My first commute tomorrow

[jay clock]

Ok, so I used to commute across London years ago before many of you were born..... back in the 80s when it was considered odd

Now working from home last x years but have now got a job that requires me to be in London 2-3 days a week. Been going on the train, but it is complicated to get there (Winchester to Chiswick) and my current folder (Dahon) is too big to fold properly and take on the train.

Cue a bright orange Brompton and a cunning back route planned from Clapham Junction to Chiswick. Annoyingly the trains do not stop in Clapham in the rush hour so I have to choose 0618 or a tiny bit later and change at Basingstoke.

Looking forward to it! Will give a full report tomorrow

Jay

 

[solidthegreat]

Good effort and good luck. Let us know how it goes, and be safe, London is a strange dangerous beast to ride in.

 

[jay clock]

i am a pretty confident cyclist and to be honest whenI cycle in London it is a bit better than out of town as the roads are snarled up and people are less used to having us around.

The only hassle is that I now see there is a tube strike which may cause even more cyclists to be in my way!

 

[Sharky]

Ok, so I used to commute across London years ago before many of you were born..... back in the 80s when it was considered odd

All of a sudden I'm feeling my age!

Started my London commute in the summer of '73. It was the summer of train strikes. My firm at the time wanted to book people into hotels and hire buses to take people all the way into the city. I was living near dartford and the firm could only get rooms at a hotel in Croydon. So being a fit cyclist in those days, it was an easy decision - cycle into London. Really enjoyed that summer and met a couple of other cyclists on route (Bryan W. are you still cycling?). Apart from Shooter's Hill, it was a nice commute.

I changed my job that autumn, so the commuting stopped for a while, then a few years later another train strike or was it that infamous 3 day week, when firms only had power for a few days a week. This got me commuting again. The pattern repeated itself every few years - change of job, stopped cycling, something happens then I start commuting again. Still commuting, but a much nicer route away from London to Kings Hill.

But that year in 1973 is still in my memory - before some of your parents had even met!

Cheers and good luck to all commuters.

Keith

 

[jay clock]

[QUOTE 3052309, member: 259"]Last time I commuted in London was Crystal Palace to Farringdon - easy going downhill to work in the morning, a bit more arduous going uphill back home (especially after a few pints). There weren't that many commuting cyclists then (1986).
[/QUOTE] We must have crossed paths. I was in Camberwell then various parts of Dulwich. Dog Kennel Hill and up the Walworth Road into the West End..... left in 1990, then did a couple of years up the Gloucester Rd in Bristol, then no more commuting since then.

 

[jay clock]

Ok. all went very well! Train up to London was busier than usual. I had paid for first class to get a seat, and then only managed to get a second class seat, but client is paying so not too stuffed.

Due to the tube strike Clapham Junction was 2-300% busier than usual, and they had "crowd control" which basically meant poorly directed streams of people and I took 15 mins and lots of complaining to simply get out the building.

I had then downloaded a route from here that looked pretty peaceful http://www.cycle-route.com/routes/C..._Via_Barnes_Rail_Bridge-Cycle-Route-4323.html _ I know how fiddly it can be to navigate a route like that so I printed the relevant sheets from Bing A-Z style street maps, used a highlighter pen, cut into strips and laminated onto an A4 sheet. I then Google streetviewed all the main junctions and that was a great idea

Really easy ride. Only 10.8k - took me about 35 mins of cycling time, with a couple of mistakes, so I reckon about 30 mins or a little over once I know the route better

The route was about 5% busy roads, 30-40% dedicated cycle tracks/off road and the rest very quiet residential streets. A lovely ride across the river at Barnes, which I normally see out the train window

I used my Deuter small rucksack and was quite warm by the time I got here. Need to dress down for future rides. Luckily we have showers at the office, although I could have managed without if I had had one at home, and if I had dressed more lightly and pedalled slower.

Now just ordered a Brompton S Bag for the front which is a bit bigger than my rucksack and allows for a cooler ride.

Only issue of the ride was a shoelace getting cut off in the chainring. New (slightly shorter) laces installed and will probably wear cycling shoes or light trainers next time if I can leave shoes here.

All in all, no real time saving, but a very pleasant ride. No complaints about the drivers either, but then I rarely do in London.

 

[Markymark]

Only issue of the ride was a shoelace getting cut off in the chainring. New (slightly shorter) laces installed and will probably wear cycling shoes or light trainers next time if I can leave shoes here.
.

When in laced shoes I just tuck the laces into the shoe on the right foot.

 

[ianrauk]

All in all, no real time saving, but a very pleasant ride.

Cycle commuting is not about time saving

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Cycle commuting is not about time saving

I knew I was doing something wrong

 

[Kies]

Cycle commuting is not about time saving

Saving money to buy bike bits?
Or
Saving money to buy beer?

 

[ryan_w]

I'll be venturing out for the first time as soon as I decide to buy a bloody bike (potentially this weekend)...
Commuting a few Kms from Fulham to Wandsworth. Walking is bad enough at 07:30, but I'm a confident cyclist so hoping to be ok.

I'm then looking forward to some sunny rides up to Cambridge to see mother once a month.

 

[jay clock]

I already have five bikes including a Dahon. The cost of the new Brompton plus the bag I just ordered is over a grand, so at current total mileage about 50 quid a mile. And annoyingly the train to London costs the same whether I buy a ticket to Clapham or Kew Bridge.

 

[jay clock]

Journey back to Clapham just as nice and relaxing. Now changed the chainring for a smaller one and think I have the gearing just about right

 

[Brad Done]

I'm hoping to start my own bike commute next week as well.

I have NO cycling clothes yet, though!

Can anyone recommend minimum, bare bones MUST have clothes for a 20 minute commute each day in a mild (West Coast) climate? Special shoes needed? Special shorts needed?

Thanks!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Cycle commuting is not about time saving

Tell that to the morons who speed along our shared paths (regardless of visibility or other traffic), pedaling their guts out, as if Satan was after them!