Bikes vs. cars race ends in decisive two-wheeled victory
What does it take to beat a Zenn electric car and a Toyota Prius in cross-town driving? A pair of wheels and some leg-power. In the sixth annual Commuter Race in San Jose, California, all the bikes - a standard bike, a tandem and a hybrid bike - beat the two cars in a treasure hunt-style race through town. The riders and drivers were asked to perform a few tasks (get a pastry at one shop, an apple at another), and see who could make it to the finish line first. The event took place Tuesday and the fastest bike completed the route in 22 minutes; the fastest car (the Zenn) took 42 minutes.Granted, the contest is set up by Bike to Work, whose name should give you a pretty good idea of which type of vehicle they promote. But cars have won in previous years, so we can't blame the organizers for totally stacking the challenge in favor of cyclists. For a first-person account of how bikes can beat cars, see the Mercury News.
[Source: Mercury News via Kicking Tires]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
srue 2:27PM (5/15/2009)
Next year's race:
Task 1. Go get a week's worth of groceries for a family with three teenagers.
Game over, cars win.
Reply
John Pelletier 7:30PM (5/15/2009)
srue
bike trailers can haul some of them 500+ pounds ;) i am pretty sure it can handle even the hungriest teens. this does not include the extracycle which means you dont have to worry about a trailer at all and can certainly carry its weight.
would it win the time challenge in that case? depends on the streets and traffic but likely answer is no, but while the point of this is timing, it can be done and many people do exactly that
brn 2:51PM (5/15/2009)
If you design a race for a bike to win, why is it news that the bike wins?
I'm all for bikes, but this is just silly.
Reply
John Rowell 3:45PM (5/15/2009)
In a city, a bike can have a considerable advantage when it comes to parking. You can usually find a spot to stash your bicycle near the store entrance, but it can take a long time to find a spot to park your car, and then you usually have a long way to walk from the parking spot.
Reply
fuel.shy 8:57PM (5/15/2009)
In downtown Savannah (GA) biking was always faster for me, mainly because of parking. Not to mention you don't have to pay to park a bike either.
Snoopy 3:57PM (5/15/2009)
If you want a more interesting, not to mention realistic, way of showing that a bike can win a race against a car, check out Top Gear Series 10, Episode 5, in which they pitted a car (not an NEV, but a Mercedes-Benz GL500) against a bike, speedboat and public transit. http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series10episode5.shtml
Spoiler: The bike won. The speedboat was second, followed by public transit and then the car.
Reply
Shock Me 4:01PM (5/15/2009)
You could send the three hungry teenagers on three bikes! They might eat less if they know they have pedal it all themselves.
Reply
Mike!!ekiM 8:56PM (5/15/2009)
Listen, I love Bikes.
But, in a City race with cars you've got to add Shower Time for the Bikes.
;^)
Reply
Luke 9:07PM (5/15/2009)
Weather and accidents. Now which one wins?
Reply
Russ Finley 12:29AM (5/16/2009)
My hybrid electric bike is much faster than our Prius in an eight mile radius from our home in Seattle. Here is some helmet cam footage I took in honor of bike to work week:
http://biodiversivist.blogspot.com/2009/05/hybrid-electric-bike-with-afterburners.html
Reply
Treehugger 3:04PM (5/16/2009)
I am a regular commuter on a recumbent Optima Baron lowracer, and I confirm that in urban area bikes are very efficient and save time. One big saving factor, is that once you commute regularly with your bike you don't need to waste your time (and money) at the fitness center, believes me.
No you don't need to take a shower when you arrive, wear the appropriate clothes and always keep a deodorant stick with you and it will be just fine.
when you sum up all the benefit of biking (time saving, money saving, improvement of air and life quality in cities, health benefit, lost of body weight, reduction of global warming, reduction of oil addiction) you realize that bikes deserves more attention that they get. Today they are mainly saw as a nuisance by car drivers, and that's an absolute shame
Reply
gerrrg 1:47PM (5/18/2009)
I say, take it on to the drag strip. ;)
Reply