Competative Commuting

It hasn’t escaped my notice that certain events have been going on in throughout the world which have their roots in the London Cycle Fridays I mentioned last week. Large numbers of people turn up in a prearranged area (in cycling speak – “Outside KFC”) and ride in a group to another point (in cycling speak – “Work”). There’s a penalty for getting there outside the designated time (“The sack”, “Being fired” or, topically, “Redundancy”). Those who get there first get rewarded with money and glory (“Bonus” or “Good appraisal”) and the whole group then go on to do it all over again the next day, in a break from the origins of the event where cycling could only take place on a Friday.

On the International circuit Britain has produced a number of experts in this area and seems to be becoming something of a power. Mark Cavendish is perfecting the “last minute dash to get in the work shower first” aspect of the game and gets rewarded with a new jersey quite often in order to not have to wear yesterday’s sweaty one. Bradley Wiggins, on the other hand, is doing better in the “consistently riding to work in good time” area (Mark Cavendish is often late on days where the commuting route includes too many hills (“Speed-humps”) and finds himself coming in with the group, trying to look as if he’s been there all along). Both of these commuters have been able to represent the country in events all over the place, including famously doing well earlier in the summer in France. Cavendish has recently been getting to work first in Ireland along with the senior gentleman of cycle commuting, Lance Armstrong, who has returned to work after a period of being retired and now has to defend both his ability to get to French offices fast and to do so without any outside assistance (“Coffee”). Wiggins is commuting in the Netherlands and will be off to Australia soon. Hopefully both of them will be bringing their commuting talents to the streets of London and the UK in September.



2008 Very Fast Commute - London Stage

A new team could very much be hitting the scene soon, as a brewery in South Oregon has started what could well be a commuter racing outfit, or just a foward thinking and inspired way to get people to ride to work regularly. I obviously work in the wrong place.

At the other end of the scale this guy is undertaking what could be seen as Britain's longest commute and enjoying the journey. It looks like a fabulous trip, and definitely better than a four mile dash through North London. In the spirit of relaxing there'll be no post on Monday as it's the Great British Late Summer Bank Holiday and Four Miles Fighting Traffic will be sitting in a field somewhere hoping the rain holds off, as is traditional.

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