www.georgesfoundation.org
Well, that wasn't the easiest then!
A year of riding to Brighton on a different bike each time - a year where we had a little boy, our little girl carried on wanting our time, I got knocked off my bike by a taxi, fell off my bike once, we got assorted bugs and ailments - and the winter caused mass flooding over the Country!
The road surface was patchy - there were 3 different road closures on my route, train diversions on my way back and the first time I tried to learn to ride a penny farthing, I trod on the wheel and put it completely out of shape!
But the all important scores on the doors are as follows (fastest to slowest):
Bike Time taken (moving) Time taken (overall) Average speed Top speed
TT Bike 3.15.41 3.30.46 17.4mph 38.5mph
Road Bike (night) 3.20.30 3.38.34 17mph 34mph
Fixed Gear bike 3.25.47 4.05.09 16.7mph 32mph
Mountain Bike 3.50.59 4.24.57 14.8mph 34.2mph
MiniVelo 3.53.48 4.21.49 14.9mph 36.6mph
Tandem 4.05.45 5.38.38 13.9mph 39.4mph
Erenpreiss (town) 4.12.59 5.23.42 13.7mph 35.3mph
BMX 4.17.35 4.47.58 13.6mph 47(!)mph
Brompton 4.28.10 6.34.58 12.8mph 32.4mph
Boris Bike 4.29.06 5.34.14 12.6mph 37.8mph
Recumbent 4.59.31 5.22.40 11.4mph 42.9mph
Cross Bike 6.10.21 6.34.37 13.1mph 32.2mph
(off road route)
50 hours of cycling - and over 60 hours "on the road", not including train journeys and drives back... Definitely earned it!
So unsurprisingly, the "road" type bikes were fastest - with the TT bike at the top - though I think if I had had better vision, I would have run it a lot closer with the road bike. The Fixed Gear shows that lots of gears doesn't make a massive difference(!) and for commuters, there isn't much to chose between a Brompton and a Boris Bike. Despite it being one of the slowest overall times (due to the different cycling position) - the aerodynamics of a recumbent got it the fastest top speed (I'm sure the BMX is a "glitch"!)
The hardest ride - the recumbent definitely, followed by the MiniVelo, where I felt hypothermic coming into Brighton. The most fun - those that I had company on (thank you), the BMX as it made me feel like a little kid, but the very best was the tandem, because it was the last one and I had Em with me. Thanks everyone for your interest and support - and thank you for your sponsorship too!
xxxx
