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OPINION

Six seconds

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by SamShaw
Thu, Oct 02, 2014 17:02
11
Six secondsSix seconds
That crucial overtake, what's it actually worth?

One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six...

Six seconds. It doesn't sound like a lot, does it. What can you do in six seconds? Time is up by the time you've thought about it.

Cycling along through the suburbs, I can hear the engine behind me, it's been dropped a gear, it's a diesel, it's not the kind of engine that likes high revs. It's 7.42am, riding my usual extended route to work.  I have a look behind me, it's a white Ford Transit pickup, the engine's still being squeezed.

A left-right through a mini-roundabout and T-junction, I'm quicker through these; a road bike on skinny tyres is alway going to be quicker.  The din from the van momentarily disappears.  Out of the right turn and in a few seconds the van is back on my wheel, there's not much of a draft benefit for him, but he's there.  The revs increase again and start to get closer, there's a car coming the opposite way, the noise drops back again. 

I have another look.

The strained sound from the engine disappears again as the driver puts it up a gear.  No sooner has he done it, but the car coming the opposite way has passed and the 90bhp diesel is once again complaining as it gets shoved back down the box.  This time the noise in my right ear gets louder, the van passes, he's given me plenty of room, it's a wide road, no other traffic.

I begin counting.

One... Two... Three...

The van starts indicating. 

Four... Five... Six...

I pass the point on the road where it turned off into a housing estate.

Six seconds.

Have you figured out what you can do in six seconds yet?  I'm still struggling to find anything worthwhile.

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11 comments

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workhard | 10 years ago
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"must get past, must get past, MUST GET PAST."

It seems to be mantra of the 21st C.

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Leviathan | 10 years ago
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I can do the Rubik's Magic in 2.5 seconds and then undo it again.

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andyp | 10 years ago
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Six seconds is plenty in the sack. Including chit-chat.

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MaxP replied to andyp | 10 years ago
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andyp wrote:

Six seconds is plenty in the sack. Including chit-chat.

You must have very long chats 3

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WolfieSmith | 10 years ago
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I dislike it at the supermarket till when the checkout person says 'Sorry for your wait'. It's a queue! Am I meant to feel that praise is due for having the restraint to not beat up the old lady ahead of me who couldn't find her loyalty card within 3 seconds? Meanwhile the person behind me is edging forward on my elbow to crowd the bagging area as soon as I pull my card out of the machine... 37

Is it any wonder people are happy to risk our lives on the road to get to the garden centre 5 seconds earlier?

I blame Top Gear of course....

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don simon fbpe | 10 years ago
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Pfft! 6 seconds you say? The ladies don't call me Linford 'lunchbox' Christie for nothing..
As Crikey says, it's not a car vs bike thing, it's a selfish twunt vs everyone else thing, be it pushing a shopping cart around the supermarket or driving an articulated wagon. I even had the pleasure of driving behind a total prick in BMW this very evening. I'm really staring struggle to identify which group, sub group or niche I should stereotype.

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sm | 10 years ago
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Nice line:
in a few seconds the van is back on my wheel, there's not much of a draft benefit for him, but he's there.

To be fair, many cyclists, myself included are of a similar mentality. Step off the road and onto the tube, you see the same. In the shops. The queue at the bus stop. Everywhere, we're rushing, competing. Idiots by nature.

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arfa | 10 years ago
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My pet hate is those who insist on overtaking you to get to a junction/roundabout/traffic lights first... so unnecessary

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themartincox | 10 years ago
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feel spectacularly unfulfilled....

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notfastenough | 10 years ago
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Very true Sam.

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crikey | 10 years ago
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It's not so much a 'cycling' thing, but rather just a thing.

People do it when I'm driving too, that dodgy undertake using the bus lane, that overtake leading up to the traffic lights. It doesn't seem to occur to people that urban driving is limited by so many traffic calming measures; junctions, roundabouts, traffic lights, buses, other traffic, that any time 'gained' is soon lost in the overall melange of travel by road.

Clichéd but so true; if you want to be there sooner, you really should set off earlier...

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