Hello, newbie and a rant

abloke36

Just thought I'd say hello.

Live in Levenshulme Manchester and recently bought a Mountain Bike to get fit.

Been looking at decent routes up in the Peaks and the Lake District but come across a problem. Ironic that to fully enable me to enjoy the bike I may need to buy a damned car !

Bikes and public transport , a complete nightmare.

Recently booked to go to the Lake District for a week, booked my rail ticket to Penrith, booked a place for the bike, turn up at Piccadilly to be told bike cannot be carried despite the reservation as train full. So what now, miss the train and take bike home, rebook. Very angry.

National Express even worse. Bikes carried at discretion of driver, has to be dismantled, no guarantee they will carry it.

In the US at least buses have bike racks.
At least getting to New Mills, Edale etc is fairly easy, any other suggestions ?

bails87

Buy a bike bag? But then I suppose you need somewhere to leave it while you ride.

PT is pretty unsympathetic to cyclists though. *Old man moment* I remember when the trains had guards carriages.....

abloke36

Remembers when Trains had a guards van, bring back the guards van.

cooldad

Cycle there and you'll get really fit.

abloke36

cooldad wrote:

Cycle there and you'll get really fit.

Very true but not so easy when you have luggage.

Not owned a car for 15 years but seriously considering one now as it makes weekend trips away so much easier to organise. So much for reducing traffic on the roads :roll:

ilovedirt

Yeah, public transport with a bike is a total pain in the arse, I don't drive either, and it's such a pain to take your bike anywhere unless you go with friends that drive.

d3matt

How about hiring a car for those times you need one? Will be much cheaper if you only need a car occasionally. Our local car hire company does a small car (not sure if it is big enough to get a bike in) for £104 per week including insurance or a small van for £150. Or around £27-34 per day depending on model.