To go faster, cut the brakes...
I'm struck by how often I find myself braking to a stop when I'm riding my
bike in boston. It's actually a huge drag, since all the energy I put into
my bike is during acceleration. Once I get it up to speed, I only have to
put in enough energy to overcome losses due to friction, which are pretty low.
What this means is that if I can keep my bike going at a constant speed,
even if it's less than my max speed, I can get to where I'm going quicker and
using less energy. How do I do it? Read on...
The key here is to plan. I'm looking about half a block ahead, and planning
my route about 10 seconds at a time. If there's a red light ahead, stop
pedaling--there's no need to pumy bike if I might have to
take it out again in a few seconds by slowing down. The biggest 'technology,'
so to speak, is learning to use the sidewalk and street interchangeably. I
learned to jump my bike about 6 inches into the air, which is enough to
laterally go up and down most curbs. This way, I can move off the crowded
routes and onto the more open areas.
After a couple days of doing this, I decided to put a couple sensors onto my
bike and see how much more efficient this new, brake-less way of riding is.
Here's the chip I built to do this. I logged
the data for a week of braking riding and a week of brakeless riding.
Here's what I found out