Weather and public transport RANT!!!

So here we are, in mid-late January. The last five days in London (and much of the country) have been characterised by varying degrees of snow, ice and plunging temperatures. Kids love it - I don't. While all the main roads in our locality are well gritted and usable, sadly the same cannot be said of the side roads where we live, where pavements remain covered in snow and the side roads themselves are like sheet ice. Sheet ice = dropped bike, so this has meant that my beloved steed stays put and I have to resort to the horror that is public transport to get to and from work. So far, I've had three days of it and I have to say, an end to this weather cannot come quickly enough.

My journey to work consists of a 2-mile bus ride to the end of the tube line. From there it's a straight run up into Central London. With changes, it takes an average of 90 minutes to do. So that's about three hours a day - for a journey of 14 miles each way! On the bike, it takes a third of the time.

I topped up my Oyster travelcard yesterday (Monday) with £30.00. If this weather continues, that'll be gone by Thursday. But cost aside, I just find public transport in the London rush hour a thoroughly dispiriting experience. This morning the queue for the bus was 13 deep. The first bus that came along was packed to the rafters, so didn't stop. Wait for the next one then....

The tube trains have also been rammed each day. Fortunately, being at the end of the line, I do manage to get a seat. Others further up the line are not so fortunate - if they manage to get on at all. People are rude, they push and shove, they cough all over you, batter you with their rucksacks, the trains are dirty and full of stale air and germs and people just look so bloody miserable all the time - as well they might, it's a horrible horrible experience.

                                  
                                 THIS ISN'T LIVING!!!!!!!

                            WHY DO PEOPLE DO IT????
                                   
                                 I HATE IT, I HATE IT!!!!
                
                 AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
  
PS. On arriving home tonight I find that it's 'effin snowing....AGAIN!! 

Box Hill or Bust recommends....

Bikes and biking is a bit of a niche subject in terms of creative and lifestyle writing and it can be difficult to come up with interesting pieces that are not simply a variation on the same theme. I'm strictly an amateur at this and write from a purely personal perspective on the bike-related things I get up to but I do find it interesting that, when looking around the web, it appears that the number of similar active (amateur) bloggers writing regularly and solely about our favoured pastime is actually quite small (or at least I've not been able to find vast numbers doing it).

So, while Box Hill or Bust is obviously the most interesting, most informative and best written blog in the "blogosphere" [quiet at the back there!], what else is out there for our delectation? A handful can be found on the "Blog Roll" further down this page on the right hand side and for the purpose of this piece, I thought I'd highlight four in particular that I enjoy reading. And if this helps increase their audience in any way, then all well and good.

First up, "A Bedford Biker".

Written by Lizzie Lane, a young blogger and biker from (I know you won't believe this...) Bedford, this is written from the perspective of someone growing up with a love of bikes but who has only recently passed her test - so her's is a different and interesting take on all things biking (and in stark contrast to old gits like me who have been riding for years). This is an entertaining and well written blog and I really like her youthful positivity. She'll learn.....!

Next up, "Braais, beers and bikes".

This one is much closer to home for me - written by Andrew Wood (aka "The Rider"), a gnarled old rocker, drinker and biker who is based in the Western Cape in South Africa. Andrew comes across as a really good guy and this one does exactly what it says on the tin - it's all about braais (barbeques), beers and bikes and basically having a good time (all the bloody time, it seems!). It's a very entertaining blog, packed full of photos and I have to say that I'm somewhat envious of Andrew's lifestyle!  

Next we have "Confessions of an Ageing Motorcyclist".

This one is different again. Written by Geoff James, a British ex-pat nowadays living on North Island, New Zealand, who describes himself as a "Grumpy old curmudgeon on some occasions, mental age of 5 on others". Hmmm...that's quite close to home too! Geoff has been riding a long time and has definitely "seen it and done it", so to speak. He is also a longstanding IAM member so this blog tends to be a bit more in-depth, informative and sensible than the tripe I write.      

Last (but certainly not least), we have "Find Me On The Road".

This one is a relatively new discovery for me, written by "SoniaM", who is based on the West Coast of Canada. Sonia seems to be fairly prolific, having written 138, 137 and 111 pieces respectively in each of the last three years (where does she find the time I ask?!). I'm still catching up with all this content but again, this is a well written and an interesting account of biking from yet another part of the world.   

So there you have it. Four very different blogs and four very different people, each offering a different experience and perspective on the life that we love. Now I suppose I'll have to get to work and make Box Hill or Bust a bit better!

Happy reading.....

You lucky people!

Back to work after the Christmas and New Year break and what do we find in the news to welcome in 2013? Yep, rail passengers are facing their tenth consecutive year of above-inflation fare rises. This is a familiar theme for this blog and what we now find is that from today, the average season ticket goes up by 4.2% and many will rise by more than double that (a season ticket from Banbury to London rises by 9.2% or £436 - incredibly, that ticket is now just shy of £5,200 a year!!).

The unions have been quick to say that the Government is pricing ordinary people off the railway and according to a Network Rail study, more a third of trains are still late! This is going to keep happening, yet bizarrely, more people are using the railways than ever. Demand is growing at 5-6% every year, despite the fact that average train fares have risen nearly three times faster than average incomes since 2008. Rail use and the high prices, overcrowding and questionable punctuality that go with it seems to buck every trend and no one that I know can explain it.

Many commuters are spending a good 10%+ of their salary simply on travelling into work - and that's not even considering the time it takes out of the day with delays, connections etc etc. I suspect many of those will also say that they have no choice but to keep paying what is demanded of them. It's a captive market innit? But aside from how good any of this is for the world of work, people's pockets and their family/home life (or the country's economic recovery), will people really keep taking the hit? How much more can the Government and the rail companies get away with extorting from their "customers"? And does the "no choice but to pay it" argument really stack up?

I don't have all the answers but what I do know is that this state of affairs must represent a real opportunity for the motorcycle industry. The "Get On" and "Ride to Work Day" campaigns are doing some really good work but they are voices in isolation, so what I'd like to see in 2013 is a concerted campaign, backed (and funded) by all sides of the industry and the biking media, to really drive home the message of the advantages of switching to two wheels. The arguments are well-rehearsed but they're not being heard. What I don't see is any sense of us as a community working together.  

They say the two certainties in life are death and taxes. These fare rises are now becoming a tax on work - it's time to try a different direction....