The drawbacks of commuting

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And it's not only the weather...

The thing I worry about most is getting a puncture in the wrong area. On my commute I have to cycle through quite a few dodgy areas on my way into town (Joburg). Those areas have the most glass on the raod so most likely place to puncture. Well today it happened on my way to work. It was my rear tyre and I decided not to stop as I was only 6 blocks away from my office. Just kept the weight over the front wheel. Much better than stopping and the rim and tyre didn't  damage at all.

My worry is the highveld thunderstorms. I can't picture myself making any headway against the pelting rain between Midrand and Randburg. The weather forecast reads afternoon thundershowers every day  ::). I have yet to try a commute by bicycle :-/ (too nervous I guess.) My ride would be about 35km each way.
From experience, what is your average speed during a commute as opposed to during a long slow ride for example.

What time do you guys leave in the morning and leave in the afternoon?

I wanna try it, just have to assimilate more info first  8)

From experience, what is your average speed during a commute as opposed to during a long slow ride for example.
8)


I work only 7km's from work, but my average speed is much slower than when I go out for a training ride.  The time you leave home or work all depends on how long your ride will be, when you start/stop working, etc.  And then you must make provision for a shower in the morning as well.  Nothing more unpleasant to start a day sweaty  :-/

Our company is moving in January, so the distance is going to be a few km's longer.  I'm dreading it, because then I'll have to go right into the city centre of Pretoria and dodge all the traffic. :o  

I also worry about thunderstorms but I've only been caught a couple of times. I worry more about the lack of visibilty of the traffic around me than anythig else.

You can't go by the weather forecast. In the last 4 weeks they've been guessing. They predict showers everday because it seems train once a day most days but they've been wrong more than they've been correct.

My average speed depends on what type of ride I'm doing. If I go easy on the way to work the 30kms never takes much longer than an hour (ave 28km/h which is the same for a long slow ride). But my best time trial time is well under 50 minutes giving me an average in the 37km/h region. That's including all the traffic lights.

I leave home around 6am so when I get to Jhb city centre it's not too busy at 7am. leave the office at 16h30 (or just before) and usually ride much harder on the way home. In fact I'm going to start getting ready to go in 10 minutes or so. ;)

Roadster, I see you're also having some hassle with the posting process  ;D
Don't worry too much about traffic. Ride early before it's too busy and the traffic manners isn't too bad if you ride in a predictable way and use hand signals. They seem to be more or afraid of coming close to me in town.

I commute 90km each way to work (by car, obviously!) Imagine if I had to do that by bike! :o

I commute 90km each way to work (by car, obviously!) Imagine if I had to do that by bike! :o

I bet if you did that once a week you'd be an A rider in no time at all ;)

I bet if you did that once a week you'd be an A rider in no time at all ;)


Goh, I'll be fit! :o

and you'd be pretty familiar with the H2H route too ;D

From experience, what is your average speed during a commute as opposed to during a long slow ride for example.

What time do you guys leave in the morning and leave in the afternoon?

I wanna try it, just have to assimilate more info first  8)

If you want to judge this, the best thing to do would be a simulated commute on a weekend.  That is, pick a Saturday or Sunday and actually ride the planned route carrying whatever you would take for a commute.  That way, you'll be able to judge the time it takes and possibly scope out a couple of different routes properly.