# Rush-hour rewards: how extreme is your commute?

Cable car, unicycle, a 53-mile coastal bike ride… Meet five commuters who are that rare breed – workers who relish their commute.

## Alex Heatzig, 27, bicycle: ‘My morning rides are therapeutic’

My first bike commute was on a cold November morning in 2022. I wasn’t prepared. It was zero degrees and my toes and fingers were freezing. After that, I got some proper gloves and cycling overshoes. As I kept riding with the group, I slowly got fitter. I’ve done about 80 rides since then.

My first bike commute was on a cold November morning in 2022. I wasn’t prepared. It was zero degrees and my toes and fingers were freezing. After that, I got some proper gloves and cycling overshoes. As I kept riding with the group, I slowly got fitter. I’ve done about 80 rides since then.

If I’m cycling to work, I get up at 5.15am and meet the other riders at 6am. We pick up people along the way and arrive at work at 8.45am. I shower at the office and I’m at my desk just after 9am.

There are usually about 10 of us riding together. Not everybody works at the same company, so people will tail off at certain locations, but mostly we’re all riding and chatting together.

The route is quite scenic. My favourite part overlooks a basin. Often you can see the sun rise there– it’s quite magical. We’ve also seen deer running along in the forest next to us. I cherish moments like that.

There are two stretches of about a mile each where we have to get on the highway. The hairiest part of the ride is as we get closer to work and you’re sharing the road with drivers rushing to work and school.

When I don’t cycle, I catch a bus which takes an hour and 45 minutes. It’s less enjoyable, but I wouldn’t want to ride in every day. It would lose some of that wonder and become something I have to do rather than something I get to do.

Doing this has changed how I think of my commute. Afterwards, I’m on a high throughout the day and I’m super productive. I find those morning rides therapeutic. On days where I don’t cycle, I feel the difference. If I have to miss a ride, I get severe FOMO.

## Clair Heaviside, 42, running: ‘It’s transformed the way I see myself’

At the beginning of 2023 I started running to work from my home in the Peak District to my office in Manchester. I didn’t set out to do this, but I’m an ultrarunner and I was struggling to fit in my training, so when a friend suggested I ran to work, I thought it was a great idea.

I run a marketing company in Manchester and every Monday I’ll get the train in with a suitcase full of clothes. On Tuesday to Friday, I run to work and change when I’m there. Since that first run, I’ve done it consistently – I think I’ve missed it twice.

The distance is 21km, so it’s a half marathon. I don’t always run the whole way. I give myself four options – 12km, 16km, 18km or 21km. I’m often training for events, so it’s dependent on my training and how I’m feeling. It’s time when I would be travelling anyway so I feel purposeful. It’s a positive way to start my day. I do it every morning, regardless of snow, frost, ice, torrential rain, whatever. There’s no negotiation. I just go. Packing the suitcase on Sunday and taking it into work on Monday sets an intention for the week.

I get out of bed, put my running clothes on and I’m out the door by 5.30am, getting into the office by about 7am. By the time everybody else arrives at 8.30am, I’ve had time to set myself up for the day and work out problems – some of that is while running and some of that happens when I’m alone at my desk.

The route I run isn’t very interesting – it’s on a main road, which gives me a sense of safety. I start off in my village with my head torch on – it’s usually dark. Then, I get on to the A6 and run through the various towns.

It’s rare you have an hour and a half when it’s just you and your thoughts. There have been times when I’ve found it such a healing process in my mind that I’ve started crying while running or I’ll be extremely joyful because it’s suddenly light in the morning. Sometimes I’ll think about a specific meeting, deadline or a difficult conversation I need to have. I come into the office feeling energised and buzzing with ideas. The hour after I get in is my most productive.

I’m just about to move further into the Peak District, so I need to replan my route, which will now be just over 30km.

I’ll definitely do the full thing eventually.

If my commute involved sitting in traffic or getting a delayed train every morning, I would feel totally differently about it. Instead, it’s empowering. I’m impatient to start my day. Doing this has given me self-belief and resilience. It’s transformed the way I see myself. Every morning I open the front door and I’ve never shut it and thought, not today.

## Leila Kelleher, 46, car and plane: ‘It’s extreme, but somehow it works’

I live in London, Ontario, in Canada, and I work in New York City as a fashion design professor at Parsons School of Design. My commute involves driving to Detroit airport, which takes about two and a half hours. I have a pass that speeds up the border crossing from Canada to America, then I fly from Detroit to LaGuardia in New York. From there, I’ll either get the subway or a taxi to my place.

The journey takes about seven hours. I leave home at 9am and I’m at the airport in New York by around 4pm. On the way home, I leave work at 2.40pm, catch a 5pm flight and get home by 10pm.

I’ve been doing this commute for two and a half years, flying out on Monday and returning Thursday evening. I prefer it this way because my life is settled in Ontario – I have two kids aged 14 and 16 and I’m happily married.

Because I have a place in New York, I just take a backpack. But sometimes, I’ll be looking for a shirt or something and I don’t know which country it’s in. On the drive, I listen to podcasts and audiobooks. I’ll sometimes have meetings, or I’ll just call a friend.

I’ve been working like this for a long time. I don’t think my kids miss me, especially because they’re older. We joke that I’m like a 1950s husband – I come home and I don’t know where anything is. When I am home, I cook and contribute to the household, but my husband holds the fort the rest of the time.

I’m aware that in sustainability terms, my commute is terrible. My hope is that my job has a bit of an offset and I might have an impact on future fashion professionals. I teach and research plus-size fashion and I’m interested in sustainability. I love my job. If I didn’t, it would be hard to make this work. I don’t like my commute, but I don’t hate it. When I tell people, they’re like: “You do _what_?” It’s ridiculous how extreme it is, but somehow it works.

## Marco Froese, 50, cable car: ‘I can’t imagine working in a city’

I’m the manager of two hotels in Mürren, a mountain village in Switzerland that sits below the Schilthorn summit. It’s not possible to reach Mürren by car – it’s a car-free village so you have to get the Schilthornbahn cable car there, which is how I get to work.

I live in the Kiental valley and drive to the cable car which starts in the village of Stechelberg. First, I get one up to Gimmelwald, another traffic-free village. That part is the steepest. It goes past the via ferrata, a cliff edge where you can go hiking. The second part of the journey takes me from Gimmelwald to Mürren.

It’s a beautiful spot with stunning views, although when I first started this job, I was scared of heights, so I used to stand in the middle of the cabin. After four years, I’m very used to it – and the views are great.

On the way back, when it’s dark, you can see Wengen, the next village, all lit up. If it’s snowing, you can’t see anything – it’s like travelling through clouds. The cable car still runs if it’s raining or snowing. It will only stop if there’s a bad storm, which does happen a few times a year.

I can’t imagine working in a city like Zurich or Berne. I like to be in the mountains, so I’m happy doing my job, and my commute.

When people live in areas like this, sometimes, after a while, they don’t see the beauty that’s around them. But thanks to the cable car, I can enjoy the views every day, and make the most of them.

## Aurélien Paulmier, 23, unicycle: ‘It’s a really relaxing part of my day’

I started unicycling when I was 12 years old. My brother learned it at circus school and I would have a go on his unicycle. After a few weeks, I was able to do it, too and, since then, I haven’t stopped.

I work as an engineer in the naval sector and I started this job four years ago. At first, I commuted by bike, but I quickly realised I could do it on my unicycle instead. That’s what I’ve done ever since – I ride my unicycle to work every day, Monday to Friday.

I live in Cherbourg in France, which is at the tip of Normandy, and the bike path follows the limit of the city, which is along the coast. When I get close to the dock, I can see all the fishing boats unloading. I see some really beautiful sunrises, too.

The route is 6km each way, so it’s 12km each day, and 60km every week. From my house, it’s less than 1km to get to a bike path and then I’m on that for most of the journey, apart from about 1km on the road. It’s very flat, so it’s ideal for unicycling. Depending on the wind and how fast I ride, it takes between 13 and 20 minutes. I leave at 4pm or 5pm, and I’m back within 20 minutes, but if it’s a nice day, I’ll do a longer loop on my way back.

I like the middle part of the route, because it’s a wide bike path with good terrain that’s really flat. I can have a bit of fun and go faster. I love to overtake bikes and scooters, especially electric bikes – it feels like an achievement. I also like being on the bike path and seeing all the cars stuck in traffic.

If the weather is really stormy or windy and I don’t feel safe, I sometimes have to drive to work. There’s usually a lot of traffic, especially on my way home – it can take twice as long than if I was on my unicycle.

The trick to getting on and off a unicycle is to practise. It feels hard because your brain needs to understand it, but if you do it a lot, suddenly your brain will go: “Oh OK, I get it.”

My father works at the same company as me and people often go up to him and say, “Is your son the guy with the unicycle?” On my commute, I get some funny looks from people, or they say things like: “You’ve lost a wheel!” They’re trying to be funny, but I’ve heard it many times.

I find riding my unicycle to work a lot more fun than riding my bike, even if I’m just on a flat road. I can go pretty fast, too – I think the fastest I’ve done is 38kph. My average speed is around 27kph. It’s faster than driving and it allows me to move my body, get fresh air and have a nice break in between work and home. It’s a really relaxing part of my day and it’s fun, which I think is the most important thing.
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