Best way to travel 5 miles to a train station?

I live about 5 miles from a train station where I catch my train to
work each day. I used to drive my car to the station and park it in
the car park, but now I often find that the car park is full (even
very early) and the surrounding areas have parking restrictions.

I would just like peoples ideas of how I could get to the station...

1) Could walk, but it would take quite a while and my journey to
London is already very long.

2) I could go by moped, but apart from being dangerous there is still
no where to park it.

3) I could cycle, but again, its dangerous and in the summer I would
need a shower by the time I got to work!

4) I could get an electric scooter thingy that would fold up small
enough to take on the train, but as far as I know these are illegal on
the road and pavement so not really an option!

5) My wife could drop me off every day - but shes not too keen and it
would mean waking up the kids at 6:30 every morning!

6) I could drive further to another station, but then the parking at
other stations is almost as bad!

7) I could drive all the way into London - but dont really want to for
several reasons!

8) I could (and would) get the bus except the buses dont run early
enough!

....so, has anyone got any good suggestions as to how I could make this
5 mile journey to the station?

Any ideas much appreciated!

David Bevan

http://www.davidbevan.co.uk

 

Become a train driver.

 

Go-Ped.

Not strictly road (or pavement) legal, but you get motorised transport
to the station, and it's small enough to fold up and pack away into a
bag when you get to your destination.

 

David wrote:

Portkey.

Aerial ropeway.

Pogo stick.

Jet pack.

 

How would he get to the station to start? He'll probably find the work
too dangerous.

 

* Change job
* Move closer to the train station
* Get fit so that cycling doesn't cause a problem with your BO

 

Master the art of levitation and grab the back of the first car going in the
right direction.

 

If you are going to get sweaty you may as well get *really* sweaty, so cut
out the train and simply cycle all the way into london! (This assumes that
you don't live somewhere like Plymouth or Newcastle of course)

 

That would be my choice.

1) It is not dangerous! You are probably more at risk walking on the
pavement.

2) You can avoid sweating easily by not racing. If you are relatively fit a
reasonable speed would not produce any more sweat than a brisk walk, unless
there was a big hill in the way of course.

3) I used to drive to work but found that when I started cycling regularly I
felt less stressed, fitter and generally healthier.

 

David says...

Taxi? Give a couple of local taxi companies a ring and see if you can do
a deal. You might be surprised at what rate you can get if its a quiet
time for them.

 

Buy a motorbike and ride into London.

Riding in London rocks, and if you rush out and buy a brand new ZX-10R then,
after a short time you will either:

1. Be a riding god, allowing you to quit your job and take up full-time
professional racing.

2. Be addicted to riding and wonder how you ever put up with a train or
car.

3. Be able to drive to the train station and use their disabled parking
facilities.

4. Never have to go anywhere ever again.

Alternatively you could try car sharing with other train users or come to an
agreement with the local taxi firm for a fixed price for a week and then
fiddle it through your expenses.


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
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<snip>

Get a job in a less crowded area of the UK and relocate?

--
Steve Parry
K100RS SE
F650
(not forgetting the SK90PY)

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

Is it just getting to the station or would it be convenient to have
transport at the London end as well? Also have you looked at parking
options say a mile or two from the station and using a folding bike like
the Brompton to do the last leg?

If its only to the station and bike parking is reasonably secure, either
cycle slowly - 5 miles is not a great distance and you will quickly
adapt to it - or get yourself a Giant Lafree electric bicycle which is
road legal and will get you there and back easily between charges.

If it would be useful to have transport in London or the cycle parking
is not secure, then you need a Brompton folding bike to take on the
train with you - takes about 10-15 seconds to fold once you are familiar
with it. If you still want the electric option, Kinetics in Glasgow do
an electric conversion to the Brompton that would get you to the station
and back plus around London - http://www.kinetics.org.uk/.

Certainly all these options will be a lot cheaper than a year'd driving
and parking fees. There is a useful guide to folding and electric bikes
plus trains at http://www.atob.org.uk/

Tony

 

Catapult or Zimmer frame.

 

The transport safety stats for the UK show that, mile for mile,
walking is more dangerous than cycling. So he's far safer on a bike.

Look at it this way; 5 miles will take less than half an hour at even
the absolute slowest of cycling speeds; 25 minutes, say. If you walked
gently for 25 minutes would you stink and need a shower[1]? Cycling
gently is no more taxing to the metabolism.

[1] NB. if the answer to this is "yes" then you *really* do need to
get out of that car.

 

He could follow the man that drives the snow plough

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Mark

Damned right. You're highly likely to be hit by some loonie on a bicycle
for a start.

 

[1] is this while you wait for a new wheel?

 

Cycling is not dangerous. On the contrary, people who cycle, according
to the BMA, live longer than people who don't, so not cycling is more
dangerous than cycling.

I used to commute 21 miles each way by bicycle, and didn't need a shower
when I got to work (although I did keep sufficient clean clothes at
work to change every day). Of course, that meant driving in at least
once a week to take the clean clothes for the next week, but that can
be worked around. Cycling isn't a sweaty activity unless you're trying
to go fast; at a reasonable ten or twelve miles per hour, you should
not sweat any more than you would when walking.

My suggestion: hire a Brompton (folding bike) for a week[1]. Take it
with you on the train. If at the end of that time you don't love it,
don't buy one. If, on the other hand, you do love it, do buy one; live
long (because cycling is good for you) and prosper (because cycling is
cheap).

[1] People in London, surely there's somewhere you can hire Bromptons
from?

 

Ah, you _had_ to go and tell him about the wheel, didn't you?


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
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The speccy Geordie twat.