On the commute today

[simonp]

Standing on the pedals riding to the caff at lunchtime. Will be different on the way back.

Still not feeling the need to gear down.

[jogler]

* looks out of window *

I love working at home 

I too have that  feeling today

[itsbruce]

Lightweights.  Cycling in the rain has its charms.

[clarion]

I spotted a chap at the S Circ in Clapham, fettling in the rain.  I thought it might be a faerie-strike, but I wandered over anyway.  I saw he was dealing with chain, and was sure that my help would be needed.  I mean, how many commuters carry a chaintool?

Well, not just me, it seems.  He was equipped and sorted, if damp.

[TimO]

I carry a chain tool, I also carry one of those widgets for holding both ends of the chain whilst you use the chain tool, since invariably you otherwise need three hands! (preferably all wearing rubber gloves).

[Regulator]

Since the incident at Mildenhall, I too always carry a chain tool.

[Wendy]

I thought everyone carried a chain tool?  I mean, except the clowns that don't carry a repair kit either.   

[clarion]

You'd be amazed how many people are seriously ill-equipped.

[Greenbank]

There are many many routes, but some are cheaper than others, and most of them take a lot longer.

The fastest route isn't the one I use, but it's probably the cheapest.  East Croydon to Victoria, and then the District line to Gloucester Road is faster, but a bit more expensive (actually I'm not so sure about that now, since I think I can use my Oyster PAYG card on the entire route now).

My suggestion was just what I would have done had I got that close to Wimbledon and found out the district line was out. TFL claims 16 minutes to get from Wimbledon to West Brompton on the District Line and only 25 minutes to via train to CJ and then Overground to WB.

With the district line screwed the train to CJ would have been rammed but doable, and the Overground from there to West Brompton nowhere near as busy.

Different routes from A to B will cost different amounts even with Oyster PAYG until they end the requirement to touch-out & touch-in when moving between different types of transport, as they've got no other way of working out how much money goes to each separate company (trams, SWT, London Overground, London Underground, etc). Plus there's the problem (of trams at least) of having platforms with no gates (and a system that doesn't trust people).

TFL's website says a single from East Croydon to Gloucester Road is £5.00 (peak), which I'm guessing is the obvious change at Victoria, but cheaper at £4.50 with a change at Elephant & Castle (ugh, Northern Line) or Vauxhall (not so bad Victoria Line).

Tram from East Croydon to Wimbledon is £2.70 (peak) with Oyster, from there you can go:

Gloucester Road on the tube is £2.70 peak (so that's £5.40 in total)
Earls Court is £1.30 at any time on the tube (so only £4 in total, and only half a mile extra walk past Gloucester Road).

East Croydon, Clapham Junction, West Brompton is £4 too, but leaves you an extra walk of a mile or so).

With London, it's cheaper to get the train into Zone 1 and then get the tube whilst inside Zone 1, rather than it is to get the tube from Zone 2 (or beyond) into Zone 1. Earl's Court is cheaper than Gloucester Road because it's in both Zone 1 and Zone 2, so traveling from Wimbledon you aren't paying the extra lump to enter Zone 1.

[citoyen]

I thought everyone carried a chain tool?  I mean, except the clowns that don't carry a repair kit either.   

I carry a multi-tool, which includes a chainbreaker. I've only had to use it once, but I was very glad I had it - I was 20 miles from home at the time, and the nearest station was several miles away. Never leave home without it now.

d.

[Chris S]

Cycling in the rain has its charms.

Indeed. But cold rain driven by a howling gale across the arable wasteland of Norfolk in the dark, has fewer.

[TimO]

Greenbank, just for additional amusement, since I normally use the tube to and from Wimbledon, I hit the cap on fairs, so the return amount isn't quite as much as the outgoing amount.  Using normal Railway, or London Overground for one direction, I won't hit that cap!

I suspect that trying to do it as cheaply, and as fast as possible is one of these situations not worth looking into too carefully, unless your doing it every day.

Also, part of the reason I was using Public Transport was to avoid having to walk any further than I had to, since I'm feeling a bit off colour, so that would have dissuaded me walking from West Brompton (although arguably actually less than the total distance I walk eventually).

Another relatively easy solution would have been to walk to Wimbledon Park from Wimbledon, since only that very last part of the District Line was buggered.  On reflection that would probably have been faster than the route I eventually used, but hindsight is a wonderful thing!

[Sergeant Pluck]

Since the incident at Mildenhall...

Was that an incident involving nakedness, a tree, and a very long chain?

[rogerzilla]

It was gruesome this morning.  At one point I had a crosswind of about 50mph, I could hardly breathe and my left cheek was painful with the cold and with the grapeshot raindrops hitting it.  On the plus side, it was a tailwind some of the way in and the wind had died completely by hometime.

[CrinklyLion]

I walked, because today was a day 'off' so I was delivering both cubs to school.  And nearly died of heart failure when I saw one of the cub's mates ride up the left hand side of a (stopped, but at the front of the queue) left turning bus.

I think I need to tell his mum to tell him about blind spots.  And possibly have a word at school (where they've been doing a big push on walk to school and ride to school) to make sure that the kids who ride understand about undertaking, in particular on corners, being a very bad thing.  There's a bus going left round that corner at least once every ten minutes.  It's the third time I've seen a kid do this to a bus on that corner - and the fact that there's a bike path from just ahead of the tricky spot encourages them to.  Each time it felt like the world stopped for a minute.

[jane]

A big thank you to the person who came past me going up Peckham Rye and then slowed down almost immediately so that I could just sit happily on their wheel all the way up that rise.  That was so kind. You made my ride up that slope so much easier, especially as there was a slight headwind which, once you placed yourself, so kindly, directly in front  of me, I didn't notice at all.  My apologies for not waiting for you near the top where it kicks up just a little-  you were getting slower and slower and as I only have one gear, there is a limit to how slow I can go up hills without stopping.  Maybe we can meet up again, same place, same time tomorrow.  Every little helps.

[Greenbank]

I suspect that trying to do it as cheaply, and as fast as possible is one of these situations not worth looking into too carefully, unless your doing it every day.

If you're doing it every day then the appropriate season ticket will almost certainly be cheaper and probably be valid whichever route you decided to take (although there was a site somewhere that would factor in your holiday entitlement and work out whether it was still cheaper to go Oyster Pre-Pay or not). It's worth doing if you only do it occasionally (I don't cycle about once or twice a week), then it's worth looking at the possibilities. The difference soon adds up over a year. £2 a day doesn't look like much, but it's £100 a year if that's once a week. That can go towards some nice shiny things...

I can do my commute in to work for (almost) free, but it would take me 2 hours (1 hour if I got my arse in gear and ran). Or I can cycle and it'll take me 30 minutes (but not quite as free given that bike bits wear out and cycling is more costly than an occasional pair of trainers if I was walking/running). That also requires a shower at the end of the journey (luckily we have them at work) that adds 15 minutes to the journey.

Next slowest, and next cheapest, is to walk 2 miles (half an hour) and then get a single bus (60 mins), so £2.40 a day (£1.20 oyster bus fare).

Or I can get two buses which will take about 80 minutes, but cost a bit more (daily bus price cap at £3.90), but no more than 10 mins walking required.

The train is 18 minutes (plus a 10 minute walk either end) for £2.10 (£4.20 a day), which is about the best deal going.

(The Tube is £2.30 and takes much longer than the train.)

Anyway, back on the bike tomorrow, with an extended evening commute to pick up the Weeride from Hatler. Wednesday will be the debut for taking Baby GB in to nursery on the bike!

[Kim]

Since the incident at Mildenhall...

Was that an incident involving nakedness, a tree, and a very long chain?

Not much in the way of nakedness (if nothing else, we were covered in oil), and the lovely Priscilla played the part of the tree, but you're right about the chain.


If we're keeping count, I carry a multi-tool with a chain thinger on it.  Which for some inexplicable reason lacks the second notch needed for loosening off stiff links (fine for me, as I have some spare powerlinks to join the chain with, so I only need to break it at the roadside).  Consequently I sometimes carry a second, proper, chain tool if I'm riding in a group with less-equipped cyclists who are likely not to have 9-speed drivetrains.

[clarion]

On the commute this evening, I unexpectedly rode up behind a cyclist I recognised as a forumite from her yacf buff.

Actually, I probably recognised her from the fact she lives with me

Unexpected surprise, because she'd set off from work same time as me, so I thought she'd be home first.  But she'd added a loop, so we ended up riding the last bit home together.

[pdm]

4th commuting day in a row with a gale and heavy rain on the tops....
Only today it was sleet instead of rain. Chilly.
Have spent the evening (Nic)washing and (Nic)waxing everything in sight....

[mrcharly-YHT]

Well that was truly grueling. Write 50 times: "I must not ride to work without overshoes".  What does it mean when totally numb feet start hurting when you get in the shower, then develop black patches surrounded by red?

[perpetual dan]

It was tipping it down on the way it. Mrs Dan rode the bike in   ... but I still got quite wet walking from the car park.  
It was cool and dry on the way home, and I was feeling good and going well (and burning off cross with myself ness).

[jogler]

  What does it mean when totally numb feet start hurting when you get in the shower, then develop black patches surrounded by red?

bubonic plague,mebbe

[DrMekon]

Brutal ride in, facing  35kph headwind. Bits I coast down at at >40kph, I had to pedal down to hit 25kph. Way home was better, albeit it was a bit of a sidewind. However, the dark, rain and slippery surface conspired to make me hesitant to really push on. I suspect as we get deeper into the season I'll be less nervous. However, the imminent addition of a 60 lux Cyo to my existing 2 x 40 lux Ixons will be a big help.

[simonp]

I had a visit - first for months - on the way home. Rear wheel punctures are annoying on fixed though I seem to be getting better at setting the chain tension quickly. A nice motorist stopped to ask if I wad ok.