It is almost 2 years since I retired, but until then, I did the same commute virtually every week day. Although my destination, Easter Bush, was in the middle of the countryside, I had to fill in questionnaires regularly to justify a parking permit for the car park and to prove that using public transport or a bike was not a viable alternative.
The trip by car was about 11.5 miles each way, which took about 20 minutes. With my car and the current price of fuel, that works out at about £3.32 for the round trip. The bus option would involve taking the First Bus X95 into Edinburgh and then a Lothian Transport 15 bus to Easter Bush. I’m not up on current bus prices and timetables, but that would take about 2 hours each way and cost around £8 all-in. So of course, I dismissed the public transport option out of hand. But what about cycling?
On the form, you were invited to tick any of the suggested aspects which prevented you from cycling, like:
Distance: too far? TICK!
Hills: too hilly? TICK!
Roads: too busy / dangerous? TICK!
Fitness: not fit enough? TICK!
Arriving hot and sweaty and in need of a shower and change of clothes? TICK!
However, you never really know until you try it. Now I’ve been cycling for a couple of years, I thought I’d finally try out that commute by bike and see what it really felt like…
It was a cold morning, with a noticable breeze but I was well wrapped up and started off feeling positive about the adventure. My bike was freshly spruced up after the dunking it had a few days earlier and was ticking over very smoothly.
The run into Birkenside was downhill, making for a quick start. What I didn’t realise at that point was the wind was behind me, making my progress even more rapid than I thought. I then continued through Carrington and crossed the A6094 at the old water works, heading for Roslin Glen. It didn’t take long to freewheel down to the bottom of Roslin Glen, then I was faced with the climb up the other side.
This climb is probably the main reason I feared cycling to work, and I’ve avoided it ever since, so this was my first attempt by bike. But sometimes the hills you fear the most end up being easier than expected, as you don’t attack them but get down into low gear early and just do the minimum to keep making forward progress. I had certainly heated up by the time I reached the top, but was far from panting with exhaustion. Result!!!
The remaining mile or so to my destination wasn’t too taxing, and I found myself at Easter Bush just under an hour after starting off. I had expected it to take maybe 10 minutes longer, but I hadn’t been factoring in the wind assistance. Now it was time to turn around and try it in reverse…
The descent back into Roslin Glen was rapid, even with lots of braking, as the hairpin bend at the end can catch you out if you don’t get it just right. From the bottom, I didn’t take the side road that I’d come in along, as that meant a steeper climb than just staying on the main road through the glen and out the other side. The gradient was not massive but still I slowed down lots of cars on my ascent. Thankfully they were all very courteous.
At the top of the glen road, where it meets the A6094 again, I got myself onto the cycle path to Bonnyrigg. I was going to cycle as far as Bonnyrigg, then turn right onto Cockpen Road. However, as I got closer, there were more people out dog walking, and I remembered how the last part is usually strewn with broken glass, so I took a right turn into the new housing estate which turned out to make a nice short cut.
I then followed Cockpen Road past Dalhousie Castle and turned right onto the A7. At that point, I felt the full force of the wind in my face. The wind wasn’t exactly gale force, but with tired legs and going steadily uphill, it slowed me down a lot. I got home eventually, peeled off layer after layer of sweaty clothing and had a nice hot shower.
So what is my final verdict on the feasibility of this “commute”? I definitely could do it, but I probably wouldn’t look forward to it, especially as I’d be doing it during rush hour and in all weather conditions. I certainly would arrive very sweaty and would need to add time for having a shower and a change at work. Taking that into consideration, I think the ideal solution here would be to use an electrically-assisted bike. That would help battle against the wind and would reduce the queue of cars behind me when going up the big hills, making me much less sweaty as a result. All hypothetial of course, and I’m so glad that I don’t need to worry about doing it at all now!