One commuter takes a sit up and beg approach, the other goes for an aerodynamic tuck (or is she looking at why her brakes aren’t working)
I tend to wear two cycling hats, my racing helmet and a wooly hat for commuting. In most sports, there is no complement to the sporting aspect. The only time you will pick up a squash racket is in a squash court. You don’t have breakfast and then spend 15 minutes balancing a squash ball on the way to work.
But, with cycling, you have both the racing aspect and the purely functional aspect of cycling as a mode of transport – and all the political issues which surround the right to be on a road e.t.c.
A squash player can just play squash. He doesn’t have to deal with someone wandering onto the court, narrowly avoiding getting in the way of the ball every two minutes. A squash player doesn’t have to shout at people ‘please don’t run onto the court and knock me over’. But, a cyclist has to train and also keep an eye on staying alive. It can be a difficult balancing act when you’re doing maximal hill efforts.
Separate identities
After racing on Sunday, Monday morning is a time to get on another bike and amble into town. It’s a different kind of experience, rather than pushing yourself into oxygen debt, you’re more concerned about getting into town unscathed from buses and pedestrians.
There is an element of overlap between the two. My commuting bike is currently an old racing bike. It’s the same drop handlebars and racing position. I do toy with the idea of getting a single speed or even classic sit up and beg. It looks cool, it looks comfortable. But, I always seem to come down on the side of – which is fastest?
Occasionally, I ride the commuting bike fast, but usually I’m more in the mode of taking my time. As a beneficial side-effect, I get a bit of recovery riding in from commuting. I don’t commute to do a recovery ride, but as it happened commuting provides an ideal recovery ride and so saves a bit of time. Six easy slow miles makes an excellent little recovery ride, and is probably better than doing nothing. If I didn’t commute, I wouldn’t bother getting all my kit on just for the sake of a 40 minute recovery ride.
The Limited Joys of Commuting
Generally, cycle commuting is not as enjoyable as a proper training session. Why?
- The roads into town are the hardest to negotiate. There is more traffic, the roads are too narrow to share with cars.
- You are frequently stopping for red lights, pedestrian crossings and traffic calming measures. There is less flow to cycling.
- You are more likely to have accidents on a commute. I have been fortunate in avoiding accidents on bikes. But, the minor ones tend to occur in the town centre. Pedestrians stepping out into the road, slipping on ice, there just seem to be more obstacles in town e.t.c.
- Getting annoyed at other people on bikes. Despite a mental understanding that I’m not responsible for how other people cycle into town, you still can’t quite shake off that feeling of annoyance when other people cycle through a red light causing traffic to stop. You know the motorists are cursing all cyclists. Yet, when I get in car, I never feel responsibility for other motorists who drive recklessly (but, that’s all another story)
Why I like Commuting by Bike
- You can cycle really slowly, but still be much faster than anyone else on a sit-up and beg style bike.
- I never race on a commute bike, except the occasions when I do. I can always win my imaginary races which gives a very feeble sense of satisfaction. The few occasions where I get tempted into commuting races, is when another cyclist cheats and uses the pavement and red light. I view it as a handicap race. A race which gives an added feeling of moral superiority because you can win without cheating!
- So Commuting is very different to racing, except when it isn’t. It’s hard to completely shake off the mentality of a racing cyclist. (see: real guide to Commuting)
Racing V Commuting
- I like both. Commuting is a great way to save money, save time and get to where I want to be. I love a short bit of exercise in the morning before writing. I love to see a city full of cyclists, it helps create a better atmosphere than a city full of speeding cars and lorries.
- I prefer racing and riding properly because you can really get into the flow. But, it’s good to be able to do and enjoy both.
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