I commute from my home in a village on a hill three miles west of Luton to Luton train station, either by Brompton or by bus. When I leave the train in London, I cycle (or get the bus or tube) about 1.5 miles to my office. In between those short journeys is the longest (both in terms of time and mileage) segment of my commute. This is by train.
Yesterday, an overhead power cable snapped over a train travelling London-bound near Radlett. One end of the broken cable was snagged by a train speeding northbound. The northbound train ripped out miles of power cable. Result? The entire Thameslink line from West Hampstead to Luton had to be shut down. Reports are conflicting as to the extent of the shut-down - the position I state here was true as at 7.30pm.
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| Radlett cable failure causes major rail delays http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-21445532 |
I'll give First Capital Connect their due: once we got to Hitchin, there were loads of coaches, the transfer went smoothly and the coach was comfortable. I arrived at Luton Airport Parkway not much later than I would have done had the trains been running normally.
However. While I peered off into the darkness from my warm seat on that coach, it dawned on me that having a Brompton with me -- indeed, having any bike at all with me, at any time of day, any day of the week -- would not have improved my situation. I was in the hands of the train company, at their mercy.
I've been there before. That kind of loss of autonomy, and the sheer misery and sense of degradation that builds up as a result, was a big factor in putting me on a bike in the first place, back in 2009 when I was sick of feeling helpless and decided to wrest some control back wherever I could.
When I was living in London, train failures simply meant I jumped on a bike and cycled into work. In truth, I cycled most days anyway. But still. Gone was the sense that I had no choice.
Now -- living 35 miles from central London -- cycling all the way to work isn't a viable option. Not when I'm expected to spend most of my day at work, not on a bike. More's the pity.
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| "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz |
Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI relate to you feelings of helplessness when at the mercy of public transportation. Like you, wanting to change that feeling was the spark of my re-entry into cycling while I lived in Boston and relied on the T to get me in and out of the city everyday.
Sometimes I think that the bike actually played into essentially selfish and lazy aspects of my personality because biking into work allowed me to sleep later, spend no money on the subway, truly enjoy my "commute", leave and arrive on a dependable schedule and to alter my plans or timing on a whim. No altruism here, just me satisfying my own sense of fun and self-determination.
Similarly to you, one of my jobs requires a 18 mile each way commute. I have done it on bike, but more often then not, I drive about 2/3rds of the way with my bike on the rack, then do a 'round trip from the parked car. Its a nice way to get to ride, but not spend 3 hours of my day getting to and from work.
Hi Dave
ReplyDeleteSelf-determination is a key aspect for me. Here, trains often run late or are cancelled, with little or no information given, much less anything that might help you evaluate alternatives and make a decision. Hence the frustration and sense of helplessness.
As soon as I can shift this chest cold I've had since Christmas, I will start riding to Harpenden (two train stations south of Luton) which will give me 13 miles a day, half of which is along rural lanes and the rest alongside a wide, "well-behaved" main road. That route also avoids the killer hill that I can't climb on the singlespeed Brompton!
Enjoying your posts about skiing. Snowshoes might have come in handy a time or two over the past few months, even here!