The Lemon Fool

Spet0789 wrote:25mpg on a three mile drive… the horror. That will have cost you all of 70p.

For context, 9,000 miles at 50mpg costs about £1k. At 25mpg, £2k.

Set against the upfront costs of buying electric, these costs are pretty small.

That is 9,000 / 3 = 3,000 journeys per year, i.e. 3,000 / 364.25 = 8.24 journeys per day. Um...

GeoffF100 wrote:

Mike4 wrote:

AF62 wrote: Clearly you haven't met the decision maker in my household to suggest that!

Electric bike, I expect Geoff meant!

I had factored in the health benefits of pedalling. What price per year do you place on good health?

An awful lot - hence why driving to the gym and swimming pool is more sensible than being killed cycling on the 60 mph main road which takes us there and has no provision for cyclists.

GeoffF100 wrote:

Spet0789 wrote:25mpg on a three mile drive… the horror. That will have cost you all of 70p.

For context, 9,000 miles at 50mpg costs about £1k. At 25mpg, £2k.

Set against the upfront costs of buying electric, these costs are pretty small.

That is 9,000 / 3 = 3,000 journeys per year, i.e. 3,000 / 364.25 = 8.24 journeys per day. Um...

Is that completely crazy? My usage isn't far off with usually at least half a dozen short journeys a day and often more.

AF62 wrote:

GeoffF100 wrote:I had factored in the health benefits of pedalling. What price per year do you place on good health?

An awful lot - hence why driving to the gym and swimming pool is more sensible than being killed cycling on the 60 mph main road which takes us there and has no provision for cyclists.

My city is sprouting empty cycle lanes everywhere. Cyclists seem to prefer the pavement. Masked riders of unlicensed trail bikes go wherever they want, in whatever direction they want.

GeoffF100 wrote:

AF62 wrote:

GeoffF100 wrote:I had factored in the health benefits of pedalling. What price per year do you place on good health?

An awful lot - hence why driving to the gym and swimming pool is more sensible than being killed cycling on the 60 mph main road which takes us there and has no provision for cyclists.

My city is sprouting empty cycle lanes everywhere. Cyclists seem to prefer the pavement. Masked riders of unlicensed trail bikes go wherever they want, in whatever direction they want.

The problem is that cycle lanes tend to be requested by fanatics and implemented by well meaning but incompetent officials.

In my town down one stretch of road where cycle lanes have been implemented, on one section the marked lane has cars parked to the left of the lane so you risk getting 'doored' as a driver opens without looking, then the next section there is no cycle lane but the idiot traffic planners have put in traffic narrowing so impatient drivers try to squeeze between the cyclist and the narrowing, then at the next section there is a proper cycle lane but with priority to cars at every property entrance every hundred yards, and then at the next section the cycle lane becomes a shared path on the pavement with no delimitation so pedestrians think you are riding on the pavement, and then as you get to the busy town centre where a cycle lane might actually be helpful it vanishes completely.

And yes I could cycle the longer five miles to the gym through town down that poor excuse for a cycle lane, rather than the direct three miles down the main road which was built in the 1980s with no provision for cyclists (or even pedestrians as there is no pavement), but unsurprisingly I don't.

GeoffF100 wrote:

AF62 wrote:

GeoffF100 wrote:I had factored in the health benefits of pedalling. What price per year do you place on good health?

An awful lot - hence why driving to the gym and swimming pool is more sensible than being killed cycling on the 60 mph main road which takes us there and has no provision for cyclists.

My city is sprouting empty cycle lanes everywhere. Cyclists seem to prefer the pavement. Masked riders of unlicensed trail bikes go wherever they want, in whatever direction they want.

What does "unlicensed" mean in this context? Can you actually buy a licence to go wherever you want?

Scott.

swill453 wrote:

GeoffF100 wrote:

AF62 wrote:An awful lot - hence why driving to the gym and swimming pool is more sensible than being killed cycling on the 60 mph main road which takes us there and has no provision for cyclists.

My city is sprouting empty cycle lanes everywhere. Cyclists seem to prefer the pavement. Masked riders of unlicensed trail bikes go wherever they want, in whatever direction they want.

What does "unlicensed" mean in this context? Can you actually buy a licence to go wherever you want?

Scott.

I was more puzzled about what a "trail bike" is. A brief google revealed it is another term for a mountain bike, so no need for them to be licensed.

On the other hand there is also a "trials bike" which seems to be a motor bike with no saddle for riding on rough ground.

swill453 wrote:

GeoffF100 wrote:

AF62 wrote:An awful lot - hence why driving to the gym and swimming pool is more sensible than being killed cycling on the 60 mph main road which takes us there and has no provision for cyclists.

My city is sprouting empty cycle lanes everywhere. Cyclists seem to prefer the pavement. Masked riders of unlicensed trail bikes go wherever they want, in whatever direction they want.

What does "unlicensed" mean in this context? Can you actually buy a licence to go wherever you want?

I have not been clear. I am referring to bikes designed for off road use. They may or not be road legal. If they are road legal, they need to be taxed and insured and fitted with number plates before they can legally be driven on the road. The local yobs have these bikes without number plates, and drive them wherever they please wearing masks. They are frequently driven on the wrong side of the road and sometimes on pavements. It is not just on side roads either. The police know that is residents' main policing priority (they said so in a circular), but it does not appear to be one of theirs.

GeoffF100 wrote:I have not been clear. I am referring to bikes designed for off road use. They may or not be road legal. If they are road legal, they need to be taxed and insured and fitted with number plates before they can legally be driven on the road. The local yobs have these bikes without number plates, and drive them wherever they please wearing masks. They are frequently driven on the wrong side of the road and sometimes on pavements. It is not just on side roads either. The police know that is residents' main policing priority (they said so in a circular), but it does not appear to be one of theirs.

So you mean motor bikes then. They wouldn't use the "empty" cycle lanes anyway. I guess you changed the subject mid-paragraph.

Scott.

swill453 wrote:

GeoffF100 wrote:I have not been clear. I am referring to bikes designed for off road use. They may or not be road legal. If they are road legal, they need to be taxed and insured and fitted with number plates before they can legally be driven on the road. The local yobs have these bikes without number plates, and drive them wherever they please wearing masks. They are frequently driven on the wrong side of the road and sometimes on pavements. It is not just on side roads either. The police know that is residents' main policing priority (they said so in a circular), but it does not appear to be one of theirs.

So you mean motor bikes then. They wouldn't use the "empty" cycle lanes anyway. I guess you changed the subject mid-paragraph.

Yes, indeed. The off road motor bikes are mostly a problem on a road which does have cycle lane, but it is useless for any kind of bike, because it is full of parked cars. The council is now putting up cycle lanes separated from the main road by bollards and other obstacles. They appear to be empty nonetheless.

GeoffF100 wrote:The off road motor bikes are mostly a problem on a road which does have cycle lane, but it is useless for any kind of bike, because it is full of parked cars. The council is now putting up cycle lanes separated from the main road by bollards and other obstacles. They appear to be empty nonetheless.

Empty, I wonder why. Does it suffer from the failings I previously mentioned?

AF62 wrote:

GeoffF100 wrote:The off road motor bikes are mostly a problem on a road which does have cycle lane, but it is useless for any kind of bike, because it is full of parked cars. The council is now putting up cycle lanes separated from the main road by bollards and other obstacles. They appear to be empty nonetheless.

Empty, I wonder why. Does it suffer from the failings I previously mentioned?

It is difficult to say. The lane that I have in mind is very new. it may not have been completed. There may be a lack of demand. If I wanted to cycle into the city, I would go on the back roads, not the main road, but that depends on where you start from. There may be some cyclists using the lane, but I have not seen any while zooming down the road. We have jokers who take the bulbs out of their brake lights and try to get cars to run into them, so I do not have much time to scrutinise the cycle lane.