Best commute time

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martinjs
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Re: Best commute time

Postby martinjs » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:16 pm

Who started this silly thread anyway? :lol:

Felt pretty good this morning, which is surprising given the lack of sleep I had.
I got a best ever commute average for more than and hour ride.
Stats
Average Speed: 28.06 kph
Distance: 37.09 Kilometers
Maximum Speed: 42.28
Time: 01:19:18

Also a quick question related to bike types. Firstly I'm not trying to compare with Kev because if we where on exactly the same bike he would leave me for dead. :shock:

I'm ridding a Aluminum Flat bar Roadie with Rack bag, tri bars and other assorted junk, but I'm curious how much faster could I conceivably go on a pure Carbon Fiber Roadie?

I'm not in the market to buy one, but I am curious about the real world difference.
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munga
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Re: Best commute time

Postby munga » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:33 pm

hmm..

i've just bought an old carbonfibre roady (alloy lugs, cf tubes), and hope to get it down to about 2kg less than my 10.2kg repco

look out sated. those 7 seconds are goooone

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Re: Best commute time

Postby sogood » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:39 pm

martinjs wrote:Felt pretty good this morning, which is surprising given the lack of sleep I had.
My best rides are always when I am sleep deprived. If I think too much, I'd slow down and try to enjoy the scenery. Brain dead is the best condition for hammering. 8)
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Kev365428
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Re: Best commute time

Postby Kev365428 » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:59 pm

martinjs wrote:Who started this silly thread anyway? :lol:
That'd be me. :D
martinjs wrote: Also a quick question related to bike types. Firstly I'm not trying to compare with Kev because if we where on exactly the same bike he would leave me for dead. :shock:
Oh please. :roll: The amount of km you're racking up you'd leave ME for dead, but thanks for the ego boost. :wink:

I ride my Gitane Mach 1800 in race trim to/from work. Having a great storage facility and hot & cold running lockers with dry cleaning service on site means no need to transport anything to work. On my days off riding I carry in food for the week. Having never riden a flat bar, I couldn't say what sort of a difference a race trim set-up bike would give you, but I reckon it'd be substantial.

Once I get my old Apollo Jaguar up and running it will become my commuter special, thus the record will never be beaten.

Kev.

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Re: Best commute time

Postby Aushiker » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:13 am

martinjs wrote:I'm not in the market to buy one, but I am curious about the real world difference.
G'day Martin

I posted this before somewhere, but these are my real world riding times for this year. I guess it provides some idea. Keep in mind I don't ride the CRX 1 on all the same rides as the Look 555 but do ride the same commutes with the same bikes.

Look 555 2691 km 78% of riding in 2009 Avg Distance 38.45 km at 24.47 km/h
Giant CRX 1 777 km 23% of riding in 2009 Avg Distance 27.74 km at 22.4 km/h

Also I completed the HBF Freeway Bike Hike last weekend. On the Look I did the ride in 1 hour 38 at 35.8 km/h. Last year I rode it on the CRX 1 and it took me 2 hours 7 minutes at 27.7 km/h.

Of course I have got a year of riding under my belt and I rode this year in a faster "group" so would have benefited from that, but some improvement would have been attributed to the bike.

Hope that helps.

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Andrew
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Re: Best commute time

Postby tier » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:50 am

This thread is stupid. You can't rate times on a commute. Times for Point A to Point B can vary wildly because of traffic flow, lights, route etc. I'm sure we could all cut our times by running lights, drafting strangers and jumping kerbs. But do we really want to encourage this? I see plenty of this kind of idiotic behaviour from commuters everyday and it does nothing for cyclists reputations.
I'm all for racing, but any cyclist with half a brain knows commuting times mean nothing. Sorry... but someone had to say it.

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Re: Best commute time

Postby Aushiker » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:36 am

tier wrote:This thread is stupid....I'm all for racing, but any cyclist with half a brain knows commuting times mean nothing. Sorry... but someone had to say it.
G'day

Some days I try to get to my destination as quickly as I can and I do this by riding on the road legally. Is that wrong? No. Is that racing? No. Does it matter if I compare it to my other times? Others times? No.

So here is a thought ... go for a ride and relax.

I am sorry but that needed to be said :wink:

Andrew
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Re: Best commute time

Postby m@ » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:40 am

tier wrote:This thread is stupid. You can't rate times on a commute. Times for Point A to Point B can vary wildly because of traffic flow, lights, route etc. I'm sure we could all cut our times by running lights, drafting strangers and jumping kerbs. But do we really want to encourage this? I see plenty of this kind of idiotic behaviour from commuters everyday and it does nothing for cyclists reputations.
I'm all for racing, but any cyclist with half a brain knows commuting times mean nothing. Sorry... but someone had to say it.
Fun police on patrol :P

Seriously, nobody's encouraging taking undue risks or breaking the law. When you're not stopped at a red light, you can either ride fast or you can ride slow; all other factors will average themselves out over time. Your fastest time will still be the day that you had a tailwind and caught a lucky run of green lights, but it will be 30 seconds faster than it would've been under the same conditions if you'd taken it easy.
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Re: Best commute time

Postby ajh_ausnzcf » Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:52 pm

m@ wrote:... caught a lucky run of green lights, ...
I love those.
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Re: Best commute time

Postby martinjs » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:11 pm

tier wrote:This thread is stupid. You can't rate times on a commute. Times for Point A to Point B can vary wildly because of traffic flow, lights, route etc. I'm sure we could all cut our times by running lights, drafting strangers and jumping kerbs. But do we really want to encourage this? I see plenty of this kind of idiotic behaviour from commuters everyday and it does nothing for cyclists reputations.
I'm all for racing, but any cyclist with half a brain knows commuting times mean nothing. Sorry... but someone had to say it.
Red Lights? What's are those? You should never generalise. I live just out side of a country town and most of my rides there is no stopping and starting, no traffic, no stop signs and no lights. Pushing your self while commuting is a way of improving your self without having to pay money to go the gym and is also good for health and fitness for those who don't wish to race. :)

Martin
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Re: Best commute time

Postby Kev365428 » Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:12 pm

tier wrote:This thread is stupid. You can't rate times on a commute. Times for Point A to Point B can vary wildly because of traffic flow, lights, route etc. I'm sure we could all cut our times by running lights, drafting strangers and jumping kerbs. But do we really want to encourage this? I see plenty of this kind of idiotic behaviour from commuters everyday and it does nothing for cyclists reputations.
I'm all for racing, but any cyclist with half a brain knows commuting times mean nothing. Sorry... but someone had to say it.
I welcome your opinion tier, but something for you to think about -

As I've stated, the majority of my commute takes place on the M5. Now, I'm not sure if you're familiar with that particular peice of motorway, but it has no lights, no kerbs to jump, and I ride in the breakdown lane (all 5-8 meters wide of it) so no traffic to contend with. The remainder of my commute takes me on the Cooks River cycleway, and through various back streets, once again I encounter minimal traffic, only 6 sets of traffic lights, and still no kerbs to jump. Of those six traffic lights, I encounter only three of them when I'm against the run of traffic, so they are green 9 times out of 10. Two of the remaining three are when I'm entering a major road (Princes Hwy for example. Oh, thats a pretty big road too), so any attempt to run it could prove fatal.

I ride the same route each time, so time comparisions are quite valid. If you know of better way to compare your progress, please enlighten me.

Please don't refer to my behavior as idiotic. You don't know me. You know nothing of my behavior at all. Have you seen the way I ride? Have you seen what I do to promote cycling as a safe activity? No?

As for half a brain, take a look inthe mirror and try to think before you talk. Sorry.....but someone had to say it.

Kev.

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Re: Best commute time

Postby Mulger bill » Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:10 pm

You're a mod Kev, y'know you could edit the post in question to amend its second word to the singular :twisted:

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Re: Best commute time

Postby martinjs » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:37 pm

Thanks for the info Shaun, oh and Kev I'm refering to your speed. :)

Most of my rides are only a medium to hard. I very rarely go flat out. My choice I have no interest in racing, my only competition is the Fit Gits on bikes Fun comp. Of course competing with my self is sometimes the hardest. :(
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Re: Best commute time

Postby hartleymartin » Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:55 pm

Well, I managed my 5.5km commute (different internet sources disagree on the exact distance) in 25 minutes in the wet today. Those slicker tyres make a heck of a difference - at least 5 minutes off commute time. It normally takes me 30 - 35 minutes. I am also using a Brooks B67, which adds a bit of weight - but weight isn't an issue when your frame is steel with alloy extra bits.

25min: 13.2 kph avg
30min: 11 kph avg
35min: 9.4 kph avg
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Re: Best commute time

Postby colafreak » Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:46 pm

martinjs wrote: I'm ridding a Aluminum Flat bar Roadie with Rack bag, tri bars and other assorted junk, but I'm curious how much faster could I conceivably go on a pure Carbon Fiber Roadie?

I'm not in the market to buy one, but I am curious about the real world difference.
Hard to say of course. Your route would have to be pretty hilly for the weight ALONE to make a difference (carry an extra water bottle or two one day and see how much slower you are... probably not much).

But the geometry might make a big difference to your drag coefficient.

I'd still guess that on the tri-bars on a flatbar would be quicker than on the drops of a 1kg lighter roadie.
Please pardon my ignorableness

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Re: Best commute time

Postby casual_cyclist » Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:00 pm

Each to their own I say. My latest challenge for commutes is to expend the least amount of energy to get in to work by never pedaling "hard" just "soft" all the way and using the right gears. It's interesting that my best minimal effort time is only 3mins 14sec slower than my fastest time (but then my commute is only 9km).
Next week I might mix things up a go for a fastest time. As long as I am safe, I don't have a problem with it.
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Re: Best commute time

Postby RobRollin » Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:15 am

Smashed my commute time by 49 seconds this morning.

Time: 19 mins 2 seconds
Distance: 10.84
Avg Speed 34.0455 kmh
Max Speed 79.7kmh
Cadence 73
Heart Rate 173
Image

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Re: Best commute time

Postby ghettro » Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:10 pm

I struggle to get more than over 25km/h avg, although this is cycling in heavy peak hour traffic from Newtown to Sydney CBD. There's about 12 traffic lights and roundabouts and intersections in the 7.8km route I take

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Re: Best commute time

Postby casual_cyclist » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:00 am

Ever since completing an AUDAX MTB ride on the weekend I have been in the mood for hammering to work. Yesterday though I woke up tired and had a feeling of dread at the though of having to ride to work. I just could not face my usual route and turned to go a way I have never gone before. About 30 seconds after getting on the bike I felt fantastic! The weather was awesome and there was no traffic on the road. I hammered and got to work in a really quick time. Unfortunately I accidentally reset my computer before I could record the results :oops: I have also been working on the cornering speed.

Was in a good mood this morning (fantastic weather again... and no cars!) so I smashed it in to work again. Here are the results:
Distance: 9km
Slowest Time: 29:31 (18.3km/h)
Prev Best Time: 24:05 (22.4km/h)

New best time (today): 21:17 (25.4km/h)

And it felt great. So thanks for all your help with cornering, pedaling, gearing, cadence and spin. It's working!
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Re: Best commute time

Postby Aushiker » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:16 am

casual_cyclist wrote:New best time (today): 21:17 (25.4km/h)

And it felt great.
Well done. Nice conditions for riding this morning, light easterly.

Andrew
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Re: Best commute time

Postby casual_cyclist » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:41 am

Aushiker wrote:
casual_cyclist wrote:New best time (today): 21:17 (25.4km/h)
And it felt great.
Well done. Nice conditions for riding this morning, light easterly.
Andrew
Thanks. I have really enjoyed the weather this week.
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Re: Best commute time

Postby Aushiker » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:53 am

casual_cyclist wrote:Thanks. I have really enjoyed the weather this week.
G'day

MMM maybe you need to come out to the coast ... you might have a different perspective :)
Andrew

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Re:

Postby munga » Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:33 pm

munga wrote:ok, no warm up and a 1:52. Shaving, drafting, lycra and aero position to come :lol:


[Edit: officially 1010m and bugger-all gradient, so according to my rough calculations *punches calc*, sated is beating me by about 7s/km.]

geez. how am i gunna drop 7sec on a 1k sprint with 4x90° corners? and then i've gotta drop that time even more to actually be in front! must work on cornering speed..
ok, clear run this morning and a 1:46. biggest factor has been clips and straps. previously i was running/rocking pd-540's and standard pedestrian shoes.
having some feetal security made a big psychological difference.

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Re: Best commute time

Postby casual_cyclist » Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:42 pm

Aushiker wrote:
casual_cyclist wrote:Thanks. I have really enjoyed the weather this week.
G'day
MMM maybe you need to come out to the coast ... you might have a different perspective :)
Probably. But remember my commute home is just a warm up for you, unless I go the long way down the freeway and back up Roe. Then I get a taste of headwinds, but nothing like the coast.
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Re: Best commute time

Postby martinjs » Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:38 am

Not quite my best but not bad for me, second best ever over a distance, today the 22 of Jan 2010

Distance: 28.19k
Time: 01:01:31
Avg Speed: 27.55kph

Road: Flat but rough and started on 1/2k of dirt road.

Comments: Extended commute to work, already warming up, strangely enough the only time I've beaten this was March last year on a warm morning. A little less wind this time so I had to work hard into the wind.

Martin
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