Car-free Days? Give Me A Break!

[mr_hippo]

Did I see the grate? Yup but too late because I was tail gating a taxi to draft... heh heh...

A quick word on tailgating 'DON'T' On my 14th birthday, my mate Mike was not in school, we met when we were 7 years old and neither of us missed a day's schooling. The previous night, we went from school to my house the long way round - this featured a nice long downhill followed by a long rise; we used to get down the hill as fast as possible, stop pedalling at the side road at the bottom and see how far we could freewheel up the rise to the Ford dealer at the top. On that night, I was the first to do it! Mike left my house and told me that he would go down the hill and see if he could beat me. From what we could gather, Mike got to the top of the hill and was tailgating a lorry, a motorbike pulled out of the side road at the bottom, the lorry braked, Mike could not stop. I lost my best friend that night.

Not far from my house in England, the local racing club had their time trial practice course. There was one rider turned in very good times on training nights but in actual TT's he was just average. Unfortunately, we found out why - his brother used to hide behind the first corner in his car and used to draft him round most of the course and the inevitable happened. The car stopped suddenly, cyclist hit the rear of the car and was catapulted through the rear window. He died instantly.

BUT, if you must draft All vehicles have a 'sweet spot' - varies from vehicle to vehicle - it's about 5-8 metres behind and hardly ever central. Find that spot and ride just inside the right limit of it; this will give you enough room to 'spot the pots' and gives you an escape route if the vehicle stops suddenly and extra braking time.

Do I draft? No, my profile is too big but taxis often draft behind me - it saves them about 30% of their fuel! Are there enough cyclists in your area to set up a 'chain gang'?

Edited September 26, 2007 by mr_hippo

[toybits]

Fortunately, I am not a very good cyclist and cycle not to compete. Just to commute and get my sweat glands working. Sorry to hear about friends you lost in those terrible accidents. Appreciate your reminder. BTW... don't draft as must because I can't move as fast as I used to. Probably too much draft (beer).... weighing me down...

Did I see the grate? Yup but too late because I was tail gating a taxi to draft... heh heh...

A quick word on tailgating 'DON'T' On my 14th birthday, my mate Mike was not in school, we met when we were 7 years old and neither of us missed a day's schooling. The previous night, we went from school to my house the long way round - this featured a nice long downhill followed by a long rise; we used to get down the hill as fast as possible, stop pedalling at the side road at the bottom and see how far we could freewheel up the rise to the Ford dealer at the top. On that night, I was the first to do it! Mike left my house and told me that he would go down the hill and see if he could beat me. From what we could gather, Mike got to the top of the hill and was tailgating a lorry, a motorbike pulled out of the side road at the bottom, the lorry braked, Mike could not stop. I lost my best friend that night.

Not far from my house in England, the local racing club had their time trial practice course. There was one rider turned in very good times on training nights but in actual TT's he was just average. Unfortunately, we found out why - his brother used to hide behind the first corner in his car and used to draft him round most of the course and the inevitable happened. The car stopped suddenly, cyclist hit the rear of the car and was catapulted through the rear window. He died instantly.

BUT, if you must draft All vehicles have a 'sweet spot' - varies from vehicle to vehicle - it's about 5-8 metres behind and hardly ever central. Find that spot and ride just inside the right limit of it; this will give you enough room to 'spot the pots' and gives you an escape route if the vehicle stops suddenly and extra braking time.

Do I draft? No, my profile is too big but taxis often draft behind me - it saves them about 30% of their fuel! Are there enough cyclists in your area to set up a 'chain gang'?

[mike_rad]

Seen this site: http://www.transfuture.net/

For some philosophy behind it, a good read: http://www.transfuture.net/thoughts.html

Can't see it happening anywhere soon. Still, one can dream...

[toybits]

Heh heh.... its like some kind of conspiracy by the Automobile industry to suppress the development of real mass transit systems like those described in the websites below. Also read something about lost productivity by people stuck in traffic. Just imagine if these people were working instead of waiting inside their cars for the lights to turn green...

Anyway, if you compute how much money is lost, it is quite staggering.

Seen this site: http://www.transfuture.net/

For some philosophy behind it, a good read: http://www.transfuture.net/thoughts.html

Can't see it happening anywhere soon. Still, one can dream...

[mr_hippo]

Let's take a rush hour journey from Lat Phrao to Asoke - about 10 minutes (MRT)

Same journey in your posh BMW (I'll be kind to you - the lights at Ratchada/Lat Phrao are on green) a lot more than 10 minutes but travelling on the MRT, you cannot show off your nice car!

toybits, not only are the automobile industry in this 'conspiracy' but also the oil companies and the battery companies.

Light bulb companies can make ever lasting light bulbs but they don't - once you have bought sufficient for your home, you do not need to buy more! Fords and others have researched the Stirling engine but made pathetic excuses as to why they could not continue. There have been many 'urban legends' where people have invented better engines and the oil companies have paid then very large sums for the rights but are all urban legends false?