Normalising the ride to work

I used to say that riding to work was a faff and that's why I didn't do it, but the truth of the matter is this: it's not a faff. In fact, it's quite simple. I fold a shirt, find a towel and a pair of trousers, throw in a tee-shirt for the return ride, put my glasses and phone charger in a smaller section of the rucksack and that's it. After that it's just a case of putting on cycling shorts and another tee-shirt, plus socks and trainers and then heading out into the garage to fetch the bike. That's the only moment of trepidation. I check the rear tyre to see if it's flat or soft and if it's not, then off I go, set Strava and ride off.

Sometimes I ride in and bus it back

I ride up Ellenbridge and on to Elmfield, then Morley, then Church Way, roads I know well and then ride a little of the Limpsfield Road having crossed the churchyard. Now it gets a little busy although right now, with the kids off school, the roads are empty, which is great. I turn right on to Wentworth, follow the road down to Warlingham School, hang a right, bear left and head towards the first real hazard of the ride (although, in fairness, when you're on the road, the whole thing is one big hazard that shouldn't be underestimated).

The first big hazard, then, is Tithepit Shaw Lane, it's a winding downhill road (on the outward journey) and it's important to keep a weather eye on the traffic, namely impatient people driving to work. It also puts a little wear and tear on the brakes. Another hazardous part of the journey is the Whyteleafe roundabout, which is next up: plenty of traffic on the A22 so invariably I stop, wait for a clear path and then bomb across, hoping that the railway level crossing on the other side won't be bleeping as that can mean a fairly long wait for a train to pass, but even if it is bleeping, it's not really a problem. Some say that Whyteleafe Hill - which follows straight after the level crossing, is a bit of a pig and in some respects they're right, it is a pig, but mainly because it's long, not because it's steep. It's a steady incline and to be honest I take it in my stride. Half way along (at the end of the 'hilly bit', if you can call it that) there's a mini roundabout and from there it's fairly plain sailing into Caterham. I take my time as there's some nice houses along that stretch and it's nice to see them in all their morning finery. There's also some interesting side roads on either side that I'd like to explore one of these days. For some reason it takes me back to when I used to do a milk round in the south Wallington area.

The Whyteleafe railway crossing

It's a short ride past Queen's Park (on my right) to a little short cut, I think it's Manor Avenue, a quiet road which leads to Park Avenue and joins the Stanstead Road which takes me all the way to White Hill Lane via Chaldon. White Hill Lane, in many ways, represents the halfway point in a sense, but it's dangerous, a 10% drop that curves left and right and isn't ideal if you have a car behind you, even if I do deliberately hog the middle of the road to keep the motorist at bay. The problem is speed, which picks up, and then there's a right turn that I need to take, so I slow, take one hand off the bars for a split second to indicate I'm turning left and soon I find myself on Springbottom Lane, a long road with huge houses, some sporting swimming pools on the left and right. There's even a steep hillside with goats grazing and I think of the lonely goatherd in the song from The Sound of Music, not a film I'd put down as a favourite, more a childhood memory of going to the cinema and seeing Miss Candy with her red light and choc ices.

At the end of Springbottom a T junction and I turn left and then keep going, down another steep (and fast) hill and over the motorway, it's either the M23 or the M25 but I find it an invigorating moment of the ride, suddenly riding, at speed, over a busy motorway and then calming down a little as I reach the end of Warwick Wold Road and turn right, heading through the council estate of Merstham. This part of the ride is fairly chilled as, indeed, is the rest of the journey. I pass a curry restaurant, a Co-op and then, after another mini roundabout I ride under a railway bridge close to Merstham railway station and turn left, where the road is a little uneven as it takes me through a row of shops towards another mini roundabout where I turn right and head towards another railway bridge, or possibly two, I can't remember. By now, of course, I'm almost there. A left turn under the railway bridge, then a right on to what I think is Frenchies Road, I might be wrong about that, but either way I pass the Jolly Brickmakers and head on down into Redhill. At this stage there are various options: ride down Lynwood Road or head up towards the A23 and either cross it or turn left on to it and ride towards the town centre. As soon as I engage with traffic the need to be alert is crucial, trying to second guess the intentions of other road users, but soon I arrive in Clarendon Road, I press the security code, a door opens and I arrive in the office car park, time for a shower and a day's work and then, as the day wears on, I start to consider the ride home, which, it has to be said, is a pig. Why? It's all uphill and all those steep downhills become steep uphills, a real work-out that's for sure, but ultimately it's a 24-mile ride, roughly 12 miles each way and, of late, certainly on the inward ride, I've managed to shave six minutes off my time. It used to take me around one hour and sixteen minutes, now it's around an hour and ten.

The motorway on a return ride...

I tend to ride three times a week and sometimes I split it, I might ride in and take the bus back and then the following day I ride home, having bought a single ticket on the train, which is only £4.80 compared to £9.40 for a return trip. This week I rode there and back on Monday, I rode in Wednesday and left the bike at the office, taking the bus home (it costs me nothing) and then yesterday (Thursday) I rode it back. Now it's Friday, I've got the day off so I can either ride nowhere today, but only if I ride to Oxted or Westerham tomorrow morning. The aim is four rides a week, so Sunday with Andy plus three rides before Saturday. So far I've done two rides, ie two complete rides (there and back). I'd be happy with another one today, but as I say, if I don't go today I must go tomorrow so as not to break the cycle, so to speak.

The other side of this, of course, is fitness. I've lost around 7lbs, or let's say 6lbs, and I'm kind of watching what I eat. I've got to be slightly careful, because there's also that thing about regular cycling and not needing to keep to a diet. I've bought into that a little bit along the lines of eating cake and biscuits, but it only works if the riding is kept up and even then it's a false economy; but on the other side I've not been eating in between meals (most of the time) and I've been having light meals. The danger is when the cycling slopes off a bit, which I'm sure it will do when the weather closes in, but all I really need to do (to maintain current cycling levels) is to ride on the weekends and then twice during the week. So Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday should do it.

The bike at work, probably prior to the ride home

You see much more of the world around you when you're on a bicycle. If you're travelling fast in a train, while you get to see the countryside and the fields at a distance, it's all over in a flash. In a car it's even worse, but on a bike you spot things you might have passed by, like the old church in Caterham built in something like 1039AD, there it is on the side of the road as I turn into Manor Road, see photo below.

The old church in Caterham

The above shot is taken while on Manor Avenue, which leads down to Park Avenue. I just saw it and thought it looked like a nice spot. That's the thing about cycling, you see lots of nice spots where you can imagine yourself chilling with a cup of tea or just lolling around doing nothing, what's not to like?