Using a bike to get me from the station to work had a number of benfits. It would be exercise but not a major exertion requiring a shower and change of clothes (negating any time saved) in the main but had a couple of fundamental problems.
First, I didn't have one. Second, I wouldn't be able to take a bike on the first train from Putney to Clapham Junction during peak hours. The first was relatively easy to overcome but the second dictated that the bike would either have to be a folder (and therefore valid for the Putney to Clapham journey) or left overnight, every night and all weekend, at Farnborough station.
I wasn't too keen on leaving a new bike so exposed so investigated folders.
Tuesday 7 October 2008
Sunday 5 October 2008
Driving to work
I live in SW London and have done for 13+ years. For the first 8 years my office was in central London and so I braved London Transport. A little over 5 years ago I started work in Frimley, Surrey which is close to Farnborough and not far from Guildford.
I wasn't used to driving to work, so started out on the train. This involved a train from Putney to Richmond, change for a train to Ascot, change again for a train to Frimley, then a 5 or so minute walk. A total of nearly 90 minutes each way to get to work. When you factor in my typical working day, at the time, of 11 or more hours that made for a long day.
I should say, at this point, that the job was (and is) a great one (despite the hours) with opportunities that I wouldn't find elsewhere so looking for another one wasn't an option.
So I took to driving. I could take one of two routes: 30 miles each way via Richmond and the M3 or 40 miles down the A3 via Guildford. For the first year, I drove via Richmond but road changes and more cars on the road made this impossible (it could easily take an hour just to do Putney to Richmond) and so I switched to the A3 route.
The A3 route would take about 1 hour (sometimes less) to get to work. Anyone who drives the A3 regularly will know how many accidents there are, so often this journey would take much longer. I, and drivers the country over no doubt, looked forward to school holidays when it felt like the roads emptied!
The return journey was a similar story, unless I worked late enough to drive up the M3 when SW London roads quietened down and I could get home in about 40 minutes or less if the lights were with you.
This was my daily routine for the next 4 years. How quickly time passes. Generally I have put up with this state of affairs although I have often said that I would much prefer to take public transport to work, but having to get 3 different trains and adding 3 hours to my working day made this impossible. I adapted my interests to suit car travel - listening to a lot of radio and music that I just never did ordinarily - which had its positives but were certainly a compromise to my preference of reading a newspaper or book.
I greatly missed reading books and found the insular nature of driving quite a drain - I much prefer feeling part of a community that you get on public transport. Driving could often be quite a stressful way to get into and out of work - accidents and queues that led to delays, aggressive drivers who are simply crazy.
In 2008, the rise in petrol prices made me re-evaluate all of these factors and reconsider how I get to work every day. My mind turned back to taking the train although the 3 trains / 90 minute journey was still not an option. Another train option involved a change at Clapham Junction to take another train to Farnborough - this journey takes about 45 minutes but involves a 30 minute walk at the other end.
I figured this isn't a journey I'd want to do every day because it still meant travelling of 2.5 hours every day, but finding a way to reduce the 30 minute walk could make it a possibility. Despite the lenght of time, this journey did mean: avoiding expensive petrol charges, less miles clocked on my car (previously 80 per day), a much less stressful journey, the chance to catch up on my reading, or even the chance to snooze after a heavy night out (rather than risking driving the morning after a lot of beers) and the walking gave me more than the recommended minimum exercise.
I decided to try this journey for a couple of weeks to see how feasible taking the train was; if the train proved unreliable (delays or cancellations) it would seriously make my day long as trains run every half an hour meaning a missed train would make a one-way journey nearly 2 hours. But if the train part worked I could investigate options to reduce that 30 minute walk.
As I'm now writing this blog, the train trial worked. My ideas to cut that walk involved skateboards (too much potential for falling on the way to work), bus (too unreliable - no time saved and more expensive than walking), running (could work on some days but not every day) and bike.
Bike seemed the way to go and is the reason for deciding to write this blog.
I wasn't used to driving to work, so started out on the train. This involved a train from Putney to Richmond, change for a train to Ascot, change again for a train to Frimley, then a 5 or so minute walk. A total of nearly 90 minutes each way to get to work. When you factor in my typical working day, at the time, of 11 or more hours that made for a long day.
I should say, at this point, that the job was (and is) a great one (despite the hours) with opportunities that I wouldn't find elsewhere so looking for another one wasn't an option.
So I took to driving. I could take one of two routes: 30 miles each way via Richmond and the M3 or 40 miles down the A3 via Guildford. For the first year, I drove via Richmond but road changes and more cars on the road made this impossible (it could easily take an hour just to do Putney to Richmond) and so I switched to the A3 route.
The A3 route would take about 1 hour (sometimes less) to get to work. Anyone who drives the A3 regularly will know how many accidents there are, so often this journey would take much longer. I, and drivers the country over no doubt, looked forward to school holidays when it felt like the roads emptied!
The return journey was a similar story, unless I worked late enough to drive up the M3 when SW London roads quietened down and I could get home in about 40 minutes or less if the lights were with you.
This was my daily routine for the next 4 years. How quickly time passes. Generally I have put up with this state of affairs although I have often said that I would much prefer to take public transport to work, but having to get 3 different trains and adding 3 hours to my working day made this impossible. I adapted my interests to suit car travel - listening to a lot of radio and music that I just never did ordinarily - which had its positives but were certainly a compromise to my preference of reading a newspaper or book.
I greatly missed reading books and found the insular nature of driving quite a drain - I much prefer feeling part of a community that you get on public transport. Driving could often be quite a stressful way to get into and out of work - accidents and queues that led to delays, aggressive drivers who are simply crazy.
In 2008, the rise in petrol prices made me re-evaluate all of these factors and reconsider how I get to work every day. My mind turned back to taking the train although the 3 trains / 90 minute journey was still not an option. Another train option involved a change at Clapham Junction to take another train to Farnborough - this journey takes about 45 minutes but involves a 30 minute walk at the other end.
I figured this isn't a journey I'd want to do every day because it still meant travelling of 2.5 hours every day, but finding a way to reduce the 30 minute walk could make it a possibility. Despite the lenght of time, this journey did mean: avoiding expensive petrol charges, less miles clocked on my car (previously 80 per day), a much less stressful journey, the chance to catch up on my reading, or even the chance to snooze after a heavy night out (rather than risking driving the morning after a lot of beers) and the walking gave me more than the recommended minimum exercise.
I decided to try this journey for a couple of weeks to see how feasible taking the train was; if the train proved unreliable (delays or cancellations) it would seriously make my day long as trains run every half an hour meaning a missed train would make a one-way journey nearly 2 hours. But if the train part worked I could investigate options to reduce that 30 minute walk.
As I'm now writing this blog, the train trial worked. My ideas to cut that walk involved skateboards (too much potential for falling on the way to work), bus (too unreliable - no time saved and more expensive than walking), running (could work on some days but not every day) and bike.
Bike seemed the way to go and is the reason for deciding to write this blog.
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