What type of cyclist are you? « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

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What type of cyclist are you?

(20 posts)

Started 11 years ago by crowriver
Latest reply from TractorFactory
poll: If you could not cycle, what transport mode would you choose?
Walk : (21 votes)

36 %

Bus : (15 votes)

25 %

Train : (8 votes)

14 %

Drive : (9 votes)

15 %

Skateboard / scooter : (2 votes)

3 %

Stay at home moping : (4 votes)

7 %

38 votes

Tags:

crowriver
Member

I was intrigued by a study chdot posted recently. 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.

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).

So how about it? If you couldn't cycle, what transport mode would you choose?

Posted 11 years ago #
KarenJS
Member

It does kind of depend on distance, if I walked to work it would take two hours...

Posted 11 years ago #
SRD
Moderator

Speed for speeds sake? Or for efficiency?

Posted 11 years ago #
neddie
Member

Please add 'run' to the voting, then I can vote ;-)

Posted 11 years ago #
crowriver
Member

@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... ;-)

Posted 11 years ago #
SRD
Moderator

My point was more that lots of cyclists cycle for speed qua efficiency even if they're not thrill-seekers/speed demons.

Posted 11 years ago #
crowriver
Member

@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.

I'm trying to get at the nub of the assumptions in the study about modal choices other than cycling perhaps influencing the 'type' of cyclist we are.

Posted 11 years ago #
14Westfield
Member

Can we add motorbike?

Posted 11 years ago #
Baldcyclist
Member

Drive/train for me, don't know if that really equates to 'speed' as it would take me 4 hours to walk to work.

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.

Posted 11 years ago #
crowriver
Member

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.

So far it seems CCE is mostly full of ramblers.....;-)

Posted 11 years ago #
wee folding bike
Member

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.

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.

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.

Posted 11 years ago #
Roibeard
Member

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.

Actually I cycle(d) to work primarily because I wanted to get there quicker than walking, but didn't wish the expensive of driving.

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!

Robert

Posted 11 years ago #
gibbo
Member

As Karen said, it depends on distance.

I'm walking distance from the city centre, so I usually walked there before I bought a bike (started cycling in August 2011).

But sometimes I took the bus.

And I'd usually take the bus for journeys of 3 miles or more - unless I was walking for fresh air/exercise.

Posted 11 years ago #
wee folding bike
Member

Kids in school were telling me off on Friday for not being interested in any kind of sport.

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.

Posted 11 years ago #
Greenroofer
Member

I voted for two different things. Was I supposed to be able to?

Posted 11 years ago #
Charterhall
Member

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.

Posted 11 years ago #
EddieD
Member

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.

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).

Posted 11 years ago #
crowriver
Member

@Greenroofer: yes.

@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?

@all, remember this is about what you would choose if you could not cycle.

Posted 11 years ago #
gembo
Member

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.

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.

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.

Posted 11 years ago #
TractorFactory
Member

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.

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.

Posted 11 years ago #

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