Why would anyone cycle to work?

andrewf75

I've cycled to work (or partway to the station) for 20 odd years and never had a single notable incident. Yes, cars cut me up and don't see me all the time, but if you anticipate that, I don't feel particularly at risk - certainly not so that I'm going to inconvenience myself and lessen my quality of life by not doing it. Granted, there are roads I wouldn't cycle regularly on e.g. country roads.

alanrowell

For me it boils down to (lack of) facilities at work to wash and change.

chib

I used to cycle to work before I started working from home, you do get some idiot drivers but as a seasoned/competent cyclist I see more idiot cyclists than drivers. I recommend being confident and giving it a go, make yourself seen and keep a safe distance from the kerb.

Like some others have said, having shower and bike storage at work helped but our maintenance staff were happy to provide a key to the boiler room for those who cycled often which was great for the cold/winter months.

fred246

When I researched the health benefits of cycle commuting I quickly realised that NOT cycling was far too dangerous.

Stoke

Cycling in London is different to Manchester. Trust me.

brat

If you can cycle to work you’d be daft not to!

Hedgehog99

I cycled through from childhood to my early thirties and used to cycle to work before I had a car, wouldn't have been allowed to park at work anyway and the bus service was rubbish.

I got fed up with bad treatment from all types of road users, including pedestrians and other cyclists.

Then the bus service improved, and, not wanting to risk falling off again (twice in a year, once my fault, the other because of a taxi forcing me to brake on a frosty road because he didn't have the courtesy to wait a few seconds), I switched to the bus. Then the bus service got worse and worse and I'm glad I was able to move away from that city.

Fewer children cycle these days. My Dad took me out cycling to teach me the ways of the road, and we had cycle training at school. When everyone cycled as a child and teenager, it gave them the freedom to go further afield independently and taught them valuable road-user skills so that when they did learn to drive, they could still understand the needs of cyclists.

Now we have death-wish cyclists who've never had cycle training at school (I know it's available in some places, but they didn't enrol) or from their parents and drivers who've never cycled, plus pedestrians glued to their mobiles and stressed delivery drivers with impossible schedules to adhere to. Not a happy mix.

It's the same with the treatment of horse-riders. Some motorists think it's fine to rev and sound their horns and there are horrific collisions and injuries/deaths as a result.

It's a selfish world out there.

warehouse

Thirteen miles to work and not a road in sight, just the canal towpath. A shower at the other end and a secure area for bikes. What's not to like?

kathrynha

Stoke wrote: »

But the problem is you shouldn't have been knocked off at all. People should look, anticipate etc.

I can only assume people simply don't look.

Being in an accident is a risk of using the roads whatever mode of transport you use

andrewf75

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

Fewer children cycle these days. My Dad took me out cycling to teach me the ways of the road, and we had cycle training at school. When everyone cycled as a child and teenager, it gave them the freedom to go further afield independently and taught them valuable road-user skills so that when they did learn to drive, they could still understand the needs of cyclists.

Now we have death-wish cyclists who've never had cycle training at school (I know it's available in some places, but they didn't enrol) or from their parents and drivers who've never cycled, plus pedestrians glued to their mobiles and stressed delivery drivers with impossible schedules to adhere to. Not a happy mix.
.

Some very good points here. Big mistake over many years/decades to not invest more in cycle infrastructure. Its not as if we haven't always known that getting more people cycling was beneficial.