I cycled to work for the first time today. Fed up of sitting in the car for an hour to do 18 miles on the motorway, and its only 15 miles straight across town.
Straight Across Town – yup. I’m so glad the sun was shining as otherwise I think I may have died of despair. The first bit is cycle paths alongside dual carriage way – great, you would think, except for the cavernous potholes (and the bit they have resurfaced is covered in loose gravel kicked off the dual carriageway), blind corners, 90 degree zig zags around poorly placed street furniture, parked cars, lorries – you get the gist.
Then the off-road cycle route just kind of petered out. I got stuck down by the station, had to duck back under a building and round and up the way I had come. Then a new junction which had been in the press for its ‘Dutch inspired’ cycle design. Nothing like I’ve seen in Holland, totally confusing and terrifying!
After that I had to mix it with the traffic on A roads back out of town. These were mostly stationary, but I hate filtering either inside or outside (lots of side roads, so cars letting other cars across, need to be very wary). Finally dicing with death across a huge roundabout next to the motorway (there’s an underpass somewhere, buggered if I could find it, no signs and it appears to be at the back of an industrial estate).
Needed 2 breakfasts when I got to work.
Just the return to look forward to now, in my damp lycra – eeugh. Not sure hanging soggy bib shorts up in the office would go down too well!
I really don’t know how people do this every day, I was a nervous wreck after!
