Cycling on the increase in the UK !

Bicycling is on the up!Halfords, a large retail chain that sells cycles and cycling accessories as well as autombile parts and accessories, has reported a rise in sales in the last three months.
halfords claims to be the biggest cycle retailer in the UK, with sales of one million cycles a year.
The BBC attributes the rise in Halfords' sales to the interest generated by having a Britain win the Tour de France and the success of British cyclists at the recent London Olympics.

sources:
BBC
Halfords

Trixie Biker Set de Luxe - bike set (Google Affiliate Ad)

Caravanning by bicycle?

These days lots of folk are trying to be more "green" - lower their carbon footprint, live sustainably, etc. etc.
We all like our holidays (especially us Europeans who seem to get twice as much vacation time as most Americans - don't blame me, because you voted for the folks that made it so, not me!), so how can we combine our increasing environmental awareness with some much needed time away from the office and the home?

Here's an idea for you!

My best gas mileage yet!

My best "hypermiling" trip yet!
A trip to the airport returns 76 mpg!
- that's about 63 mpg (US), 3.7 l/100km.
Anyone can achieve a great mileage over a short distance

• I could, for example, go to the top of a hill near here, reset the fuel computer, then drive down the hill and claim great gas mileage!!
• but I will not!

What really matters is what gas mileage you get for a "real journey", and for a round trip, so that headwind/tailwind uphill/downhill effects do not skew the result.

My automobile computer readout after the airport run 

The trip was far from optimum for hypermiling, but I did what I could.

Top tips for improving your gas mileage

These are all based on "official" tips from the US Department of Energy

Fuel consumption and speed - some solid data

It is easy to say that fuel usage increases with speed, and that wind drag is the major increasing factor.
But just how great is the effect?
Is it the same for all vehicles?
Does driving slower always save fuel?

Lets look at some hard data: page 29 in  Chapter 4 of Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 30 - 2011, published by the The Center for Transportation Analysis at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory gives some figures for a variety of vehicles sold in the USA. Most of the vehicles reach their best economy at either 50 or 55 mph, with some of the physically larger cars better at lower speeds than that, and just one (the Toyota Celica - a reasonably aerodynamic sports coupe) being most efficient at 60 mph.

If that link is unavailable, then try here, which is a summary of the various data from the same source.
Just pick out the data list you think is the most relevant for you needs.
They all point to pretty much the same conclusions, whichever you pick.

Some important conclusions can be drawn, whatever type of automobile you drive, and whichever data source you choose:

Hypermiling - an introduction

Hypermiling.
You may have heard the term.
So just what is it?

"Hypermiling" has a couple of different meanings.

It can be either:

1. Driving to achieve the best possible fuel efficiency from a fuel powered vehicle,
   OR
2. Driving so as to exceed the "official" fuel mileage for the vehicle.

From a "green" perspective, the second meaning is the most practical.
We can't all afford to buy a new "super economy" motor vehicle every few years, so getting the most from what we already have is important.

Whatever motor vehicle you have, it will have a "official" fuel consumption. Although the test standards vary a little from country to country, the difference is not that specific. Remember, you are trying to beat the "official" figures for YOUR car in your country, not for other cars or other countries.

"Dream machines" and "daily drivers" - what's the best bike?

As part of a move away from expensive (bad for the wallet), imported (bad for the national balance of trades - the "national wallet"), polluting (bad for the environment, and the air we ourselves have to breathe) forms of transport, folk tend to think about getting a bicycle.

So, the obvious question is: what bike is the "best"?

Answer: Depends what you want to do with it!

It is easy to flick through web pages of exotic, expensive cycles, and form the impression that the more one pays

How investing in cycle lanes really pays off!

As brought to my attention by the "Biking in Heels" blog, some folks with an interesting world view (that is the most polite way I can think of to put it!) seem to think that encouraging cycling is a BAD THING.

Boris Bikes, a look at a cycle hire scheme in a very large city

It is easy to list this problem or that problem with the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme (aka Boris Bikes).
In summary, the main issues appear to be:

• expensive to set up and operate
• limited scope of the scheme - there are only docking points in a fairly central area of London, and a few inner surrounding districts, and the hire charges make it prohibitively expensive to do much more than cycle from one docking station to another.
• issues about bikes to hire being in the right places
• issues about docks to park bikes being full
• not aimed at the under 14s, and thus making the scheme unattractive to families with children under that age who might travel to London for a day out (like our family, for example!)

However, the scheme also has many good points:

Utilitaires - thinking about living with less or no car use

Utilitaires.
Bet you've never heard of them.

Mostly in the USA, amongst (from what I can make out) mostly women, "utilitaires" have a modest but dedicated following.
Think of them as "utility cycling".
You get a list of jobs, and try and do them using a bike.
Then you mark them off on the list, with details, when you have done them.
Think of a Utilitaire as an idea to try to encourage folks to find out what they can achieve on a bike, rather than just a ticklist of pointless exercises :-)
A typical Utilitaire list looks

Multi-modal transport in Oxford

Today, my wife and I went multi-modal in Oxford, city of dreaming spires.

Kona's new utility bike - the MinUte

Kona have released a new utility bike.

You may already be familiar with the Kona Ute (look here if you are not), and now there is another utility bike from Kona, too!