On 27 Jan, 14:18, Paul Terry wrote:

In message
,
Mizter T writes

I will endeavour to find out where the cycle parking is at Marylebone
and report back

Platform 3, and available only to season-ticket holders, according to:
http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/st...ne/facilities/

(I guess that's behind the gateline, but it's not stated)


Thanks - I'm not doing a very impressive job of utilising the tools at
hand to find the required information at the moment!

That fits with my vague recollection that the cycle racks they are
indeed behind the gateline, also there's not a lot of spare space on
the public side of the concourse outside the gateline. And I've just
seen Adrian's reply, in which he confirms they are situated behind the
gateline.

The webpage specifically says:
"Storage of cycles is only available for rail season ticket holders."

Which is perhaps a little ambiguous, because there aren't any rail-
only season tickets available for journeys on Chiltern from/to
stations shared with the Metropolitan line (i.e. Chalfont and
Latimer), only Travelcard seasons. The intention however is fairly
clear - they are for the use of Chiltern passengers.

That said, I don't think there would be any real problem were one to
occasionally pass through the gateline to *fetch* one's bike, though
if someone was to do this routinely the staff might take umbrage with
it (though if one had a season Travelcard one would still be holding
an appropriate season ticket).

Mizter T gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

The webpage specifically says:
"Storage of cycles is only available for rail season ticket holders."

Which is perhaps a little ambiguous, because there aren't any rail- only
season tickets available for journeys on Chiltern from/to stations
shared with the Metropolitan line (i.e. Chalfont and Latimer), only
Travelcard seasons. The intention however is fairly clear - they are for
the use of Chiltern passengers.

Thinking about it, I seem to recall that bikes are required to carry some
kind of permit - bikes without a current permit gain a snottygram then,
presumably, disappear.

If you've got an LU season (even a weekly) that covers a Chiltern-served
station, I can't see how they could claim "rail season ticket holders"
didn't include you - at least, without any additional Ts&Cs, which almost
certainly do exist somewhere.

In article
,
Mizter T writes

I wasn't really expecting you to jump at the chance of cycling on a
Brompton to Finchley Road!

Believe me, I didn't even consider it! I've commuted 13 miles each way
by bike before and those days are firmly in the past.

It doesn't jump out at me as an ideal
location to leave a regular bike locked up all day either.

I'd never leave a bike locked up outside all day - that's probably how
I've managed to hold on to my regular bike since I bought it in 1986,
and it has had almost daily commuting use in London.

Regarding Chiltern trains, in fact it appears that you *can* take a
regular bicycle on their trains in the contra-peak direction - i.e. in
your case that's against the predominant flow of people into London in
the morning and vice-versa in the evening.

I took my regular bike on Chiltern trains off-peak once before, though
the return leg on Sunday afternoon was as crushed as during peak time
and had all the ambience of a refugee camp on wheels.

If this possible commute becomes a reality, I'll check with station
staff about getting regular bikes on board peak time trains going
against the flow.

One other (slightly cheeky) possibility, should you wish to retain the
option of travelling on the Met line, is that you could cycle your
regular bike into Marylebone then leave it and lock it up there in the
safe cycle storage place

But part of the point of taking the bike is for the 1-mile stretch at
C&L end. I walked this in about 15 minutes, but it makes more sense to
cycle if I've already cycled to Baker Street.

, then either travel onward to C&L by Chiltern
train or alternatively by the Met line from Baker Street station which
is just around the corner (I'm not getting muddled this time, it
really is!).

I used to live between the two stations.

Thanks again.
--
congokid
Eating out in London? Read my tips...
http://congokid.com

On 27 Jan, 14:19, Adrian wrote:

Mizter T gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

One other (slightly cheeky) possibility, should you wish to retain the
option of travelling on the Met line, is that you could cycle your
regular bike into Marylebone then leave it and lock it up there in the
safe cycle storage place, then either travel onward to C&L by Chiltern
train or alternatively by the Met line from Baker Street station which
is just around the corner (I'm not getting muddled this time, it really
is!). That would mean you wouldn't have to wait around in order to catch
a half-hourly train.

TBH, once you're at M'bone, it's rarely worth walking to Baker St
(5-10min) then catching a c.15min interval Met which'll take 15-20min
longer to get out to civilisation beyond the M25. You might as well hang
about, and get a comfy, fast train. [...]

I think you possibly overstate things a little with regards to the
time difference. Marylebone to C&L is timetabled at 31 minutes (35 on
the return but that's because of added recovery time), whilst Baker
Street to C&L on the Met is timetabled at 40-41 mins. I agree that
Chiltern trains certainly have their attractions (though there's a
vocal fanbase of the old A-stock trains on the Met!). One particular
attraction for the OP is that he's allowed to take his regular bike on-
board.


[...] It's different when you're travelling
with rush-hour, since the Chilterns can remind you of photos of Japanese
rush-hour trains... (although, tbf, Chiltern haven't started to employ
people to push passengers through the closing doors. Yet.)

But surely not for contra-peak journeys - the OP will be travelling
*away* from Marylebone in the morning, and towards it in the evening.


However one thing I'm not clear on is where the cycle storage place is
at Marylebone (I've a vague picture in my head of it but that's not
helpful!). It's possible it is beyond the gateline

It definitely is - where platform 4 used to be, before they moved it half
way to Harrow.


Thanks for the confirmation of that.

On 27 Jan, 14:45, Adrian wrote:

Mizter T gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

The webpage specifically says:
"Storage of cycles is only available for rail season ticket holders."

Which is perhaps a little ambiguous, because there aren't any rail- only
season tickets available for journeys on Chiltern from/to stations
shared with the Metropolitan line (i.e. Chalfont and Latimer), only
Travelcard seasons. The intention however is fairly clear - they are for
the use of Chiltern passengers.

Thinking about it, I seem to recall that bikes are required to carry some
kind of permit - bikes without a current permit gain a snottygram then,
presumably, disappear.

If you've got an LU season (even a weekly) that covers a Chiltern-served
station, I can't see how they could claim "rail season ticket holders"
didn't include you - at least, without any additional Ts&Cs, which almost
certainly do exist somewhere.


No, I can't imagine they either could or would claim that either.
However I can also imagine that they wouldn't be at all happy with
Travelcard-holders simply making use of their station as a convenient
bike park if they weren't also travelling on their trains at all.

Interesting info about the bike permit - perhaps parking space is
limited and rationed there, or maybe it's simply there to show that
the bicycle owner has agreed to the rules and has provided evidence of
holding an appropriate ticket. I suppose it might possibly help one's
case if one were to buy the required season Travelcard from Marylebone
ticket office itself - my general impression of staff at Marylebone is
that they're very friendly and helpful.

On 27 Jan, 14:48, congokid wrote:

In article
,
Mizter T writes

I wasn't really expecting you to jump at the chance of cycling on a
Brompton to Finchley Road!

Believe me, I didn't even consider it! I've commuted 13 miles each way
by bike before and those days are firmly in the past.

Ha! I wasn't of course saying it was an impossible mission - indeed
not considering what you've did in days gone past - but my reading of
your original post suggested that it was a bike ride up to Baker
Street that was under consideration, as opposed to something that's
more of a cross-London mission!


It doesn't jump out at me as an ideal
location to leave a regular bike locked up all day either.

I'd never leave a bike locked up outside all day - that's probably how
I've managed to hold on to my regular bike since I bought it in 1986,
and it has had almost daily commuting use in London.


It's funny this whole thing. I've owned the same bike for 10+ years,
and it sees fairly regular use though certainly not "almost daily
commuting" use. It looks a bit bashed up - scratched paint work, with
a little bit of rust on a component or two - but that's rather
deceptive, as it runs very well and I've pretty much replaced every
component on it over time and spent far more on it than original cost
of the bike. The point is, it's obviously not attractive to thieves -
in the vernacular, it's not very 'nickable'.

Generally speaking I don't really get too fussed about locking it up
on the street for lengthy periods. I've long used a 'Kryptoflex'
security cable to secure the seat to the frame, and fairly recently
fitted some 'Pinhead' locking skewers on my wheels and seat post
(highly recommended) - before that they were only secured with Allan
key skewers, though if I was leaving it for some time I'd use a long
Kryptonite cable and thread it through the wheels.

I did used to have a quick-release fitting on the seat and I recall
once or maybe twice coming back to find that it had been dismantled by
wannabe thieves who were seemingly thwarted by the Kryptonite cable.
I've some vague notion that I was prompted to put the Kryptonite cable
on because of the theft of a 'quick-release' seat, but I can't
remember if it was me or someone else I knew who suffered that.

All that said, if I had a fancier bike - one that was more 'nickable'
- then I would definitely be rather less laissez-faire about leaving
it around places, as indeed are my friends and acquaintances who own
such two-wheeled conveyances.

I'd also certainly think twice before routinely locking my bike up *on
the street* outside a station (as opposed to using the stations own
cycle racks) and then leaving it there for the whole day. It would
depend on what the neighbourhood was like, whether it was in view of
lots of passing people or a shop or cafe or whatever. Some places may
well be ok in my books.

Point being, Finchley Road is not one of those places!


Regarding Chiltern trains, in fact it appears that you *can* take a
regular bicycle on their trains in the contra-peak direction - i.e. in
your case that's against the predominant flow of people into London in
the morning and vice-versa in the evening.

I took my regular bike on Chiltern trains off-peak once before, though
the return leg on Sunday afternoon was as crushed as during peak time
and had all the ambience of a refugee camp on wheels.

When was this? If it was during one of the recent west coast mainline
weekend blockades, many of the passengers might have been refugees
from Virgin Trains (the line from Birmingham to London was basically
blocked).

In general Chiltern has a pretty glowing reputation. The line has been
rather successful in attracting passengers so there's always the
danger of it becoming a victim of its own success of course.


If this possible commute becomes a reality, I'll check with station
staff about getting regular bikes on board peak time trains going
against the flow.


Sounds like a very good idea. As I said elsewhere Chiltern staff
generally seem to be pretty helpful and friendly, so you should get a
decent answer out of them.


One other (slightly cheeky) possibility, should you wish to retain the
option of travelling on the Met line, is that you could cycle your
regular bike into Marylebone then leave it and lock it up there in the
safe cycle storage place

But part of the point of taking the bike is for the 1-mile stretch at
C&L end. I walked this in about 15 minutes, but it makes more sense to
cycle if I've already cycled to Baker Street.


Understood!


, then either travel onward to C&L by Chiltern
train or alternatively by the Met line from Baker Street station which
is just around the corner (I'm not getting muddled this time, it
really is!).

I used to live between the two stations.

Thanks again.

In article
,
Mizter T writes

I've some vague notion that I was prompted to put the Kryptonite cable
on because of the theft of a 'quick-release' seat, but I can't

I have a quick release on the seat post and always take my Brooks saddle
and the post with me, unless it's a very quick stop and I can see the
bike through the shop window.

I'd also certainly think twice before routinely locking my bike up *on
the street* outside a station (as opposed to using the stations own
cycle racks) and then leaving it there for the whole day

At one of the stations I passed en route yesterday, I noticed dozens of
bikes chained to the fence round the car park and thought it was a shame
there was no decent bike parking (if there was I couldn't see it - or
the provider may have priced it out of use).


the return leg on Sunday afternoon was as crushed as during peak time
and had all the ambience of a refugee camp on wheels.

When was this?

Early October last was when I had the bike, but it's been like that at
other times as well. The main problem is they don't put on enough
carriages, in either direction.

--
congokid
Eating out in London? Read my tips...
http://congokid.com