Change of commute

No more commuting on blissful Berkshire country lanes for me. Not any more.

I now commute in the hustle and bustle of Central London.

I got a new job in June working for a financial software company in the City.

But I haven't stopped commuting by bike.

My commuting regime now involves a 1h 10' train journey from Wokingham to London Waterloo early on a Monday morning, and a return train journey on a Friday evening.

I ride my folding bicycle from home to Wokingham station, which takes 5 minutes, and then ride from London Waterloo station to the office in the City, which takes between 15 and 20 minutes. I am in the office by 7.30 AM.

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, I ride my hybrid from Orpington, where I stay during the week, all the way into the City, and back. A return trip of around 32 miles which takes me through Chislehurst, Blackheath, Greenwich, and London Bridge. In total my journey takes 1h 10' each way, but it is under 1h of cycling; the rest is made up of waiting at junctions and filtering through heavy traffic. I still get to work by 8 AM.

I absolutely love it!

Cycling in Central London is great; I am so involved with all the traffic around me, buses, vans, black cabs, lorries, pedestrians, and the few fools in private vehicles; I get to work and I am buzzing!

The folding bike I bought for the Monday morning/Friday evening commutes is a not so compact but ever so fast Dahon Mu P8, of which I am going to describe a few features in a follow up post wrote a post about recently.