http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: What type of cyclist are you? en Mon, 01 Jun 2026 07:39:57 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-133011 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 10:01:01 +0000 TractorFactory 133011@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Ideally, in a perfect world, I'd like a downhill section of concrete all the way from my house in Fife with some nice wee transitioned ramps, blocks and obstacles gently rolling my skateboard all the way into Edinburgh city centre via Saughton Skatepark all covered in a nice wee weather proof sheltering..... and then the same in reverse to get me home at night.</p> <p>Seeing as practicality and economics aren't really on my side with this vision, I need to cycle which I do on basis of saving money. Like some above, I don't like exercise for exercise sakes, but I like cycling to avoid using the car where possible. Prior to cycling in my mode of commute was the bus. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132945 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:41:30 +0000 gembo 132945@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I voted bus as like others my commute is too long to walk. I ran to a closer office the last time there was snow chaos.</p> <p>I walk for the pleasure of it in the nearby hills, today I took detour I was sure I knew and we ended up in a swamp, well waterlogged area. Had to promise a free hand in the sweetie aisle of Scotmid Balerno to cheer up the weans. </p> <p>Earlier in morning I cycled the wilstonville, Braehead, Carnwath, Balerno route through Edinburgh, west Lothain and south Lanarkshire, claiming my rhubarb pie from the first female winner f the Carnwath Red Sock ( a running race) in 500 years, oh yes. apple Pie Bakery Carnwath, always something happening. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132943 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:31:24 +0000 crowriver 132943@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Greenroofer: yes.</p> <p>@Roibeard, I think the objective in the original study was to look beyond so-called 'rational' factors (eg. cost) and go for psychological (presumably partly unconscious?) factors. So it's more about what you 'like' rather than what you 'decide' if you get the drift?</p> <p>@all, remember this is about what you would choose if you <em>could not</em> cycle. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132936 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 17:24:57 +0000 EddieD 132936@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>It's a little bit rough the survey - today I drove because I wanted to go cycling in a place a bit too far to get to by bike...and if I'm going to my folks, it's either drive or train.</p> <p>In general though, I'll walk. Edinburgh is a nice compact wee city, and most places are within walking distance. I'll be walking to work this week because I'm prepping my bike to go on the train so I can get to my folks' house under my own steam (as my Mum has got older, she's got increasingly concerned about me driving to visit, saying it's too far and I'll get tired - I've tried pointing out that my cars have got better over the years, so it's less tiring, but it's an uphill struggle, and, something brought into sharp focus by today's ride, I'm trying to avoid uphill struggles. The B7007 can be nasty in a headwind). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132934 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 17:09:54 +0000 Charterhall 132934@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>For utility trips I'll use whetever mode of transport suits me best. If that happens to be bike then so be it but the bike cerainly doesn't have any sort of preferred status for this sort of use. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132933 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 17:02:52 +0000 Greenroofer 132933@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I voted for two different things. Was I supposed to be able to? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132931 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:55:50 +0000 wee folding bike 132931@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Kids in school were telling me off on Friday for not being interested in any kind of sport.</p> <p>They claimed that I must like sport because I had a bike behind the desk. I asked if everybody who used a car liked F1 and they said they did so I suppose I lost that round. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132930 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:46:20 +0000 gibbo 132930@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>As Karen said, it depends on distance.</p> <p>I'm walking distance from the city centre, so I usually walked there before I bought a bike (started cycling in August 2011).</p> <p>But sometimes I took the bus. </p> <p>And I'd usually take the bus for journeys of 3 miles or more - unless I was walking for fresh air/exercise. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132927 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:11:42 +0000 Roibeard 132927@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Where is cost in the equation? I'm not interested in exercise for the sake of exercise, and if speed were the only consideration I might drive.</p> <p>Actually I cycle(d) to work primarily because I wanted to get there quicker than walking, but didn't wish the expensive of driving.</p> <p>Now we cycle as a family for a combination of cost and embedding "activity" into daily life - I'm still a bit shy of sport or exercise!</p> <p>Robert </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132924 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 15:53:29 +0000 wee folding bike 132924@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Going to work I'd drive. Train is slower than using a bike once you factor in walking the mile to the station and the mile at the other end. Car isn't much different from the bike.</p> <p>Going to Aldi/Morrisons/Asda it would usually be car as I have to get stuff for a bunch of weans and I'm not ready for a tartan trolley yet. A bike can carry plenty for boys although Morrisons 3 for £3 on milk does use a big chunk of the 10kg weight limit for the Brompton luggage block.</p> <p>If you take out the work and Aldi trips then I prefer to get the train into Glasgow or Edinburgh. If the memsahib isn't coming and there is a reason I can't use a bike then I just get the train. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132911 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 14:32:26 +0000 crowriver 132911@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>It's not necessarily just about getting to work. More what would you choose if you couldn't cycle (for whatever purpose)? I sippose the original study was looking at the psychological motivation/dimension behind particular modal choices.</p> <p>So far it seems CCE is mostly full of ramblers.....;-) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132910 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 14:26:09 +0000 Baldcyclist 132910@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Drive/train for me, don't know if that really equates to 'speed' as it would take me 4 hours to walk to work.</p> <p>Of course if you were asking about going to the shops then I would choose walk if I couldn't cycle. Different types of journeys require different modes of transport. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132909 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 14:15:02 +0000 14Westfield 132909@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Can we add motorbike? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132908 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 13:53:06 +0000 crowriver 132908@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@SRD, yeah I got your point but non-speedy cycling being quick(er than driving/bus) is maybe contingent on traffic congestion/parking availability and quite specific to urban cycling I would think.</p> <p>I'm trying to get at the nub of the assumptions in the study about modal choices <em>other</em> than cycling perhaps influencing the 'type' of cyclist we are. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132907 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 13:41:42 +0000 SRD 132907@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>My point was more that lots of cyclists cycle for speed qua efficiency even if they're not thrill-seekers/speed demons. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132906 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 13:40:18 +0000 crowriver 132906@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@SRD, that's a bit fine grained methinks. I'm sure the average 'road warrior' would say it's all about efficiency, nothing to do with an adrenaline rush or cheap thrills... ;-) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132905 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 13:39:16 +0000 neddie 132905@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Please add 'run' to the voting, then I can vote ;-) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132904 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 13:13:26 +0000 SRD 132904@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Speed for speeds sake? Or for efficiency? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132902 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 12:55:36 +0000 KarenJS 132902@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>It does kind of depend on distance, if I walked to work it would take two hours... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11642#post-132901 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 12:50:51 +0000 crowriver 132901@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I was intrigued by <a href="http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11635">a study chdot posted recently</a>. I'd read it before, but not followed the links to further studies which analysed attitudes to cyclists and cycling. One interesting notion which I came across was that of modal choice. </p> <p>That is to say, what makes cyclists choose to cycle? The hypothesis was along the lines that while people cycle for different reasons, there are two main 'types' of cyclists: those who cycle primarily to enjoy fresh air and exercise, and those who cycle for speed. I'm sure we could all add qualifiers to this simplistic binary opposition, however I wonder if the hypothesis holds water. It was intimated that, if said two types of cyclists could not cycle, they would split into walkers (fresh air/exercise) and drivers (speed).</p> <p>So how about it? If you couldn't cycle, what transport mode would you choose? </p>