier and less hassle!

 

[Ediswan]

One factor that is a major issue for me and that I don’t think anyone has mentioned here is that if you wear glasses then cycling in the rain is impossible! They quickly get rain soaked and steam up giving you zero vision. That combined with the fact that bicycle brakes don’t work in the wet either gives a lethal combination that was one of several reasons why even as a non car driver I gave up cycling in favour of walking or taking the bus.

Somehow, I cycled to work in all weathers, for four years, wearing glasses, partly on a main road. No incidents.

 

[stuu]

That combined with the fact that bicycle brakes don’t work in the wet either gives a lethal combination that was one of several reasons why even as a non car driver I gave up cycling in favour of walking or taking the bus.

Really? Rim brakes aren't as good, that's true, but they do work. Disc brakes are pretty much unaffected by weather

 

[PaulLothian]

An additional option in the survey might have been worthwhile:
* I no longer cycle because of health problems/disability

May apply to a few of us on this forum, sadly!

 

[lachlan]

Somehow, I cycled to work in all weathers, for four years, wearing glasses, partly on a main road. No incidents.

I do struggle a bit when it's really rainy and car headlights blind me a bit. Though nothing that can't be solved by slowing down a bit and taking it easier.

 

[jon0844]

Bit tricky cycling in the wind today, and it wasn't anywhere near as bad here as for some of the country. Definitely wise to go slow or keep off the road in case a strong gust blew you off course on a road.

Or maybe even stay at home. But TBH even walking today would be a little dangerous as a lot of tree branches fell, and some bigger than others - the type you wouldn't want on your head.

 

[gingerheid]

- My local station is one of the cycle theft capitals of the UK. I've even had a beater bike stolen (apparently they use them to cycle round looking for garden sheds with better bikes, and then ditch them when they steal a better one).
- Usually cycling would be part of a journey that would continue by train, and I don't often travel by train because it's too expensive.

For other journeys sometimes I do

 

[iknowyeah]

I don't like that it's difficult to get a decent Dutch/German-style city bike here with pedal brakes, I find these a lot better to use on the flat surfaces near my home

 

[Bikeman78]

Is that actually true everywhere? The impression I have is that plenty of middle aged men dress in Lycra and ride a £5K road bike (when one a third of the price would do them just fine) for exactly the same sort of status symbol as a fancy car.

I have had a 500 quid bike for about five years. I ride around 2500 miles per year. What advantages would a 5000 quid bike have?

Leathers/kevlar jeans on a motorbike are also optional.

Doesn't make you any less daft to go for a ride without them.

Same applies to cycling; you'd be beyond daft to go for a ride without a helmet. My mum would've smacked me into next week as a kid, if I went beyond the front garden wall without a helmet on.

I never wore one as a child. On the rare occasion that I have fallen off, I have never hit my head. The only reason I bother to wear one is that it's no great hardship and it saves being lectured.

Really? Rim brakes aren't as good, that's true, but they do work. Disc brakes are pretty much unaffected by weather

Disc brakes are amazing. As you say, they work in all weather conditions. I've only replaced the pads on my current bike once, after approx 10,000 miles.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I used to cycle a lot as a child but living up a hill the ride home always proved a challenge. Once a learnt to drive the bike was put in the shed and later disposed of. When my employer put in parking restrictions I purchased an old 1950s 3 speed bike as I liked that vintage touch. After leaving home I only lived 20mins walk from work so my bike was once again abandoned in my parents shed where it remains to this day. The last time I rode it was 2012. After tackling that hill after all that time my legs were like jelly. I still oil it occasionally but it still remains in my fathers shed.

 

[Tetragon213]

One factor that is a major issue for me and that I don’t think anyone has mentioned here is that if you wear glasses then cycling in the rain is impossible! They quickly get rain soaked and steam up giving you zero vision. That combined with the fact that bicycle brakes don’t work in the wet either gives a lethal combination that was one of several reasons why even as a non car driver I gave up cycling in favour of walking or taking the bus.

Not to mention that cycling that way gets you to work tired and stressed before the day even begins. I like to save my mental and physical energy for work, not expend it all just trying to get in. Also, when it rains, the windchill effect gets real bad.

I disliked travelling in Pacers and 150s in the winter with their inadequete heating at Uni; I would arrive to work mightily unhappy if I was blasted by the cold directly for a 20 minute bike ride, before opening my laptop!

 

[JohnMcL7]

Somehow, I cycled to work in all weathers, for four years, wearing glasses, partly on a main road. No incidents.

I was thinking while reading that post I'd just been out at night in a forest in heavy rain through mud and tree routes along with a friend who had glasses on, no problems stopping with hydraulic brakes and he had no problems seeing either.

I have had a 500 quid bike for about five years. I ride around 2500 miles per year. What advantages would a 5000 quid bike have?

The simple advantage is they're much nicer to ride. It's certainly well into the point of diminishing returns at £5,000 but there's still plenty of advantages having started off with cheap road and off road bikes and worked up to more expensive ones. My current road bike is a more expensive model however I don't regret a penny of it, the bike has damping systems front and rear along with flex in the rear stays coupled with a relaxed riding position yet still light, big 32mm tyres, great shifters and decent hydraulic brakes. It's a bike I've literally ridden all through the day and then all through the night far longer than my cheaper bikes because it's both fast and comfortable plus even functional items like the shifters are just nicer to use. No-one seems to blink an eye at people spending well into five figures to get a nicer car so to me spending a fraction of that on a bike I spend far more time on than the car is money well spent.

The mountain bikes aren't quite as expensive as they're all alloy but in their case having better geometries makes the more capable of technical terrain, better brakes give more power and better feel to help deal with higher speeds, improved rims that allow wider tyres give more traction, suspension can handle technical terrain at speed better, more expensive groupsets offer better feel and durability plus droppers make steep descents so much easier. It's funny looking back to my original rides on an XC HT and than a Trail FS bike where I thought I was riding well but just look hilariously slow and ponderous where I viewed success as managing to get the bike over the terrain whereas now on better bikes I can attack the trails far more aggressively instead looking to get down the trails as fast as possible.

Not to mention that cycling that way gets you to work tired and stressed before the day even begins. I like to save my mental and physical energy for work, not expend it all just trying to get in. Also, when it rains, the windchill effect gets real bad.

I disliked travelling in Pacers and 150s in the winter with their inadequete heating at Uni; I would arrive to work mightily unhappy if I was blasted by the cold directly for a 20 minute bike ride, before opening my laptop!

Each to their own but it's the opposite for me, cycling destresses and refreshes me especially compared to cars or public transport. As many others have mentioned it's easily possible to deal with bad weather, it's just a case of being prepared for it which can take a bit of practice in getting the right clothing to offer the right level of protection against the elements without being too hot however it's very much possible.

 

[Ghostbus]

Not to mention that cycling that way gets you to work tired and stressed before the day even begins. I like to save my mental and physical energy for work, not expend it all just trying to get in.

I can only repeat, bike fitness makes all the difference.

Once I had that, a 20 minute ride working moderately hard over one ridge en route didn't remotely drain my physical energy for the working day (whereas when I first started cycling it would have). And that particular job was physically hard. Emotionally too, given the boss was an asshole. It being a ridge, meaning a climb out and back, means it could otherwise be quite daunting, mentally and physcially. With bike fitness, I attacked it with relish most days, knowing it's all money in the bank.

I'm not remotely an exercise freak or junkie, this just appears to be the normal human phsyiology in action. Adaption to need. Plus endorphins I guess. Not being a sporty guy (but outdoorsy) I was as surprised as anyone.

And riding along car free cycle ways was certainly far less stressful than the alternative of a bus into town and then another out, for an hour long commute. A nice way to start the working day, to be quite honest. Even in less than ideal weather conditions. Without bike fitness, just walking and public transport/driving, I was so unfit that being late and having to run for the bus, would be a very stressful start to the day, physically and mentally.

If you're willing to risk it, it's even possible to be less tired because you can be in bed longer where the bike is the shorter end to end option. But I would rather not find out too late that I had a slow puncture overnight, so instead I woke up at my normal time (helpful on those days I would be taking the bus for weather reasons), and once I know the bike is fine, I enjoy a nice stress free breakfast and peruse the news of the day.

Once I invested in the thicker tyres, it wasn't even worth the daily check, I happily took that risk. I certainly missed more buses than I was ever delayed due to a puncture, before or during the commute. One of my only real fears about use of the bile as a commute mode, punctures, was quickly resolved with experience.

In an entire year, I had precisely one puncture on the all important going to work leg, and it was close enough (and I was fit enough) that a light jog pushing the bike did the job instead. In other jobs, I've been delayed by not just late but literally cancelled buses almost once a month, sometimes once a week. Ridiculous. Insanely stressful. But having a car came with the stress and misery of knowing I had to put up with that asshole boss just to afford the car. Now I can take weeks off between jobs. Get out on the bike and relax. Find new routes and thus new job opportunities. Very empowering.

With bike fitness, I would only feel heavy legged on that final ride home on Friday. No different to the general exhaustion of a working week in a physically demanding job. But now I have the option of jumping on the bike at the weekend and being at the beach in an hour, riding at a leisurely pace. The thought of doing that by bus and train however, for fun, was both mentally and physically daunting. Or doing an entire circuit of the nearest country park from my front door in lovely autumn/spring and even mild winter weather. Which is a walk that would challenge even a very physically fit person, and take most of their day, and still require a car to get them there and back in a reasonable time.
If I had cycled that commute on the roads, even in the off peak that my shifts allowed, I would definitely be too stressed to then begin work, and dread the trip home. Hence the attempt in this thread to inform some people that cycling might be an option and indeed enjoyable for those who do have (and are willing to find) those precious car free routes, but perhaps have other reasons for not cycling, such as fitness, the weather, lack of mechanical knowledge or fear of theft.

I was certainly totally clueless about the routes around me, until I got out of the car/bus and onto the bike. Even the ones I knew about from walking, the bike extends your capacity to explore them by an insane amount. Now I know where they all either just meet their natural end, usually because of a road, or carry on so far you'd need to book an overnight stay and fit some panniers to find the end. Not my style, but you can see why some do it.