If you’re as tired as a Frisbee-chasing dog over the weekends and you feel as if that bicycle you invested in is going to waste as it seldom gets ridden, why not usher in the New Year with a resolution to cycle more? Yes, time is often the reason why we can’t get a lot of things done, but if you perhaps change the way you get to work then you can effectively kill two birds with one stone.
Family-run cycling store Leisure Lakes Bikes set to find out how long it’d take to cycle to work in the major UK cities as an alternative to driving or commuting via public transport, bringing to light that choosing to cycle could perhaps make for a great lifestyle change.
In many instances, cycling over driving from the same starting point to its designated destination only adds a couple to a few minutes to the total time of the trip, such as a cycling trip from Cadbury World to Birmingham New Street Station only taking 6 minutes longer than it would by car (17 minutes by car and 23 minutes by bike).
Leeds
Route: Kirkstall Abbey to Leeds Station
Driving takes 18 minutes while cycling via the A65 takes 20 minutes.
Sheffield
Route: Meadowhall Centre to Sheffield Train Station
Driving takes 14 minutes while cycling via the A6109 takes 22 minutes.
Bradford
Route: Shipley town centre to Bradford Interchange
Public transport takes 13 minutes, driving 16 minutes and cycling 26 minutes via the A6307.
Liverpool
Route: Aintree Racecourse to Liverpool Lime Street Station
Cycling takes only nine minutes more than driving (21 minutes to drive) if you go via the A59.
Edinburgh
Route: Fort Kinnaird to Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station
27 minutes is all it takes to cycle via National Cycle Route 1, seven minutes more than it takes to drive.
Manchester
Route: Old Trafford football stadium to Manchester Piccadilly Station
Cycling will have you arriving at your destination two minutes earlier than you would commuting by public transport and nine minutes later than if you were driving. It’ll take 22 minutes to cycle via the A56 and B6469.
Bristol
Route: Woodspring Golf & Country Club to Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station
Cycling via the A38 will only add four minutes to the 18 minutes it would take by car.
Cardiff
Route: Radyr Golf Club to Cardiff Central Railway Station
You’d only be adding eight minutes travelling time by bike on the 20 minutes it takes to arrive by car and you’d use National Cycle Route 8.
Belfast
Route: Balmoral Golf Club to Belfast Central Station
Cycling adds only three minutes to the 15 minutes it would take to arrive and you’d be going via the A1 and National Cycle Route 9.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Route: Intu Metrocentre to Newcastle Central Station
The journey which takes 14 minutes by car will take you 29 minutes if you cycle via National Cycle Route 14.
London appears to be made for cyclists because you’d actually be shaving off six minutes from the time it’d take to drive from Royal London Hospital to King’s Cross Station if you chose to cycle. You’d arrive in 27 minutes via the A5201.
Hampden Park to Glasgow Central Station is also faster by bike (and public transport) than it would be by car and you’d have to go via Aikenhead Rd/A728.
