Pat drive and part cycle

kolin_2

Hello people,

I'm wanting to start part driving and part cycling to work, in order to save money and precious diesel. The one thing that worries me is parking the car up somewhere secure and cycling from there, i've assessed a couple of points but they're all big supermarket carparks or a shopping centre car park.

My journey to work is a 52 mile round trip, so 26 miles, at the moment I could probably manage cycling about 6 miles along a canal towpath.

however my question is, is it okay to park and ride literally at a supermarket/shopping centre, do they have hawks on the cctv waiting to pounce on someone who's left their car for the day? should i contact them and ask? are there even dedicated places for people to park and cycle?

alo6

My pal used to park his car in a morrisons car park and walk, they regularly ticketed him, it was one of those private car parking mobs so he never paid them but still got a bit of grief.

Although, some train stations have bike lockers you can rent but if you already have means of carrying your bike on your car maybe use a train station car park? relatively secure and wont cost a penny.

Strider590

I've been considering this for some time, as the road i'd have to cross (after the cycle path), is a busy dual carriageway and people seem to have a great intolerance to cyclists.

Supermarkets do hire companies to monitor, clamp and fine "abusers".

If your going to do this, I would advise a residential street for parking. Most people will be at work while your parked, so you won't cause a problem.

passatrider

I would be wary about parking in supermarket carparks as some clock you on CCTV as you go in and use your reg number to see how long you have been there.
Most of them have a three hour limit and issue a charge through the post if you go over this - ranges from £60.