h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm a cyclist! Unfortunately not a very fast one or a very fit one. I have ridden since I was a boy. Last few years have seen a decline in the miles and an increase in the inches.



Red-coat

I'm a cyclist!

Whee! You don't have to go far or fast, being up there and out there is the main thing! How many life-years are gained by cycling, as against lost in cycling accidents, overall?

Twenty times as many, according to Mayer Hillman.

Hi R,

I'm home for the weekend, then away again early Monday morn

I must say that is a very profound remark

Take care on that layed-back-bike-man

I do, I do! Have a good weekend; and happy Bloomsday today!

R'man,

'How many life-years are gained by cycling, as against lost in cycling accidents, overall?

Twenty times as many, according to Mayer Hillman.'

I've seen Mayer Hillman speak and he's really inspirational. Can you give me a reference for that quote? I've been asked to do an article promoting a BUG (bicycle user group) that I'm looking to establish where I work and that would be a useful quote to put in.

I didn't realize it was Father's Day!

I'm up and packed waiting for my lift to arrive then it's back to work for a few more weeks from home.

I don't like been away from my family but needs must when the Devil is in the driving seat, or shoud that be bike seat.

Safe journeys R-man.

ZSF --

He wrote a paper for the British Medical Association on "Cycling and Health" and you can google for that, but it is well reported here:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/traffic_safety/mayer.htm

"This brought us to the BMA report -Cycling and Health- which he had written. He had looked at alternative ways of promoting health and cycling came out very favourably; much better than swimming, for example, where there is only one swimming pool for every 46,000 people.He explained the concept of "life years" which he had used. This allowed him to make a comparison of the life years lost in road accidents against the life years gained through improved fitness.
He took each cycle death in 1989 and looked at the acturial evidence as to how long a person of a certain age could expect to live and multiplied that by the number of deaths in each age group in order to arrive at a figure of approximately 11,000 life years lost in cycle fatalities. To calculate life years gained he looked at some American evidence of the increased longevity of those who cycled regularly and this showed that people could expect to live two years longer. When this is multiplied by the numbers of those who cycle regularly, as revealed by the National Travel Survey, you arrive at the extraordinary ratio of 20:1. In other words, he says, for every life year lost through accidents, 20 years are gained through improved health and fitness."

Thank you for your help, R'man! Much appreciated.

Most welcome Z!

Looking at that quote, the second par should say he "looked at the *actuarial* evidence" (typo)

I do cycling. I have 2 bikes: a Puch Fireblade mountain bike which I keep in a cellar in the Austrian Lakes for use whenever I can get over there. My last ride on this elegant piece of machinery was, a couple of weeks ago, from Bad Ischl and around the Halstattersee Lake (or at least part of it -the trail was closed at Winkel for improvements, so I had to take the ferry across the bottom third of the lake - cost €2 plus €1.70c for bike). I don't cycle in Vienna where I live at the moment mainly because of the real danger of getting knocked off my an aggresive motorist or of getting my wheels stuck in a tramline). My solution to this is to use my Zimmerrad (or exercise bicycle whilst watching sport - preferably cycling - on television and to use the tram to get around town.
Many years ago with 3 friends we pioneered a route from the Severn Bridge to the Great Orme (i.e. Wales - south to north) staying nights in youth hostel accomodation. Now I believe you can even get a guide book and map with 90% of our original route in it.
A more recent ride was with a friend from Salzburg to Vienna along the Rivers Salzach,Inn and Danube using B&B accomodation. Unfortunately it rained quite a lot of the time. But still it was a memorable ride and we saw many interesting sights and met many cyclists along the way, especially on the Danube section.
Far more impressive are the activities of my young brother, for example (now just the right side of 60) he went up the Alpe d' Huez 3 times in 4 days, averaging about 69 mins for the ascent!

Why go up three times? Just to come down again?

I would like to join. I've been cycling for a few years now, and typically do 10km each way in and out of college on a weekday. This has made me the target the wrath of innumerable cagers.

I ride a British Eagle mountain bike, if you're interested. It's taken off several kilogrammes I regained after quitting rowing.

"why go up [....] just to come down again"

It was presumably R's idea of a good time on holiday. His beer consumption appears to be somehow directly related to his cycling performance. End result anyway, received by SMS and here I quote: "my lungs feel as if they have been scrubbed out from the inside".

I'm a cyclist!

Hey Rev Jack! Welcome here!

Likewise Apollyon! "Cagers" is nice. They get cross with us because we make them feel guilty; it is always the case (the people I really don't want to meet are people I have treated badly one way or another).

We recumbent riders have a name for upright model bikes: head-bangers. But that is pure teasing, we have no guilty conscience to inspire our venom.

coolio *squeek* so then what do we do here, I have only recently started to drive a bike and have worked up to 100 yards so far

Are you the same Rev. Jack that used to be on the Irish tele? What we/they do is bike. You can do it how you like. Watch you don't get saddle sore, wash your, ahem, sensitive parts after riding and keep your trolleys clean. That way you'll avoid nasty sores and spots. Good luck! ps - an energy drink is permitted ... within reason.

No, that was Father Jack! No resemblance whatever.

We don't do much on this thread. We register our bikiness and leave it at that. Maybe someone someday will count how many we are.

I think I spy a spokes man.

Rec, is there some place on here where h2g2 bikies chat about things velo: pun ctures, frame sizes, chain-rings, bicycle books, yellow jerseys, water bottles, camel bags and I don't know what else ....?

Or is it really just counting how many we are?