Beat the jams on your bike

A cycling column by Rob Derry of Swindon Cycle Campaign

With our office move now complete, my cycle commute has shortened to around three miles. It’s now an extremely pleasant off-road route that takes around 12-14 minutes, even at a pace where I am hardly pushing it. 

I see ducks, rabbits and even the odd deer. 

For the past few days though I’ve been carrying a cold so I’ve wimped out and driven to work. It’s 20 minutes on a good day but can be twice that. I’ve found a longer route that is quicker and that keeps me moving. I hate sitting still in traffic so I’d rather take a longer route and be moving than a shorter route and be sitting going nowhere.

I’m really looking forward to next week back on my bike when I can get to work quicker, stress-free and more alert.

What struck me this week though is that part of my driving route takes me down Mead Way and clearly the same people sit there every day barely moving. It can take half an hour to get from the Tawny Owl to Great Western Way at the wrong time.

I know that not everyone is able to cycle to work but surely there must be some people sitting in that queue thinking that instead of complaining about how the road network can’t cope they would consider an alternative to this daily misery.

If any of you are sick of sitting in the same traffic jams every day and are considering making this change, don’t think that it’s the wrong time of year – I switched to my bike in January 2009. 

Pop along to our Facebook page and drop us a message. There are plenty of experienced people who will happily give you any friendly advice to help you improve your commuting experience.