New job, commute could be interesting

muzzan

....and by interesting I mean potentially dangerous for a variety of reasons

So tomorrow I start a new job on completely the other side of Glasgow from my old one. For those that know the city, my old job was right next to the airport & involved a fairly harmless 10-12 mile journey taking in a nice river crossing & some wide roads & only about a mile or so of what you could call anything worrying road-wise. Also, the areas I was passing through we all familiar to me & didn't seem threatening in any way. Good times.

However my new job is in the east of the city (across the M8 from the fort shopping centre) and the choice of cycling routes seems to boil down to:

- Back roads through some of the most deprived areas in the city & therefore the UK
- Main roads through the town & then along the old edinburgh road (dual carriageway with bus lanes all the way).

Actually tried the 2nd one today, 23mi round trip took me about 1h 25mi (moving time), but was stopped a lot & this would be 10x worse @ rush hour no doubt.

Bit worried about the alternative, especially in the winter darkness... Am I being a middle class wimp?

Either way, I'm missing my old journey already!

Advice or inspiration anyone?

meanredspider

Move home?

Don't envy you either journey. I don't much like driving around Glasgow TBH - many of the roads are wrecked and others feel like never-ending streams of traffic lights. And rough areas of Glasgow are properly rough.

Ride hard

Advice: route A. Inspiration: you'll cycle much faster thus beating your PB - gauranteed!

Jokes aside, I would go with whatever feels more doable in the long term. Maybe you could mix up your daily flirtatation with danger, as either way you're going to have to get used to it.

Good luck.

walkingbootweather

It took me months of commuting before settling on my preferred and fastest routes. Even now I must have dozens of different variations which I take depending upon weather, traffic conditions and my mood.

Get exploring - you may find some nice surprises.

First.Aspect

Have you come across this resource? http://glasgow.cyclestreets.net/

Good for at least a starting point.

Don't know where you are starting from, but I'd personally aim to go out as far east as possible through Glasgow Green and then generally along the river before heading north. http://glasgow.cyclestreets.net/journey/6354925/ Try this for starters.....

muzzan

Im starting from bearsden, yes there are undoubtedly lots of little rat-runs I can discover over time. That site is quite good, given me a couple of possibilities to explore anyway, I agree the thing to do is keep as south as possible & go north at the end though

EKE_38BPM

How about driving or taking public transport?

The Rookie

EKE_38BPM wrote:

How about driving or taking public transport?

Fek orf!

Best of luck, I'm sure with some experimenting you'll find a happy compromise, may be worth making your bike as unatractive to tea leaves as possible.

suzyb

The Beginner wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

How about driving or taking public transport?

Fek orf!

Best of luck, I'm sure with some experimenting you'll find a happy compromise, may be worth making your bike as unatractive to tea leaves as possible.

Attractiveness doesn't matter. If it can be moved, it will be nicked.

EKE_38BPM

The Beginner wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

How about driving or taking public transport?

Fek orf!

I was joking of course.

Assuming normal office hours and rates of employment being low in

some of the most deprived areas in the city & therefore the UK

, chances are that the potential trouble makers will still be in bed sleeping off last night's Buckfast and/or heroin and/or crack and/or concussion, so I think the OP should be fine.

You can ride faster than a speeding bullet, right?

kieranb

Well I lived in glasgow about 15 years ago, my commute was either along a converted railway line or on the Great Western Road, in the end I used the road as too many scarey incidents on the cycle path, which went through council estates and wasn't kept glass free.