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Commute to work by foot: 18 (and a half) minutes
Commute to work by bicycle: 9 (and a quarter) minutes
Today, I went to work by bicycle for the first time. As you can see, this cut the time of the commute in half. I measure my time comprehensively, from the moment that I step out of the door of Skullcrusher Mountain to the moment that I walk into my office. So, actually, the speed of most of the trip was improved my more than a factor of two -- not surprisingly! -- but there are bits at each end (e.g., walking through my building) that remain unchanged and even bits of added time (e.g., locking and unlocking the cycle).
Why the change? I bought a new bicycle yesterday -- a Falcon Adventurer. Although I have had a bicycle on semi-permanent loan from my former landlady for over a year now, it is not well suited to me and so I really do not ride it. Since it is no use having a cycle that one does not ride, I bought myself a new cycle yesterday at the Oxford Cycle Workshop, through the Cyclescheme that I described in the entry linked above. Basically, the cost of the cycle (£180), the lock (£40)[*], and an hour of safety instruction (£20)[**] are covered by the University, then deducted from my gross income over a period of many months. This amounts to a substantial savings -- as I do not have to pay tax on income used for the cycle purchase -- and it spreads the cost out over a long period, sans interest.
So now I have a new main means of local transportation! And I am very excited about it! When I first moved to Oxford, I got around mainly by bus -- and the local bus service is excellent -- for the first few months. Once we moved into Skullcrusher Mountain, which is only a mile away from where I work, I let my bus pass lapse and took to walking most places, relying only on the bus when either heavy luggage, great distances, or a need for speed were involved. This is the next big transition as, from here on, I expect to use my [as-yet unnamed] bicycle to go most places, reserving walking and bus riding only for when necessary.
[*] One of the cool things about Oxford is that 20 - 30% of the population uses a bicycle to commute to work. However, such wide cycle use also naturally leads to a very high rate of cycle theft.
[**] Recall that I only learned to ride a bike three years ago, at the age of twenty-nine. As such, my experience riding has mainly been in Glen Ellyn and at Fermilab, where the traffic is minimal. Riding in a heavily trafficked area such as Oxford still makes me nervous!
Commute to work by bicycle: 9 (and a quarter) minutes
Today, I went to work by bicycle for the first time. As you can see, this cut the time of the commute in half. I measure my time comprehensively, from the moment that I step out of the door of Skullcrusher Mountain to the moment that I walk into my office. So, actually, the speed of most of the trip was improved my more than a factor of two -- not surprisingly! -- but there are bits at each end (e.g., walking through my building) that remain unchanged and even bits of added time (e.g., locking and unlocking the cycle).
Why the change? I bought a new bicycle yesterday -- a Falcon Adventurer. Although I have had a bicycle on semi-permanent loan from my former landlady for over a year now, it is not well suited to me and so I really do not ride it. Since it is no use having a cycle that one does not ride, I bought myself a new cycle yesterday at the Oxford Cycle Workshop, through the Cyclescheme that I described in the entry linked above. Basically, the cost of the cycle (£180), the lock (£40)[*], and an hour of safety instruction (£20)[**] are covered by the University, then deducted from my gross income over a period of many months. This amounts to a substantial savings -- as I do not have to pay tax on income used for the cycle purchase -- and it spreads the cost out over a long period, sans interest.
So now I have a new main means of local transportation! And I am very excited about it! When I first moved to Oxford, I got around mainly by bus -- and the local bus service is excellent -- for the first few months. Once we moved into Skullcrusher Mountain, which is only a mile away from where I work, I let my bus pass lapse and took to walking most places, relying only on the bus when either heavy luggage, great distances, or a need for speed were involved. This is the next big transition as, from here on, I expect to use my [as-yet unnamed] bicycle to go most places, reserving walking and bus riding only for when necessary.
[*] One of the cool things about Oxford is that 20 - 30% of the population uses a bicycle to commute to work. However, such wide cycle use also naturally leads to a very high rate of cycle theft.
[**] Recall that I only learned to ride a bike three years ago, at the age of twenty-nine. As such, my experience riding has mainly been in Glen Ellyn and at Fermilab, where the traffic is minimal. Riding in a heavily trafficked area such as Oxford still makes me nervous!
