OPINION: Trying out some active travel

Friday 30 June 2023

OPINION: Trying out some active travel

Friday 30 June 2023

I figured I'd best get prepared for the Island Games. Anticipating that the island as a whole is going to be 'busy', and parking in town may be tricky and the buses will be popular with our visitors, it seemed like the ideal time to dust off the 'shang.

I realised last Saturday that it was more than a tad dusty though.

It hadn't been moved since last summer. If you need any confirmation that I am not a cyclist that should be it.

My trusty steed had two flat tyres, was covered in a lot of grime, and was home to some spiders.

bike cycle cyclist

Pictured: My active travel plan needed some work.

I was not put off though. I had completed my cycling proficiency some 30 years ago so it was finally time to put those skills to use....by spending my Saturday afternoon taking the tyres off and fixing the punctures.

This was not going to be a case of simply getting back on the bike and riding to work that was for sure. So the first two days of this week I commuted by bus.

However, experience has already taught me that just because the timetable says a bus is due, it does not mean it's coming. I was quite confident that a Monday morning would see a bus come past for me to get into town for 9am though. I was wrong.

Two buses did eventually turn up, like the proverbial cliche. The driver of the first bus signalled for the three of us waiting at the stop to get on the bus behind him. It made no difference to us as neither of those buses were actually due at that time, so they were either very late or very early, and we were all just pleased to get on a bus.

I got to work at 09:20, having got to the bus stop at 08:25. I can walk to town in 30minutes. But I was far less hot and bothered than if I had walked so I was quite happy to stroll into work whatever the time was.

Fast forward to the end of the day, I headed back to the bus stop. The timetable indicated that three buses would be leaving there to head my way over the next 15 minutes or so. When none of those buses showed up, or were showing on the buses.gg tracker I got on a different bus that dropped me fairly near my home and I walked the rest of the way.

Considering this cost me a grand total of £1.50 in commuting costs to get to and from work, I can't really complain.

tram

Pictured: Trams used to connect St Peter Port and the Bridge, as shown in Marco Tersigni's book showing 'now and then' photos of Guernsey.

I went to the bus stop a bit earlier the following day. I quite often walk to town so that was a possibility but it was another hot day and the bus should be so easy and convenient...and today I didn't have to wait at all. In fact, two turned up at the same time again! Even better than that, I noticed another bus joined the queue of traffic along the front just ahead of us at the Halfway. All three buses turned into Admiral Park, went round the roundabout, back out to the front and travelled in a convoy along to town.

Leaving work was also smoother today...out the office, onto a waiting bus, and home soon after. That's the beauty of buses when the timetable fits your day, or vice versa!

Wednesday I worked from home, and used some spare time to replace my bike's inner tubes. I was determined to get on my bike! Two days later, I have decided, definitively that I am not a cyclist, but I am assured by colleagues that it will get easier.

The actual bike ride is so easy. I can travel along the bike path for almost my entire journey to the office. I don't mind being overtaken by every other cyclist, and I easily found space to lock my bike to a rack in town. I was in the office less than 15 minutes after leaving home. Yesterday I was home in no time at all, breezing past the queue of traffic all the way back in to town. Even a bit of light rain today didn't cause any problems, as I took a spare top to change into if I got too wet.

My bum hurts though. Two days of very short bike rides and my bum hurts. This, my cycling colleagues assure me, will get better.

Also, I clearly don't know all the cyclists rules. Where it says 'NO CYCLING' on the planters near the Liberation monument, it seems you can cycle through there?

cycling cyclist

Pictured: You won't be seeing me doing this anytime soon.

I'm not about to start cycling all over the island, my bottom will not allow it for one thing. But commuting to and from town, to avoid the busy Island Games week will help me keep calm and get to and from the office easily.

If you see me out at Pleinmont for the shooting or Styx for the cycling, be assured - I will have driven there.

Post-Games week, hoping that a few days cycling has softened my bottom, I plan to continue commuting on my pushang, at least during the spring and summer months.