The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

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

Post by PRL »

horizon wrote:I think it's generally considered more hassle to get on a bike (lights, clothing, panniers, lock etc) .


Dynamo front and bolt on LED rear permanently fitted, normal clothing for short rides (I usually wear shorts in summer by default), Handlebar bag and 1 pannier tend to stay on bike, lock attached to bike. Take bike out of shed; ride.
rfryer
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Re: RE: Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by rfryer »

PRL wrote:
horizon wrote:I think it's generally considered more hassle to get on a bike (lights, clothing, panniers, lock etc) .


Dynamo front and bolt on LED rear permanently fitted, normal clothing for short rides (I usually wear shorts in summer by default), Handlebar bag and 1 pannier tend to stay on bike, lock attached to bike. Take bike out of shed; ride.

I agree. I commute on a Brompton with dynamo lighting and fitted bag. No special clothing. The bike lives indoors at both ends of the journey. There's no hassle, it's considerably quicker (at either end of the journey) to switch between walking and riding than to switch between driving and riding. If I arrive in the car park at work at the same time as a car, I'm invariably first into the building, wheeling my folded bike.

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TrevA
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by TrevA »

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 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?


I used to have a 21 mile each way commute to work. I used to cycle it in the summer, usually 4 times a week. It took around an hour and 10 mins. On the other day I'd usually take the bus which took about an hour, but I'd have a ten minute walk either end, so no difference really. I did find it quite tiring, often falling asleep in the evenings whilst watching TV. In the winter, it was too dark (mostly country lanes and before the advent of powerful lights), so I would ride 10 miles to a railway station and catch the train the rest of the way. The ride took 40 mins and the train journey 15, so slightly quicker than the bus or riding all the way.

Driving is less hassle if you have a place to park at your destination, and it's not busy on the roads, but this is very rarely the case, certainly not for a commute journey.
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Phil Fouracre
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Phil Fouracre »

Well that just confirms it! Every situation is different, down to the individual to decide on their own circumstances. Personally had perfect example to justify using the bike yesterday. Cycling 12 miles to local town, bike out of garage, get on, so far, so easy, ride. Return journey, stop off for bite to eat, come out of cafe to find total gridlock, bull loose on adjacent motorway!! Instant wall to wall traffic jam. Cycled miles along the dual carriageway, between two lanes of stationary traffic, gives you that lovely warm feeling, and, it was glorious weather throughout :-)
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karlt
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by karlt »

'tisn't the hassle, per se, 'tis the hills.
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bigjim
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by bigjim »

I used to have a 20 or 30 mile commute each way depending on my varying work locations. I also had to be suited up. My solution, to avoid traffic problems and arrive non-sweaty, was a motorcycle. :)
Phil Fouracre
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Phil Fouracre »

Lecci bike ? :-)
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karlt
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by karlt »

Phil Fouracre wrote:Lecci bike ? :-)


Soap, mouth, wash...
Ruadh495
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Ruadh495 »

karlt wrote:
Phil Fouracre wrote:Lecci bike ? :-)


Soap, mouth, wash...



Seriously, though, why the hate for e-bikes. They don't replace ordinary bikes (mine didn't anyway), they replace motorbikes or even cars. O.K., perhaps that's why, but which would you rather meet on the road? Do we want motorists to switch to cycling, or don't we?

I use an e-bike for commuting and the main reason is the subject of this thread, hassle. An ebike allows the non-hassle style of cycling to go a lot further. My e-bike is based on an old Dutch roadster, it's got a full chaincase, steel mudguards, heavy steel frame etc. It's heavy. It's also very comfortable and goes thousands of miles without maintenance.

Before I got it I had a motorbike and didn't cycle much at all. I'm not disabled, or all that old, but I wasn't a cyclist before I got the e-bike. O.K. you could say I'm still not when I'm on it, but I ride ordinary bikes a lot more as well. I'm gaining fitness on the commute which I can use at weekends. Starting a 12.5mile hilly commute from cold wouldn't have been feasible and I don't have time to train for the commute.

So I think we need to think before we say "E-bikes are only for the disabled"; are we putting a motorist off getting out of the car and on an e-bike? What do we want? We might prefer they got an ordinary bike but realistically that's not going to happen, they're going to keep the car.
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mjr
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by mjr »

karlt wrote:'tisn't the hassle, per se, 'tis the hills.

I remember them! I think there are some about 20 miles from here ;-)

More seriously: I used to live in Somerset on the edge of the Mendips. Most of the hills had ways around the ends and in a couple of cases, cycle tracks have been installed through disused railway tunnels (most famously Bath's Two Tunnels, but I've used Shute Shelve more).
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karlt
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by karlt »

Ruadh495 wrote:
karlt wrote:
Phil Fouracre wrote:Lecci bike ? :-)


Soap, mouth, wash...



Seriously, though, why the hate for e-bikes.


None whatsoever. There is no "seriously" side. Solely a joke.
karlt
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by karlt »

mjr wrote:
karlt wrote:'tisn't the hassle, per se, 'tis the hills.

I remember them! I think there are some about 20 miles from here ;-)

More seriously: I used to live in Somerset on the edge of the Mendips. Most of the hills had ways around the ends and in a couple of cases, cycle tracks have been installed through disused railway tunnels (most famously Bath's Two Tunnels, but I've used Shute Shelve more).


They don't around here. Our hills are long ridges that go on for miles and miles, and even then the bloody roads don't go round them when they could. I've sometimes found that the "flat" route involves more climbing because of the undulations than the route straight over the top. I'm considering getting a CX bike so that when I'm not feeling like bashing hills I can use the TPT up the railway lines. TBH it's doable on a road bike, most of it anyway, but only when it's really dry, which doesn't tend to be when I feel like avoiding the hills.
reohn2
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by reohn2 »

Ruadh495 wrote:Seriously, though, why the hate for e-bikes...........


In a word 'puritanism',misplaced and inappropriate.
The electric bike has the capacity of normalising cycling in a country where prejudice against it is rife from the man on the street.
And yet is considered 'cheating' from certain quarters within the cycling fraternity :?
It's bonkers.
The amount of short sub 5 mile journeys that could remove so many cars from a burgeoning road system if we embrace to E bike would be incredible IMHO.
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Vorpal
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by Vorpal »

Even If *I* don't want an ebike, I'd be a far happier cyclists if any significant proportion of the drivers of 4-wheeled motor vehicles on the roads switched to ebikes.
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reohn2
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Re: The hassle of cycling versus the hassle of driving

Post by reohn2 »

karlt wrote:..... I'm considering getting a CX bike so that when I'm not feeling like bashing hills I can use the TPT up the railway lines. TBH it's doable on a road bike, most of it anyway, but only when it's really dry, which doesn't tend to be when I feel like avoiding the hills.


I don't know which part of the TPT you live on but at the Liverpool/Manchester end of it varies from not too bad,to bl@@dy ridiculous and therein lies the problem.
There are numerous old railway beds that could be turned into a very good cycling network,add an E bike to that kind net work and things could take shape and look attractive for many people,people who wouldn't normally consider cycling as a viable option.
The problem is a myopic government both at local and national level who can't see further than the private car for quick short haul transport and as such will not invest in the infrastructure needed or the tax incentives,for other means of transport such as cycling.
Oh for politicians with some vision........
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