4 ms·

Strangely enough, even in cities such as mine, which aren't so packed, cycling is still faster. Busses are faster than cars because they don't need to park, but

Strangely enough, even in cities such as mine, which aren't so packed, cycling is still faster. Busses are faster than cars because they don't need to park, but still take 30-35 minutes. I can cycle in in 20 minutes. Note there is no train in my direction. I think this is partially because bicycles are not that popular here, but there are provisions for bikes that go above and beyond cars. Having seen Bruges in Belgium, The bike queue can be comparable to a car queue (narrower, but none the less). I imagine other cycling heavy countries are similar.

grandmczeb 9y ago
I live in Palo Alto and this is frequently true even though biking is definitely an afterthought in most cases. By car, I can get to work in about 30 min (+/-10 with traffic) but can bike there in consistency less than 20.
- Arbalest 9y ago
  Oh yes, definitely an afterthought, but it only takes a few concessions to make previously unusable side streets a bike highway.
- DrScump 9y ago
  Palo Alto biking is helped by the pedestrian/bike bridges that join it to Menlo Park and Mountain View on either side and by Bryant St. being blocked off every couple of blocks, making it a bike thoroughfare. Years ago, I used to bike from Sunnyvale to Menlo Park once or twice a week, and 85% of the route was away from traffic. The delay was in crossing Embarcadero.
- s0rce 9y ago
  Same here in the east bay, driving to work in Emeryville takes 15-25 minutes and then add another 5-10min to park, even in the garage. If I bike to work its less than 25, usually around 20 and I can leave my bike in the small garage in the basement or just take it up to my office. Takes me longer to get home since have to climb back up 300ft to my place in Piedmont. The bus is pointless and would take about 20min of walking + the time on the bus.
  - mmariani 9y ago
    Spinning is winning. Instead of using high torque shift to easier gears and spin as fast as you can while seating on the saddle. You’re going to get there with fresher legs though a bit hotter in general—it’s a nice cardio—but that shouldn’t be a problem because you’re steps away from your shower.
    - s0rce 9y ago
      Yup, 46/30 subcompact double and an 11-36 11spd cassette. Got a decently low gear to get home after a long day.
    - Arbalest 9y ago
      I've been doing higher RPMs for a while now (I'm going to guess about 80) but I think this may have impacted my knees more. I've shifted to higher gears to try and reduce the number of repetitions my joints have to do, to shift load to the muscles
CalRobert 9y ago
You say "strangely" but if you spend enough time cycling you'll start thinking that the idea any other mode of transport is faster through a city is strange. It's incredibly frustrating to see governments spend literally 100 times as much money on a rail system as they could on a decent bike network that moves just as many people more equitably.
- majewsky 9y ago
  If a city invests heavily in a bike network instead of a rail system, what happens on rainy days? I imagine that most people would be reluctant to bike to work through rain, and would thus try to fall back to car or rail, thus drastically overloading those modes.
  - olau 9y ago
    You could put a roof on top of the bike network?
  - frabcus 9y ago
    Gortex is very good these days...
  - vvillena 9y ago
    Bikes still work on the rain, you only need to dress up a bit. Extreme heat is way more problematic. As you said, it's more of a cultural problem, that can be solved. If we accept that motorbikers need lots of specialized equipment to ride, we can accept that cyclists need a couple bits of extra clothing every now and then.
    - viraptor 9y ago
      I guess it depends on the region / type of rain, but there's some threshold where I expect a bike ride to be dangerous and not worth it. (even if I could get covered in another layer of clothes and had a place to store them at work which is another issue)

grandmczeb 9y ago

I live in Palo Alto and this is frequently true even though biking is definitely an afterthought in most cases. By car, I can get to work in about 30 min (+/-10 with traffic) but can bike there in consistency less than 20.

Arbalest 9y ago
Oh yes, definitely an afterthought, but it only takes a few concessions to make previously unusable side streets a bike highway.
DrScump 9y ago
Palo Alto biking is helped by the pedestrian/bike bridges that join it to Menlo Park and Mountain View on either side and by Bryant St. being blocked off every couple of blocks, making it a bike thoroughfare. Years ago, I used to bike from Sunnyvale to Menlo Park once or twice a week, and 85% of the route was away from traffic. The delay was in crossing Embarcadero.
s0rce 9y ago
Same here in the east bay, driving to work in Emeryville takes 15-25 minutes and then add another 5-10min to park, even in the garage. If I bike to work its less than 25, usually around 20 and I can leave my bike in the small garage in the basement or just take it up to my office. Takes me longer to get home since have to climb back up 300ft to my place in Piedmont. The bus is pointless and would take about 20min of walking + the time on the bus.
- mmariani 9y ago
  Spinning is winning. Instead of using high torque shift to easier gears and spin as fast as you can while seating on the saddle. You’re going to get there with fresher legs though a bit hotter in general—it’s a nice cardio—but that shouldn’t be a problem because you’re steps away from your shower.
  - s0rce 9y ago
    Yup, 46/30 subcompact double and an 11-36 11spd cassette. Got a decently low gear to get home after a long day.
  - Arbalest 9y ago
    I've been doing higher RPMs for a while now (I'm going to guess about 80) but I think this may have impacted my knees more. I've shifted to higher gears to try and reduce the number of repetitions my joints have to do, to shift load to the muscles

CalRobert 9y ago

You say "strangely" but if you spend enough time cycling you'll start thinking that the idea any other mode of transport is faster through a city is strange. It's incredibly frustrating to see governments spend literally 100 times as much money on a rail system as they could on a decent bike network that moves just as many people more equitably.

majewsky 9y ago
If a city invests heavily in a bike network instead of a rail system, what happens on rainy days? I imagine that most people would be reluctant to bike to work through rain, and would thus try to fall back to car or rail, thus drastically overloading those modes.
- olau 9y ago
  You could put a roof on top of the bike network?
- frabcus 9y ago
  Gortex is very good these days...
- vvillena 9y ago
  Bikes still work on the rain, you only need to dress up a bit. Extreme heat is way more problematic. As you said, it's more of a cultural problem, that can be solved. If we accept that motorbikers need lots of specialized equipment to ride, we can accept that cyclists need a couple bits of extra clothing every now and then.
  - viraptor 9y ago
    I guess it depends on the region / type of rain, but there's some threshold where I expect a bike ride to be dangerous and not worth it. (even if I could get covered in another layer of clothes and had a place to store them at work which is another issue)