Commute less than 8km? Why don't you cycle?

Cookie_Monster

tech2 wrote: »

Yes 10 minutes and yes Im extremely lazy. So what there is other workmates who live next door from me and also drive. A car is a luxury i own get over yourself.

Thats disgraceful TBH.

You're also doing more damage to your car since on such a short journey it'll always be running cold.

veryangryman

tech2 wrote: »

Yes 10 minutes and yes Im extremely lazy. So what there is other workmates who live next door from me and also drive. A car is a luxury i own get over yourself.

You deserve whats coming in these posts (and indeed, later in life) for that attitude.

A luxury is a weekend break every few months, not a 2 minute "sit" when a 10 minute walk would be far better for all concerned. Even i occasionally cycle the 5km to where i work. Especially now that its summer.

Calling yourself lazy is a very lazy thing to do. Change your ways man, do us all a favour.

I mean this in the nicest way possible btw. Im all for people striving to improve themselves

skywalker_208

I am curious - all you people that are cycling up to 20k to work.. I presume you do not work in an office/need to wear a suit? Because suits and bikes do not go to well together.. not to mention the sweat you would have to sit in all day...

Stark

tech2 wrote: »

Yes 10 minutes and yes Im extremely lazy. So what there is other workmates who live next door from me and also drive. A car is a luxury i own get over yourself.

Let us know when yourself and your workmates start suffering from heart disease so we can gloat.

Stark

skywalker_208 wrote: »

I am curious - all you people that are cycling up to 20k to work.. I presume you do not work in an office/need to wear a suit? Because suits and bikes do not go to well together.. not to mention the sweat you would have to sit in all day...

I'd usually bring a change of clothes if I was cycling that distance. Pannier bags are handy for storing clothes that you don't want getting crumpled as well.

veryangryman

Stark wrote: »

Let us know when yourself and your workmates start suffering from heart disease so we can gloat.

Wanted to say that myself without getting banned but +1 is definitely in order here

monument

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I do cycle to work. Dalkey to Dun Laoghaire, only 2-3km.

But I voted other because if i were cycling 8km I'd be all sweaty and horrible when i get to work and there are no changing or shower facilities. Can't really be sitting in a shirt with swaet stains all over it everyday:o

I was going to put it down to around 6km -- but I do 6.5km each way without sweating at all most days now I've gotten a bit fitter, and 8km is doable since I know there are a lot of people over in the cycling board doing a good bit more.

But I did mean anywhere in between 8km and 1km, so your commute would be included.

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Poll should be multi choice since people may have more than one reason and you may want to add Too Lazy

Thought of multi-choice after I put the poll in, and too much effort / too lazy are interchangeable.

monument

helimachoptor wrote: »

I've ended up under the wheels of a truck... thankfully I did a james bond and rolled out of the way but could have easily died.

Cycling around town is incredibly dangerous. The amout of cars doors that i've had to avoid at the last second is unrealy, the amount of cars that don't indicate when turning is unreal.

cycling is dangerous.

Were these car doors of parked cars?

If so, it sounds like you were cycling dangerously, there's a big difference. Cycling close to doors of parked cars is dangerous, not cycling in general.

Even if the car doors were of cars in slow traffic, then you should have adjusted your speed in such traffic.

Quint

Lack of showers seems to be the most common problem. I have showers at work, but there's no way I'd cycle if we didn't.

seamus

skywalker_208 wrote: »

I am curious - all you people that are cycling up to 20k to work.. I presume you do not work in an office/need to wear a suit? Because suits and bikes do not go to well together.. not to mention the sweat you would have to sit in all day...

Shower FTW. Mine commute is 12.5k. Most of the sweat is on my back, where my bag is, so even if for whatever reason I couldn't shower, a whore's bath would work just as well. I far prefer being able to roll out of bed, pack up a bag and straight onto the bike, than having to drag yourself out of bed to get showered and hopefully make a bus which might leave early but which will be jammed.

There is undoubtably a bedding-in period, where the prospect of a cold morning cycling into work makes you want to cry, but pretty quickly the prospect of getting a poxy bus to work and back home again becomes the more horrifying one. I only do it now when I know I'm going to be half drunk going home so the bus won't bother me quite so much

Very much looking forward to the cycle home this evening, lovely evening in it.

Tech3

Stark wrote: »

Let us know when yourself and your workmates start suffering from heart disease so we can gloat.

I would regard that as a personal attack and quite an untasteful comment. Im actually fit and healthy. I play all kinds of sports and keep active. I can never respect a poster for directly an attack on another.

Chris_533976

Irish weather, too dangerous and no shower/changing facilities at work.

Two bus routes pass by my door, they're ok for getting to work but getting home I could be waiting an hour in the pouring rain as they're so bloody unreliable.

A Dub in Glasgo

Lack of showering facilities in our place

Photojoe

Too dangerous, too sweaty, too slow, too much effort in the morning, impractical.

Photojoe

Stark wrote: »

Let us know when yourself and your workmates start suffering from heart disease so we can gloat.

Hey tosser, people do all kinds of exercise and don't need to turn their commute into an extra session. I hope your first born gets cancer.

Tech3

Photojoe wrote: »

Hey tosser, people do all kinds of exercise and don't need to turn their commute into an extra session. I hope your first born gets cancer.

A bit extreme but fair. Stark, I guess for you being a mod a disgraceful comment like that can be left through the system. However I wouldnt steep that low to wish you any troubles now or the future.

Buffman

I did cycle 8km to and from work for 2 years on North Kildare roads. After a few near death experiences (as in another 5 seconds up the road and I'd be dead) I've decide I'd rather have a ton of metal on my side!:D
Having cycled on both county roads and city streets, I reckon the city is a lot safer. Slower traffic speeds, more visibility, more cycle lanes, all make it safer.

taram

I used to cycle the 5km to college through town in rain or shine, but the 5km to work through suburbs would kill me, boy racers going at 50km, cars pulling in and out of estates without looking, kids throwing rocks :mad: City was fine once you kept an eye out for people crossing randomly.

Yakuza

I cycle to work 3-4 days a week, 15km round trip, takes 20-25 minutes each way. I commute from Clontarf to the city centre so luckily there's a decent cycle path for over half the way (not just a strip of road painted pink). Here's my approach to some of the reasons cited here for not cycling:

"no changing facilties where I work" - your work doesn't have a toilet???
"I get too sweaty" - load the bike, not yourself, so you don't get a sweaty back, that should help.
"no showers where I work" - baby wipes for the win
"not practical with a suit" - leave your suit / good shoes in work, bring in a fresh shirt in your panniers, or drive in on Monday with 4 pressed shirts on hangars.

I work in IT, so the dress code borders on casual / smart casual most of the time, barring when I've external client meetings (when out comes the tin of fruit and I do take the bus / car depending on where the meeting is).

I realise cycling isn't an option for everyone, but I'd encourage more folks to give it a try. IMHO the benefits to fitness, weight, and overall time saved outweigh a few minutes' extra ablutions when you arrive to the office.

On the safety front, you just need to keep your wits about you, treat every driver coming from a side street like they can't see you and/or want to kill you and you should be fine.:D

A Dub in Glasgo

Yakuza wrote: »

"no changing facilties where I work" - your work doesn't have a toilet???
"I get too sweaty" - load the bike, not yourself, so you don't get a sweaty back, that should help.
"no showers where I work" - baby wipes for the win

I am afraid that is not going to cut it at all. There is no way I will cycle to work to squeeze myself into a work toilet cubicle and wipe myself down with baby wipes!!

If society wants people to cycling more, they will have to start providing some facilities.

jum4

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

If society wants people to cycling more, they will have to start providing some facilities.

Is is not the norm for offices in Dublin to provide shower facilites? (Havn't lived/worked in Ireland for years)

markpb

jum4 wrote: »

Is is not the norm for offices in Dublin to provide shower facilites? (Havn't lived/worked in Ireland for years)

That would be a resounding no. My current office does but the last building I worked in (new shared offices block in Sandyford) did not.

jum4

Amazing! Surely that is a huge deterrent for people considering cycling to work?

Mucco

It looks like weather / showers is quite a big barrier for some people. What's needed is an attitude change in government/business to ensure facilities are provided (ie in planning approval + tax breaks). This seems to be happening albeit slowly.

M

seamus

jum4 wrote: »

Amazing! Surely that is a huge deterrent for people considering cycling to work?

Yep. It's a chicken-and-egg scenario. Employers don't install them because they say there's no demand and as is clearly evidenced by this thread, a massive amount of people are citing "no facilities" as a reason for not cycling (and sometimes for not walking) to work.

No amount of bike schemes and bike lanes will change that. For people who already love cycling, the thought of squeezing into a cubicle and cleaning your nethers with a baby wipe is just about bearable. For anyone who's thinking of starting to cycle, it's a ridiculous prospect.

In reality, they should be offering tax breaks and other incentives to employers to install shower facilities which are up to a particular spec and you assign someone from local government to inspect the facilities once a year before signing off on them. Much like the taxis, they should include notices about how/where to complain about the facilities, with heavy penalties for employers who fail to maintain them (or who convert them to storage, like a lot do).

seamus

It looks like weather is quite a big barrier for some people.

That's pretty much in one's head though. There was a figure quoted by the greens that you'll only get wet one day in ten. This is more-or-less accurate - the odds of it actually raining while you're going into work are quite slim. One day in ten is nothing and in general it turns out to be massively long periods where you never get wet and then a short run of 3 or 4 days where it's constantly wet (but not lashing).

In addition, with the right gear the rain can be completely ignored.

Cookie_Monster

markpb wrote: »

That would be a resounding no. My current office does but the last building I worked in (new shared offices block in Sandyford) did not.

+1. A lot of people here have asked for facilities repeatidly to no avail.
"It's too expensive"

Rain is another factor, don't want to be cold and wet in work all day! I'll get the bus when raining heavily but if it's just overcast or drizzly will still cycle

markpb

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Rain is another factor, don't want to be cold and wet in work all day! I'll get the bus when raining heavily but if it's just overcast or drizzly will still cycle

This might be surprising to non-cyclists but cold and rain doesn't really affect us. It has to be very cold to counteract the heat generated by cycling. Cycling in rain isn't much fun but as long as it's not a very long cycle and you have a change of clothes, it doesn't make much difference.

I will admit to wussing out and getting the bus some days if it's raining when I get up but if I'm already cycling and it starts to rain, it doesn't bother me.

Cookie_Monster

markpb wrote: »

This might be surprising to non-cyclists but cold and rain doesn't really affect us. It has to be very cold to counteract the heat generated by cycling. Cycling in rain isn't much fun but as long as it's not a very long cycle and you have a change of clothes, it doesn't make much difference.

Am not overly bother by the cold alright, though a hat and gloves definitly become nessicary sometimes. I don't bring a bag or change or clothes to work and can't be bothered to do that when the Bus/Dart is available when it's nasty out.

That said I'd say I still cycle over 90% of the time, rain is a lot rarer then most Irish people will admit to.

CatFromHue

i used to live and cycle to work in belfast.
the place i worked in did have a good shower but to be honest i never used it cos i never got that sweaty. if you go at an easy enough pace your fine. if you're racing to work thats different.
my journey was about 6km to work, mainly uphill.
i did cycle to work though in different clothes than i worked in and changed at work. when i was cycling i wore one of those sports tops that "wicks" the sweat away from your body, it also kept me warm in winter. you really do need a good apir of gloves too.
it really isnt as wet as you think. you may cycle when the ground is wet or it has been raining but not as much in the actual rain as you think.
my prob now is that ive moved back to dublin and work 20km away from home.
i wish i could cycle to work but its too far