Bikes Defeat Cars in San Jose Race

Bike to Work, an organization in San Jose, Calif., held its sixth annual Commuter Race, which pits riders of a hybrid bicycle, a regular bicycle and a tandem bike against a Toyota Prius and Zenn all-electric car.

The treasure hunt-style race usually takes around half an hour, and in this case all three bikers beat the cars by considerable amounts — as much as 10-20 minutes. The tandem bike won with a time of 22 minutes, while the Zenn and Prius finished in 42 and 44 minutes, respectively.

The race is meant to demonstrate the benefits of commuting to work by bicycle, including maneuverability in traffic. The two cars sat in traffic much longer. The only rules were that cyclists and drivers had to obey all traffic laws. Because it was a treasure hunt-like race, we’d expect parking also played a huge factor in the cars losing.

It’s likely bike commuting also works better in sunny San Jose than it would in, say, Chicago in the month of February.

Street Smarts: Bicycles Dust Cars in Sixth Annual ‘Commuter Race’ (Mercury News)

Comments

>It’s likely bike commuting also works better in sunny San Jose than it would in, say, Chicago in the month of February.

Why? February is a lovely month in Chicago.

Lots of people ride bikes in February in Chicago, and they do just fine. Besides, it got up to nearly 60 degrees then this year, so the weather is less of an issue than one might think.

Pfft. Sunny San Jose indeed.

Yep, I cycled to work in Chicago almost all the way through the winter. By February, so long as the roads are reasonably clear of snow, it's not too bad at all...

You just gotta dress warm.