Bow before me, mere mortals
 

For I am officially the 2011 Commuting Champion of Bedford.

This morning I beat a cyclist, bus and car to attend a fictitious meeting on the other side of town. All contestants set off at the same time from the same place and had to adhere to the Highway Code as they made their way across town, to park in a designated parking bay and then present themselves at the finish line dressed for a business meeting.

I arrived at the finish first but as I was getting out of my textiles and stowing them on the bike the cyclist (who was a champion cycle racer from what I am told) arrived but didn't park up properly and then wasn't deemed dressed for the meeting as he was wearing jeans and trainers (with jeans still tucked into socks and helmet on head) and was also carrying all his kit in hand, whereas all mine was in my topbox and panniers. I was there in a full business suit, shirt and tie with polished shoes and the finishing judge said I was actually smarter dressed than those who'd travelled by car and bus.

Strike one up for the motorcyclists, for we are kings of the town commute.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Excellent work - do you have any more details on the challenge?

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Sounds like this requires another certificate....

Well Done! ;)

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

It's a challenge run by our local council to promote alternative methods of commuting into town and to discover what holds people up as they travel. The bus passenger complained of long queues to get a ticket, so they will look at something like Oyster cards to save time, the cyclist had a clear run but we think he may have cheated by speeding and riding on pathways but his helmet cam mysteriously packed up right at the start, the car driver actually had a clear run in and so did I. We all had cameras filming us as we travelled, so I had to ride within the law and Highway Code. I'd have absolutely killed it if I'd been able to go at my own pace.

There will be a write up in the next issue of Bedfordshire Biker magazine which I'll get scanned in or emailed across.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

:D Thanks.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Well done you, I am sure that you looked a proper dapper Gent. Hugs

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Bedford? That's a small village in Luton isn't it? How long was the race 10 mins? ;-)

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

15 actually :-)

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Well done fella....you've contributed something useful to society.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

I'm pleased to have it made plain - but was this ever in doubt?

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

It was bloody close, but I'm sure the cyclist was speeding and used walkways/pavement to get to the finish line in that time. Over 4 miles he was only about a minute behind me and I'd been moving down the outside of traffic for virtually the whole route at 30mph. I'd last spotted him in my mirrors half a mile from the start and he was way behind me by then. Shame his helmet cam packed up just after the start cos I'd be interested to see how he managed it, whereas my speedo never rose above 32mph.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Every time that classic Top Gear "race" comes on Dave where the three of them and the Stig cross London in the same sort of test I moan on about Hamster using a bicycle instead of a powered two wheeler. They obviously wanted it to be a bit closer than the whitewash it would have been (and yes, I know they're all rigged).

Kudos Lozzo.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

And in a not so shocking twist it appears the win has been given to the bloody cyclist, because he arrived at the finish line first while I was still stowing kit in the boxes about 30 yards away in a bike parking bay. The fact he wasn't dressed for a 'meeting' has been overlooked (jeans tucked into socks and wearing trainers), but I should have realised it would be biased his way when I saw the challenge was being arranged by the local council's Cycling Development Officer.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Apparently cyclists don't have to obey speed limits only powered vehicles!

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Ha.

Well done for winning

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Official Council response:

1st Bicycle (Graham) 10 mins 46 sec

2nd Motorcycle (Laurie) 11 mins 26 sec

3rd Car (Nigel) 14 mins 45 sec

4th Bus (Tom) 27 mins 38 sec


"Hi Laurie,

Thank you for registering your concerns over the official result. I can understand the comments you have raised however as Graham was wearing a shirt/tie, plain trousers and closed plain shoes this did meet the criteria of being “dressed appropriately for a standard meeting”. The effort you went to of being suited and booted is greatly appreciated and I do accept that this aspect of the competition will need to be more clearly defined for next year.

I feel it is worthwhile mentioning that although Mark was not riding as an official competitor he did achieve a faster time (9 mins 54 secs) this therefore indicates that should you forgo the clothing aspect of the challenge it is possible to commute along this route in a quicker time by motorcycle compared to that of a bicycle.

Kind regards,"


So I was 2nd by 45 seconds, but it took me a good 92 seconds to change and pack kit in the boxes.

Worth mentioning that Mark is a friend of mine who was riding his KTM 990 Superduke in jeans, boots and leather jacket. He arrived at the bike park at exactly the same time as me but didn't need to change or stow kit away.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

So in other words, you got screwed by biast judges....

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Yep. The event was run by the Cycling Development Officer. I should have known I was never going to win when I found that out.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Shame it wasn't raining, that would have evened it up a bit.