Your Twitter Coverage of Today’s Wolfpack v Jet Blue v Metro Race from Burbank to Long Beach

Saturday, July 16, 2011 9 Comments

Your Twitter Coverage of Today’s Wolfpack v Jet Blue v Metro Race from Burbank to Long Beach

by Damien Newton

Tattercoat

Don’t forget this one! https://foursquare.com/johncarlmartin/checkin/4e21e6f91495f18f03537d93?s=4jxRMyukiz0fKLohmeejP186Isk&ref=tw
http://la.streetsblog.org Damien Newton

It’s there, but for some reason the picture didn’t come up, but the link is there!
Anonymous

This race was more interesting than today’s stage of the Tour de France.
jon

Dont gloat too much, a bunch of Lance Armstrong Tour de France wannabes is a different category than normal commuter/errand bike riding for your average citizen. The point is both a jetliner and a bicycle is a poor everyday travel mode for a 40 mile Burbank to Long Beach commute, that is where rail is needed. Bikes are the best for under 10 miles. Planes are the best for over 400 miles.
Amanda Lipsey

So Damien, those of us who lost your bet? Where do we pay up?
Amanda Lipsey

They are not Lance Armstrong Tour de France wannabes, and the trip from LA to Long Beach is quite manageable by bike by your average commuter. Bikes do quite well over 10 miles. In fact, bikes do quite well over 400 or even 4000 miles. The point is not that one is better over the other, but that many transit options are better than the monopoly we give to the auto industry and the single occupant car. The POINT is that carmageddon is only real if you are chained to your car, as most Angelenos are, unfortunately. Not everyone has to make a 40 mile ride, but this shows that bikes can be just as competitive a transit option (as is Metro) to the single occupant car. By the way, downtown LA and Santa Monica are only 12 miles from each other. By your estimation, no one who lives inside LA proper should drive a car, and that sounds just about right. Unless you’re leaving the city limits, you don’t need one. Metro can connect you a bit farther, and your bike can take you up to a 10 mile radius.
Anonymous

I agree with Amanda. The Tour de France guys are riding 100+ miles every day, up and down steep mountains, at speeds higher than this. This “Wolfpack” is essentially a group of friends riding on a bike path. The existence of the off-street bike path does make a big difference, though. If they had to ride on city streets (with driveways, cross traffic, etc), their average speed would doubtlessly be much slower, making even shorter commutes impractical. Bike paths are so cheap compared to other forms of transportation that cities really should be building more of them. Did the city really pay $1 BILLION just to add one extra lane to a 10 mile freeway? Portland reportedly spent only $50 million to create the best city-wide bike path network in the USA.
Anonymous

Did the people flying actually get to the airport more than an hour before the flight left? That’s not smart, though it gives a huge advantage to everyone else.

John
http://www.bicycledefender.com Bicycle Defender

This is so great, I do this daily against the bus but never thought about racing planes. Brilliant. Thanks wolfpack!