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Commuting on two wheels

Over the last couple of weeks I've been cycling into work a couple of times a week. There are many reasons for cycling - fitness, the waistline and generally 'just doing something different'.

I have never understood how other commuters can do the same journey, every single day, the same way. I've been lucky for the last few years because I generally go into work by motorbike. Motorcycling is a great way to commute - you spend time riding thinking about the riding, which clears your mind for an hour or so.

On average I typically spend one night a week out with colleagues or clients, and on those days I go into work by Tube. I've been doing this for a couple of years now, and it helps 'break the week up' - i.e. doesn't let the commute becomne monotonous.

I'll be riding the London to Brighton again this year, so I've been cycling with a few friends [very, very] early on Sunday mornings since the start of the year, and decided to try cycling into work a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed it, to the point that I now cycle in twice a week, motorcycle twice, and Tube once.

The timings and costs are interesting:

  • The Tube - around 1 hour and 15 minutes door to door. Around £8 return.
  • Motorcycle - around 45 minutes door to door. £4 (just petrol).
  • Cycling - 1 hour door to door. Hard to quantify the cost.

I've been trying to work out why so many people in the creative and IT sector prefer two wheels - whether motorbike or bicycle - over the Tube. Maybe it's the emptying-thoughts-whilst-commuting that I discussed above. Maybe it's just a retro statement. Let me know if you have any thoughts.


 
2 comments
Apr 12, 2011
Hendrik said...
When I worked at ITV in 2006 the tube commute (door to door) would be 45 minutes, while the mountain bike ride was ( when I was semi-fit ) around 35 minutes. The pros just outstripped the cons. Got to see London while commuting, got some great exercise, was in control of where I was going and how, and felt great when I got to the office and had a shower. When I started at IMG my bike had been nicked out of the basement garage a few weeks earlier, and I just never got back into it.. being that most IT / creative designers sit behind their desks most days, and most of the time, it might also appeal to being able to get outside..
Apr 12, 2011
Bradley Howard said...
Do you cycle back in SA Hendrik?

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Bradley Howard

Head of Digital Media at Endava, although all the views in this blog are purely mine and not necessarily those of Endava.

 

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