Australia and New Zealand · Public discussion

Another commute

ritcho · 2004-11-18T01:14:18+00:00

Whilst everyone else is in sharing mood... My commute is about 16km from Concord into Sydney. Door to door, the bike takes about 35 min (record just over 30 min). The train, including the walk at each end, probably about 45-50min if the trains are working, which is a bit of a lottery these days. I don't have a second car that I can use, so that is ruled out. A collegue that lives in Strathfield (neighbouring suburb) assures me the car takes about 40min on a normal morning peak down P'matta Road. Some of the roads have marked lanes, some don't, but pretty much all of them are bumper-to-bumper with cars. I don't let the bad drivers bother me too much 'cos there are so many more good drivers that are just trying to get from A to B as fast as they can (I'm faster - ha ha!). Sometimes you get a blocker - you know the type, they zoom past you, only to stop at the red light 100m up the road. They then try to put the car in the gutter, blocking you from getting through. They can't block both sides though... Most of the time, I'm happy to wait behind the queue at the lights, but I _always_ get in front of a blocker. I like trucks - they are driven by professionals and they give you something to draft behind (sometimes). I don't care so much for the people that fly up the rat-races - the quiet streets that are better for bikes... My simple rule: In front of me? = my problem. Behind me? = your problem. Works well enough...

Started by ritcho · 18 November 2004 · Last activity 19 November 2004 · 30 posts · 1,003 views

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Original section: Australia and New Zealand
Published: 18 November 2004
Last activity: 19 November 2004
Original author: ritcho
Posts: 30
Discussion status: Public discussion
Total views: 1,003
Views / 30 days: 0
Topics: Commuting Track cycling

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Original post
ritcho
Archived post

18 November 2004, 01:14 UTC #1

Whilst everyone else is in sharing mood...
My commute is about 16km from Concord into Sydney.
Door to door, the bike takes about 35 min (record just over 30 min).
The train, including the walk at each end, probably about 45-50min if the trains are working, which is a bit of a lottery these days.
I don't have a second car that I can use, so that is ruled out. A collegue that lives in Strathfield (neighbouring suburb) assures me the car takes about 40min on a normal morning peak down P'matta Road.
Some of the roads have marked lanes, some don't, but pretty much all of them are bumper-to-bumper with cars. I don't let the bad drivers bother me too much 'cos there are so many more good drivers that are just trying to get from A to B as fast as they can (I'm faster - ha ha!).
Sometimes you get a blocker - you know the type, they zoom past you, only to stop at the red light 100m up the road. They then try to put the car in the gutter, blocking you from getting through. They can't block both sides though... Most of the time, I'm happy to wait behind the queue at the lights, but I _always_ get in front of a blocker.
I like trucks - they are driven by professionals and they give you something to draft behind (sometimes). I don't care so much for the people that fly up the rat-races - the quiet streets that are better for bikes...
My simple rule: In front of me? = my problem. Behind me? = your problem.
Works well enough...

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hippy
Archived post

18 November 2004, 02:32 UTC #2

"ritcho" <[email hidden]
Quoted message said:
My commute is about 16km from Concord into Sydney.
Door to door, the bike takes about 35 min (record just over 30 min).
The train, including the walk at each end, probably about 45-50min if
the trains are working, which is a bit of a lottery these days.
I must be slow.. am I the only one who can't beat the train!?
SS: ~1hr
Road: ~55min
Best: ~45min
Express Train: 32min (timetable says) + 10min walking
Car: Maybe ~45min in peak, 35min non-peak?
Hmm.. maybe if I added 'waiting for train' and 'train delays'
and then calculated it on a non-express train..
Hooray! I beat the train too!! ;-)
hippy

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ritcho
Archived post

18 November 2004, 02:43 UTC #3

hippy said:
"ritcho" <[email hidden]
Quoted message said:
My commute is about 16km from Concord into Sydney.
Door to door, the bike takes about 35 min (record just over 30 min).
The train, including the walk at each end, probably about 45-50min if
the trains are working, which is a bit of a lottery these days.
I must be slow.. am I the only one who can't beat the train!?
SS: ~1hr
Road: ~55min
Best: ~45min
Express Train: 32min (timetable says) + 10min walking
Car: Maybe ~45min in peak, 35min non-peak?
Hmm.. maybe if I added 'waiting for train' and 'train delays'
and then calculated it on a non-express train..
Hooray! I beat the train too!! ;-)
hippy
I included about 15min walking = about 30min of train travel + 15min walking. My driving collegue caught the train the other day and enjoyed a lovely 45min stoppage between Redfern and Central. At least I live close enough to use the bike as an option... people that live in the outer suburbs have no choice.
Ritch

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TimC
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18 November 2004, 02:49 UTC #4

On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 at 02:43 GMT, ritcho (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Quoted message said:
I included about 15min walking = about 30min of train travel + 15min
walking. My driving collegue caught the train the other day and enjoyed
a lovely 45min stoppage between Redfern and Central. At least I live
close enough to use the bike as an option... people that live in the
outer suburbs have no choice.
I knew people who rode from Paramatter to Usyd.
I wish I took part in Critical Mass when I was still there. It seemed
to be monthly - seems to not be the case in Melbourne.
--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
21/06/01: * It's a solar eclipse.
* Mars is really close to the Earth.
* It's the winter solstice.
and * 42'nd death day of late Douglas Adams

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ritcho
Archived post

18 November 2004, 03:15 UTC #5

TimC said:
On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 at 02:43 GMT, ritcho (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Quoted message said:
I included about 15min walking = about 30min of train travel + 15min
walking. My driving collegue caught the train the other day and enjoyed
a lovely 45min stoppage between Redfern and Central. At least I live
close enough to use the bike as an option... people that live in the
outer suburbs have no choice.
I knew people who rode from Paramatter to Usyd.
I wish I took part in Critical Mass when I was still there. It seemed
to be monthly - seems to not be the case in Melbourne.
--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
21/06/01: * It's a solar eclipse.
* Mars is really close to the Earth.
* It's the winter solstice.
and * 42'nd death day of late Douglas Adams
Paramatter? Is that some kind of alternate universe or something? (Perhaps it's beer? 🙂 )
It's about 20km from Parramatta to Camperdown, along quite a few busy roads - that's good going!
Ritch. Not a CMass rider.

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suzyj
Archived post

18 November 2004, 03:35 UTC #6

Hippy said:
I must be slow.. am I the only one who can't beat the train!?
Melbourne trains are much better than the Sydney ones. For my commute (Lane Cove to Marsfield) there is no direct train service, so my only option other than riding is to take the bus (I don't own a car).
So my travel times are (12km trip):
Race bike: 22-24 minutes. (PB 20:17)
Fixed: 24-26 minutes
Tourer: 24-30 minutes
Train (via Hornsby or City): 90 minutes
Bus (Including walking): 45-60 minutes
Motorbike (when I had one): 15-20 minutes
Car: ~20-30 minutes
Cycling (either on my pushbike or motorbike) is the only way to travel.
Regards,
Suzy

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Marx SS
Archived post

18 November 2004, 04:07 UTC #7

Me lucky. I've got more than one option for the cycle in/out.
SS or MTB short way Flemington> Docklands> CBD . 15kms 20mins, mostly shared path.
SS or MTB medium way, Flem> Maribynong river> Footscray rd> Docklnds> CBD 25(odd) kms 30min, mostly shared path.
SS or MTB long way, city bike path; Flem> Clifton Hill> c'wood> Richmond> CBD. 37kms, 1hr. mostly shared path.
Train, ride 10min, wait 10min (don't have t'table), walk to/from 5min (25min).
Walk, 50mins.
Drive? dunno, never tried. 5mins maybe, but 40mins to find a place to put it & then walking to walk from there. Not to mention the cost for parking.

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MJP501
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18 November 2004, 04:11 UTC #8

Quoted message said:
I must be slow.. am I the only one who can't beat the train!?
Mornington to Armadale : 50km each way*
Train: drive 15 mins to Frankston, + 55 mins train @$12.30/day
Car: 1:10 - 1:30, depending on time of day
M/Cycle: 0:50 on a real good day, 1:00 normal. 😄
Pushy (computer time): 1:31 PB, 1:40-1:45 normally
Mal
* Why does there always seem to be a northerly in the morning and a south westerly in the afternoon ... 😠

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TimC
Archived post

18 November 2004, 04:35 UTC #9

On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 at 04:07 GMT, Marx SS (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Quoted message said:

Me lucky. I've got more than one option for the cycle in/out.
SS or MTB short way Flemington> Docklands> CBD . 15kms 20mins

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Quoted message said:
SS or MTB medium way, Flem> Maribynong river> Footscray rd> Docklnds>
CBD 25(odd) kms 30min
SS or MTB long way, city bike path; Flem> Clifton Hill> c'wood>
Richmond> CBD. 37kms, 1hr. mostly shared path.
Train, ride 10min, wait 10min (don't have t'table), walk to/from 5min
(25min).
Walk, 50mins.
Drive? dunno, never tried. 5mins maybe, but 40mins to find a place to
put it & then walking to walk from there. Not to mention the cost for
parking.
15km? 5 mins? Wow, you're going fast!
--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
Shift to the Left;
Shift to the Right
Pop up; Push down
Byte! Byte! Byte!!! --unk

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bjay
Archived post

18 November 2004, 05:38 UTC #10

"Marx SS" wrote
Quoted message said:
Me lucky. I've got more than one option for the cycle in/out.
SS or MTB short way Flemington> Docklands> CBD . 15kms 20mins
SS or MTB medium way, Flem> Maribynong river> Footscray rd> Docklnds>
CBD 25(odd) kms 30min
SS or MTB long way, city bike path; Flem> Clifton Hill> c'wood>
Richmond> CBD. 37kms, 1hr. mostly shared path.
Man you must fly!
15km in 20 min = 45kph average
25km in 30 min = 50kph average
37km in 1 hr = 37kph average (must be a few peds to slow down for here)
Bjay

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Marx SS
Archived post

18 November 2004, 05:46 UTC #11

...maybe I should add that i have not run a cyclecomputer in ages.... and that I think I pretty much screwed up the distances too. .. but the time is about so.......
cycle short route: 8.6kms approx - 20min
medium route: 13kms.... apprx
long route: 24kms........apprx
(I do run my tyres pretty hard though, roll like nothing else....... )

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qtq
Archived post

18 November 2004, 05:47 UTC #12

I can't beat the train either - but I live 10 minutes walk from both of
Sydney's busiest train stations, so I guess I have an excuse.
I can sometimes beat the express bus to uni, but only if one counts the
"walk to bus" and "wait for bus" delays in. My best time from Sydney
Uni to UNSW is 24 minutes or so, including the mash up the hill at the
end; the reverse downhill ride takes about a minute or two less.
Distance: 6km
Express bus: 8 minutes walk, 15 minutes.
Bike: 20-35 minutes, depending on luck with traffic lights.
Walk: 45-60 minutes.
-A

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hippy
Archived post

18 November 2004, 05:48 UTC #13

"ritcho" <[email hidden]
Quoted message said:
I included about 15min walking = about 30min of train travel + 15min
walking. My driving collegue caught the train the other day and enjoyed
a lovely 45min stoppage between Redfern and Central. At least I live
close enough to use the bike as an option... people that live in the
outer suburbs have no choice.
I live in what I thought were the outer 'burbs.. ~25k
from Hawthorn (work) and ~30k from the city.
I guess for non-bike freaks that's never gonna
happen though.
hippy

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hippy
Archived post

18 November 2004, 05:52 UTC #14

"TimC" <[email hidden]
Quoted message said:
I wish I took part in Critical Mass when I was still there. It seemed
to be monthly - seems to not be the case in Melbourne.
It is monthly here.. isn't it?
Last friday of the month, 5.30pm at State Library.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cm-news/
will have more info for you.
9th Birthday Ride soon:
http://www.criticalmass.org.au/bikelove
hippy

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tony f
Archived post

18 November 2004, 05:52 UTC #15

"TimC" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 at 02:43 GMT, ritcho (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Quoted message said:
I included about 15min walking = about 30min of train travel + 15min
walking. My driving collegue caught the train the other day and enjoyed
a lovely 45min stoppage between Redfern and Central. At least I live
close enough to use the bike as an option... people that live in the
outer suburbs have no choice.
I knew people who rode from Paramatter to Usyd.
Yeah, but Parramatta is hardly an outer suburb, and not that far from U Syd.
Parramatta was claiming to be the geographical centre of Sydney not that
long ago, but I think the "centre" has shifted since then.
Tony F
who lives well away from any centre of Sydney

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hippy
Archived post

18 November 2004, 05:57 UTC #16

"bjay" <[email hidden]
Quoted message said:
"Marx SS" wrote
Quoted message said:
Me lucky. I've got more than one option for the cycle in/out.
SS or MTB short way Flemington> Docklands> CBD . 15kms 20mins
SS or MTB medium way, Flem> Maribynong river> Footscray rd> Docklnds>
CBD 25(odd) kms 30min
Man you must fly!
15km in 20 min = 45kph average
25km in 30 min = 50kph average
50kph average.. and on an ss! Nice work!
When do you leave for Le Tour? ;-)
hippy
"what do you mean my speedo is wrong!?!"

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hippy
Archived post

18 November 2004, 06:01 UTC #17

"MJP501" <[email hidden]
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
hippy said:
I must be slow.. am I the only one who can't beat the train!?
Mornington to Armadale : 50km each way*
Train: drive 15 mins to Frankston, + 55 mins train @$12.30/day
Car: 1:10 - 1:30, depending on time of day
M/Cycle: 0:50 on a real good day, 1:00 normal. 😄
Pushy (computer time): 1:31 PB, 1:40-1:45 normally
You are one keen bike commuter! Respect!!
10-15mins of my commute are spent stopped. If I
started blowing all the lights on the way to work, I'd
kill the train... <evil grin>
hippy

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Stuart Lamble
Archived post

18 November 2004, 07:24 UTC #18

hippy said:
I live in what I thought were the outer 'burbs.. ~25k
from Hawthorn (work) and ~30k from the city.
Hawthorn... Melbourne? Or is there a Hawthorn in Sydney as well?
(guessing yes.)
~30k from the city would probably be about the distance I'll be once
I've moved to Mitcham.
--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@ to usenet".

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Parbs
Archived post

18 November 2004, 07:38 UTC #19

"retch" wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:

Whilst everyone else is in sharing mood...
My commute is about 16km from Concord into Sydney.
Door to door, the bike takes about 35 min (record just over 30 min).
Just curious, which way do you go?
Parbs

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Parbs
Archived post

18 November 2004, 07:41 UTC #20

"Parbs" wrote
in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
"retch" wrote in message ...
Quoted message said:

<snip>
Whoops sorry for that ritcho, an accident involving a spell checker, mouse and too much beer.
Parbs (I hope i remember to click "ignore all" this time)

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