Meet Roger Maddams, organiser of the cyclosportive and 62 mile a day bike commuter!
Name: Roger Maddams
Workplace: Croydon
Tell us about your commuting rig: A Cinelli Saetta with Campag Veloce and Prolite Bracciano wheels
What’s your commute like?
Summer: 31 miles each way from deepest Kent over the Weald at Seal near Sevenoaks and the Surrey Hills at Botley Hill before the shoot down Sanderstead Hill to Croydon.
Winter: 16 miles each way from Swanley to Croydon (train or car to Swanley)..only because it is blacker than Newgate’s Knocker for miles at the top of the Surrey Hills and even a Toro light doesn’t make a 35mph descent of the Hills any safer.
How many days a week do you commute by bike? Four days a week. Gotta re-stock the shirts and underwear drawer at work every so often!
What do you enjoy the most about bike commuting? The inane grin on my face as I whizz past lines and lines of car drivers stuck in the snarl up on the A232 getting into Croydon. Oh the freedom... Oh the fact I haven’t paid £15 in petrol and £6 to park the car at the other end...Oh the no need to spend £80 per month on a London gym after work feeling like a hamster on a wheel.
What’s your least favourite thing about commuting by bike? Wind that bends the trees double at 6pm when its time to go home, and White Van Man is on a mission to get home too.
What are your main reasons to commute by bike? Where do I start? It is quicker most days to ride 31 miles than to drive it to Croydon, cheaper, effectively free exercise, thinner waistline, approving nods from the missus on the bottom-tightening aspects of riding, general sense of being alive and alert and not cooped up in grinding traffic.
Have you got any funny or interesting bike commuting stories or experiences to share? One’s funnybone gets tickled on a regular basis at work when one turns up in tight lycra...especially my nice Maglia Rosa coloured top...
What’s your killer commuting tip? Keep your ears warm! Headbands do make you look like a Dire Straits wannabee but who cares with toasty lobes??!
Are you a British Cycling Member? If so how does your British Cycling membership support your bike commuting? Yes I am and proud of it. More pressure on local authorities to build some proper, decent width bike lanes along commuter routes is always welcome.
Send us your Commuter Profiles!
We want to know about your commuting experiences; how far you go, why you choose to ride, your killer tips and your commuter grumbles. Download, complete and email back your commuter profile to editor@britishcycling.org.uk and tell your story. Feel free to include a photograph/photographs of you and your trusty commuting bike!
Download Commuter Profile Form (Word Document)
