I feel incredibly lucky that both of my current workplaces are close to home. One of them, where I'm based two days a week, is a 10 minute easy walk, door to door, including any waiting time for crossing roads. I suspect I'll never have such a good set up again!
My other workplace is a 10 - 15 minute drive, or perhaps twice that in peak hour traffic. It's also a 20 minute (ish) cycle ride. On one of the three days I'm there, I try to cycle. Which means that on my way home, instead of a view like the following:
I get scenery like this:
The question, really, is why I don't do it on more days. I really feel incredibly lucky whenever I make the ride, particularly in the morning when it's calm, quiet, the temperature is cool (it's been summer here after all...) and incredibly beautiful.
One of the reasons I don't cycle on all three of the days in question is that sometimes I need a car to go to meetings off site. This is usually just once per week though. I think the other reasons are almost laziness - the challenges of squeezing clothes, towel, lunch, and work requirements into a backpack. I usually cycle in early, consistent with my normal morning routine of heading to the gym from 6am - 7am (the gym, incidentally, is at the workplace in question, which is a university).
Instead of getting to the gym at 6am, I leave home on my bike at 6am, and then do a shorter and more weights-focused workout. I'm at my desk by about 7.45am.
.
I think I might set myself a challenge of cycling twice a week some weeks - perhaps just once a month at first. There are lots of pros, and not too many cons. And given that before long we'll be into winter, and I'll be put off by the rain and/or cold instead of the heat, now is the time to start!
My other workplace is a 10 - 15 minute drive, or perhaps twice that in peak hour traffic. It's also a 20 minute (ish) cycle ride. On one of the three days I'm there, I try to cycle. Which means that on my way home, instead of a view like the following:
I get scenery like this:
The question, really, is why I don't do it on more days. I really feel incredibly lucky whenever I make the ride, particularly in the morning when it's calm, quiet, the temperature is cool (it's been summer here after all...) and incredibly beautiful.
One of the reasons I don't cycle on all three of the days in question is that sometimes I need a car to go to meetings off site. This is usually just once per week though. I think the other reasons are almost laziness - the challenges of squeezing clothes, towel, lunch, and work requirements into a backpack. I usually cycle in early, consistent with my normal morning routine of heading to the gym from 6am - 7am (the gym, incidentally, is at the workplace in question, which is a university).
Instead of getting to the gym at 6am, I leave home on my bike at 6am, and then do a shorter and more weights-focused workout. I'm at my desk by about 7.45am.
.
I think I might set myself a challenge of cycling twice a week some weeks - perhaps just once a month at first. There are lots of pros, and not too many cons. And given that before long we'll be into winter, and I'll be put off by the rain and/or cold instead of the heat, now is the time to start!
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