Winter Travel

Travel back in time a few hundred years or so and people back then lived their lives by the seasons. The foods they ate altered as the seasons changed, dependant on what was growing and supplemented by livestock. Sleeping patterns would alter throughout the year in relation to daylight hours, as indoor lighting was too poor to do much else. And where they went changed, they needed good conditions to travel; due to poor road construction, absence of lighting and obviously lack of heating. You can see how peoples work, social lives and travel would revolve around the seasons and conditions. And because they lived by the seasons I doubt they got caught out by them like we do now.

Travel back to present day and the seasons play a much smaller part in our lives. We carry on with our lives all year round regardless, with the weather a minor inconvenience, even if we do get a couple of weeks of good weather during the summer, we just make the most of at weekends with a barbeque.

The problems arise when we come to winter. Transport networks at near full capacity, too many people carry on as normal. Just a relatively small amount of snow can result in chaos; even a localised flurry can create a bottleneck felt many miles away.  And people struggle on, trying to get to work even though it is perilous; with risk of accident and lengthy journey times. What’s more, people are often unprepared for being stranded, how many will have winter clothing, blankets, food, drink.

The ridiculous part is; a large proportion of these people do not need to be traveling at all. We have the technology to make working from home easy. If that is not possible, many could alter working hours; surely we should do this for safety.

I think culture is the problem, we feel we have a duty to get to work, and we should at least try. But, very few other things would make us travel in those conditions so should work?

I also believe cyclists are amongst the people most like our ancestors. Due to the weather playing a big role in our lives and forcing us to change our habits with the seasons. So if you are traveling in wintery conditions, only trust a cyclist for advice.