Urban cycling

I have been an active bicycle user for several years - I have used it for leisure, doing sports, socialising (trips of 20 - 80 kilometres with fellow lads and girlfriends), tourism, for moving around Ursynów (or Wisła) or dropping visits to my parents or friends, but never, ever for commuting.

In late May I resolved to try using a bicycle for work-related moving around. First ride - to a client whose office is at the far end of ul. Poleczki, some 5.2 kilometres from home. Too short distance to go by car, too long to take 504 bus and then change it to 148 service, on top due to harsh cost savings, I am not allowed to claim a taxi bill reimbursed. Outcome - I put on a suit and cycle there on my mountain bike. The travel duration was fine - 20 minutes, but in a suit I did not feel comfortable. The temperature then was not particularly high (close to +20C), but the air was humid and on my way home I slightly broke sweat.

Two days later, I took a trip to the office (14 kilometres), that time in casual clothes. I usually have to take a notebook (unless it stays in the office for a few days in a row), packed lunches and some personal stuff. I had to pack it all into a rucksack, which was a bit of heavy and contributed to a stain of sweat on my back (bike bags or a solid handlebar basket could have been a fix for it). Since there is no cycling path along al. Niepodległości, I comfortably cycled along ul. Pileckiego and then ul. Puławska up to the intersection with ul. Dolna where the cycling path ends. The route from there towards Rondo ONZ is a bit of a nuisance, there are few sections of cycling path, while meandering past narrow streets of Mokotów with dense traffic is not a pleasure. Door-to-door ride duration: 1 hour and 5 minutes, some 20 - 25 minutes longer than by public transport, which gives additional 45 minutes per day spent on commuting, but also on physical exercise.

Cycling to work has some limitations, especially pertaining to weather and outfit (casual clothes are much more suitable). Not breaking sweat is possible, yet at the expense of slow pace.

I could definitely consider cycling as attractive commuting option on distances below 5 miles / 8 kilometres and with proper infrastructure (inadequate network of cycling paths in northern Mokotów / southern Śródmieście is a shame). 

For a while bycicle sticks to its previous role, since in mid-June I purchased a 3-month travelcard whose price has not gone up simce 10 years (PLN 250 for 90 days of unlimited riding in Warsaw and around is dirt cheap). I have learnt being a passenger allows me to focus on some down-to-earth stuff via smartphone when moving. Having said that I confess this is the first post I have written using the phone only, during two underground journeys! A shame time has become such a scarce commodity.