Commuting Community

The Commute


All of my guesstimates on how long this commute would take by bike have been far short of the mark. Albeit the fault of the running in, each way takes between an hour and 3/4 to two hours. I had to pull over in West Meon the other day: I looked at my watch and noted the hour had gone past already. Crap. It'd take less than half that in the Alpha unless the blue-rinse mob was out in force at 40mph.

The biggest shock has been my poor ability to get the gear right. The Sun can be in full shine but 20-mins into the trip it can start to feel mighty chilly. So the next outing I put Ron Hills under the trousers and the fleece behind the jacket. Fine. But I sweat my naggers off through town.



Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the trip, but there's no substitute for the experience I envisage I'll get from Dilbert. The Sanya's lack of power and small frame combine to give rigormortis of the lumbar spine after just 40-minutes while Dilbert's seating position feels like the poor dear could carry me all day with only my bladder and his tank needing any attention.

I'm still driving the Alpha too often. I need that bike test.

Why the A32?


In answer to the choice of route, firstly the Meon Valley is a joy to drive through and secondly, the A32 is a proper old A-road with corners, dips, junctions, and villages. It brushes with Saxon and Norman history and you can trace the route of the Meon Valley Railway (gone, but not vanished). It's agreat drivers road and in the wet you really do have to adjust your driving to make the time on it worth while. Sure, the slower traffic can be a bind and the amount of it has easily trebled (in my opinion) in the 10-years I have travelled it confounded by the recent influx of hauliers trying to save precious juice over the alternative M3 / M27 route.



The motorways? They're one long boring curve through the Northern reaches of Southampton, Winchester, Basingstoke's South, and then Frimley. It's grey, inhospitable, and in the wet it's possibly one of the worst road surfaces for traction in the UK?

In comparison, there is no comparison. 60-miles of M plays 50-miles of A. Best of all the A32 crosses the A272 at the "Hut". Now, there's a reason local biker groups meet here and it's not for the straights, I assure you. Then there's Warnford and the George and Falcon, Farringdon with the Pheasant Plucker....



If there's one downside to the trip it's the A31 Alton to Farnham dual carriageway - all but one stretch by-passing the village of Bentley. Here you will ride along 3/4-mile of THE best surface ever given to any road in the World. It's plain smooth; in the wet it's always drained, and the geometry of those curves calls for a ton-plus with the right machine. Compensation comes from the bumpiness caused by the sodden ground much of the road is built across. It tests all but the best of chassis and spills bladder contents right across lap in the evening but it's fun to watch novices to the area panic as the verges jump into the road at them.

Yeah, it's a long way and not all of it's glamorous at under 70', but I love it just the same. £4500 in Alpha juice a year, mind...

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