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commuting smugness

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01 / Original postcommuting smugnessJoemarshall · 5 Jul 2004 02 / This pagePosts 1–11Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #11Paul Royle · 5 Jul 2004

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rec.sport.unicycling archive
Published
5 July 2004
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5 July 2004
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Joemarshall
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CommutingInterval training

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  1. Original post
    Joemarshall
    Archived post
    #1

    I'm feeling a smug glow today, cos I've finally broken the
    12 mph barrier on my way to work on my 29er.

    It might not seem like much, but there are 39 sets of
    traffic lights along the 8.5 miles to work and pretty heavy
    traffic jams. It's taken me 612 miles since I started
    recording speeds to beat 12mph. I got caught by about 10
    lights today, but I think none of them for more than 25
    seconds or so.

    All the traffic lights are great for fitness, stopping at
    them is kind of like interval training. You get pretty good
    variation too, most of the way they're just random, but
    there's one 2 mile section where the lights are timed to
    work for someone going at about 13mph, which means I have a
    really nice sprint to try to catch them all.

    Joe

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  2. Joe
    Archived post
    #2

    Jeo, is that a 12mph top speed, or a 12mph average speed?

    39 sets of lights!? Woah! Thats kinda alot!

    Are there many cycles lanes to use, or you got to mingle
    with the traffic?

    Joe,

    --
    joe - Who needs cranks anyways?

    😎 *www.cool.unicyclist.com* 😎

    'I like to show off in front of people not to show them what I can do,
    but to show them what can be done on a unicycle' - Sofa

    'SIXSIXONE' (sixsixone.comsixsixone.com)
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  3. Mikefule
    Archived post
    #3

    Amazing achievement, against which my own are but humble
    and pathetic.

    I saw the article about you in the AA (RAC?)magazine. Do you
    really commute in a bowler hat and with brolly and
    briefcase? If so, it makes your achievement all the more
    annoying for us mere mortals.🙁

    --
    Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

    Some days you're the fly; some days you're the windscreen. When you're
    the fly, you get to eat [censored].
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  4. Gkmac
    Archived post
    #4
    joemarshall said:

    *there's one 2 mile section where the lights are timed to
    work for someone going at about 13mph, which means I have
    a really nice sprint to try to catch them all. *

    Many cities have roads where the traffic lights are designed
    to do that. I believe it's called a "green wave".

    --
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  5. Chirokid
    Archived post
    #5
    joemarshall said:

    *I'm feeling a smug glow today,

    but there's one 2 mile section where the lights are timed
    to work for someone going at about 13mph, which means I
    have a really nice sprint to try to catch them all.

    Joe *

    A two mile sprint on your unicycle? You should feel SMUG.
    --chirokid--

    --
    chirokid - Wolfman 2004: Unicycle Catagory

    "Other than that, the best maintenance is to keep riding it as this
    helps to keep the eccentric nut on the saddle in optimal condition."
    quote by Mikefule

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  6. Matt.P.Herbert
    Archived post
    #6
    joemarshall said:

    * All the traffic lights are great for fitness, stopping
    at them is kind of like interval training. Joe *

    That's fantastic, I can't think of any other form of
    transport where red traffic lights can be considered fun and
    enjoyable.

    Matt

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    One wheel wonderful.
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  7. Gizmoduck
    Archived post
    #7

    Cool- that's great going for a 29'er- was that on
    125mm cranks?

    Makes me want to start commuting to work again- don't have
    that many traffic lights though :p. Just lot's bumpy
    potholes because the council keep digging up the roads.

    Ken

    --
    GizmoDuck - Adventure unicyclist

    o-kO

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  8. Joemarshall
    Archived post
    #8

    It was 12.1mph average speed. I've got 125mm cranks on
    because I like to ride it offroad sometimes, which makes it
    similar to a stock coker. I guess 110s would be a bit
    faster, but I'm not in that much of a hurry. It's pretty
    much all on major roads, a few of them have bus lanes which
    are good for getting past jams. I don't use cycle lanes
    unless they're really good shortcuts, because they slow you
    down and don't make you any safer.

    The lights are insane, but a lot of them are pedestrian
    crossings, where you can see if someone is going to press
    the button and speed up to try and beat the red light. It's
    because London as a city was never really designed, it just
    sort of happened, so there are loads of junctions and also
    because there are a lot of pedestrians about who need to
    cross over. Once you've been riding for a bit, you know a
    lot of the sequences, so you know if you really need to
    hurry somewhere or not.

    I think I'd previously had a bit of a plateau, where I just
    couldn't spin faster than I was, I'm not sure what I've
    done, but I've got that little bit more spin going on all of
    a sudden. It's possibly due to doing more swimming and being
    a little bit more flexible in the legs. I think if you're
    commuting it's easy to get into a groove, but if you
    conciously push yourself a little bit once every couple of
    days you can really improve quickly which is nice.

    Joe

    (ps. I don't actually have a suit or a bowler hat, let alone
    ride to work in them)

    --
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  9. Bunglebanks
    Archived post
    #9

    no suit and bowler? DAMMIT all this time we have been
    showing that picture to everyone!!!!!!

    i cant go on! bungle

    --
    BungleBanks - Wooden Chipmunk!

    So many people ask me "if i can ride that thing?" and i say "no i just
    push it round for fun!"
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  10. Gerblefranklin
    Archived post
    #10

    Wow, what a coincidence! Today I was waiting for the bus as
    I was 2 miles and 2 large hills from school, when it hit me
    that it wasn't going to come in time. I checked my watch and
    it said 7:50:23. I had to be at school by 8:00:00. Any later
    and I got detention. I decideds to go for the ride at
    7:50:32. I hit the stop watch and went. I hit 5 green lights
    out of 7, and the two red were only 15 sec. So, I pant
    through the doors into school at 7:59:48, and hit the
    stopwatch. 9 minutes, 16 seconds! I too broke the twelve-mph
    barrier. It helped that I now commute on a 24x3.0 fireball
    with 158s, so I can simply fly. Also, I was in a mad rush
    because I had a dentist appointment right after school, and
    couldn't be late because of detention. I love big wheels
    (can't wait for a 29er, even if it's about a year off).

    --
    gerblefranklin - Trials Unicyclist

    Don't you think it's a cruel irony that acting like a G.I. Joe in the
    army can get you a Medal, while playing with one can get you thrown out?
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  11. Paul Royle
    Archived post
    #11

    That's cool Joe.

    I've gotta get a 29er, then I can start commuting by Uni
    too.

    Paul

    PS A guy at work asked if I was the guy who unicycles
    through Chiswick with a hockey stick, I guess he was
    talking about you.

    --
    paul royle - Newbie
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