Bike Beats Car: A Commuting Video

[gaz]

I commute through S London daily. So I reckon I know a little about commuting and believe me when I say there is no way I would cycle in those traffic conditions.

You sir are a god of cycling!

Do you take the back roads to work?

 

[slowmotion]

My commute is from near Kensington Olympia station to near Queenstown Road staion ( south of Chelsea Bridge). I used to do it daily in the company van. How long it took was completely unpredictable...it might be thirty five minutes or it might be fifty five. Just for a giggle, I timed my drive to work just as Princess Diana's funeral was starting. Ten minutes on empty, empty roads, and obeying all/most speed limits.

I hardly ever do that journey in the van any more. The bike is a lot more fun, whatever the weather (except ice), but it is also utterly predictable as regards journey time, whatever the traffic conditions. A sedate average of 10 mph, but a reliable one.

 

[Bicycle]

Trouble is, no matter how much evidence you give many motons, they remain stubbornly stuck in their views. In fact, I've discovered that the more evidence you give them that their view is wrong, the more they seem to dig their heels in an insist that they are right, on the grounds of their opinion alone ...

I've commuted by car, bicycle, tube and train. All have their benefits and all have their costs.

I'm not sure very many motorists do remain 'stubbornly stuck in their views'. They may have their own reasons for driving to work.

Their view may be wrong according to your priorities, but not be according to theirs. In matters of opinion and conflicting priorites, there are many as many preferences as there are options.

If I disagreed with someone who made a case and they just kept piling on the evidence, I might very well give the impression of digging my heels in.

It is likely that a motorist knows their journey would be faster, greener, cheaper and less congesting by bicycle. Those may not be the deciding issues for that motorist. We may disagree with that, but it isn't necessarily wrong.

Even on the seemingly fixed matter of elapsed time, a motorist may value time behind the wheel listening to Radio 4 more highly than time spent on a saddle. I wouldn't, but some might.

It may be that thr reason the motorist digs their heels in 'on the grounds of their opinion alone' is that in this matter and as it affect them, their opinion is key.

 

[middleagecyclist]

I don't quite know what to say. I'm an atheist but I really appreciate the sentiment.

'God of cycling'. Should I put this on my profile?

I think I'll go with 'Minor God of Cycling'. Thanks very much.

 

[Curb]

Sorry Gaz. At least I didn't go down the LH side!

I know the light sequence and the amount of space in front. I prefer not to sit behind big diesel vehicles in the exhaust fumes. Your point is valid though and I will wait behind if needed. I don't have to get to the front.

Interesting point, I've sometines thought the same - the down side to waiting behind - when I see / smell the fumes from the car in front...

I commute into Manchester as well from the other direction, south, Whalley Range, though coming in is fairly light traffic, after 9am, its on the way back that I see the big queues of traffice in and around town

 

[jonathanw]

I think I'll go with 'Minor God of Cycling'. Thanks very much.

I certainly salute you. Watching it made me nervous...just too many cars

My 15 mile commute each way, is either on single track country road (with passing places) or cycle path for 13 miles, where I pass on average 2-4 vehicles on the whole trip, then the final 2 miles up through inverness with slow moving light traffic.

 

[Titan yer tummy]

Do you take the back roads to work?

Just spotted this.

Riverview Way to Catford, Ladywell Fields, Peckham Rye, Surrey Canal towpath, Burgess Park (currently closed), Portland Rd, Cycle path alongside the New Kent Rd, Eastern e&c bypass, keyworth st, back of the Old Vic, slip rd onto Waterloo Bridge, drury lane.

I find this scary enough. (2 offs this year).

The video looks terrifying although it probably doesn't look quite so horrendous at normal speed.

TyT

 

[BlackPanther]

Is there anything more satisfying than filtering past a couple of miles of gridlocked traffic? My morning commute (I set off at 6am) is not the best for beating the motor vehicles as cycling from scawthorpe to Tickhill via Doncaster t/c takes 45 mins (motorbike 20 mins, cars 25 mins).

However the evening ride home takes about 35-38 mins (motorbike 25 mins, car 45+mins.) To beat a car over 11.5 miles is really pleasing for me. Plus I can call in town if needed and 'park' anywhere.

Last year I set off from work and was overtaken by the Boss going into town. Over the next 5-6 miles we kept passing each other, and had it not been for one red light I would've beaten them!

 

[Bicycle]

Is there anything more satisfying than filtering past a couple of miles of gridlocked traffic?

Well.... I think sex ought to be on the list somewhere - probably higher than filtering past cars if my memory serves me.

Also... seeing a child take his or her first steps brings some satisfaction.

Similarly, seeing a fruit tree you pruned last year bringing a bigger harvest...

Then there's driving or riding a car/motorcycle/bicycle that a few days or weeks ago was just a pile of parts.

I hung a bathroom door today having planed the bottom off to make room for deeper floor tiles. That was quite satisfying too.

I do like filtering past standing traffic, but I think you make too strong a case for it.

Or maybe my satisfactionometer is badly adjusted

 

[slowmotion]

I was an enthusiastic motorised commuter until about thirty months ago. The public transport option was a miserable, unreliable, lengthy and expensive option. I could walk the five miles faster than TfL. The van was free.
What I didn't realise is that a bike, even in foul weather, is a whole lot more fun than sitting in a traffic jam, and it is reliably faster. A lot of friends still reject the whole idea of urban cycling because they regard it as insanely dangerous. That's a view I shared until recently, and I don't blame them at all.

 

[BlackPanther]

Well.... I think sex ought to be on the list somewhere - probably higher than filtering past cars if my memory serves me.

Also... seeing a child take his or her first steps brings some satisfaction.

Similarly, seeing a fruit tree you pruned last year bringing a bigger harvest...

Then there's driving or riding a car/motorcycle/bicycle that a few days or weeks ago was just a pile of parts.

I hung a bathroom door today having planed the bottom off to make room for deeper floor tiles. That was quite satisfying too.

I do like filtering past standing traffic, but I think you make too strong a case for it.

Or maybe my satisfactionometer is badly adjusted

But your pedantic-ometer is bang on.

I agree with some of your points, but.
1/ It depends who (or what) you're having sex with
2/ I'll give you the childs first step one
3/ A pruned tree? Hopefully you're not combining the tree with number 1/ ????

Joking aside though, I spend most of my day trying to get a 28 ton lorry around the bowels of Sheffield. 'Tis a great pleasure to have the freedom to filter home (safely) on either bicycle, or occasionally on t'motorbike. It's amazing to me that some people on 2 wheels just sit in standing traffic. Almost every day I cycle past motorbikers. Either they lack in confidence, are inexperienced, maybe they just don't want to go home, or is it just that they don't know that filtering is permissible in t'highway code?