Commuters - How much time do you lose to the lights???
Discussion
For the first time in ages, I had a day where it wasn't raining, and I didn't need to carry my laptop in either direction. A chance, therefore, to see if I can better my commute times. 
Well, that was the plan, anyway. In reality, traffic lights intervened, as is so often the case.
On my ride in I had a moving time of 01:05:18 against an elapsed time of 01:10:42. On my ride home I had an even more frustrating 01:03:37 of moving time against an elapsed time of 01:11:18.
So, in total, I lost 13 minutes and 5 seconds on the round trip to 81 sets of traffic lights and 2 roundabouts.
Projecting forward, if I were to assume I continue working for the same company until I retire in 25 or so years from now, and I average that commute twice per week, then in that time, I will spend a grand total of 23 days, 14 hours, 56 minutes and 40 seconds doing nothing but sitting on my bike, waiting for traffic lights to change to green or for gaps to open on roundabouts.
I've been ROBBED!!!!!!!
And that's without even thinking about how much time I lose in slowing down and speeding up again!! 
So, does anyone else lose this much time on their commute?
Well, that was the plan, anyway. In reality, traffic lights intervened, as is so often the case.
On my ride in I had a moving time of 01:05:18 against an elapsed time of 01:10:42. On my ride home I had an even more frustrating 01:03:37 of moving time against an elapsed time of 01:11:18.
So, in total, I lost 13 minutes and 5 seconds on the round trip to 81 sets of traffic lights and 2 roundabouts.
Projecting forward, if I were to assume I continue working for the same company until I retire in 25 or so years from now, and I average that commute twice per week, then in that time, I will spend a grand total of 23 days, 14 hours, 56 minutes and 40 seconds doing nothing but sitting on my bike, waiting for traffic lights to change to green or for gaps to open on roundabouts.
I've been ROBBED!!!!!!!
And that's without even thinking about how much time I lose in slowing down and speeding up again!! So, does anyone else lose this much time on their commute?
Funny enough Kermit I was just looking at your Strava rides from today, getting quicker!! I see a few KOM's coming you way!! :thumb up:
I took my CX bike out for a road spin tonight (mainly cos I could not be arsed to take my road bike off the trainer), I decided to push myself a bit harder than normal. There was one Strava section in particular I wanted to have a go at, its about 4 miles long, the first half is on an incline and there are two sets of lights in the section. Dug deep and got stuck in, hit the first set of lights and they were green - yippee - second set - red, killed the segment dead which is a shame as until that point I was a couple of mph faster over the section than my best to date.......
I took my CX bike out for a road spin tonight (mainly cos I could not be arsed to take my road bike off the trainer), I decided to push myself a bit harder than normal. There was one Strava section in particular I wanted to have a go at, its about 4 miles long, the first half is on an incline and there are two sets of lights in the section. Dug deep and got stuck in, hit the first set of lights and they were green - yippee - second set - red, killed the segment dead which is a shame as until that point I was a couple of mph faster over the section than my best to date.......
MadDad said:
Funny enough Kermit I was just looking at your Strava rides from today, getting quicker!! I see a few KOM's coming you way!! :thumb up:
I wish that were true, but sadly I have to give credit to the bike. I'm comfortably 2-3 mph faster on the De Rosa than I am on my old GT workhorse. 
Still, looking on the bright side, I love riding the De Rosa, which makes it that much easier to put the miles in.
MadDad said:
I took my CX bike out for a road spin tonight (mainly cos I could not be arsed to take my road bike off the trainer), I decided to push myself a bit harder than normal. There was one Strava section in particular I wanted to have a go at, its about 4 miles long, the first half is on an incline and there are two sets of lights in the section. Dug deep and got stuck in, hit the first set of lights and they were green - yippee - second set - red, killed the segment dead which is a shame as until that point I was a couple of mph faster over the section than my best to date.......
I'm just waiting for the first recorded case of "Strava rage" where a cyclist ends up bludgeoning some old biddy because he lost vital seconds getting past her invalid carriage! will_ said:
My average commute times have hardly moved in the last 4 years, laregely because (in my view) traffic and lights are far more determinitive of the commute time than outright speed. A lucky run of greens can take 10% off my commute time.
I found exactly that.Over a year of commuting, I initially got a lot quicker in the first 4 weeks but after that it's as much to do with wind, traffic, lights, weather as it is my legs. Every now and then there'll be a day where everything feels right and I'll get the quickest time - but that's because everything fell into place.
Kermit power said:
I'm just waiting for the first recorded case of "Strava rage" where a cyclist ends up bludgeoning some old biddy because he lost vital seconds getting past her invalid carriage!
I nearly got rear-ended by two Stava tw@s when I stopped at a pedestrian crossing, and they were too busy trying to get their best times to actually look where they are going.I actually think timed "racing" is very dangerous in rush-hour traffic - some people take the whole commuting thing far too seriously (i.e. dangerously).
Straight from the Garmin on the last ride I did to the office:
Moving Time: 1:13:54
Elapsed Time: 1:19:50
Avg Speed: 13.7 mph
Avg Moving Spd: 14.8 mph
Max Speed: 26.3 mph
Distance: 18.29 mi
So, surprisingly, on a cross-London commute (it's horrendous), I only lose 6 mins completely stopped. That said, there is a lot of slowing down and speeding up, and if I see a red-light ahead, I will coast up to it instead of riding hard and then slamming on the brakes, so it's not a true reflection of how much time I really lose to the lights.
Moving Time: 1:13:54
Elapsed Time: 1:19:50
Avg Speed: 13.7 mph
Avg Moving Spd: 14.8 mph
Max Speed: 26.3 mph
Distance: 18.29 mi
So, surprisingly, on a cross-London commute (it's horrendous), I only lose 6 mins completely stopped. That said, there is a lot of slowing down and speeding up, and if I see a red-light ahead, I will coast up to it instead of riding hard and then slamming on the brakes, so it's not a true reflection of how much time I really lose to the lights.
Rocksteadyeddie said:
Think of the accelerating away from the lights as interval training 
You joke...but it's actually quite good - I've recently changed the gearing and it certainly makes a difference to my pulling away speed I reckon I probably lose 5 minutes on a 25/30 minute commute, would love to be able to try it flat out one day ignoring all lights!
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