The alternative way to work.

[Jonny69]

Today I had no choice but to find an alternative way of getting to work. The engine in my car let go at the weekend and my journey home from Birmingham to Kent was on the back of two AA trucks. I arrived home with my hearing and my wallet slightly fuller than it would have been, but I still had the niggling problem of how to get to work.

In a moment of madness a lightbulb lit above my newly acquired Freecycle bicycle and I figured I would be able to cycle the 16.5 miles into work. It's a treacherous route of half town and lanes, blind corners, no passing points and up and down hills. I'd be taking my life into my own hands and the longer I thought about it the more I decided this would be a really bad idea. I came to a compromise. I'd get the train to Sevenoaks which is the closest station to work and ride the last 4km.

It was looking promising. According to National Rail Enquiries the train journey involving one change would take just 31 minutes and roll in at a mere £5.40, so that's less than it would cost by car. Interesting, I thought, and my misersome side started rubbing its hands together. I reckoned on a 10 minute ride so the journey shouldn't be more than 45 minutes, not far off my normal commute.

Here's my steed, a vintage Reynolds 531 framed Raleigh racing bike off Freecycle, Shimano brakes and gears, skinny alloy wheels and it owes me a grand total of £30:



The reality.

I woke up to the sound of rain. No problem, I'm a seasoned ex-biker and I'd been used to getting a soaking, it just meant the roads would be a bit slippery and it's been a while since I rode a push bike in the wet and I've got no waterproofs. The train times are also such that they would never get me to my destination at a convenient time. I'd either be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early so I opted to not be late for work and picked the earlier train, leaving the flat at 8:10am compared to my normal 8:50am.

There was a huge queue at the station and the commuters were already huffy and impatient. Being as I was with bike this compounded the problem and lots of huffing and puffing was occurring behind me despite it not actually being in anyone's way. The person behind me in the queue was actually making contact with me! Have these people not heard of personal space, how can they stand so close? The new ticket machines are about as unintuitive as they could have possibly been and the card payment screen is so low it's not actually visible from a standing position. I have to question when such a small percentage of society is disabled and unable to reach a screen at normal height why the rest of society has to suffer as a result. How hard could it be design this to be accessible from both high and low? I craned down so I could see in and put in my PIN number. I should also point out here that the fare came to £9.80, not the £5.40 quoted on National Rail, so that makes this a rather expensive way to get to work. I'm sure it's cheaper with a season ticket but I can't see it matching the price of the car, any car.

Naturally the train was running a few minutes late, no problem except I had just 4 minutes to find my connecting train. Stress levels were rising. The train was empty because I was travelling away from London, so I not only had space for the bike (in fact I was actually allowed to put the bike the train, on London bound trains it's banned) but I got a seat as well. My connecting train was also conveniently running late by a few minutes and I arrived at my destination at around 9:05am. The train journey had taken 39 minutes compared to the quoted 31 minutes.

I hopped on the bike and my legs got me the final stretch to work, burning, out of breath, wet with road spray but I made it. The only close shave was with an artic that passed a bit too close for comfort but otherwise all was well and I rolled through reception at 9:15am on the dot.

Conclusion. The door to door journey took an hour and 5 minutes compared to my normal 35 minutes by car and cost me roughly 50% more. Risking my wellbeing with traffic and wet roads, I arrived hot, out of breath and soaked with sweat and road grime. I am still wet in fact. We're being pressured to ditch our cars in favour of alternative transport but how can we do so when there is no realistic alternative? I have to repeat this journey tomorrow but luckily I then have access to another car to get me to work so I don't have to make this a permanent change. I certainly wouldn't want to do it every day.