On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:33:43 +0100, Clive yewbank.demon.co.uk>
wrote:

Can't keep up? When I worked in town center, the 5 miles from my house
to town took 20min at 8-9am rush hour in a car or on bicycle. I obeyed
all red lights. In a city like London with what 8mph? average traffic
speed I'd still be doing 15mph and be at work in 1/2 the time it takes
by car. Just sour grapes, bikes leave your car for dead in city
traffic.

Hold up? Can't say I ever noticed it being a bike that was holding the
traffic up. It always seemed to be down to number of vehicles waiting
at junctions and that isn't due to bicycles. The biggest hold ups are
at junctions that have a large number of vehicles turning right across
a high volume oncoming traffic flow. Sounds like you just can't wait
to overtake safely for even a few meters so you can get parked up on
the back of that stationary queue of cars, someone might sneak out of
a side road and take your place in the queue. While you are parked in
that queue the bike fiters up the inside, gets though the next traffic
lights 2 or 3 cycles ahead of you and dissapears into the distance.

I've overtaken a Rover SD1 that was showing 45mph on the speedo as I
looked in while alongside it. Electric motors? Pah! They switch off at
15mph.