42 Bikes

This afternoon I realised I wanted some bits from PCWorld in Leicester. Realising that at 4pm on a Friday afternoon is less than ideal. It not not very attractive to think about driving into the centre of a city known for it’s traffic during the rush hour on the day after flooding had disrupted many of the roads (we had been diverted by the floods on the road to Rothley earlier in the day).

So I did the sensible thing and cycled there. Turns out it was 5.07 miles and thanks to having no priority at any junctions and taking the recommended cycle route it took me 31 minutes 19 seconds (27 minutes 39 seconds moving time). I don’t think I would have been much faster by car. Google Maps estimates 14 minutes but 4.15pm on a Friday afternoon is sure to be slower.

During my ride I was not held up by traffic jams. However, I did get held up by a cars a couple of times on Harrison Road when they rushed to overtake me before braking hard for either a speed hump or an oncoming car (both times I later passed them when they were stuck waiting).

If we had Dutch style cycle infrastructure then I would expect to have saved several minutes over my time.

If we had Dutch style cycle infrastructure then I would expect to find cycle parking when I got to the shops.

Anyway as it was I ended up cycling just over 10.5 miles in around about an hour and visted 5 shops in two separate shopping areas. No queing, no sweat, no stress just some gentle exercise and a sucessful outing.