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Confessions of a new commuter
Just moved into my unit in Mitcham, and started commuting on the peddly
treddly to work this morning. Observations, and questions. 1) Took me around an hour, and I was knackered at the end. Average speed would've been around 20 kph, at a guess. (Really need to get a cycle computer on my bike...) I didn't start getting my second wind until about 40 minutes into the ride. Likely to improve with fitness, I assume? (I damn well hope so... :-) 2) Lane splitting. Hit a wall of traffic north of Ferntree Gully Road heading south on Springvale Road. My hybrid has barely enough room to pass in the middle of two lanes of traffic (forget about passing on the left side of the left lane; it Ain't Gonna Happen). I assume a road bike would improve this (it'd cut the width of the handlebars considerably, but there's still the panniers to deal with...) 3) Route this morning: meandering through to Mitcham Road via the back streets (south of the railway line), west onto Canterbury Road, south onto Terrara Road, deviating onto Hanover Road, then west along Burwood Highway, south along Springvale, west along Ferntree Gully to Monash Uni. Suggestions for a better route? (not that there's anything particularly wrong with this one) Maybe south along Hartland and Highmont to Highbury Road? Lots of stuff to buy along the way: road bike; lights and pannier racks for said road bike (speaking of which -- I have two takers for the panniers I mentioned in another posting; if one declines the postage costs, the other is in Melbourne, so consider them gone); new shoes (the old ones are not comfortable any more); ... But for now, I'm riding. Just wish it didn't take so much out of me to the point that I'm puffing for half an hour after I get in to work. :-) -- My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet". |
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#2
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Confessions of a new commuter
congrats! I tram to work, would take me longer to get ready then i would to ride. yeah dont worry about the fitness before you know it, it will b taking, 40 minutes and you will doing 50 km loops just to fill i time!! well exaggerating, but you know what I mean! Its personal I guess, I always found, Blackburn Road nicer to ride o then Springvale road, its usually not "quite" as heavy with traffic an it found it a better road for riding on as well, nicer asphalt good luck with the commuting! and the bike upgrading. Stuart Lamble Wrote: Just moved into my unit in Mitcham, and started commuting on the peddly treddly to work this morning. Observations, and questions. 1) Took me around an hour, and I was knackered at the end. Average speed would've been around 20 kph, at a guess. (Really need to get a cycle computer on my bike...) I didn't start getting my second wind until about 40 minutes into the ride. Likely to improve with fitness, I assume? (I damn well hope so... :-) 2) Lane splitting. Hit a wall of traffic north of Ferntree Gully Road heading south on Springvale Road. My hybrid has barely enough room to pass in the middle of two lanes of traffic (forget about passing on the left side of the left lane; it Ain't Gonna Happen). I assume a road bike would improve this (it'd cut the width of the handlebars considerably, but there's still the panniers to deal with...) 3) Route this morning: meandering through to Mitcham Road via the back streets (south of the railway line), west onto Canterbury Road, south onto Terrara Road, deviating onto Hanover Road, then west along Burwood Highway, south along Springvale, west along Ferntree Gully to Monash Uni. Suggestions for a better route? (not that there's anything particularly wrong with this one) Maybe south along Hartland and Highmont to Highbury Road? Lots of stuff to buy along the way: road bike; lights and pannie racks for said road bike (speaking of which -- I have two takers for the panniers I mentioned in another posting; if one declines the postage costs, the other is in Melbourne, so consider them gone); new shoe (the old ones are not comfortable any more); ... But for now, I'm riding. Just wish it didn't take so much out of me to the point that I' puffing for half an hour after I get in to work. :-) -- My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me and the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet" -- MikeyOz |
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Confessions of a new commuter
"Stuart Lamble" wrote in message ... Just moved into my unit in Mitcham, and started commuting on the peddly treddly to work this morning. Observations, and questions. 1) Took me around an hour, and I was knackered at the end. Average speed would've been around 20 kph, at a guess. (Really need to get a cycle computer on my bike...) I didn't start getting my second wind until about 40 minutes into the ride. Likely to improve with fitness, I assume? (I damn well hope so... :-) Keep riding. As you get fitter the time will come down. When I first took up commuting (July 1976 to studies at Monash) my first ride took me over 45 minutes. Within 2 weeks I had this down to 25 miutes and sometimes 20 minutes. Your time should coome down to about 30 minutes. 3) Route this morning: meandering through to Mitcham Road via the back streets (south of the railway line), west onto Canterbury Road, south onto Terrara Road, deviating onto Hanover Road, then west along Burwood Highway, south along Springvale, west along Ferntree Gully to Monash Uni. Suggestions for a better route? Follow the Ringwood to Chadstone bus route (check the Melways)- down Hartland Rd, Highmont Dv, RT on Highbury Rd, LT into Camelot Dv, RT into Capital Av, LT at roundabout into Westlands Rd -all this is quite flat or slight downhill, better than the ups and downs, and traffic of Burwood Hwy & Springvale Rd. At High Street Rd go right to Springvale Rd. Take Springvale through Glen Waverley, then turn left on Waverley to Blackburn Rd then ride this divided section of Blackburn to Monash. This should avoid a lot of the traffic heading along Springvale to get to the freeway. Just wish it didn't take so much out of me to the point that I'm puffing for half an hour after I get in to work. :-) That puffing is a symptom of you getting fitter ;-) Cheers Peter |
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Confessions of a new commuter
On 2005-02-28, MikeyOz wrote:
Its personal I guess, I always found, Blackburn Road nicer to ride on then Springvale road, its usually not "quite" as heavy with traffic and it found it a better road for riding on as well, nicer asphalt Blackburn Road is fine south of Waverley Road, and that's the way I went whilst living with my parents (they're in a place between Blackburn and Springvale Roads), but north of WR, I strongly distrust it. Two lanes in both directions, undivided road ... too much aggravation for the other vehicles. -- My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet". |
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Confessions of a new commuter
Follow the Ringwood to Chadstone bus route (check the Melways)- down Hartland Rd, Highmont Dv, RT on Highbury Rd, LT into Camelot Dv, RT into Capital Av, LT at roundabout into Westlands Rd -all this is quite flat or slight downhill, better than the ups and downs, and traffic of Burwood Hwy & Springvale Rd. At High Street Rd go right to Springvale Rd. Take Springvale through Glen Waverley, then turn left on Waverley to Blackburn Rd then ride this divided section of Blackburn to Monash. This should avoid a lot of the traffic heading along Springvale to get to the freeway. Good route! (I wish I had more of those) Alternative is to use Blackburn road to Highbury (while it is still wide) and then turn right. Turn left after the quarry/housing slums and then back track a little to Lawrence Rd. Follow this over High St Rd, turn onto Regent St until Waverley. Both of these are quite wide. Then take Forster Rd through to Monash. The hills are quite mild, particularly going South. |
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Confessions of a new commuter
On 2005-02-28, Peter Signorini wrote:
"Stuart Lamble" wrote in message ... 3) Route this morning: meandering through to Mitcham Road via the back streets (south of the railway line), west onto Canterbury Road, south onto Terrara Road, deviating onto Hanover Road, then west along Burwood Highway, south along Springvale, west along Ferntree Gully to Monash Uni. Suggestions for a better route? Follow the Ringwood to Chadstone bus route (check the Melways)- down Hartland Rd, Highmont Dv, RT on Highbury Rd, LT into Camelot Dv, RT into Capital Av, LT at roundabout into Westlands Rd -all this is quite flat or slight downhill, better than the ups and downs, and traffic of Burwood Hwy & Springvale Rd. Reads somewhat complicated, but on the map, it's pretty straightforward. I'll give it a go on the trip home, see what it's like. Might well end up being a lot easier; Burwood Highway was definitely the worst part of this morning's commute. Thanks. Just wish it didn't take so much out of me to the point that I'm puffing for half an hour after I get in to work. :-) That puffing is a symptom of you getting fitter ;-) I know; I just like a bit of a whinge. :-) Much appreciated. -- My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet". |
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Confessions of a new commuter
"Stuart" == Stuart Lamble writes:
Stuart Blackburn Road is fine south of Waverley Road, and that's Stuart the way I went whilst living with my parents (they're in a Stuart place between Blackburn and Springvale Roads), but north of Stuart WR, I strongly distrust it. Two lanes in both directions, Stuart undivided road ... too much aggravation for the other Stuart vehicles. Yeah, I've ridden Blackburn Road between Burwood Highway and Wellington Road, it's not much fun. Warrigal Road is about the best link I've managed to find between Burwood Highway and Wellington so far, and that ain't great. -- Cheers Euan |
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Confessions of a new commuter
"Stuart Lamble" wrote: Reads somewhat complicated, but on the map, it's pretty straightforward. Yes it s easy to do and quite direct. I sometimes use this as part of a training loop from my place to Jells Park then back along the Dandenong Ck Trail. I'll give it a go on the trip home, see what it's like. Might well end up being a lot easier; Burwood Highway was definitely the worst part of this morning's commute. Thanks. No worries. Another option, depending upon wich part of Mitcham you're coming from could be to ride down Boronia Rd to the Dandenong Ck Trail, then take it down to High Street Rd, or maybe even Waverley Rd. It'd be a very peaceful route, if a bit longer.(Don't go as far as Ferntree Gully Rd uness you want some serious hill training. The FTG Rd hill is notoriously steep and probably carries lots of traffic in the morning) Then you could cut across to Springvale Rd or Blackburn Rd to get down to Monash. Cheers Peter |
#9
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Confessions of a new commuter
"Stuart Lamble" wrote in message ... Just moved into my unit in Mitcham, and started commuting on the peddly treddly to work this morning. Observations, and questions. 1) Took me around an hour, and I was knackered at the end. Average speed would've been around 20 kph, at a guess. (Really need to get a cycle computer on my bike...) I didn't start getting my second wind until about 40 minutes into the ride. Likely to improve with fitness, I assume? (I damn well hope so... :-) 2) Lane splitting. Hit a wall of traffic north of Ferntree Gully Road heading south on Springvale Road. My hybrid has barely enough room to pass in the middle of two lanes of traffic (forget about passing on the left side of the left lane; it Ain't Gonna Happen). I assume a road bike would improve this (it'd cut the width of the handlebars considerably, but there's still the panniers to deal with...) 3) Route this morning: meandering through to Mitcham Road via the back streets (south of the railway line), west onto Canterbury Road, south onto Terrara Road, deviating onto Hanover Road, then west along Burwood Highway, south along Springvale, west along Ferntree Gully to Monash Uni. Suggestions for a better route? (not that there's anything particularly wrong with this one) Maybe south along Hartland and Highmont to Highbury Road? Lots of stuff to buy along the way: road bike; lights and pannier racks for said road bike (speaking of which -- I have two takers for the panniers I mentioned in another posting; if one declines the postage costs, the other is in Melbourne, so consider them gone); new shoes (the old ones are not comfortable any more); ... But for now, I'm riding. Just wish it didn't take so much out of me to the point that I'm puffing for half an hour after I get in to work. :-) -- My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet". Heh, you're obviously a good bit fitter than I was when I started riding Good effort. You'll still breathe heavily at the end of the commute, but after a while, it's not uncontrolled gasping anymore and You feel good immediately afterwards rather than just wanting to collapse somewhere cool and quiet. |
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Confessions of a new commuter
"Stuart" == Stuart Lamble writes:
Stuart (Really need to get a cycle computer on my bike...) Yes, you do! I'm a commuter, it's pretty much all I use my bike for. I'm kicking myself that I didn't get one 19 months ago when I started this commuting by bike m'larky. Don't repeat my pain, get a 'puter :-) Stuart I didn't start getting my second wind until about 40 Stuart minutes into the ride. You might be starting off too hard, I take it real easy for the first 10-15 minutes of the ride, depending how cold it is, before upping the effort and I've noticed a marked difference. Stuart Likely to improve with fitness, I assume? (I damn well hope Stuart so... :-) Yes, you'll get fitter and it'll get easier. Have you ever had any cycling coaching? I.E. has anyone actually taught you how to use the pedals properly sit on the bike and that sort of thing? If the answer is no, again don't repeat my pain :-) About two months ago I figured that if cycling was going to be my main modus transportus then it'd make sense to get some coaching. Yet again I'm kicking myself that I haven't done so earlier. Two months down the track and I knocked 4 minutes pedaling time off of my commute (about six minutes total when lights etc are taken in to account) and that's not through a huge leap in fitness but technique. It doesn't cost the earth and will make your cycling a lot more enjoyable. Stuart 2) Lane splitting. Hit a wall of traffic north of Ferntree Stuart Gully Road heading south on Springvale Road. My hybrid has Stuart barely enough room to pass in the middle of two lanes of Stuart traffic (forget about passing on the left side of the left Stuart lane; it Ain't Gonna Happen). I assume a road bike would Stuart improve this (it'd cut the width of the handlebars Stuart considerably, but there's still the panniers to deal Stuart with...) My approach to lane splitting runs like this: Are the motorists I'm about to overtake going to have to overtake me when the lights go green and is that going to cause more congestion? If the answer is yes, I claim the lane and wait in traffic like everyone else. It's a lot less stressful and you don't lose that much time. I've only ever used a road bike for my commute, so far it's served me well although tram tracks need a lot of respect in the wet. I've Ortleib panniers about which I've no complaints. They do what they say on the tin, keep things dry. -- Cheers Euan |
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