It’s that time of year again when the snow turns to ice, glues itself to the road surface, and stays for weeks. I kept cycling as long as I could but eventually it came down to a choice of riding on ice or along a busy narrow road with drivers who rather object to sharing the space with anyone.
And then the weather report said it would get really cold. Even if the bike had had incredible ice tyres like Disgruntled, cycling in temperatures of minus ten would mean all kinds of cold weather clothing which I’d have to haul around all day, so I’ve been going on the magical mystery tour on the bus. This does nothing for my energy or mood.
To try and get some exercise back into the morning routine I’ve taken to abandoning the bus once we get into town and walking the final bit to the railway station. No time is lost by doing this as the bus goes wandering around the inner ring road and takes as long to reach the station as I do on foot.
I also enter the city via a stone bridge and a city gate, which gives a rather glamorous mid-European vibe to the start of the day.
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 26, 2013 at 1:21 pm
disgruntled
Heh. I can really recommend the tyres, especially if the bus is the alternative! They are expensive but they should pay back over time in bus fares (and sanity…)
January 26, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Zweiradler
I hate that, too. Have been walking to work for several days now.
But today will be the last day of frost, according to our forecast.
I wouldn’t like going by bus during rush hour, either.
Nico
January 27, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Andy in Germany
Disgruntled: Having read your experiences, I’m convinced, it’s just a question of if we can afford them this year or next. I suspect the latter…
Zweiradler: Our bus usually isn’t that full that early in the morning, but it manages to take 40 minutes to cover about five kilometres, which is very annoying…
January 27, 2013 at 7:29 pm
teigl
When in Aberdeen recently, I decided to take the park and ride into town. There were six cars in a car park the size of a small european principality…when I went to buy my ticket I was met by a notice that said facilities were closed and buses were hourly. Last time I used it, they were every ten minutes, although that was five years ago! I didn’t fancy standing around in the sub-arctic Aberdeen tundra and drove into town. Public transport? Not in the oil capital of Britain!
January 28, 2013 at 6:57 am
Andy in Germany
Hello Iain. Sounds familiar. I do wonder if it is just that these schemes aren’t well thought out or properly financed, ir if they are set up to fail.
Our local transport is in a similar position. It isn’t bad (in fact it is way ahead of what I remember from the UK) but it seems to be set up so it isn’t quite convenient enough to get people out of their cars.