I'd made a post a month ago when I'd done my first day of bike commuting and it didn't feel like I could continue. This community offered various solutions to my problems and most importantly encouraged me to stick with it, and I did. A month later and I've already significant improvements thanks to your suggestions. I still get tired but it's less than before, and for a much faster commute than before, even compared to taking the bus. And I'm starting to enjoy it now.
Again thank you all for your encouragement, without it I don't think I would've done even a second day of commute on bike let alone stick with it for a month.
by th3wh173r48817
14 Comments
<3
This is amazing! Really biking ends up always just being about pushing yourself. You can push hard or slow. A bike computer always helped me with this. I used to ride like 13.5 miles to a buddies house and every time i went i would watch the time and try and beat it to i got sub 46. Super fun to race yourself.
Nearly doubled your average speed in less than a month! Incredible job. Keep it up, be safe, and don’t feel like you gotta go fast every day. Some days the best commutes are when you leave early(er) and just cruise and enjoy the scenery. And don’t forget to do the basics, re-lubing the chain, replacing the brake pads when they’re worn, etc. r/bikewrench is a great community for all things maintenance-related, even the basic stuff. But if you don’t know how to do something, take it to a shop. Trust me! I was struggling over a “creak” sound that I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from and the dude simply tightened the crankset for me, charged me $0 and showed me how to do it myself in the future. I was flying after that!
hell yeah brodie!
State College is a good place to learn, you have some hills to build endurance but nothing too overwhelming and a good bus system to fall back onto if you need to. It’s also beautiful to ride in the summer. Keep up the great work! The hardest part is already done, now it’s all about consistency.
It’s not even a month, just 20 days.
That speed change is really impressive. And yeah, 10-13mph is where you generally want your speed to be on a flat to comfortably cover long distance. You can push yourself to keep going faster if you want more exercise, but I’d save it for the ride home; on the way there, IMO it’s better to focus on riding until that isn’t strenuous anymore and then just enjoy it (especially as the weather warms up).
Nice work. I started bicycle commuting in State College when I worked at Penn State (2014-2019). I enjoyed the bike paths from Tudek Park to the IST building. Took the bus when the roads were bad. I have continued to bicycle commute in Ann Arbor, Michigan ( and increased my winter riding days). At the University of Michigan we get unlimited municipal bus use with our IDs.
The ride gets easier and I would much rather spend my commute on a bicycle than a car.
Holy shit that’s amazing progress! Twice as fast at the same average heart rate. You should be proud!
Congrats! ❤️So happy for you
Hell yeah. Keep it up.
There will be days where you don’t want to do it. Just get on the bike and go. Eventually you’ll be there
Congrats! Good job, glad you got through to the point where you enjoy it.
Next up: Realizing how much fun it is – and how difficult it gets to just take it slow. 😀 Honestly, you’re right where you need to be. In my experience it’s difficult to get a much faster pace than this on a commute. At least in a somewhat urban environment. On long trail rides I’d average 15mph, sometimes up to 18mph on good stretches – but the city commute always hovered around 13-14. As you pointed out: That still beats the bus and probably also the car if you factor in finding parking and walking over from the lot.
Nice work, keep it up!
✊