Bicycle wins Top Gear race

vey said:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/bicycle-wins-top-gear-race-13142

/snip

Quoted message said:

As he pelted through the Blackwall Tunnel Hammond, told viewers, "I've
got 19mph showing on my little speedo here. I've got to keep that up.
I feel sick."

It wasn't the Blackwall Tunnel - which wasn't on the route and isn't legal
to cycle through, by the way.

~PB

Pete Biggs said:

vey said:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/bicycle-wins-top-gear-race-13142

/snip

Quoted message said:

As he pelted through the Blackwall Tunnel Hammond, told viewers, "I've
got 19mph showing on my little speedo here. I've got to keep that up.
I feel sick."

It wasn't the Blackwall Tunnel - which wasn't on the route and isn't legal
to cycle through, by the way.

~PB

I knew it. No donut for Hammond.

--
Ted Bennett

Orin said:

On Nov 14, 7:37 pm, Ted Bennett <[email hidden]> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/bicycle-wins-top-gear-race-13142

[...]

Quoted message said:

It's not at all surprising for London, even riding legally. Sure, at
2am, the results are different, but at the times that matter, the
bicycle will win.

When I commuted by bicycle in London, it took about 25 minutes by
bicycle, 35 by the fastest public transportation and 45 by car for a
whole 5.5 miles and that was in the early 80s. By all accounts, it's
not got any better by car...

I knew the bike would win (I've done more or less that commute myself).
Was quite surprised the car was only 15 minutes slower than public
transport. I can understand why people take the car.

Quoted message said:

If this was a 'stunt', I suspect it backfired on them. The last thing
that particular show would want would be that their fancy car be
beaten by a bicycle.

I don't think they really care.

vey said:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/bicycle-wins-top-gear-race-13142

UK motoring show Top Gear has dented its anti-bike image after a cyclist
won a commuter race filmed for the programme.

Popular presenter Richard Hammond, who narrowly escaped death after a
288mph crash last year, took his life in his hands again to bike across
London.

The contest saw Hammond race fellow show hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James
May, along with programme driver The Stig to get to City Airport first.
And the 37-year old beat his fellow competitors by some 15 minutes.

Clarkson, who travelled by speedboat came second, The Stig arrived third
after taking the Tube, and May came in last, after paying the congestion
charge to crawl across the capital in a 5.5litre Mercedes ML500 SUV.

As he pelted through the Blackwall Tunnel Hammond, told viewers, "I've
got 19mph showing on my little speedo here. I've got to keep that up. I
feel sick."

Meanwhile, zooming under Wandsworth Bridge in a Cougar speedboat a
confident Clarkson yelled, "Okay Hammond and May, live with this!"

But he didn't know that "The Hamster" was a mere eight miles from the
airport, while Clarkson still had 17 to go. And his faster speed didn't
help him in the end.

Hammond was simply determined to come first. "I've got to beat Jeremy
and I cannot be beaten by James," he muttered to himself as he undertook
a row of lorries in a narrow cycle lane.

And Clarkson was forced to eat his words when he arrived at the airport
to find Hammond already checked in and relaxing in the first class lounge.

"You've killed Top Gear", he lamented.

You can watch some of the race footage on the Top Gear website now. The
programme was first shown on BBC2 on Sunday night.

and let's not even count how much the ride cost. the biker probably
spend $2 in food, the mercedes.... probably agood $100 in gas, tolls,
insurance, depreciation, etc
carlos
www.bikingthings.com
-ride longer, get fit, live better, be happier-

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ben C said:

Orin said:

On Nov 14, 7:37 pm, Ted Bennett <[email hidden]> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/bicycle-wins-top-gear-race-13142

[...]

Quoted message said:

It's not at all surprising for London, even riding legally. Sure, at
2am, the results are different, but at the times that matter, the
bicycle will win.

When I commuted by bicycle in London, it took about 25 minutes by
bicycle, 35 by the fastest public transportation and 45 by car for a
whole 5.5 miles and that was in the early 80s. By all accounts, it's
not got any better by car...

I knew the bike would win (I've done more or less that commute myself).
Was quite surprised the car was only 15 minutes slower than public
transport. I can understand why people take the car.

Quoted message said:

If this was a 'stunt', I suspect it backfired on them. The last thing
that particular show would want would be that their fancy car be
beaten by a bicycle.

I don't think they really care.

More to the point, that clearly wasn't Hammond's first time on a bike. I
think they could have predicted the result pretty accurately.

The wildcard of the boat was pretty entertaining, though: I sometimes
wonder why cities with substantial central waterways don't see more boat
commuters. Vancouver could be one place where you could get away with it.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"My scenarios may give the impression I could be an excellent crook.
Not true - I am a talented lawyer." - Sandy in rec.bicycles.racing

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:08:03 -0800 (PST), Orin <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

If this was a 'stunt', I suspect it backfired on them. The last thing
that particular show would want would be that their fancy car be
beaten by a bicycle.

Actually, they didn't use a fancy car, they used a big Mercedes SUV which
is a) wholly inappropriate for London traffic and b) not actually a
well-liked vehicle type among the Top Gearers.

The episode *before* was dedicated to the premise "let's show those
Chelsea people that you *don't* need an SUV if there are leaves or a bit
of mud on your driveway", which they did by going to Botswana or somewhere
around there, buying some 2-wheel-drive wholly region-inappropriate cars
and driving them across the country, through salt flats, marshes, and just
generally tricky terrain.

I don't watch Top Gear for the facts, which are after all rather thin on
the ground, I watch it for the entertainment. Which make it doubly amusing
when they get TV awards like "Best unscripted programme" or "best reality
show".

Jasper

Ben C said:

I knew the bike would win (I've done more or less that commute myself).

Hell, it was pretty much a gimme. Everybody who's seen London traffic
knows that bikes get through it faster. They stacked the deck a little
against the bike by putting the start and end points a bit outside the
most violent congestion zones, or the difference would have been not even
funny.

Quoted message said:

Was quite surprised the car was only 15 minutes slower than public
transport. I can understand why people take the car.

And it was even just tube-transfer-to-train, so not exactly a hard route,
unlike some of the previous challenges where the public transport side of
the race involved last-mile transport with slow and nasty buses on both
sides.

Jasper

Bike Commuting in Fort Myers, FL where road codes are modern including
bike lanes and paths, I found, as an average for the time spent,
travel time during rush hours 15 minutes slower per ten miles than
using IC and over 15 mile routing, 30-45 minutes faster than the bus,
also up to date, heavily subsidized - like the IC.

"Jasper Janssen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Was quite surprised the car was only 15 minutes slower than public
transport. I can understand why people take the car.

And it was even just tube-transfer-to-train, so not exactly a hard route,
unlike some of the previous challenges where the public transport side of
the race involved last-mile transport with slow and nasty buses on both
sides.

Bus, tube, DLR actually.

cheers,
clive

datakoll aka gene daniels said:

Bike Commuting in Fort Myers, FL where road codes are modern including
bike lanes and paths, I found, as an average for the time spent,
travel time during rush hours 15 minutes slower per ten miles than
using IC and over 15 mile routing, 30-45 minutes faster than the bus,
also up to date, heavily subsidized - like the IC.

I commute 25 miles through an urban area in 35 minutes. Rather hard to
match on a bicycle, even if I was a world class time trial rider.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

On Nov 16, 3:30 am, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

datakoll aka gene daniels wrote:> Bike Commuting in Fort Myers, FL where road codes are modern including

Quoted message said:

bike lanes and paths, I found, as an average for the time spent,
travel time during rush hours 15 minutes slower per ten miles than
using IC and over 15 mile routing, 30-45 minutes faster than the bus,
also up to date, heavily subsidized - like the IC.

I commute 25 miles through an urban area in 35 minutes. Rather hard to
match on a bicycle, even if I was a world class time trial rider.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

oh good - now try it on the bike after carefully planning the route
THEN report.
the bear has a unifork and a crazed expression.

datakoll said:

On Nov 16, 3:30 am, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

datakoll aka gene daniels wrote:> Bike Commuting in Fort Myers, FL where road codes are modern including

Quoted message said:

bike lanes and paths, I found, as an average for the time spent,
travel time during rush hours 15 minutes slower per ten miles than
using IC and over 15 mile routing, 30-45 minutes faster than the bus,
also up to date, heavily subsidized - like the IC.

Quoted message said:

I commute 25 miles through an urban area in 35 minutes. Rather hard to
match on a bicycle, even if I was a world class time trial rider.

Quoted message said:

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

oh good - now try it on the bike after carefully planning the route
THEN report.
the bear has a unifork and a crazed expression.

the poached egg told me to write this:

the deal is traffic runs say east to west
but you're route is in average reality not road planning, north to
south.
the inbetween occupied by 'burbs, industrial zone, vacant land, a park
a park or an assembly hereof
NOT available for easy IC commuting.
Off course, boundless correlations exists eg the homeowner on quiet
street overcome by IC discovery of a new IC route thru to the new
Woolmort: CAUTION CHILDREN

datakoll aka gene daniels said:

On Nov 16, 3:30 am, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

datakoll aka gene daniels wrote:> Bike Commuting in Fort Myers, FL where road codes are modern including

Quoted message said:

bike lanes and paths, I found, as an average for the time spent,
travel time during rush hours 15 minutes slower per ten miles than
using IC and over 15 mile routing, 30-45 minutes faster than the bus,
also up to date, heavily subsidized - like the IC.

I commute 25 miles through an urban area in 35 minutes. Rather hard to
match on a bicycle, even if I was a world class time trial rider.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

oh good - now try it on the bike after carefully planning the route
THEN report.

There are no good shorter routes, unless I want to ride through the
worst part of the 'hood in the dark.

Quoted message said:

the bear has a unifork and a crazed expression.

Unifork?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

Clive George said:

"Jasper Janssen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Was quite surprised the car was only 15 minutes slower than public
transport. I can understand why people take the car.

And it was even just tube-transfer-to-train, so not exactly a hard route,
unlike some of the previous challenges where the public transport side of
the race involved last-mile transport with slow and nasty buses on both
sides.

Bus, tube, DLR actually.

Hmm.. yeah, you're right, I forgot about that bus.

Jasper