Comments on: Two miles = damned near impossible

By: Andy Cline

Andy Cline — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:08:28 +0000

Thanks for the link David. And I’m sorry WP thought your comment was SPAM.

By: David Hembrow

David Hembrow — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:00:24 +0000

You’re basically right about living far from the city. It’s very inconvenient. My 13 mile commute was a short term thing before we moved to a point 2 miles from the same job.

Mind you, there are human powered vehicles which make short work of longer journeys, given infrastructure suitable to ride them on, and I know a few people here with longer commutes who use them:

http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2008/09/speed.html

By: Andy Cline

Andy Cline — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:46:55 +0000

Shek and David… In terms of cycling, I’m not sure what can be done for those who live in the suburbs 15 to 30 miles from everything. That’s why I gave the stark (and largely unrealistic) advice to “move” earlier. That living arrangement is unsustainable. While I write Carbon Trace for everyone interested in commuting with the power of their own muscles, my intention is to begin changing things in Springfield. So some of the things I say ignore the situations of people in other communities. Here in Springfield, the thousands who live within the city limits actually have a rudimentary cycling infrastructure that makes 2-mile commuting very realistic. They have flat terrain and largely respectful drivers.

By: David Hembrow

David Hembrow — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:31:04 +0000

The reason why people won’t cycle is those “4,000-pound machine that could end a life” that you mention and that any prospective cyclists will have to share the streets with.

Two miles is of course easy to cycle however the first step is very hard. The first step means putting oneself directly “in harm’s way” in front of those vehicles. A small minority of people (us, who already cycle) ignore this and cycle anyway. However, most people aren’t that fussed about cycling and won’t try it even once in these conditions. Those who you can get to try it are quite likely to be put off. That’s why a high degree of passive subjective safety is always a part of the landscape anywhere where cycling is anything other than a minority pursuit.

As for my commute – at one point in Britain my commute was 13 miles each way along roads with (on the fastest stretch) a 60 mph speed limit. It took 45 – 50 minutes depending on traffic lights etc. Later on it was only 2 miles and I’d aim to cover it in under 6 minutes. In both cases it would be accompanied by abuse and unpleasantness from drivers as often as not.

Over here there is no unpleasantness, and the directness of the cycle routes means that I have to stop less often so can average higher speeds if I want to. It generally takes under 50 minutes to ride to Groningen, 28 km away – which is rather slower than a chap around the corner who does this every day for his commute.

However, I’ve also discovered how pleasant it can be to go slower. At any speed it’s wonderful not to have to fight traffic the whole way.

By: Abhishek

Abhishek — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 05:11:22 +0000

How do you sell the two mile concept to the millions who live in suburbia, 15 to 30 miles from everything useful? Some people need to travel over 2 miles just to get out of their gated community.