During the tube strikes a good friend of mine cycled from St John’s Wood to Canary Wharf for the first time. He enjoyed his cycle but on the way back he enjoyed it even more. This is because he was cycling with someone else from work. He found cycling with someone else not only meant he could worry less about his route but of course he could also enjoy a friendly chat.
There are also some great benefits of cycling on your own. Relaxing, choosing your pace and having some time to yourself are some of them.
So in this weeks Comment Friday I want to know..
Do you cycle to work on your own or with someone else?
Some follow on questions.. why? and give us some details!
See also:
A friend used to cycle to work with me. However I wasn’t the best guide and would accidentally ride off and have to wait for him to catch up.
He rode for a few weeks, but it never stuck.
🙁
Sometimes it feels like I am as I keep meeting the same people at junctions for 5 or 6 miles. Never had a conversation, just the odd nod or good morning.
I always cycle on my own, but its quite nice to have a chat with other cyclists at junctions/lights – and I seem to see the same faces most days.
I cycle on my own but only because I don’t have anyone to cycle with.
I’ve had several occurences where i’m on a busy roads and two people are cycling along side each other and it’s quite hard to overtake them without putting myself in more danger. Especially Waterloo/Kennington area with people. I don’t think this should be allowed.
I usually cycle to work with my housemate, from Canary Wharf to Old Street. It’s a lot better to ride together because we find the ride more relaxing as we have a similiar pace and also we can have a good chat.
Not that I should admit this but we also play “Tour de France” on the way to work. We have a hill, sprint (cycle highway) and also a cobbled section (brick lane).
Liking the Tour de France cycling game!
I find hooking up with a work colleague is a good excuse to try a slightly different route from the norm – shall we go your way, or my way on the way home?
often ride in with a colleague who is a right laugh, really enjoy having some chit and a chuckle on the way in. Also good to keep an eye out for each other in the traffic!
Often ride a bit pacier with company on board, which isnt a bad thing at all.
I mainly ride on my own, but always say good morning to people and often I strike up conversation with my fellow commuters, it makes the morning ride more enjoyable. Ride home is usually the same but more relaxed and more whistling or singing, happy that the day is over and I’m off home!
I’ve even been known to strike up conversations with motorists if they’re stuck in traffic or waiting at the lights… no need to be hostile, share the love.
I get funny looks when I whistle and sing on the way home!
I sometimes cycle in with my boyfriend as he works in Old street – some of you may have seen us pulled over in Bermondsey having one of our arguments (usually about how he shouldn’t have filtered or I shouldn’t have gone at a junction when a car was a few feet away). This is why we try and cycle on our own! We did come in together this morning and only had one argument. That said, it is nice to know he’s there if I come off and we can have a little smile at the traffic lights together.
I cycle with several hundred other cyclists on my route. But I don’t know them.
One of the main attractions of cycling for me is the solace it brings and time for thought and contemplation. I find another rider to be an intrusion on that reverie. However as others have said a moan about the weather and such at the traffic lights is good. The lovely thing about getting older is people no longer see you as a potential threat and are more ready to engage in,”junction jollies.”
I cycle into Old St. in the mornings with my wife which is nice as I travel at her slower pace which means i don’t get so hot n sweaty (no shower facilities at my office) and we have a bit of a natter on the way too.
I leave work earlier so I am always on my own going home which I use as a bit more of a workout, moving faster through the heavier traffic and pushing myself up the climb around Regents Park for a nice long unbroken burst of speed.
There is a climb around Regents Park? The closest hill I’ve noticed around there starts North of Swiss Cottage.
On my own as there’s not so much cycle commuting out here in Barnet.
But balanced out by lots of cycling with the kids at weekends (and leading local rides like the 24 people ride last Sunday.
Adam
I’d like to find a ride pal from N1 Upper Street to EC Moorgate…mostly because the ride can be a bit dodgy around Packington Street and the Canal
I’ve cycled with a close friend every day for almost 2 years. The routine is good, forcing me to be out the door at a certain time every day, and the long chats make the trip a pleasure. On the rare occasions we don’t go in together I find the journey a lot less fun.
Hello There…
My name is Javier, I live in West London. Am 44 years young professional & am interested in meeting cycling peers to ride together whenever possible & visit cafes,parks & site places of interest.
I just got a new bike & it will be great to enjoy the outdoors, meet friendly & like minded people & getting fit.
It will be great to hear from you, here’s my deatils: javieralzate@hotmail.co.uk
Thanks
Javier
On my own, always! That 30 minutes or so on the way to work to wake up/warm up/hit Southwark Bridge hard to get the blood flowing… lovely.
My aim is always to ride as fast as possible, but that isn’t very socialable or conducive to having a cycling buddy. I guess I sort of treat it like my twice daily gym sessions?
It’s nice to say hello at junctions though. One particular guy I often see near Liverpool Street with a commuter bike (i.e. battered, ugly, old and lives at Liverpool Street station until the following morning) is friendly, through our shared annoyance of road condition along Old Broad Street.
Like a lot of other things, someone else can be fun but also annoying. I recently went round Paris on velibs with my wife. Of course, it’s nice chatting, etc. but it’s annoying when she can’t keep up or takes the wrong route (or thinks I have). On my commute I usually listen to music – I know it’s dangerous but otherwise it’s too boring day in day out. But that means you can’t chat with other cyclists at junctions, but then when I’m not wearing headphones, most other cyclists don’t seem to want to chat.
Very funny to imagine the argument of taking the wrong route. I’ve had a few of these with friends 😉
I cycle to work every day with my partner. We come from north east london and she works a bit closer, so we split off and I go an extra mile. But it’s a really lovely way to start the day and finish it…makes the commute seem less like a commute and more for fun. Neither of us is fast but she slows down a bit for me which I appreciate. Tried to cycle home with a friend from work once, but he’s more than a foot taller than me and boy did he have trouble going that slow – especially up hills, which continue to be the bane of my existence even though I’ve been cycling 10 miles a day for more than a year!
My route to work from Wandsworth to Croydon is not exactly swarming with fellow cyclists so I enjoy the freedom to go at my own pace and take whichever diversion I fancy along the way. Some days I fancy the flat, some days the hills. And to be honest however far I divert I still come across few cyclists down here.
Can’t say I especially miss the busy bus lanes and super highways though.
on my own, but I talk to other riders quite frequently.
last week I met on the way home I bloke I had chatted to that morning.
I almost never like to ride with anyone. For a start, there’s the problem of speeds matching and bike handling behaviors. And chatty companions add unhelpful complexity to the problems of watching traffic, etc.
I do, however, enjoy quick exchanges with other cyclists when we’re stopped together at signals or riding in proximity ’round the same traffic hazards.
I cycle to work with someone every day…my son who is 2 in November! He is the perfect cycle partner, pointing out cats and buses are his current favourites. He is always keen to make sure that we are both wearing helmets and doesn’t mind what speed we cycle at. Am planning to get him a nice pair of warm gloves now these mornings are a bit colder now though.
Great to read a story like this!
I cycle to college (20 km each way) alone but I get plenty of folk, at almost every traffic signal and level crossing, asking me about my recumbent.
I never take part in or see others taking part in this junction chatter some of you refer to. Mostly it’s fixies, roadies and mountain bikers eying each other up warily and jockeying for position. Maybe I should take it on myself to get it going on along the Camberwell/London Bridge/City route.
I wouldn’t want to ride with a partner too often though, for the reasons others have said.
and just behind those people you’ll find the ones who know how fast you make it out of the lights makes very little difference in the long run who smile at each other!
I cycle alone and prefer it that way as it allows me to pick my route and speed depending on how late I am!
My main chat with other cyclists is in work at the cycle stands about each others ride in.
Nice Blog and very helpull information about bike…….
I cycle in on my long commute (15m each way) with a workmate who I meet a couple of miles into my journey. Honestly, it’s what keeps me getting up earlier in the morning and cycling rather than taking the much faster train journey. On the way in there’s more speed and less chat and on the way back it’s the other way round. It’s much more fun than cycling alone – I curse him at junctions (he’s always luckier and quicker to make decisions than me) and he pushes me along or up hills if he wants to go a bit faster.
A Loner and loving it, my time in the saddle is all my own 🙂
I cycle 10 miles each way to work (Enfield to Kings cross) on my own mainly because i don’t know anyone else who goes my way.
At the moment i enjoy being on my own as i have only been cycling for 3 months and would worry about keeping up with more experienced and fitter cyclists.
often say hello to fellow cyclists if the wait at traffic lights is long enough or they wait at the traffic lights like i do.