If you’ve decided to try cycling to work and you’ve never ridden the route before, there is at least one task you must perform before day one; the single most important piece of preparation there is – to map your route. The better route you plan, the better ride you’re going to have, and this will result in a much greater likelihood of you coming back and trying it again the next day. The route you select will take into account the following considerations:
- Apart from minimal stretches where there is no alternative, you should forget about riding on footpaths. It’s generally a bad idea. Check your local traffic rules on this. It may be that you are not even allowed to ride on footpaths – in any case it’s generally better to stick to the road where you can. Most footpaths are too narrow to allow you to comfortably share them with pedestrians – who are traveling at a speed profoundly incompatible with yours. If you haven’t done a lot of road-riding, this may raise some apprehension in you – and this is probably a good thing. Roads are potentially dangerous places for cyclists. This doesn’t mean you should avoid using them, it just means you need to take your safety seriously. If you’re worried about riding on the road, or haven’t done much of it up ’till now, then you might like to read this post about cycling safely on roads.
- There may be bicycle paths available to you – and you may not know about them yet! Bike paths obviously provide a safer route than roads but they also offer the advantage of a pleasanter, quieter ride with more other cyclists around to look out for you if you get into any trouble. Bike paths also enable you to take nifty little shortcuts through parks and other public areas. With cycling growing in popularity these days, many municipalities are improving cycling facilities. It will definitely be of benefit to you to do some research on this. Just Google your city name and “bike paths”. Here for example, is a map of cycle paths in Brisbane. If there are cycle paths you want to incorporate into your route, I suggest you actually take the bike out on the weekend before your first commute and check out exactly how to get onto them, and off them, and whether there are other things you need to know … like are there any bits of connecting road you need to know about or any potentially confusing junctions etc? You don’t want to be first discovering your route that Monday morning of your first commute. Please bear in mind that just because a bike path is not perfectly aligned to your route, it may still be worth using it if it gets you off the road.
- If there are parts of the route where there are no bike paths available, you are going to have to ride on the road (not the footpath). Think about whether there are any less-busy side roads you could use. Again, this may take you slightly out of your way but it will probably make for a better ride over-all if by doing so you are avoid heavy traffic. At this stage it’s a great idea to spend some time on Google Maps or similar. It’s perfectly possible to have lived in an area for years and still not have a great idea of the backstreets in that area. A few minutes with an online mapping application will fill in those gaps in your knowledge and give you a better idea about the options that exist for you in getting from A to B. See also if you can ride on roads that have marked bike lanes. These offer a bit more safety as regular drivers are used to sharing them with bikes.
- In deciding your route, remember that it is good to avoid steep hills if you can, especially the ones that go up. The ones that go down are better, but even they are not so good on the way back.
- Are there any road works along the way that are going to completely foul up your plans? Since maps wont help you here, this is another excellent arguement for actually getting on your bike and checking out the path at your leisure before heading out on that Monday morning for work.
As well as Google Maps, Mapmyride.com is a good resource for working out your ride. It has the advantage of including an elevation chart for any ride you map. If you create an account, you can save your ride and start building a library and sharing good local rides with other cyclists. Mapping your ride also has the advantage of letting you know how long it is, thus giving you some advance idea of how long it’s likely going to take you. How fast can you expect to travel? Well there are a lot of factors that will vary your average speed. I found that for my commute I started off averaging about 20km/h (about 12.5 mph), and now, after three months I’m averaging around 25km/h (about 15.5 mph). You might expect something similar if you’re just starting off.
Finally, is there someone you can talk to that may have experience with the route? Having a cycling mentor when you’re starting out is a great idea if you can arrange it. Most cyclists will be only too happy to help out someone that is trying to get into it. I had the great good fortune of knowing Roland, who works with me, has cycled in to work for a number of years, and also happens to live nearby. My first day cycling in I went to see Roland and we sat in front of Google Maps and got into a very animated discussion about tunnels, access ramps, inclinations and so forth. As a result of that discussion my route actually became slightly longer, but far more comfortable. The route Roland recommended to me that day is the one I still use.
goethe's dream 