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STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A man deemed to have the shortest and "most ridiculous commute" in Malmoe has won a bicycle as part of a campaign to reduce car traffic in the southern Swedish city , an organiser said Friday.
"A man called Lasse Jonsson won the contest after his girlfriend Anna Holm signed him up. He drives his car every day less than 200 metres (650 feet) between his home and workplace, and also drives another few hundred metres to lunch," Sara Forslund told AFP.
Forslund is one of the organisers of Malmoe's municipal campaign called "No ridiculous car journeys".
this was found on Commute By Bike: http://commutebybike.com/2008/07/05/650 … te-by-car/
Hilarious, and I think somehow Austin could find someone really quickly if they had a contest like this.
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Thats not even far enough to get the chain warmed up. I would just walk 650 feet.
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wow...a family member of mine lives in indonesia where the HOV lanes require 3 people in your car. You can pay a local $2 and theyll hop in the car with you so you can use the HOV
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wow...a family member of mine lives in indonesia where the HOV lanes require 3 people in your car. You can pay a local $2 and theyll hop in the car with you so you can use the HOV
How do they get back? :-)
I guess there's enough traffic both directions to make that happen.
I went to a college with very limited parking and I knew people who would drive from their dorm the whole 1/2 mile or so to the classroom building and would orbit the nearest parking lot until a spot opened just so they could avoid walking. It was a very compact urban campus only slightly larger than UT.
And speaking of walking versus cycling. My rule of thumb is one mile. If it's under a mile it'll take me longer to unchain my bike ride it to my destination, and chain it back. In reality it might not be a mile, I guestimate. But yeah, 650 feet, I'd walk. I wouldn't drive or bicycle.
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Of course, this whole "do short trips on the bike, long trips in the car" thing ignores one big advantage of the car -- security is fast and easy.
You arrive, you park, you get out, you push the clicker as you walk away. When you get back, you hit the clicker, open door, sit down, put key into slot, turn, drive off ...
In the bike, you arrive, you find a place to lock it, you lock the frame to the rack with your U-lock, then you run your cable lock through your wheels and lock them to the rack too. Then you remove your cyclocomputer, your headlight and your bag of stuff and carry it with you. Then you reverse this process when you're leaving.
And even if you do properly lock your bike with two locks, it's still more likely to not be there when you get out or to be there but have been messed with or parts stolen than your car is.
Personally, I'm not a fan of walking, so this tends to mean that short trips involve the car (with the bike, I spend more time locking it than I do riding it), medium trips the bike, and long trips the car again.
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In the bike, you arrive, you find a place to lock it, you lock the frame to the rack with your U-lock, then you run your cable lock through your wheels and lock them to the rack too. Then you remove your cyclocomputer, your headlight and your bag of stuff and carry it with you. Then you reverse this process when you're leaving.
An advantage of folding bikes. I'm getting ready to order a Tikit from Bike Friday -- being able to throw it in the shopping cart (or wheel it into the store folded, front pannier ready to hold groceries -- or to throw on the transit cover and take it on a bus even with the front bike racks full) is as much part of the reason as being able to fly with the bike (and a suitcase-toting trailer) packed inside that same suitcase.
That said -- I met a friend at Costco one weekend not so long ago, and it took her much more time to find parking for her minivan than it took for me to lock my bike and trailer in the racks right next to the entrance. I also have a much easier time of things at work, cycling right up to the door and then bringing my vehicle inside with me. Parking a car is sometimes more convenient than a bike, but certainly not always.
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It's really too bad there is so much bike theft. I am much more worried about my bike saddle getting stolen than my car getting tampered with. It shouldn't take 5 minutes to properly secure a bike.
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An advantage of folding bikes.
In some cases, yes. Not in others.
I own a folding bike. It's unwieldy when folded -- it would take most of a shopping cart. Panniers would make it worse. They're also heavy -- generally heavier than a standard road bike.
Many folding bikes can't really be rolled around on the wheels when folded up. (Mine is actually an exception there -- it's by Giant, sold in China. It "collapses" more than it folds up, so the wheels are still in-line and it can be rolled around. On the down side, other bikes can fold up smaller.)
I'm getting ready to order a Tikit from Bike Friday -- being able to throw it in the shopping cart (or wheel it into the store folded, front pannier ready to hold groceries
It does fold up very fast (I watched the videos) -- quite nice. Mine takes a lot longer.
I'm guessing it's only going to fold up properly with only one pannier -- not two -- and walking with it rolling is going to be a bit awkward, but still, better than most.
Traveling with them (bring it in the bus with you!), or putting them in the trunk of your car -- THAT is where they excel. For simply not having to lock them up? Maybe ...
And $1200 ... ouch.
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Of course, this whole "do short trips on the bike, long trips in the car" thing ignores one big advantage of the car -- security is fast and easy.
You arrive, you park, you get out, you push the clicker as you walk away. When you get back, you hit the clicker, open door, sit down, put key into slot, turn, drive off ...
In the bike, you arrive, you find a place to lock it, you lock the frame to the rack with your U-lock, then you run your cable lock through your wheels and lock them to the rack too. Then you remove your cyclocomputer, your headlight and your bag of stuff and carry it with you. Then you reverse this process when you're leaving.
And even if you do properly lock your bike with two locks, it's still more likely to not be there when you get out or to be there but have been messed with or parts stolen than your car is.
Personally, I'm not a fan of walking, so this tends to mean that short trips involve the car (with the bike, I spend more time locking it than I do riding it), medium trips the bike, and long trips the car again.
Or you have a bicycle that is actually set up for commuting and errands. Since both wheels are bolted on, the lights are bolted on, and you don't have a cyclecomputer on the bike at all, you just put a u-lock or decent cable lock around the frame and maybe through a wheel and you are done. I do this every day (I commute) and haven't had a problem yet. The extra time to lock up the bike is less than the time to walk from where you would have to park your car.
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Any savings generated by bicycle commuting can be quickly erased by your max out of pocket expenditures you pay for your medical bills!!!! :)
Maybe the 650 feet he drives crosses a very dangerous road.
I might communte again though when it warms up a bit more and the wife starts driving more. SSSHHH but don't tell her yet!!!
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speaking of the security issue, how hard is it to convert a quick release wheel and seatpost to something harder to steal... ive got a cheap bike with a crap seat but Ive had my seat stolen before and figure it was out of sheer boredome and was probably tossed to the roadside within a few thousand feet
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You can buy a light cable to lock your seat and seat post with. You don't even need a lock for it -- you just set it up so that the seat has to be taken apart with tools to get it off. This works even if the seat adjustment has a quick release -- they can release the entire seatpost, but without an allen wrench or bolt cutters they won't be able to take it. It'll take a minute or two to take the seat apart with the right tools, so it dissuades those who, as you said, are just going to throw the seat away. It won't save your expensive Brooks saddle, however. An added advantage of this setup is that the seat is locked up all the time -- you ride with it locked too, so there's no additional work once set up.
As for quick release wheels, two crescent wrenches will get bolted wheels off just as fast as a quick release tire can be removed, so I wouldn't call that secure. (Really, quick releases just mean you have to carry fewer tools, and don't have to find them when the time comes.) Now, if the bolts aren't hex bolts, but instead are some weird shape that requires a special adapter -- THAT might provide some security, as long as it's all smooth and such and doesn't give a pair of pliers somewhere to grab. Does anybody sell something like that?
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You can buy a light cable to lock your seat and seat post with. You don't even need a lock for it -- you just set it up so that the seat has to be taken apart with tools to get it off. This works even if the seat adjustment has a quick release -- they can release the entire seatpost, but without an allen wrench or bolt cutters they won't be able to take it. It'll take a minute or two to take the seat apart with the right tools, so it dissuades those who, as you said, are just going to throw the seat away. It won't save your expensive Brooks saddle, however. An added advantage of this setup is that the seat is locked up all the time -- you ride with it locked too, so there's no additional work once set up.
As for quick release wheels, two crescent wrenches will get bolted wheels off just as fast as a quick release tire can be removed, so I wouldn't call that secure. (Really, quick releases just mean you have to carry fewer tools, and don't have to find them when the time comes.) Now, if the bolts aren't hex bolts, but instead are some weird shape that requires a special adapter -- THAT might provide some security, as long as it's all smooth and such and doesn't give a pair of pliers somewhere to grab. Does anybody sell something like that?
By that measure, nothing on your bike is secure. An allen wrench and some wire cutters, and your handlebars and stem are gone. A wrench and or an allen wrench will get most brakes. And a knife will leave the bike owner with flat tires (yes, I have had my tires slashed). With a threadless headset, getting the stem gets the whole fork.
You can get skewers that take a special tool to loosen - there are Pit Locks (see pitlock.com), and Velo Orange sells skewers that require a modified allen wrench. You can also hose clamp the lever to your fork. Another option would be to put an axle locknut between the axle nut and the fork on each side, thus requiring a cone wrench to get the wheel off.
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