Cycling home: one long slog

I have been cycling into and back from work at least once a week for the last month or so. My first couple of times were pretty nerve-wracking, as I didn't feel confident in my handling skills, nor in the handling skills of those who were driving cars around me. All I could think was that I was only 5 seconds away from a crash at any point.

As a result, I gripped the handlebars so tightly that I actually sprained the muscles in my little finger on my left hand, and I certainly wasn't worried about the time it took to get into work and back home again.

As I have got more confident though, my timings have crept into my consciousness. My time into work is not too bad - about 25 minutes, depending on whether I get caught by traffic lights or so on. My time going back is around the 35 minute mark, and I originally thought that I was just tired from the day (and having already done exercise in the morning).


However, I've found a pretty cool website which has brought my cycle home into greater clarity. Bike Route Toaster allows you to enter in the route that you take home. So far, so google-maps. But one of the cool things that this site does is create an elevation map, so you can see how steep various parts of the climb are.



I knew that certain parts of the route were hills: the last 500 metres contains a bit of a slog up Leigham Vale which was always unwelcome. But after looking at this graph, it is now clear that the whole last 5 kilometres are uphill - albeit a gentle, almost imperceptible climb. It works out at about 10 metres per mile for the most part, which doesn't sound all that much, but you definitely notice it in your legs. Instead of being able to freewheel occasionally, you have to push the pedals the whole time, which burns your thighs until you get home and step off the bike.

One of my aims for this year is to be able to cycle home in under 30 minutes, or at the very least, cycle home without my legs feeling as though they are about to drop off.