A lot of my time on a bike has been fairly ordinary. Going to work, coming home, riding the same roads again. That is probably the part of cycling that has done the most for me, even if it makes a less interesting story than a ride around an island.
There was a period when I cycled for over an hour to work each day, then spent another hour or more riding home. It was a substantial amount of time on the bike before I had even thought about a weekend ride. Looking back, those journeys helped make cycling something I did as part of my life, rather than something I had to find a separate slot for.
The miles that became routine
The commute gave my day a fairly clear beginning and end. I spend a lot of my working time at a screen, designing and building things. Having that time outside, with something physical to concentrate on, was a useful change.
It was also a commitment. An hour each way sounds manageable until you remember that the journey home comes after a full day of work. Some days it felt easy. Other days the wind or tired legs made a familiar route feel much longer. I could not judge the whole habit by how I felt on one particular evening.
My older Strava entries make me smile because the titles are so practical. In June and July 2015 I was writing things like “Raining & Slight Wind Afternoon Ride”, “Afternoon Ride Sun no Wind” and, less happily, “Tire Burst”. They are a better reminder of everyday cycling than a collection of best times would be.
Riding beyond the journey to work
Cycling outside work gave me more freedom over where I went and how long I stayed out. There are short journeys in my history as well as the longer rides: a ride to badminton on 24 June 2015, then the ride home that night. The bike was useful for getting somewhere, as well as for exercise.
Other rides were about making more of an afternoon. On 26 June 2015 I recorded 61.03 km going to Stowmarket and back, with another stretch to Kesgrave. In July 2016 there was a Sunday ride of 118.81 km, taking just over five hours of moving time. Those are very different outings from a quick ride squeezed into the day.
I like that variety. A familiar Suffolk route can be enjoyable without needing to become a challenge. A longer ride gives me a reason to go further than I normally would, and to find out how well I have paced myself.
The Carrera and the Boardman
My early road rides were on a Carrera Virtuoso. That is the bike attached to my June 2015 records. It was part of the stage where I was spending more time riding and learning what I wanted from a road bike.
My second road bike was a Boardman carbon model. The Team Carbon is recorded against my Isle of Wight ride, and I still think Boardman’s carbon bikes are underrated. I enjoyed riding mine, and it was capable of far more than a short trip around the local roads.
A bike earns my trust through use. The regular rides matter as much as the long ones: how comfortable I feel after a couple of hours, whether I want to take it out again, and how it feels when a road suddenly gets steep. The Boardman became a bike I was happy spending a lot of time on.
An early start around the Isle of Wight
One ride that has stayed with me is my trip around the Isle of Wight on 3 July 2018. I left early, with Strava showing a start at 5:59 am. The saved recording is 91.05 km, with 1,251 metres of climbing and 3 hours 58 minutes of moving time.
The route took me through the north of the island towards Yarmouth, then through Totland and Freshwater Bay. From there I followed the southern coast towards Blackgang and Niton, continuing through St Lawrence and Ventnor. Later came Bonchurch, Shanklin, Sandown and the return towards Ryde and Fishbourne.
Freshwater Bay and the open coastal stretches were a big part of what made the ride memorable. There is a pleasure in seeing a place change gradually from the saddle: quieter roads, views across the water, then the seaside towns. I was seeing more of the island than I would have done by staying in one place.
The hills were another matter. Some had me standing up on the bike, properly working to get to the top. The climbing around Blackgang and Bonchurch is visible in the record, but the numbers do not quite bring back the feeling of having another slope appear when my legs had already done plenty.
It was a very hot day, and I had not taken enough water or food. Partway through the outing my phone and GPS ran out of battery too. Losing the navigation made me anxious, especially when I was already conscious of what I had failed to pack. That is the less tidy part of the memory, and it matters as much as the views.
What I loved was finishing with enough energy left to enjoy the rest of the day. I could still run around and swim afterwards. Leaving early meant the ride became part of a good day away, rather than taking over every hour of it.
Having something to sign up for
Cycling events have given me another reason to get out. I have signed up for different distances over the years, and having a date in the diary makes a longer ride feel a bit more concrete.
There is a Cycle Swarm 50-mile event in my log from 4 October 2015. The recording came to 86.86 km. Later, my indoor rides included a ZHR Audax 100 km event in February 2020. The indoor and outdoor experiences are different, but both gave a ride a purpose beyond simply adding another activity to the list.
I enjoy having a distance to work towards. I also want room for the rides that do not need a finish line or an impressive number attached to them. Some of the most useful riding I have done was the repeated journey home.
Making room for the turbo trainer
Indoor cycling has been part of this for years too. My Strava history includes Zwift sessions from 2016, including a “Your First Century” training ride. The turbo trainer made riding more convenient when getting outside was difficult or when I wanted a session with a clear structure.
Being able to ride at home removes a lot of the preparation around an outdoor trip. I can decide how much time I have and use it, with water nearby and no route to navigate. After the Isle of Wight battery problem, there is something quite appealing about knowing exactly where I am going to finish.
I still want the outdoor rides. The sea at Freshwater Bay, a familiar road in Suffolk and the satisfaction of getting home under my own steam are all part of why I keep coming back to a bike. The trainer gives me another way to keep riding when that sort of outing does not fit.