newbybiker

Hello all,

I'm brand new to commuting. Just recently purchased a nice bike. I plan on commuting to work approx. 10 miles each way. Before I attempt my first commute to work and back, anyone recommendations on how to prepare, or should I just do it?

I'm mid 30s and in good condition but haven't ever rode a bike for more than around town before.

Any advice on getting started is appreciated.
Cheers

MrCjolsen

I'd make sure that you can ride your bike comfortably for at least 10 miles first. You probably can. But if there are any problems with fit, comfort, stamina, or the bike itself, it's better to find out on a Saturday afternoon than on your way to work on a Monday morning.

It's also a good idea to know exactly how long it will take you so you are not late.

achoo

Ride your planned commute route on a non-workday first. Time your ride. If you're planning on bicycle commuting every day, ride your route again the next day. If you can. Given your characterization of how little you've ridden your bike, you may not be able to handle cycling 20 miles a day on back-to-back days, much less 5 days in a row.

Don't force yourself to do more than you feel comfortable handling, or you'll likely give up. If you need to work up to 20-miles-a-day full-time commuting, you could start doing something like going for 5-mile rides every day before you head to work.

What it comes down to in the end, though, is you MAKING commuting by bicycle a priority in your life.

scroca

Be visible.

AdamDZ

Hi and welcome!

What bike is it?

Is your commute mainly on-street with traffic?

You could just do it and change and tweak your ways as you go but a little preparation won't hurt and may make the experience all that more enjoyable.

10 miles one way for someone who didn't ride for a while can be a lot to handle in the beginning. Even if you are in a good shape you will hurt first few times. So you may ride a bit first to see how much you can handle and get your muscles used to the new type of workout.

Make sure your bike is set up properly, everything works well ("new" doesn't mean "working well"), get your riding position dialed in properly.

Ride your commute route on a day-off to check it out.

Think about logistics: what you need to carry, how to change your clothes at work, where to park your bike.

Get fenders, you don't want to get splashed with dog poo and urine, vomit, dead squirrel blood, chemicals.... you get the picture. Fenders are not just for wet weather, you know.

Get puncture resistant tires. You will be sooo happy that you did

Get a rear rack and rack bag or panniers, unless you don't mind carrying a backpack. Although, a 10 mile ride will be much more pleasant without any weight on your back. Waterproof panniers are really nice for commuting.

If you ride with traffic think about your visibility: reflective elements, bright clothing.

Get lights if riding in the dark. Although, powerful blinkers are good during the day too if the weather is bad (see visibility above).

Helmet: that's up to you. I like it. I had close encounters with slippery pavement a couple of times in winter and a helmet proved its worth for me

Carry spare tubes (2 is a good number), a pump and a set of tools needed to replace a tube. Patching is best done later at home, so keep the punctured tubes and patch them later. It's a waste of time en route and you're more like to do a lousy job on the road. Practice taking your wheels off and replacing the tubes. You don't want to do this the first time at 6am on a rainy day. If you don't carry spare tubes and tools your puncture resistant tires will get punctured, Murphy's law.

Commuting is about getting you to and from work safely, in style (if you want), efficiently an about being fun and a workout too; being green, saving the planet, being anti-oil, etc are secondary. Make it as much fun as you can. It shouldn't be hard and miserable or you won't want to do it any more. Don't do anything for show, you're doing this for yourself, it'll eventually become a lifestyle and you may even find yourself riding your bike for more reasons. I have a car but I often ride my bike for errands that don't require carrying heavy loads. It's fun, no need to worry about parking (I live in New York) and in some cases it's faster!

Stay alive. Don't try to prove anything. Don't look for fights with drivers. Avoid confrontations. People behind the wheel tend to be um... you know, less friendly so to speak, and you won't win by enraging them. Road rage is a real phenomenon and you don't want to be the target.

If possible, avoid trouble traffic spots, metal-surface bridges, roads with really bad pavement, really bad railroad crossings, etc. Detour around them if necessary. Your route doesn't need to be the shortest one, but the safest one and one that's fun to ride. A detour may cost you 5 minutes at most versus becoming news in your local paper.

I often detour to go through a park or, on the way home, to ride longer if the weather is nice. I followed my own advice as stated above for several years and I had no accidents, I never got seriously hurt (not counting those few bumps on my head and bruises on my side from slamming the pavement). I had few arguments with drivers, but everyone has a bad day now and then

Although, it's not really as bad as I might have made it sound: just be aware of your surroundings, be defensive, use your head and you'll be fine.

Read these forums!!!

And.... don't ride the wrong way! That's bad juju and other cyclists will curse you to no end! Not to mention you will end up causing accident pretty quickly.

Adam

newbybiker

Hi Adam,
Thanks for your detailed post. I bought a Kona Dew Plus.

I have two main ways to get to work, one would be quicker but more traffic (8 miles), the other would be safer because it has a lot of bike paths, but longer (10 miles) I'm opting with the safer ride.

Thanks. I think I'll try that first on an off day. The biggest thing I think I'll have to get use to is the sore butt after riding for a bit of a distance at first.

I put fenders on it and I believe my tires are puncture resistant.

I think I'll do this. I was just considering a backpack at first but it would probably get me more sweaty than I want to get.

Sorry for sounding ignorant, but what way is the wrong way? I'm assuming that I should ride with the flow traffic, correct?

Thanks

AdamDZ

Yes! Always ride with the direction of the traffic This is my #1 gripe with cyclists in NYC, lots ride against the traffic, very annoying and dangerous.

That's a good looking bike and should make an excellent commuter. It looks from the image that has braze-ons for rear rack. Use them. It's really more comfortable not to carry a backpack.

If I may, I'd recommend Topeak Supertourist DX rear rack. I have it on two of my bikes. It works well with disc brakes, although it looks like the Dew Plus has the rear brake mounted on the chainstay so rack shouldn't be a problem. But it's a great rack anyway, has a second, lower rail for panniers so they won't interfere with anything you may have loaded on the top platform and it keeps panniers securely away from the wheel.

You seem to be going in the right direction to become a bike commuter Please keep us posted on your progress. We're always curious to see how new commuters are doing and always ready to help, even if that means a long boring rant

Cheers!

Adam

newbybiker

Thanks for the recommendation on the rack. I'll check it out. I'll keep you updated on my first commute.

newbybiker

Hoping someone can help me out. I went to buy a tube today and I know I have 700C tires. The tube I bought is a 700 x 35. When I got home I checked my bike and it says 700X37C.

Will the tube I bought work?

colleen c

Most tube cover a certain range. There should be some marking on the new tube itself. If not the box should have some marking on the label. It will have the 700 and then two number after that showing the smallest to the largest tire size that it covers. Example is 700 18/23, which means that tube will cover 700x18 thru 700x23.

colleen c

While on the subject of new tubes and advice, I like to mark my new tube with a pernament pen near the valve. I mark a star symbol on one side of the tube either the right side or the left side but not both. Then I also place a marking on the tire near the valve but only on the right sidewall (the gear side). Here's why, the next time you change tube, install the tube so that the marking is on the right side of the bike where the gears are. The next time you have a flat, you can pull out both the tire and tube. Inflate the tube to find leak. Then line up the two marking on the tube and tire and now you can see where the object has penetrated the tire.

JeremyZ

+1 on the dry run. 10 miles isn't very far, but hills and wind can make it seem that way.

+1 on being visible. Get a rear blinky LED light and either a front blinky white LED light or powerful headlight.

I don't see why riding the wrong way is dangerous. I know it is not recommended, but It increases the closing speed, but it gives you the chance to spot a drunk or someone who is "driving while intexticated" before they're on you. It is a mixed thing.

rumrunn6

test ride on a sunday morning. be sure to carry a spare tube; patch kit; tire levers; wrench for wheel nuts; quarters for gas station air pump; hand pump; cell phone and strobes front and rear.

party on Garth! :-)

oh, once you get started stock pile food and clothing at work so you don't have to carry so much

achoo

If the tube is a 700x35 and your tire is a 700x37, it'll work fine. At that size, the 2mm nominal size difference won't matter at all. In fact, different vendor's tires in that range of size that have the same numbers on the sidewall probably differ in size more than 2mm.

tjspiel

- At night you are riding into the lights of the oncoming traffic making it harder to see things that are not well lit.

- you can't take the lane

- when taking a right turn you have to cross two lanes of traffic

- it really sucks for the cyclists who are going the right way to have avoid cyclists that aren't.

fat_bike_nut

I find a lot of 700x35 tires are marked by the company as 700x37, and a lot of 700x37 tires marked by the company as 700x35. It's very confusing, but based on these observations, I don't think a 700x35 tube is going to give your 700x37 tire any trouble.

newbybiker

Question: There is about a 3 mile stretch of road on my commute that has a bike lane on only ONE side of the road. Should I ride this bike lane both ways to be safe?

aggiegrads

No, absolutely not. It is far safer to take the lane in the direction you are travelling than to ride contraflow in a bike lane.

Kudos to you for asking all of these questions before starting out. They key to commuting is a feeling of confidence and safety. That's probably the most common reason for people that are on the fence about commuting to not ride.

Yalborap

The Vehicular Cycling method would be to just ride in the street like you were on a motorcycle or in a car, and only use the bike lane if it's to your advantage(which it often won't be in VC). Of course, there's some heavy debate on VC versus bike paths, though I believe most people would agree that being on the road in some form is far better than the sidewalk.

However, whatever you do, I think almost everyone here would agree you should only use the bike lane when it's on the right side of the road. Riding the wrong way(sometimes referred to as salmoning, I believe) is to everyone's disadvantage, including your own.

This is all from another fellow with little real-world experience, of course, so take it all with a grain of salt.

tjspiel

All I can says is that it's a good thing that streets aren't designed the way bike lanes typically are. Actually the word "design" and bike lane often don't go together at all. They'll end abruptly without warning leaving you in dicey situations, they make left turns awkward, they put you in the door zone, etc, etc.

Anyway, feel free to ignore the presence of a bike lane if riding in one compromises your safety. Most city ordinances allow you that choice but you should probably check to be sure.

I might sound a bit jaded and I suppose I am to a certain extent. There are some well designed bike lanes out there but so many of them are just afterthoughts.

gitarzan

I see your bike uses Schrader valves, or at least the picture on their website looks like that. Be cognizant of that when buying tubes, pumps, cartridges. Most of these things fit a Schrader, but a few things do not. Kinda obvious but a new rider might not catch the difference until to late.

I rode several rides on my new bike with Prestas with a Schrader inner tube in the bag. I was lucky to not find that out the hard way.

lucille

I agree with doing some test rides. Ride a bit after work, and a longer ride in the evenings. You don't want to be exhausted by the time you get to work.

+1 on the rack and panniers.

+1 on bright clothing, being visible will make you safer. I can't imagine riding without helmet, but it's up to you. I always ride in cycling glasses, helps with not getting bugs, dust in the eyes.

I find mirror very useful, they're not expensive to get.

Find out what are the rules of the road for bikes where you are. For example if you are required to wear a helmet, have a bell etc.
Have a look here, this is from where I live, but it may help: https://www.toronto.ca/cycling/safety/car-bike.htm

Ride close to the curb, but not so close that you have to go around drainage crate or debris. Try riding in straight line, rather than weaving in and out, being predictable to drivers makes you safer.

Make sure to watch for parked cars, ride far away to clear the opened door.

Pretty much follow the rules of the road, stop on red lights, stop signs, don't cut off cars and other cyclists (even though you'll see other cyclists do it....).

Have fun! If you can find a route away from major roads, you will enjoy yourself more.

newbybiker

I just checked my bike. It has schrader valves on it. I checked the tube I bought today....Presta. I checked the pump I bought, it works on both Schrader and Presta valves.

So are you saying that the bike rim wouldn't accept the tube I bought with the Presta valve?
Thanks

P.S. Thanks everyone for the tips. I didn't realize how much there is to know about biking. I appreciate it.

mtalinm

newbybiker: I would hang out on this forum. there is so much more to learn than I had ever thought, and the folks are here are remarkably generous with their knowledge

good luck to you. you'll do great.

UprightJoe

Yup, you'll need to get schrader tubes. Lots of good advice here. I'll just chime in with a couple of thoughts:

1) In addition to riding with traffic, when you approach a traffic light, make sure you get into the proper lane for the direction you will be traveling.

2) Don't be too stressed if you don't have everything figured out or are missing a few pieces of gear when you start out. You'll figure it out fast enough as you go along.