CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
In the interests of this being a realistic and worthwhile exercise that encourages normal folk to cycle, I was planning on dusting off my suit and saddling up on the Gazelle Heavy Duty NL. Either that or I wear my normal work rig and take the Cabby cargo bike.
I have several Strava KOMs on the Glasgow Road from when I ride out to chaingangs various...
Boards are ready.
Tomorrow/Thursday 9th.
Expect most people in from 8am onwards.
2016-06-08_11-18-48 by LaidBackBikes, on Flickr
That was a very enjoyable way to start the day. Great pleasure to meet Cyclingmollie and Coxy at Newcraighall and see IWRATS and Roibeard again.
I took a mixture of roads and the innocent - going through Kinnaird Park and then going up Hay Avenue with Coxy with him going on up to the A1 and me taking the innocent and the bridges. The lights on the bridges were not in my favour at all, but that's what is probably realistic. Got in in 24 minutes - 2 minutes behind Coxy, and only 4 minutes ahead of Cyclingmollie who took the scenic all route through Gilbertstoun and Brunstane. Most impressive was surely IWRATS who came in at 39 minutes.
Roibeard will no doubt comment more, but I think his train was delayed otherwise he would have been the fastest. I think the car came in at 26 minutes. There wasn't really any traffic at the time we set off.
It was really nice to meet Hart's Cyclery at the end too - he definitely arrived in impressive style wearing a suit and cycling a Gazelle (I think). (I also wore "normal" clothes fwiw).
Yes that was very enjoyable. I was surprised at how fast the quiet route was even though I had to walk with the bike through two road closures and Multrees Walk. Great to meet everyone at the start and chdot, Laidback and Kim at the finish. Good job on the boards LB. Thanks to the organisers for the t-shirt as well.
I had a nice torpedic blast into town from Straiton. I attempted to leave my fellow bike riders in the dust, but there were too many buses and traffic lights. I followed the road down Liberton Brae and up Minto St, then cut across to Causewayside and Buccleuch St to pick up MMW and onwards to the Mound, so that I could swing round via George St.
It didn't really work. :-) Word on the street newly repaired turf was that taking the bridges and a bit of Princes St was a somewhat more effective.
Well done to LB and EdFoC for the organising, and thanks to SEStran for my t-shirt.
Edit: I have a GPS trace and a video. The video will probably take until the weekend to sort out.
@Arellcat - I was stuck for ages at lights on the bridges - it was the only infuriating bit of my journey.
@Cyclingmollie - I was mightily impressed at how fast you did the quiet route :-)
And of course (I should have said before) - thanks and well done to LB, and thanks tot SEStran for my t-shirt and water bottle.
Well done to all involved! A fun morning indeed. And good to put a few faces to names/forum handles!
Yep - thanks to all the organisers and good to meet a lot of you.
My Garmin thingy was playing up (wheel sensor) and Strava says I was doing 38mph freewheeling down Willowbrae Road! I don't think that's correct!
Enjoyed that too, although unfortunately my lack of fitness let the side down from Ferrytoll.
Expected to come in somewhere between 1hr5 and 1hr15, and was somewhat pleasantly surprised at half way to be on sub 1hr pace.
Poor choice of route trying to avoid Haymarket by turning up at Roseberry Crecscent and heading for Melville St and George St probably did for my hour quest. Suspect Haymarket/Princes St would indeed have been marginally quicker. In the end I managed 1hr 3mins which I'm happy with at this point coming back from a long break.
Nice chat with panyagua along a bit of the NEPN. Didn't stay long after, but nice to chat to a few folks. Cheers for the tee and bottle. :)
Great to meet up at Newcraighall with old and new faces. Enjoyed the run in with a couple of spots;
* A beautiful male bullfinch on the Innocent
* The newsagent on Hay Avenue is logo'd up courtesy of...the Daily Telegraph. Wonder if they've ever sold one.
Also great robust political chat with Harts Cyclery and algo.
Took the bus back to get the motor and will be complaining about the grumpy, unhelpful driver. Public transport, eh?
Chris from Electron was 3rd on his route, some nice photos on facebook
Only thing missing were prizes for 'winners' on each route.
Of course 'morally' Harts should have had prize as was wearing a shirt and tie. Euan and Lewis blasted that leg in race kit.
Other leg had Coxy and Dougs keeping it in Sportive vain.
Ged McLay took first on Ferrytoll using a bus.
I will post up pic of times on board from flickr. Or someone can lift from my photostream.
Contactless visa card was useful for Costa - Mrs LB helped out there. Need to get my card back from her soon!
On twitter we've been having a debate with @seanlondonandon
I would indeed have been first in, had not the train prior to mine been delayed, thus delaying mine by 5 minutes...
Still, I do enjoy a bright T-shirt, so shall be pleased to wear mine!
Some very fine bikes on display too, as is to be expected on this forum, although I think Arellcat's pictogram was most misleading...
Robert
Thanks also to Enterprise Car Club for providing Darren's car. His Nissan Leaf EV took boards away to his garage out of town. (Thus negating any carbon saving made by Chdot on his 8 Freight!).
Interesting to do a real energy audit on this event. All stuff was moved in on human power back of 7.
SEStran Commuter Challenge 2016 by LaidBackBikes, on Flickr
After 8 months it's good to finally make use of my login details!
LaidBack - thank you very much for organising, good fun and great to meet some of the other participants.
Happy with 21 min however could have been quicker if it wasn't for a mechanical at the bottom of Liberton Brae that meant a couple of minutes lost untangling my chain. Thanks to Dougs for waiting and the company, no doubt I will see you on the road in and out of work in the future.
Unfortunately this also necessitated a trip to Evans for a new chain as the other was slightly twisted, very impressed with my DIY mechanic skills at lunch time fitting it.
As for the appropriate attire for the challenge, it's worth pointing out that I did exactly as I do every day. Same clothes, carrying my backpack (incl lunch, clothes etc). Only change was a slight detour to Straiton.
Cheers
Doug K
Doug, it's absolutely fine that you were doing what you normally do and, in any event, everyone on a bike of any kind is a hero, especially in the city centre.
However, I firmly believe that this sort of event has to be representative in a way that normal people can relate to, and that means dressing for your destination.
Folk always say "I've not got a shower at work" and we have to show that that's just an excuse. If you cycle with as much exertion as a brisk walk and have luggage on your bike, not your back, you can easily cycle in your work clothes and not be sweaty at all. Every time we put a barrier up, like changing and showering, fewer people will feel inclined to cycle.
In that respect the running is interesting and shows that some folk are jolly fit, but it's not how 99.9% of people are ever going to travel into work. Cycling into work, however, is achievable by the vast majority of people. Now, lots of other things need to happen to make cycling more appealing (not least the Roseburn-Leith Walk path), but if we can do our bit with events like this that helps!
Of course, I fully admit having a major bead on in my suit by the time I got to St Andrew's Square, but I felt the need to give the boys in their lycra and on race bikes, with no bags, a run for their money! I was only 3 minutes down! The chap on the paperbike (sorry forgot your name) did a fine job at 36 mins. A nice leisurely cycling would still get you into town in 40 mins.
On that note, the challenge itself is, frankly, too far for most people (that's the population as a whole) to consider cycling. I think start points of 3 and 5 miles would be useful, and at a busier time, say leaving at 8. That would show that an unfit person in their work clothes could still easily beat a car or bus into town.
and shows that some folk are jolly fit
The words you're searching for are 'grimly inured to pain', but you are of course quite correct. Running to work is for the 1% of the 10%. You do need showers and you do need to be able to cool down in the first hour of the working day. That said, it's an incredibly quick way of getting across central Edinburgh.
Once upon a mental time I had a colleague I shared an office with who used to run up Arthur's seat at lunch time. No showers at our work in those days. She used to honk all afternoon. In the same room of the office another colleague used to bring her dog in. Now I liked the dog but we were not licenced for dogs in the office so it had to be put down. Only joking the dog abides, well it died of old age.
Lest you think I was just a victim, i used to swim at lunch time and put my wet swimming trunks over a slightly anal colleague's chair to dry if she was out.
Those were the days my friends, I thought they'd never end but our employers sold the property to the lowest bidder
@gembo
I insist that you volunteer to swim in from Ferrytoll next year. Bonus points for doggy paddling.
I'm not sure about all the stuff about super fit, out of reach etc.
However yes I do agree that the perception exists.
If a 44 year old man who is morbidly obese (bmi 33), and has athsma severe enough to require 3 lots of inhalers and tablets, can cycle 13 miles in from Ferrytoll within 15 minutes of a car, and not require a shower at the other end. Then that is also pretty achievable by most of the general population.
The challenge is to break the perception, both inside and out of the cycling community...
Some really good points here from everyone.
Sport with a hint of danger sells bikes and bike events.... ? But only to existing audience. Article in National today addresses the real prize.
Harts with Gazelle brand want to reach an audience that put functionality and comfort before speed. This is the one I also wanted to target with the (rare) Paper Bicycle.
The debate I always mean to start is this one.
Are cyclists obsessed by speed ahead of almost everything else?
People often look at a recumbent bike or trike and they'll say - is it comfortable? But more importantly is it fast? Same is true I'm sure for many upright sales.
The real saving on an equipped bike is that you don't have to have a cycling identity and an off bike one. Providing you dress lightly and don't race.
The point about commuting lengths was brought up by Andy B on the Paper Bicycle. One suggestion is to bring back Leith.
"Harts with Gazelle brand want to reach an audience that put functionality and comfort before speed. This is the one I also wanted to target with the (rare) Paper Bicycle."
"Are cyclists obsessed by speed ahead of almost everything else?"
I'll answer the second point first, simply yes. Even the everyday dressed Gazzelle cyclist needed to make a point...
On the 1st point
I ride my pashley in normall clothes twice a week almost every week, on a Thursday it does 6 miles, and a Friday 2 miles.
I'm pretty sad in that I still 'Strava' most of the activity to keep a record of the miles.
I have data over the last 3 years that shows on that bike I pretty much average 8mph, regardless of how far I go on it (and in 2014, I was pretty fit, >6000miles, still 8mph on Pashley).
Now on those 4 challenges going at my normal pace in my normal clothes on the Pashley, my times would be roughly:
Ferrytol, 13 miles: ~ 1hr 37 minutes.
Igliston, 7.5 miles: ~ 56 mins
Straiton, 5.5 miles: ~ 40 minutes.
Newcraighall, 5.5 miles: ~ 40 minutes
I would argue that to put a fast person on a 'sit up' bike is as far removed from what a 'new' cyclist might be able to acheive as the 13 miles run from Ferrytoll is...
@laidback
It's not quite the same, but I'd say time is more important to me than speed. In a typical day I want to fit in a 13 mile cycle commute each way around a day with my obligations to my client and my young family (dressing,breakfast, school/nursery drop off, and be home in time to help with dinner and bed time routine).
I need to fit all of this in in the waking hours of my kids - 7am- 8pm. If I can't cycle fast enough to do that, I can't cycle (lunch is pared to the bare minimum at my desk).
Luckily for me, I'm generally able to cycle fast enough to fit this in and with an extremely cycle-friendly workplace, so the stars are aligned for me right now and I don't need to cycle faster...
But if I had to go to a less cycle friendly or central Edinburgh client, I'd probably have to give up cycling on days where I have to help out with the kids.
So speed is important, but not necessarilty in terms of "I must pay 4 grand to get a super bike"
Are cyclists obsessed by speed ahead of almost everything else?
I have a personal mission to reclaim mountain biking from the full-suss, neck brace and hero-cam brigade. Cycling is increasingly badged as an extreme sport - extreme endurance, extreme speed, extreme danger, extreme expense. In reality it's about the gentlest thing you can do.
Scotland is lovely - ride over it on a bicycle, take a can of beer, stop to look at that funny mushroom, chat to that cow, wonder who lived in that ruin.
I also think that those that don't travel in their work clothes should have changing/showering time added to their travel time. In a similar way that the parking is added for the cars...
Don't you shower before donning your work clothes and cycling to work in them?
With the greatest of respect, this isn't about cycling from Fife! This is about the huge number of people who live within 5 miles of the city centre who could easily cycle but currently don't. Real cycling cities plan their cycle infra around 20km/h. That's the speed that mass cycling operates on.
Folk who cycle from far away, that's great, but we're not going to achieve mass cycling with folk cycling 13 miles at 15+mph.
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