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#1
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
Even on a quiet Saturday morning in a small town.
QUOTE: "THEY came by bike, they came by car, others took the bus and some even walked to find out who would be fastest.Winchester Action on Climate Change asked volunteers to try several forms of transport into the city to see which was quickest. Cyclists came home first as the contestants set out from Oliver's Battery, Abbotts Barton, Harestock and Winnall. Motorists came second as the challenge took place on a Saturday morning when traffic was relatively light . The final place on the podium went to the bus passengers while Winacc's foot soldiers brought up the rear." On average the cyclists took 10 minutes, the drivers 13, the bus passengers 21, and 26 for the pedestrians. http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/..._Winches ter/ -- Simon Mason http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/ |
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#2
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:27:35 +0100, "Simon Mason"
wrote: Even on a quiet Saturday morning in a small town. Or on a busy Thursday morning to get to Watford Business Park - by car, 25 mins, by pushbike 1 hr 5 mins. To Hemel Industrial estate by bike 31 minutes, by car 9 minutes. To Bourne End industrial estate, by bike, 35 mins, by car 10 mins. All times door to door including parking but do not include the time taken to chain and padlock the bike so it stands a chance of still being there when you want to go home. Chose your route and participants and you can get any result you want. When an "Action on climate change" group already campaigning to close car parks asks for volunteers from amongst its members for this "challenge" it isn't too difficult to guess what the result is going to be is it? |
#3
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
Peter Parry wrote:
Chose your route and participants and you can get any result you want. I think there's quite a few full-on petrol heads who would find it surprising that a bike can *ever* beat a car, regardless of (carefully chosen) circumstances. BugBear |
#4
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
On Aug 25, 3:01*pm, bugbear wrote:
Peter Parry wrote: Chose your route and participants and you can get any result you want. I think there's quite a few full-on petrol heads who would find it surprising that a bike can *ever* beat a car, regardless of (carefully chosen) circumstances. If you can choose the circumstances, you can get the result you want. If I were to commute to WInchester, car would be the only option, as it's 45 minute drive, so who knows how many hours by bike. Bus and/or train would be non-starters (route too tortuous). Conclusion from that: none of any note. |
#5
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:01:57 +0100, bugbear
wrote: I think there's quite a few full-on petrol heads who would find it surprising that a bike can *ever* beat a car, regardless of (carefully chosen) circumstances. The trick with these "challenges" is to find a shortish route and a finishing point as far as possible from a car park. The "challenge" includes parking the car and walking to the finishing line. The cyclist simply pedals up to the finishing point. They don't have to secure their bike or find somewhere to leave it. The bus passenger starts their timing when they get on the bus, not when they get to the bus stop so there is no time penalty for buses running late or having to get to the stop early because they are unpredictable. If you made it door to desk so included the time it takes the cyclist to dismantle and lock up their bike, have a shower,change into the clothes they work in etc the results would usually be somewhat different, but that isn't the aim of the exercise. |
#6
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
bugbear wrote:
Peter Parry wrote: Chose your route and participants and you can get any result you want. I think there's quite a few full-on petrol heads who would find it surprising that a bike can *ever* beat a car, regardless of (carefully chosen) circumstances. BugBear I did a run the other day from Southampon: 131 miles in 2 hrs exactly, I would love to see a bicyclist do that. I also did a return journey of 28 miles into London (Greenwich) and back in 50 minutes, again there is no way a cycle can compete with that. |
#7
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
"Mrcheerful" wrote in message ... bugbear wrote: Peter Parry wrote: Chose your route and participants and you can get any result you want. I think there's quite a few full-on petrol heads who would find it surprising that a bike can *ever* beat a car, regardless of (carefully chosen) circumstances. BugBear I did a run the other day from Southampon: 131 miles in 2 hrs exactly, Christ, you must have been knackered! But I do agree that the organisers with a vested interest probably spend weeks making sure that whatever route(s) and starting times they choose, are always going to give the bikes an unfair advantage. Personally I detest sitting in traffic but if it's cold, windy and ****ing down, it's still preferable to cycling. |
#8
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
On Aug 25, 3:01*pm, bugbear wrote:
Peter Parry wrote: Chose your route and participants and you can get any result you want. I think there's quite a few full-on petrol heads who would find it surprising that a bike can *ever* beat a car, regardless of (carefully chosen) circumstances. * BugBear That's right - they even won on the Top Gear challenge. -- Simon Mason |
#9
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
On 25/08/2011 12:27, Simon Mason wrote:
Even on a quiet Saturday morning in a small town. QUOTE: "THEY came by bike, they came by car, others took the bus and some even walked to find out who would be fastest.Winchester Action on Climate Change asked volunteers to try several forms of transport into the city to see which was quickest. Cyclists came home first as the contestants set out from Oliver's Battery, Abbotts Barton, Harestock and Winnall. Motorists came second as the challenge took place on a Saturday morning when traffic was relatively light . The final place on the podium went to the bus passengers while Winacc's foot soldiers brought up the rear." On average the cyclists took 10 minutes, the drivers 13, the bus passengers 21, and 26 for the pedestrians. http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/..._Winches ter/ IOW, the usual nonsense from "Winchester Action on Climate Change" - undoubtedly one of the usual suspects. A car *is* faster than a bicycle on an unobstructed route. *If* traffic was "light" (and the routes therefore unobstructed) and *if* a bike was faster than a car, then something must have been happening to slow down cars but not slow down bikes. There are no other explanations possible, unless Winchester cyclists are all from Krypton. |
#10
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Another commuting win for the bicycle
On 25/08/2011 15:01, bugbear wrote:
Peter Parry wrote: Chose your route and participants and you can get any result you want. I think there's quite a few full-on petrol heads who would find it surprising that a bike can *ever* beat a car, regardless of (carefully chosen) circumstances. It is very clear that given the right level of rigging, a bike certainly can "beat" a car. All that needs to be done is to obstruct the route with maliciously-phased traffic lights and"bus lanes" and to ensure that car-parking is sufficiently awkward to get to and sufficiently far from the destination that a significant amount of time has to be added on foot. These circumstances are familiar to many people. The easiest way to get a fair contest is to make sure that it is long enough to represent reality (eg, a commuting distance of 10 miles or more, other than in London) and that it starts and ends in realistic locations (ie, a credible residential location and a credible workplace, nwither of which are typically railways stations or bus termini). |
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