The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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Mick F
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Mick F »

bohrsatom wrote:Obviously it depends how far you are travelling ..............
Not just how far.
You need to consider the hills.

If we were to go to the village to the shop, we could walk, but carrying heavy shopping up the hill home is quite an effort. The distance?
Half a mile, but there's a 25% hill involved.

Go to the nearest town for your shopping. ................. Cycle?
I could do it, and use a trailer, but it's "only" five miles each way, but there's 1,400ft of ascent for the round trip.

I was out on a ride this morning and finished at the local pub for a couple of beers. The staff asked me about my ride.
One asked me where I was going and I described my route, and she asked me when I was going to do it. I replied that I'd just got back and that I'd done 26miles. She was gobsmacked that I'd done it, and that I'd done it in only two hours and looked fresh and relaxed. :lol:

I can ride a bike.
Take that as read .......... but most folk can't even walk there and back to the village.
It isn't the distance, but the hills - as well as the distance.
Mick F. Cornwall
bohrsatom
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by bohrsatom »

Mick F wrote:
bohrsatom wrote:Obviously it depends how far you are travelling ..............
Not just how far.
You need to consider the hills.


Fair point - I think this is an area where e-bikes would be a real help. If the hill gets too much just engage the alternative engine!

They are very popular in Germany where the terrain is not always as flat as it is in NL or Denmark.
blackbike
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by blackbike »

In 1998 I was unable to cycle for about three months because of a mountain biking accident.

During that time I drove everywhere in Manchester instead of cycling.

I just don't know how people stand it for all of their adult lives. It is so slow and inconvenient.
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TrevA
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by TrevA »

For the 9 mile commute, if I leave at 6.45, the drive takes 20 mins and it's a 10 minute walk from the car park to work. If I leave it til 8, it's a 45 minute drive plus 10 mins walk. Cycling takes 30-35 mins, irrespective of traffic conditions. I do have to shower at work, but then I don't need to have a shower before leaving home. Takes about 5 mins to get my stuff together, but the more often I cycle, the less time it takes, as everything is to hand.

I love my ride to work. The first 2 miles is on a cyclepath next to a main road, but then I dive through a village, and take a traffic free back route through a country park, but still on Tarmac roads, apart from 150 metres of rough stuff. Only the last half mile is on busy roads.

If I go into the village centre, where I live, it's easier by bike, as it's almost impossible to park.

I too can't understand driving in the middle of rush hour, just takes ages. Once a week, we drive to Derby Velodrome in rush hour, it takes 40 mins to do 5 miles to get out of town, then 10 mins to do the other 10 miles to Derby.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by [XAP]Bob »

blackbike wrote:In 1998 I was unable to cycle for about three months because of a mountain biking accident.

During that time I drove everywhere in Manchester instead of cycling.

I just don't know how people stand it for all of their adult lives. It is so slow and inconvenient.

Virtually any time I am forced into the car I think. "Why do people do this every day"
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by reohn2 »

[XAP]Bob wrote:Virtually any time I am forced into the car I think. "Why do people do this every day"


I'm assuming you mean commuting?

If so the problem is most people don't know any different,the thoughts of riding an bicycle to work fills them with dread,such is the class system and it's false belief systems
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by SpannerGeek »

The only sensible way for me to get to work is by train (there's no affordable parking nearby). It takes me 9 mins to walk to the station, 18 mins train ride, and 10 minutes the other side. I ALWAYS allow 5 minutes for emergencies etc . So that's about 42 mins all in, if there are no delays, replacement bus etc . This can result in an hour commute .

I can ride the distance comfortably about 80% on cycle track in 24 minutes. Which saves me 36 mins a day, and around around £2750 a year in fares.

Cycling just happens to be the best option for me. I realise that won't be the case for everyone, but it absolutely works for me. A few of my colleagues are full time ride leaders so cycling is their job, yet nearly all of them commute to. I hope Chris Boardman gets somewhere with segregated bike paths in town and cities as I firmly believe this would be a game changer for the British (non) cycling public.
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Ben@Forest »

Overall though I wonder for how many cycling or any form of public transport is a complete non-option. I work 25 miles from home. When I last checked if I used public transport I'd need to walk 2¼ miles to the bus stop. Two buses would get me to the town closest to work at 9.45am (i.e. 45mins late already) and I'd still be 3 miles from the office. Taxi?

I cycle to work 60 times a year in a good year (so that's 3,000 miles without any leisure riding) though this year it's more likely to be 40. Also I need to use my own car for work on a regular basis and sometimes I might want to go straight to a social function straight from work. All that means a car is essential - I'm not saying it's wonderful or great, but it's a fact of life for those living and working in the rural environment. And how many even on here would cycle 50 mile round-trip commutes?
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by mjr »

Ben@Forest wrote:Overall though I wonder for how many cycling or any form of public transport is a complete non-option. I work 25 miles from home. When I last checked if I used public transport I'd need to walk 2¼ miles to the bus stop. Two buses would get me to the town closest to work at 9.45am (i.e. 45mins late already) and I'd still be 3 miles from the office. Taxi?

Yeah, this stuff doesn't lend itself to change on the individual level for everyone. There are several system failures in your described situation, including buses starting too late to get most people to work, probably not being friendly to folding bikes or stops not having cycle parking (as you walk to the stop rather than considering cycling it) and your town not having reasonable turn-up-and-pedal-away cycle hire.

It still doesn't mean that a car is "essential" or "a fact of life" - just that it seems the least-hassle solution to your current most-frequent personal travel challenge. Wouldn't you rather be doing something more enjoyable than driving with a similar amount of time if it was possible and cheaper?
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by meic »

Similar logic could be applied to show that a helicopter was needed if you chose to live in Weston-Supermare and work in Cardiff.
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Ben@Forest »

mjr wrote:Yeah, this stuff doesn't lend itself to change on the individual level for everyone. There are several system failures in your described situation, including buses starting too late to get most people to work, probably not being friendly to folding bikes or stops not having cycle parking (as you walk to the stop rather than considering cycling it) and your town not having reasonable turn-up-and-pedal-away cycle hire.


Actually I've never considered a foldie but that could work if everything was advanced by an hour, as you say the first bus (which is scheduled to arrive at Town 1 for before 9.00am) is too late for any further connections to work. But then of course if you did use a foldie and two buses though there's only 5 miles cycling the whole trip would be at least 30 mins slower than just cycling. Though my fastest time is 1hr 18 mins I tend to do the 25 miles in around 1 hr 25 mins.
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Vorpal »

Ben@Forest wrote:Overall though I wonder for how many cycling or any form of public transport is a complete non-option. I work 25 miles from home. When I last checked if I used public transport I'd need to walk 2¼ miles to the bus stop. Two buses would get me to the town closest to work at 9.45am (i.e. 45mins late already) and I'd still be 3 miles from the office. Taxi?

I have, most of my adult life (not the last few years) worked 25 - 30 miles from home. I have always cycled it, at least occasionally, and sometimes as much as three times per week. When I was without a car a couple of times, I either used a mixture of bike and train, or got lifts from colleagues as much as possible, and rode my bike when I couldn't get a lift with someone else.

It is a hassle. When I was living and working in Essex. my bicycle commute was 28 miles. With a car, it was about 45 minutes, as long as the A12 was okay. On my bike, I could just about make it in 2 hours. Bike and train was about 2.3 - 2.5 hours, and train + walking was 2.5 - 3.0 hours each way.

It was a bit much to ride my bike every day, though, so if I was without a car, I mostly took my bike on the train.

Living where I did relative to my work, just kind of happened the way they did. Usually, I was living and working in one place, and got a job in another, and either couldnæt move because of a lease, or my partner worked the opposite direction from home, and we lived in between.

When we moved to our current house, I made distance from work a priority, but I can foresee a situation where I could end up working somewhere further away, and having to choose between a long commute or moving, which would take me away from a house and neighborhood that I really like, my kids from a school they really like and are thriving in, etc.

I have to admit that very few people would consider cycling 25 miles to work. But I think that we need incentives to get people working and living nearer tha they often do; maybe tax breaks or something.
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by mjr »

meic wrote:Similar logic could be applied to show that a helicopter was needed if you chose to live in Weston-Supermare and work in Cardiff.

You are Elfan ap Rees AICM5P! :wink: Sometimes house prices or other concerns means living closer to work requires bigger compromises than motoring. It's all a balancing act.

Ben@Forest wrote:But then of course if you did use a foldie and two buses though there's only 5 miles cycling the whole trip would be at least 30 mins slower than just cycling.

Yeah, but might be possible to do every day, plus you can do other stuff while on the bus. My list of failings with the choice you currently have wasn't exhaustive: for example, most buses in this country seem to like weaving in and out of small settlements instead of sticking to the main road, getting a bloody move on and asking people to walk or cycle to stops instead of delaying everyone's journey. Even X (express?) limited stop services seem keen to bump and rattle through villages instead of using the bypasses - why? Do most bus companies think they can profit most by taking money only from people with no time pressures? That they're not in the transport business?
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Ben@Forest »

Vorpal wrote:Living where I did relative to my work, just kind of happened the way they did. Usually, I was living and working in one place, and got a job in another, and either couldnæt move because of a lease, or my partner worked the opposite direction from home, and we lived in between.


Yes, the other half is another consideration. People intimate you should be closer to work but my wife is only 10 miles from her workplace. If we moved the best I think we could do is her not having to drive at all but my commute would still be 19 miles.
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by notamondayfan »

I personally see it more as "hassle of biking vs hassle of going to the gym".

I have a young family, run my own business, so time is very precious and cycling is now part of my routine, no matter on weather.

Put my gear on, pack dry stuff in a bag, change at work, done. Much better than sitting on my buttock, playing £4 a day parking, and losing weight in the process!

As for public transport, I'd rather walk! Total rip off round here, UN reliable and I'd have to walk 15 mins to the bus station anyway!
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