Taking the bike away on business

Totalnewbie

Does anyone here ever take their bike on business trips or is it more hassle than it's worth?

I'm going to Bristol for two days on Friday for a conference. I was thinking of cycling to Paddington, putting the bike on the train (having attempted to reserve a place, apparently First Great Western allow this), cycling the small distance to the hotel and then changing into smart clothes before walking to the conference.

The Hotel say the concierge will lock my bike away for me so no worries there.

The main advantage is that I wouldn't need to use the tube in London. Other end doesn't matter so much as I can walk or get a taxi. Just wondering if it would be more bother than really worth, I have never tried to put my bike on a train before but from what I can gather it's not always straightforward...maybe I should just bite the bullet and use the tube on Friday?

NFMC

In my previous job I used to go to London pretty regularly (from Manchester) and I got into the habit of taking my bike.

It was great to have the bike when I was there and really enjoyed riding around London for a couple of hours after work which I would otherwise have spent in the pub (I just got there later!).

I found it a doddle to put my bike on the train but my company always paid for expensive tickets which made life a lot easier all-round.

graeme_s-2

If you do it, make sure to stick an expenses claim in for your bike miles

We get 20p a mile

Totalnewbie

It's only a bog standard train ticket I've got, only Very Important People get expensive tickets here!

That's my main concern really, that the bike reservation won't work for whatever reason. I'm not travelling at peak times however (10am train on Fri and coming back on Sat evening).

Hehe, not sure I would have the gall to claim considering it's only five miles to Paddington and I commute that distance anyway! (Looks to be less than a mile the other end too).

el_presidente

Totalnewbie wrote:

It's only a bog standard train ticket I've got, only Very Important People get expensive tickets here!

That's my main concern really, that the bike reservation won't work for whatever reason. I'm not travelling at peak times however (10am train on Fri and coming back on Sat evening).

Hehe, not sure I would have the gall to claim considering it's only five miles to Paddington and I commute that distance anyway! (Looks to be less than a mile the other end too).

For that distance I would not bother unless you think you will get a chance to go for a decent ride round Bristol at some point.

Totalnewbie

It depends what time I finish at the conference on Saturday, but I bet it won't be before dark, otherwise I would try out the Bristol-Bath path.

It's the tube this end I'm trying to avoid - the more I use the bike, the less I like the tube. If it wasn't for risk of theft I would leave it locked at Paddington but rest assured I won't be doing that, specially with the bike still looking new.

Parkey

The facilities for bikes on first great western's intercity trains are pretty good. They've got racks that will take about 6 bikes.

If you're not travelling at peak times you should have no trouble at all.