The difference between you and I is that you get deadlines and I write headlines... er...
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/public-transport-better-on-your-bike/2008/07/31/1217097434118.html
WHAT does it say about Sydney that a 60-year-old journalist - on foot - is only just beaten to the city from Ryde by an express train and a limited-stops bus?
It says the following: The Sydney Morning Herald, the usual bastian of news reporting in this fair city that's built around a harbour has taken to stealing content ideas from BBC's Top Gear.
John Huxley, the Herald's associate editor, charged in to the CBD during Monday morning's peak hour in 80 minutes - almost the same time as thousands of commuters - using nothing but a pair of running shoes.
He'd need to run. I figure that the average running speed is about 6mph. Since the distance from Ryde to the city is 11.4 miles according to Google Maps, in 80 minutes he moves at roughly 8.55mph. For a 60 year old that's really moving.
It was the most revealing moment in the Herald's inaugural Great Commuter Race. Six reporters, six modes of transport, one destination. We wanted to find the fastest way from the leafy street in the North Shore electorate of Ryde where the Transport Minister, John Watkins, lives, to Parliament House on Macquarie Street. This is, after all, where he has to commute to each day if he is going to fix the mess that is Sydney's transport system.
We tried to make the race as realistic as possible by including in our calculations the time it took to walk to bus stops and alight from trains. And some of the results were surprising.
We had a team each on a train (there is no "Ryde" train station) and a bus, we had a motorist, a scooter-rider, and we had two of our more athletic staff under their own steam - a cyclist and, of course, "Hux", a marathon veteran.
The Hux? Some say that he expresses his feelings through his helmet... All we know is, he doesn't look happy taking public transport. Otherwise he's known as The Stig.
Ok, maybe that's enough bashing of the SMH... even the SMH admits when they've stolen something:
And the Transport Minister's verdict? "Your Top Gear-style transport challenge clearly shows the diverse travel options Sydney residents use to get to work every day."
My verdict? Watch out next week when the SMH drives across Africa, checks out Ford's new RS Focus, it puts celebrity Alexander Downer around it's track and let's The Stig loose in an Audi R10LMP... and on that bombshell, Goodnight!
May in a Mercedes GLK raced Hammond on a bicycle, The Stig using public transport and Clarkson by boat from Kew to London City. The Stig started on a bus, got on the Tube before taking the DLR. Series Ten, Episode Five
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