It's the kind of natural experiment I've been waiting for: train commuter vs bike commuter, same starting point, same destination, same departure time—who's faster?
And today it happened: as I crossed to ride through the carpark at East Malvern station I met a co-worker also crossing to jump on the train. And that's all you need for an instant commuter challenge!
In all honesty I expected to be beaten, so I didn't really go at it any harder than usual. And even if I did want to make a serious race of it, with my short attention span I wasn't likely to keep my mind on the job for…ooh, shiny!
So I'd pretty much forgotten all about it until I got to the salt mine and found my rail riding colleague was yet to arrive. Without really clocking it, I'd say I was easily five to ten minutes clear—not really very much in it, but still a clear victory to the two-wheeler.
Of course, I already knew that the travel times are similar (actually, going by train is almost always longer door-to-door when I also add in the time to walk to the station) but it's fun to have it shown side-by-side like this.
So for my commute, the bike is a pretty darn good alternative to the train. And over shorter distances the cycling advantage would almost certainly increase.
I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience?
I guess measuring peak hour is a good indicator for getting home, but its hard to take it seriously when I have beaten a truck over 2km while walking next to a main road :) He started winding down the windows and having a chat....
I've recently started riding down the tram tracks that go down the middle of Plenty rd (I know I shouldn't, seems safer than cars traveling at 80km/h). Generally I don't come across any trams headed the same direction - this morning however, I saw one go past while I was pulling the bike out of the car. Probably got a 2-3 minute head start, by the time I pulled off Plenty rd I was a good 500m in front!
Of course trams get the worst of it, they have to stop to pick up passengers and traffic lights...
My 22 mile (35 km) race with the city bus in Silicon Valley, California.
The train does this distance in just over 15 minutes, which is really tough to beat on a bike. I usually ride the train.
I'm glad to hear mine is not an isolated experience (well, I never really thought it was but it's good to hear other stories).
There are no buses on my route but I don't think I've been beaten by a tram running along either Swanston or Elizabeth streets. And we always love to hear about cars being beaten by bikes!
I'm sure you won't mind if I scoff a little at those figures: 140km in 2 hours 15 minutes? Uh-huh. In another article Punamiya talks about riding behind trucks "his helmet almost touching the rear bumper"—may I suggest his hand is actually touching the bumper?
I also note that in various reports his age varies from 40 to 50 and his time from 2 hours 10 minutes to 2 hours 20 minutes…
I reckon I'll wait until I see it in the Guinness Book of Records before I get excited. Good story, but.
I think there's a strong tradition of BS stories in India :-) "His average speed in the race was nearly 90-100 km per hour amid heavy traffic at Panvel and Vashi road."
I'd like to know if I also can get a special lifetime warranty for my Trek bikes ;-)
What? You mean the story isn't true?!? I am shocked!
Looks like you can only have that warranty if you ride at 120km.
Scoff away....
I spent a good 10 minutes with my colleague and a gear chart explaining to him how unlikely it was that this story is true....
Or the ten second explanation: did this guy win the Tour de France last year? Why not?
Cos he's only good for two hours :P
I'm a stats geek mmkay? I have to use numbers to validate everything...
Of course! What was I thinking? But surely he could at least take out a stage? Maybe a time trial?
Hmm, perhaps not.
For years, I've commuted by train from Ferntree Gully into the city (Of Melbourne). Takes a bit over an hour on the train - perhaps door to door 75 minutes. About 35 Kilometers. After getting on my bike imagine my suprise to find (after some training) to find I could equal that time. I can't keep up about 70 k per day for a sustained period. But it does prove the point.
It didn't occur to me that this would scale over longer train journeys, but when you think about it the suburban trains only run express part of the way and after that it's stop-start all the way, while the bike rider just keeps churning along…
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I regularily beat the bus home, and that's not even including the wait time which I would have to spend at the bus stop. In peak hour I once raced my partner home, she rode in a car and I drove my bicycle. I got home about 5 minutes earlier. These days we both ride to work every day, rain or shine.