WORKING CLASS
A global pandemic cut UK rates of commuting to work by 20 per cent in 2020 compared to the previous year, but up until we first locked down over 750,000 workers would pedal to their place of work each day.
“Humans are the original autonomous vehicle,” says Gareth Mills, former UK manager at Strava. Prior to the pandemic, commutes logged to the activity tracker had grown rapidly, with a 31 per cent increase between 2017 and 2018.
As well as saving money on transport – and pleasing teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg – bike commuters enjoy unique health benefits. A study of 358,799 people, published in the journal Heart, found that active commuters cut their risk of heart disease and stroke by 11 per cent and their risk of dying from such diseases by 30 per cent.
But commuting by bike is also a powerful and often overlooked opportunity to achieve serious gains in fitness in preparation for sportives and races. “I’ve finished two Ironman events and sportives in Dartmoor, the Cotswolds, the Welsh mountains and the Yorkshire Dales by training with extended commutes and one long
