Originally Posted by
timdow
I have gone through this with our train (San Diego trolley). The stairs on our trolleys were steep and narrow. I just dealt with it, then altered my work schedule so I could ride the 20 miles each way instead of using the trolley. They have since replaced many of the trolley cars with flat ones, and the trolley is a good option, but I am now used to and embracing doing the full ride and also like saving the ticket cost. The trolley is now my "back-up plan" in case of emergency/lazyness.
Question: Do you mean that by having two bikes you would put the first bike in a locker at the first train station, and therefore that solves your problem of lifting it on/off the train?
That seems like a pretty good solution until the new train station is finished.
If that is not what you are saying, or if that won't work, I have a some thoughts on how you might make your commute easily doable:
If the folding bike works for you and makes it much easier to do the commute, $150 is a bargain, especially if that would mean one less car.
If you could alter your work hours, or just leave earlier, you could possibly ride to the "more city" train stop when there is less traffic. A good set of lights will be needed if it is still dark. Even if you leave at the time you usually do, have you tried it to see how bad it is? Maybe there is an alternate route on side streets that take you away from the major traffic?
Or, just resign to keep driving to the train station until the new station is complete.
Yes, I would leave the first bike chained up to the blue fencing you see there at the station since there's no bike racks and no one seems to know about the ancient bike lockers that are still there. There are so many turns on the all-bike commute that it intimidates me, also takes about two hours. I agree the folding bike could be a really good option if I can swing the cost (Christmas gift?? lol). Now that daylight savings time has hit in Delaware it's lighter earlier and I leave my house around 6:30 am. Did just get two sets of bike lights from a bike safety event on campus and tried them out last week. LOVE the blinking feature, it illuminated at least 20 feet or so ahead of me. We have a "Bike to Work" day in May and I think it might be fun to try to prepare for that over the next few months. Just got a balaclava and riding jacket and gloves with a $100 gift card I won in a raffle for cleaning up litter. SCORE! I am trying to get a truly "clean commute" and encourage and connect with colleagues who do the same. Yes, it takes twice as long as driving but I can see my CO2 emissions saved on a calculator online and it's a good feeling.
Do you ask for special accommodations at work to adjust your hours for the bike commute? I'm nervous as I've only been in my position for six months but would like to take the earlier train home so as not to have 10.5 hour days (only 3 days a week due to a hybrid work schedule). If I work from the train, I think it's probably a good argument...