Car vs Bike

Initialised

I left work the same time as a mate who drives since we were going the same way for a bit the race was on.

With no RLJing, pavement hopping or other naughtiness and a ~180 foot climb I was still ahead after three miles when we diverged.

Who says bikes are slow and get in the way other road users, seemed to be all the other cars getting in his way?

How many SCR points is a Fiesta worth?

Headhuunter

I've never been beaten yet in a car vs bike situation across London. It doesn 't happen very often but occasionally I'm out with a gang of people one of whom may be driving and then we all decide to move on somewhere new, I ALWAYS get to the new destination 1st, especially when taking time to find a parking space into account but even without that. Bike is literally the fastest way to travel round London AFAIC....

ZoomZoom

I've found the bike faster than taking the tube, raced a colleague from Pimlico to Holborn and I won even though I ended up getting lost and taking a detour.

Pufftmw

I raced a motorbike courier from Charlotte St, W1 to Goswell Rd, EC1 once upon a time and I won

I was driving a car...

veronese68

during my misspent youth I raced my mates in a minicab from a pub in Wimbledon Village to a party in New Malden at about 11.30pm. I beat them, even though I fell off whilst cutting through a golf course.
Admittedly the cycle route was a lot shorter.

Greg T

Never drive in town - it's a nightmare.

last night I hit standing traffic at Chelsea bridge and it was more or less stationary all the way to the foot of the Col De Putney Bridge three and a half miles - the single lane road works really jam it up....

Great night to be on a bike , , ,

Even when it's flowing you still move faster.

Hot Orange

It takes me 20-25 minutes to drive to work; it takes me 50-60 minutes to cycle.

But going on the bike is much more fun and much less stressful, so that's what I do. Usually.

The Rookie

It takes me 45 minutes from when I walk out the door to when I sit at my desk by bike, of which only about 23 minutes is cycling, the same total (door to desk) journey by car is 25 minutes. A mate drives to work everyday but goes to the gym twice a week, this involves him in 4x20 minute car drives, 4x10 minute clothing changes and 2 hours in the gym - I win!

Simon

rick_chasey

If I include the time it takes to change into my cycling gear it takes longer to cycle than it does to use PT.

Gallywomack

I'm always late to work if I get PT - I'm out of practice with the PT morning routine and can't remember how to do simple things like have a shower at home and get dressed in normal clothes, so I end up missing the train. In theory it's slightly quicker by PT (on the basis of front door to desk) but by gum the ride is much more enjoyable. And the shower at work is nicer than the one at home. By car? Fuhggedaboudit!

dhope

Gallywomack wrote:

I'm always late to work if I get PT - I'm out of practice with the PT morning routine and can't remember how to do simple things like have a shower at home and get dressed in normal clothes, so I end up missing the train. In theory it's slightly quicker by PT (on the basis of front door to desk) but by gum the ride is much more enjoyable. And the shower at work is nicer than the one at home. By car? Fuhggedaboudit!

This. When cycling I pack the night before and so spend far less time wandering back and forth wondering where I put my wallet, whether I have my earphones etc. They're always in exactly the same place, but still takes a while.

And the shower at home is crap (rookie error when renting that place, should have checked that :roll:), shower at the gym very good.

bompington

Hard for me to beat a car on the 20 mile rural commute, but it does have a few miles of urban road at the work end, I can always beat the traffic going into town as it's downhill ;-)

veronese68

Commuting wise on the outskirts of London for about 6 miles I compared cycling to driving and to riding a large motorcycle. Large motorcycle was quickest by less than a minute over the bicycle. Hardly a surprise with 150bhp. Bicycle is less stressful as I don't have to go all the way round the Kingston one way system and I can go through Bushy Park. Bicycle also quicker when filtering.
Not surprisingly the car was slowest even though the traffic was fairly light.

bails87

Like bompington, I've got a longish rural commute. The bike is a lot slower, but a lot more enjoyable.

Kieran_Burns

It's just occurred to me that my fastest cycle commute was quicker than some of my driving ones....

This is over 12 miles of rural roads. (PB of 36 mins... on the Madone with a favourable wind)

clarkey cat

from Walton on Thames to WC1 my Vespa is about 5 minutes quicker than my pushbike if the traffic is moderately heavy. If it's light then about 12 minutes quicker.

SmellTheGlove

It's now a year since my old car gave up the ghost and went to Alfa heaven so for commuting, it's been bikes all the way since. The best I used to manage on my six mile suburban north London trip was 15 minutes by car, but of course when driving there's always a buggeration factor (i.e. the car trip could take an hour) that you don't really have on the bike. I imagine outside London, urban commutes must be the same in that respect. By bike it's half an hour, reliably, boringly but utterly invariably except in snow which took nearer 40m, but was a proper hoot (please can we have some more this year).

As for bike vs. tube Pimlico to Holborn - ZoomZoom could probably win at a walk on some days.

optimisticbiker

To work:
- bike takes typically 58min (1hr30 inc shower) + keeps me fit
- tube (inc 15min walk each end to and from stations) takes 1hr15 n a good day, 1hr30 typically + £8
- car (inc walk from car park) takes 1hr45 on a good day, 2hr typically + £12 parking

bike wins on all counts!

roger_merriman

car - 15/45mins
bus -1hr
walk -45mins
bike-15-30mins (depending on route)

this said back in the day Beacon Beacons to the Valleys 8 miles by car 15mins.
Bus hahahahahah!
walk - 2hrs give or take.
bike - need to leave at least a hour as all the contour lines plus terrain would make for slow going, essentially a choice, take the old railway line with low grade but some bits that would need fat tyres( mud/grass over gravel) or a 20% average climb - both would take about 30mins to reach the head of the gorge. the next 3 miles maybe 15mins.

As then I started at 5am, having to get up before 4am would not appeal!

velocestrapture

I have on several occasions played leapfrog with a car all the way from Putney to the back of Buck Palace on my morning commute.

Commuting by PT can be 10 mins quicker than by bike, but that depends on getting to the station just before the train arrives, there not being a queue for the bus, and the bus comming within a few minutes. If any of these variables go wrong, the bike can end up quicker. This is for a 14 mile journey.

NGale

cycled to my football match today, total of 4.8 miles, took me about 25 minutes at a leisurely pace and the usual avoidance tactics of dogs and peds on the cycle path.

Refereed for 90 minutes in which I covered 5 miles on the pitch and then cycled home (4.8 miles) in 15 minutes.

twas a good day, saved me fuel and saved me time. Oh and had a bloody good match to boot with transport and warm up all done in one

dilemna

Car is by far the easiest, quickest, safest and most enjoyable way to commute for me. Cycling is just sooooo dangerous. It is not worth dying for.

Agent57

When I worked at Lancaster University, a little over 5 miles from home via the centre of Lancaster, the commute took me about 23 minutes to get to work, and 18 minutes to get home. At the same time, it took my wife and kids more than 30 minutes to drive the 2 miles to school in central Lancaster.

I normally took the traffic-free cycle route from home to Lancaster's city centre, but on occasion I used the main road, just to see how busy it was:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTYon5kitUw