Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Freewheeling => Topic started by: telstarbox on 15 December, 2020, 10:41:47 am
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For the Christmas/New Year week I usually like to get in a long ride out of London to somewhere in the countryside, getting a train back when it gets dark.
Has anyone had any bother doing this at the moment, train staff or passengers? Clearly it isn't an essential journey but commuter trains are very quiet at the moment (and probably more so in the last few days of the year) so I would expect the extra risk to be fairly low.
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I don't think rules for bikes on trains are being enforced differently from normal.
Tier 3 advises against travel outside your local Tier area*. British Cycling reckon you're allowed to ride outside if you don't interact with anyone.
You are allowed to travel to see your Christmas Bubble during the days Bublé rules apply.
(* they don't seem to have made any effort to define whether this is your London Borough, Greater London, or Greater London + lucky parts of Herts and Essex)
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(* they don't seem to have made any effort to define whether this is your London Borough, Greater London, or Greater London + lucky parts of Herts and Essex)
Which is a real pain for those who would like to adhere to the rules but really prefer to cycle somewhere that isn't 100% urban or suburban. Even being allowed Greater London rather than my local inner London borough gives more scope, although still puts Epping Forest (for example) out of reach.
Going for the max area definition could also put Kent in the mix.
Last time I did a train assist to get me home was October and it wasn't an issue at all, but no idea what it's like now.
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You are allowed to travel to see your Christmas Bubble during the days Bublé rules apply.
(* they don't seem to have made any effort to define whether this is your London Borough, Greater London, or Greater London + lucky parts of Herts and Essex)
Does that mean I have to stay 2 metres from any Michael Bublé CDs? ;D
I think your last option makes sense e.g. if you're on the edge of London you can extend into Kent (currently same Tier), but not into Surrey as you'd be spreading from Tier 3 into Tier 2.
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Since lockdown Ive used trains a bit accompanied by a bike. In this time Ive not had a travel ticket or bike reservation checked on a train, and found that the majority of ticket barriers have been left open. In short more of a free for all than it ever was even though Id always buy a ticket and make a bike reservation where possible, it was hard not to conclude that I neednt have bothered with either. Heaven only knows how much revenue is being lost.
Experience based on Scotland.
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Just waking this thread
When the times comes, I'm thinking about training it with bike somewhere... I've previously e.g. done Oxford to Winchester, on a weekend with fast, early train, 0 changes. Just had a look. Very reduced direct service, one train arriving 11:30 ish. The hassle of booking a bike on multiple trains is, well, not worth it AFAICS... :-\ Anyone tried?
Hopefully this'll improve as time goes by, now we're heading out of Lockdown; though I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't...
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You've chosen a particularly bad option. Cross Country are stopping fewer trains at Winchester because they're running longer trains.
https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/coronavirus-timetable-updates#timetables
If you changed at Basingstoke (lots of trains to Winchester, no fuss about bikes) or started your ride at Southampton Airport Parkway there'd be a lot more trains.
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You've chosen a particularly bad option. Cross Country are stopping fewer trains at Winchester because they're running longer trains.
https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/coronavirus-timetable-updates#timetables
If you changed at Basingstoke (lots of trains to Winchester, no fuss about bikes) or started your ride at Southampton Airport Parkway there'd be a lot more trains.
Thanks.
OXF to WIN, via SOA, is not too bad: 1 change, 1.5hrs journey time. What are South Western Trains like for bike carrying? Southampton <-> Winchester
Noticed I could do OXF - BMH (Bournemoth), 0 changes on a Sat arriving earlyish 1000hrs.
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What are South Western Trains like for bike carrying? Southampton <-> Winchester
Noticed I could do OXF - BMH (Bournemoth), 0 changes on a Sat arriving earlyish 1000hrs.
Haven't used post Covid, but previously there's never been a problem. Their carriages have a well marked bike symbol. Lots of space both in the official bike area and luggage spots.
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Doing one of these tomorrow so will report back afterwards. Not done a train assisted journey with a bike for a long time, but just fancied doing something a little different. Will be riding from home (shropshire) to Stockport and have train tickets pre-booked for a train at 18.35 back to Wolverhampton. Then a 10 mile ride home from there tomorrow night.