Commuting with a bike

[Louie]

I am moving from sunny Sydney to gloriously bike friendly Melbourne in a few months and am interested in anyone's experiences travelling with their bike on the train in peak hours.

In Sydney you have to buy a child / concession ticket for the bike if it is in peak hours - this doesn't seem to be true in Victoria.

I'll be living in outer eastern suburbs (Boronia, The Basin area) and working in Richmond. right now, that's tooooo long a commute for me but thinking I could train it for the mid-section or even just ride to the station then from the station to work.

any ideas welcome!

[rockshock]

Good luck! The trains are so packed in the mornings they can barely fit another person on little lone a bike. But i could be wrong.

[Louie]

I thought that might be the case ... unwelcome cyclist. I'll figure it out, thanks for the tip

[freq]

Not sure if you're here yet or have it figured out but the trains can be crazy in the morning (city bound.) I'm a regular commuter on the belgrave/lilydale line as you will be and have seen people with their bikes. Basically it comes down to a) getting on sooner and finding space for your bike and maybe even a seat or b) riding on a bit say to Box Hill if you can make it as then you avoid zone 3 (to be abolished next year anyway) and have twice as many (express) trains to choose from.
Note that from the 1st Jan there are roadworks at Laburnum and they are running rail replacement buses between Blackburn and Box Hill which you can't take your bike on So even more incentive to ride to Box Hill.

http://www.connexmelbourne.com.au/trip_maps/index.asp

[Louie]

Hi, will be in Melbourne in about a month. Thanks for the advice. I think the Blackburn work may be finished by then? Sounds like it's a pain in the neck after reading this article in The Age today

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/ ... 22264.html

I will go bike-less to start and see what happens. May just need to ride more on weekends.