4 ms·

I used to mostly cycle to work when I only lived a couple of miles from the office. Nowadays I mostly motorcycle or occasionally drive the 11-ish miles. Door t

I used to mostly cycle to work when I only lived a couple of miles from the office. Nowadays I mostly motorcycle or occasionally drive the 11-ish miles. Door to door it generally takes 20 - 25 minutes for the former, and 30 for the latter if you pick your time. Taking the bus is at least an hour even if it's on time because it has so many stops and involves walks at both ends. I just don't have that kind of time to waste. It also doesn't run late into the evening and, which makes it next to impossible to work late when I need to, or to do anything after work. It's too dangerous to cycle. So, no, unless and until better alternatives are available I won't be changing the way I commute.

specialist 7y ago
In your area, is motorcycling safer than bicycling? I ask because I'm curious about the electric bikes, and maybe mopeds. Does keeping up with the flow of traffic improve safety? Being louder? Just the bulk of the motorcycle? Proper gear (eg helmet, armored clothes)?
- bartread 7y ago
  Yeah, definitely. I mean, in town cycling is mostly fine because there are cycle paths all over the place. There are also cycle routes running out of town for a few miles, sometimes further depending on where you are. The problem where I live is that there is no dedicated cycle route so I'm sharing a two lane A-road that's potholed to fsck, with heavy traffic in both directions, plenty of commercial and agricultural traffic, and everybody trying to pass you. Worse, when traffic is lighter it turns into the kind of road where quite a few people want to hoon along it at 80mph. The motorcycle wins here primarily because you can always keep up with the flow of traffic so you're not going to get side-swiped by an articulated lorry or farm tractor towing a trailer of turnips as it tries to pass you. And you're not going to get killed because you hit a pothole at the side of the road, fell off your bike and got run over.

specialist 7y ago

In your area, is motorcycling safer than bicycling? I ask because I'm curious about the electric bikes, and maybe mopeds. Does keeping up with the flow of traffic improve safety? Being louder? Just the bulk of the motorcycle? Proper gear (eg helmet, armored clothes)?

bartread 7y ago
Yeah, definitely. I mean, in town cycling is mostly fine because there are cycle paths all over the place. There are also cycle routes running out of town for a few miles, sometimes further depending on where you are. The problem where I live is that there is no dedicated cycle route so I'm sharing a two lane A-road that's potholed to fsck, with heavy traffic in both directions, plenty of commercial and agricultural traffic, and everybody trying to pass you. Worse, when traffic is lighter it turns into the kind of road where quite a few people want to hoon along it at 80mph. The motorcycle wins here primarily because you can always keep up with the flow of traffic so you're not going to get side-swiped by an articulated lorry or farm tractor towing a trailer of turnips as it tries to pass you. And you're not going to get killed because you hit a pothole at the side of the road, fell off your bike and got run over.