Anyone on here commute to London from Milton Keynes? Asking on behalf of my brother who’s been out of work for a few months and knows of a couple of jobs coming up - one in Edgware, and one in Park Royal (I think). He’s up for the jobs, but wants to stay in MK as his partner can get a transfer with her job there (her Co’s Head Office is based there).
AA Route Planner says 42.5 miles from MK to Edgware, a few more to Park Royal, and 53.5 miles to Oxford Street. Most of the commute is motorway.
Anyone here currently do it? If so, to what area of London and how long does it take you? What’s the traffic like coming in from the north in the morning? How many days a year can’t you commute due to ice & snow (roughly speaking)? Feasible long-term?
i used to travel to the city from coventry, and now live in Edgware. If he is going to edgeware / park royal i would use a bike/car. But if central then get the train to euston and tubes.
its a extremely busy line and loads of people do it.
fook that…To far… 100miles a day commute!! No Thank You…I used to commute a long distance before and after I had finished work I dreaded the long ride home…
in bad weather,cold and rain…Shame he ain’t got long legs. Then he could just walk!
09:00 most days, but sometimes earlier or later starts. Will be hitting the worst of rush hour. I spent years doing a 100 mile a day commute, though that was admittedly by car. Managed to sustain a 243 mile a day (round trip) commute for 3 months once! Not sure my brother will be up for it as his longest commute to-daye has been 21 miles each way.
I have a friend who does Luton to Central, via the M1 on a K1200. He leaves before/after the bad traffic and does it year round. If the job has flexible hours then that would make it very doable - but in rush hour maybe not so great with filtering in the winter months.
I used to do MK to Edgware on a bike. Really not bad (this was years ago though so I can’t tell you about current traffic slow spots. It’s an easy route, coming off at M1 Junc 4. Because I lived on the west side of MK I tended to take the A5 down through Dunstable to join the M1 at junction 9. You wouldn’t do that in a car, but no problem on a bike. The mileage is no big deal, I was doing 100 mile roundtrip recently but again, all motorway - so just as quick as my previous commute (Baker Street from Essex).
Oh and weatherwise I’ve lost one day of motorbike commuting due to weather this year, and 2 or 3 days last year - no big deal - just need the right gear.
I’ve done similar, but I don’t think they really compare, heading out of London in the morning and back in in the evening there was very little traffic. It’s not going to be like that going the other way at those times.
There’s no real difference in a commute to Edgware or Park Royal from Milton Keynes. It’ll take about an an hour or so each way, including dressing/undressing at start/finish, a little longer if wet/cold when he’ll be wearing extra layers. The traffic won’t be too much of a problem as it’s mainly motorway, filtering will slow him down at times but get he’ll through without too much delay. The M1 is well maintained and open to all traffic 24-7 and 365 days a year. Assuming he won’t be out on the road too early/late the only part of the commute really to be affected by driving conditions will be the first/last couple of miles.
The real concern will be cost, what’s your brother calculated the cost of a 500 mile weekly commute at :w00t:
If in doubt ask a courier, although they do many more miles, they’ll give you an insight into the real costs of 25,000 annual miles. The fuel bill will be £60+ per week, every week. Minimal servicing will include, at the least, 3 rear tyres, 2 front tyres, 2 complete sets of disk pads, 3 oil and filter changes per year. The costs are mounting and we’ve just looked at the tip of the iceberg, factor in the cost of a new bike every 4 years and it’s clear to see it’s an untenable situation.
Then there’s his time, that has a value too, just adding a 2 hour commute onto an 8 hour working day effectively reduces his hard earned take home hourly rate by 25%.
I used to commute from MK to Paddingon but that was in the car for 7 years, I loved it, had my tunes, didnt have to sit near a smelly sweaty person on the train and allways had a seat!
Traffic was a bit of a pain but that was in the hight of the roadworks, much easier now, and on a bike it would be a dodle!
I would do it on a bike in a flash if I had to go to Edgware, Junc4 nice and easy.
Art has hit the nail on the head, running costs are the killer, petrol, tyres, brakes, sevicing etc plus the 2 hours lost each day (and that is personal time so it’s worth a lot more than my normal 9-5 rate!)
I am lucky now I work in MK, there are loads of places around here, MK, Luton, Watford, hemel hemstead where the commute would be less.
Get your mate to register here www.triple-b.co.uk a forum for local MK bikers, we have rideouts once a week at least in the good weather
I ride in from junction 5 of the M1 and its very easy, about 7-9 mins to Brent cross in the morning. Down finchley road and into central, whole thing takes about 45 mins.
I’d do it. Your brother would need a decent bike though, economical, good fairing, cheap spares/servicing, maybe shaft drive to save on chain adjustment and lubing… Then a top box to keep things dry and secure. Heated grips/gloves/clothing would also help.
The journey probably wouldn’t be too bad, just head down and crack on with it… He could always shake it up a bit with a day on public transport if he’s bored with riding…
He could maybe try a test run at the weekend? Granted, traffic won’t be the same but at least he’d get a feel for it.
Cheers for all the advice. He’s working odd days here and there as a supply teacher in Scotland, but the full-time work isn’t there and the supply money is cack - would be better off working on the tills at Asda. He’s looking to get back to his old game and is looking for a change of scene and a move back to London. Ok, MK might be a bit soulless, but he wants a nice house/flat as a priority and the commute comes second to that. A bike commute for me should be 35 mins to an hour so there’s enough ‘me’ time to wake up, prepare for the day and have some fun playing in the traffic, but not so long that you end up knackered before you’ve even got in to work.
We were chatting about the new CB500 that we saw at the Scottish bike show the other weekend and were both thinking what an ideal commuter/workhorse it would be, so maybe something like that. The mileage and year round riding would = big depreciation, but then it’s designed to be that kind of bike and at £4650, it’s not the end of the world. Also something like 78mpg I think, so it’s a case of weighing it up against a Midland Mainline season ticket where you can catch all kinds of bugs from your fellow passengers, enjoy other people’s **** music, loud phone conversations and lack of personal hygiene. I’m thinking a leisurely cruise down the M1 on the bike (layered up in the poor weather) has to beat that any day. I might even buy him a present of some of those sexy looking Tocano Urbano bar muffs :hehe:
and you do have a honda