{"id":9777,"date":"2022-06-14T16:27:59","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T15:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/?p=9777"},"modified":"2025-03-13T19:40:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T19:40:51","slug":"cycle-to-work-and-get-there-on-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/2022\/06\/14\/cycle-to-work-and-get-there-on-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycle to work and get there on time!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By Jen Graystone<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2011 I moved to Oxford to start a new job at the John Radcliffe Hospital (JR) as a consultant surgeon. As a surgeon, I work odd hours, sometimes finishing operations after midnight. I also have to be on call. I very quickly got into the habit of driving the 2.3 miles to work at the hospital on a daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before moving to Oxford, I had lived in Yorkshire where there seemed to be fewer cars on the road. I was amazed at how busy the roads were in Oxford. There were constant traffic jams and drivers seemed to be so cross with one another all the time. I just thought \u2014\u201cwell, this is how it is now\u201d \u2014 and stuck with driving the short distance to and from work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I had to drive \u2013 didn\u2019t I?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My husband works at the University of Oxford and his commute is 1.5 miles. As soon as we moved here he acquired a second-hand bike for \u00a350 and started cycling to work. This was his normal method of commuting for many years, but I had never considered it: the late hours, having to be smartly dressed, my \u2018image\u2019 \u2014 all of these things meant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/2019\/12\/31\/changing-travel-habits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I had to d<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/2019\/12\/31\/changing-travel-habits\/\">rive<\/a> \u2014 didn\u2019t I?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes my commute was 20 minutes. Never less. Sometimes it took an hour. An hour to go 2.3 miles! I never knew how long it would take and was sometimes late for work.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jen-Graystone-879x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Jen Graystone wearing her surgeon's scrubs. Close up\" class=\"wp-image-9803\" width=\"213\" height=\"248\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>One day, I thought: \u201cmaybe I should try and cycle?\u201d I wasn\u2019t doing much exercise and was pretty unfit, so I took some time to plan it all out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What would I wear?<\/li><li>Where could I get changed?<\/li><li>Could I have a shower when I arrived?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All of these things stressed me out, but fortunately, my husband was on hand to help and advise, ensuring my ancient second-hand bike was roadworthy and that I had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/2020\/09\/15\/how-to-prevent-your-bike-being-stolen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a good lock<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/2020\/11\/02\/bike-lights\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a good set of lights<\/a>. (Oxford has loads of bike shops that can help and advise with these things.) I got a rucksack and was sad to stop using my gorgeous leather \u201cconsultant\u2019s\u201d satchel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Never late again<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I started the commute. It was tough: uphill in the morning and \u2014 initially \u2014 I had to get off and walk, but it was amazing. I got fresh air, and the cycle downhill on the way home blew away all the cobwebs of a busy day. I particularly enjoyed the cycle home at 2 a.m. after I had been concentrating in the operating theatre all day. It meant that I could enjoy the fresh air while everyone else was sleeping and the roads were quiet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>And the best thing? My journey to work took the same amount of time every single day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I knew exactly when I would arrive at work and never got caught up due to busy traffic. It was great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eleven years on, I have given up my workplace parking permit. My cycle to the JR takes 17 minutes. I still own a car, but I very rarely drive in Oxford. It is so much quicker and predictable to cycle. I\u2019ve invested in panniers, which means I don\u2019t get a sweaty back and can carry a reasonable amount of stuff around with me. And I\u2019m fitter, and healthier. I now cycle in my normal work clothes (OK, I have to make sensible choices about work outfits, but it\u2019s worth it). As a regular part of my job, I travel to places like Reading and London and I have invested in a second-hand folding bike, which I take on the train with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Life is good by bike!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jen Graystone<\/p>\n<p>In 2011 I moved to Oxford to start a new job at the John Radcliffe Hospital (JR) as a consultant surgeon. As a surgeon, I work odd hours, sometimes finishing operations after midnight. I also have to be on call. I very quickly got into the habit of driving the 2.3 miles to work at the hospital on a daily basis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[5,61,7],"class_list":["post-9777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-on-yer-bike","tag-blog","tag-cycle-to-work","tag-on-yer-bike"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12093,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9777\/revisions\/12093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}