Cyclist wins race. W. Ankers.

[Bluepete]

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/transport/s/1581671_car-bicycle-tram-or-bus-who-won-the-great-public-transport-race


Seriously? His parents called him Wayne?

Poor lad.

Pete ;)

[Shawthing]

Pitty they didn't think to include a motorcycle in this 'Race' .
Oh yes I know why, because they knew it would win!

Didnt Lozzo do one of these, beating the other transport modes hands down?

[daveangel]

There was a :laughat:W. Ankers that worked at my place too . .

With the number of threads about kamikaze cyclists on here it's only fitting he should ride the bike . . .

[Balky001]

bet he's a handful

This lad spells trouble too

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/AcademyProfiles/0,,10268~1333478,00.html

[Lozzo]

I did compete in one of these events through Bedford rush hour traffic and I did actually win it if the rules had been adhered to, but the result was given to the cyclist despite my appealing against their decision. I'd reached the finish line a mere 40 seconds after the cyclist who was still wearing his cycling helmet and trouser clips.

We were told to dress as for a meeting on arrival at the finish line, the cyclist turned up in trainers, cargo trousers and a lycra cycling top. I said to the organisers that he wasn't dressed for any business meeting I'd ever attended - I was wearing a two piece suit with tie and shiny shoes, having clambered out of bike gear and stashed it in the 3 boxes on my bike (which took a considerable amount of time). The cyclist claimed that's how he attended meetings when he went on site as a council surveyor, I said if he attended any meeting I was hosting he'd be told to bugger off and come back more appropriately dressed.

As the event was being organised by the local council's department that is tasked with encouraging more people to cycle to work it was inevitable that the result was going to go their way. I later found out that the cyclist was a seasoned cycle racer who'd used a £5000 cycle for the event and was seen by a colleague of mine using the pedestrian pavement for a fair chunk of the journey - funnily enough his helmet camera (we were all wearing them) packed up just after we left the start line, how very convenient.

I realised that no-one but the cyclist was going to win when the head of the council department started making noises about calculating the cost to the environment of powered transport used for the event as opposed to the cyclist. I made my views about how fixed the event was well known to all who attended, using some very colourful language and told them I'll be encouraging any possible future contestants to forget it as the result is fixed in the cyclist's favour no matter what the outcome. I also asked if the cyclist attended site visits using his cycle then wouldn't it be fairer if the event was held over a greater distance, like say Bedford to Sandy, a distance of about 9 miles, as not all the council's sites are within 3 miles of the council offices, naturally they had a smart-ar5ed answer along the lines of "it wouldn't be fair on the other contestants to have to spend so long on this one challenge" - utter crap!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make public the fact that the cyclist appeared at the start line using a clapped out Rover 75 diesel car with his bike strapped to the bootlid carrier - what a real eco-warrior that man is.

Link to the council write up http://www.bedford.gov.uk/transport_and_streets/transport_policy/sustainable_transport.aspx