Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
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Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby myforwik » Sun Sep 25, 2011 11:22 am
I found that the downhills did not make up for the uphills, and I was able to go 12km in the time it took to do the 10km route by taking a detour around some larger hills.
What amazed me the most, was that the route I had always thought was stupid, a 16km slow winding path along a creek turned out to be just as fast as using 10km of roads because of all the traffic lights and intersections. Even on my little trip to work they were adding up to 10+ minutes.
I ended up using google earth for terrain heights, and near map to see all the paths, and made a route that was as flat as possible with no intersection where I was likly to stop and cut my commute time down alot.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Sydguy » Sun Sep 25, 2011 11:28 am
Pretty happy with the route after that point. There are faster ways to go but bit more traffic, prefer to use some quieter roads as they are less noisey and I don't have to be paranoid with every car zooming past.
JM
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby sogood » Sun Sep 25, 2011 11:56 am
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby queequeg » Sun Sep 25, 2011 12:51 pm
Traffic lights have by far the largest effect on my commute times. When all the ducks line up in a row (traffic, traffic lights, weather conditions), there can be 5 minutes difference in the overall time.myforwik wrote:I recently tried about 5 different routes to work which were from 10km to 15km.
I found that the downhills did not make up for the uphills, and I was able to go 12km in the time it took to do the 10km route by taking a detour around some larger hills.
What amazed me the most, was that the route I had always thought was stupid, a 16km slow winding path along a creek turned out to be just as fast as using 10km of roads because of all the traffic lights and intersections. Even on my little trip to work they were adding up to 10+ minutes.
I ended up using google earth for terrain heights, and near map to see all the paths, and made a route that was as flat as possible with no intersection where I was likly to stop and cut my commute time down alot.
I had a chance to do a little experiment when I did the Sydney Marathon earlier this month. I was escorting the wheelchair elite guys around the course (on my bicycle), and I had to ride to start at Nth Sydney, which is also where I work. The difference is I had to be there at 6:30am on a Sunday morning, which meant leaving home at 5:30am.
There is as close to zero traffic on a Sunday morning at 5:30am as you ever likely to see, so I ditched my usual commute route and just went for all the main roads instead. I was absolutely flying along. At approximately the half way point (and also the lowest point on the route), my avg speed was 34km/h. That is 8km/h higher than usual at the same point (on the same bike). The subsequent climbs knocked that back a bit, but I arrived in Nth Sydney with a final avg speed of 32km/h, and I passed my office a good 5 minutes faster than my previous fastest time. I still got a number of red lights along the way too! Therefore, under ideal conditions the best time I can ever expect is around 45 minutes. My "usual" time for the morning commute, via the backstreets etc, is around 57 minutes (AT) avg speed of 26km/h. I sometimes detour and take a longer route with less traffic lights, and the time is more or less the same.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby ldrcycles » Sun Sep 25, 2011 1:10 pm
Interestingly there is a section on my coastal commute where i have the option of going over a large hill or skirting around the bottom, i have found that although going over the top is quite a lot harder, it is significantly quicker due to being shorter, and the help provided by the down hill on the other side.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Lizzy » Sun Sep 25, 2011 6:42 pm
This rings very true for me. An example (albeit on a smaller scale than most, I imagine): My usual commute is 10km mainly on the flat. I house-sat, and did a 5km commute basically over two lumps. The latter felt like it took twice as much out of me and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same time, if not a little more (wasn't doing that long enough to remember to test).myforwik wrote: I found that the downhills did not make up for the uphills, and I was able to go 12km in the time it took to do the 10km route by taking a detour around some larger hills.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby hannos » Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:31 am
For instance, From home to Belmore Rd exit on the M5 I tend to average about 34-36km/h over the 35-40km. Then I hit backstreets for the next 15-20km. This tends to drop my overall average speed by about 4km/h due to traffic lights and corners I am required to take.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby silkishuge » Tue Sep 27, 2011 12:40 pm
Jon
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby silkishuge » Tue Sep 27, 2011 12:41 pm
hannos wrote:Back streets and traffic lights slow me down significantly.
For instance, From home to Belmore Rd exit on the M5 I tend to average about 34-36km/h over the 35-40km. Then I hit backstreets for the next 15-20km. This tends to drop my overall average speed by about 4km/h due to traffic lights and corners I am required to take.
Talking about the M5 reminded me of the M2, my average speed is strongly dependent on the number of flats I get. Its otherwise smooth saling with a superb draft. Going through the tunnel at 65km/h etc.....
Jon
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Sydguy » Tue Sep 27, 2011 12:42 pm
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby ldrcycles » Tue Sep 27, 2011 1:00 pm
LOL, might be worth a lookSydguy wrote:The question is does your pistol club have a cycling jersey? Might get less agro on the road.
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Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Comedian » Tue Sep 27, 2011 1:31 pm
As a result my best averages are quite low (<30) compared to many on this forum.
Nothing I can do about it as there isn't much in the way of alternatives.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby silkishuge » Tue Sep 27, 2011 1:44 pm
+1 reagarding bike lanes/paths. I used to commute on a bike path when I was living in Melbourne but it was slow going. It used to cut pass a park where kids were running around and dogs which were not suppose to be off-leash who were. In the end, I was brought down by a dog and decided to get back on the road.Comedian wrote:My commute is up hill, down dale, and mixed mode - on road, bike lane, and off road path. There are some lights and intersections too.
As a result my best averages are quite low (<30) compared to many on this forum.
Nothing I can do about it as there isn't much in the way of alternatives.
Jon
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Xplora » Thu Sep 29, 2011 8:59 pm
I have picked up a couple serious hills and two/three traffic lights on my inbound commute, and a ton of minor hills and messing around in my outbound commute. I tend to run 25 minutes inbound over 8km, and 35 minutes outbound over 10km. I think. The hills don't speed me up at all on the outbound because its so much more flat, whereas the inbound has long downhills that get me to 45-50kmh without much trouble for a fair distance.
Every commute route is different though, with its own challenges. I think it can't be understated that you cannot get a good training effect from easy routes either.... you might struggle up those hills every day, but you'll recover faster in time and will be able to smash the flats and downhills much harder because of that extra work.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Phil » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:08 am
Lights/cross traffic kills my times worse than the Freo Doctor ever will.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Mugglechops » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:28 am
Comedian wrote:My commute is up hill, down dale, and mixed mode - on road, bike lane, and off road path. There are some lights and intersections too.
As a result my best averages are quite low (<30) compared to many on this forum.
Nothing I can do about it as there isn't much in the way of alternatives.
I am lucky to avg 23km/h on my normal 40km round trip commute. And I have zero traffic lights.
I think I need to pull my finger out and start riding harder. I do ride with a mate and we spend the whole ride having a chat, so I am not exactly out of breath.
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Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Comedian » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:31 am
Mate if your happy why hurry? The average commute speed in the Netherlands is 15kph.Mugglechops wrote:Comedian wrote:My commute is up hill, down dale, and mixed mode - on road, bike lane, and off road path. There are some lights and intersections too.
As a result my best averages are quite low (<30) compared to many on this forum.
Nothing I can do about it as there isn't much in the way of alternatives.
I am lucky to avg 23km/h on my normal 40km round trip commute. And I have zero traffic lights.
I think I need to pull my finger out and start riding harder. I do ride with a mate and we spend the whole ride having a chat, so I am not exactly out of breath.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Mugglechops » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:36 am
It still helps my fitness as I rode 150kms last Saturday and still my avg was 23kmh in pretty bad weatherComedian wrote:Mate if your happy why hurry? The average commute speed in the Netherlands is 15kph.Mugglechops wrote:Comedian wrote:My commute is up hill, down dale, and mixed mode - on road, bike lane, and off road path. There are some lights and intersections too.
As a result my best averages are quite low (<30) compared to many on this forum.
Nothing I can do about it as there isn't much in the way of alternatives.
I am lucky to avg 23km/h on my normal 40km round trip commute. And I have zero traffic lights.
I think I need to pull my finger out and start riding harder. I do ride with a mate and we spend the whole ride having a chat, so I am not exactly out of breath.
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby ColinOldnCranky » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:43 am
+1myforwik wrote:I found that the downhills did not make up for the uphills
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby gdt » Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:38 am
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby myforwik » Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:31 pm
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Re: Effect of hills and traffic lights on commuter times
Postby Golliwog » Sat Oct 15, 2011 1:20 pm
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