Category Archives: Transport

Cycling is healthy

I have started cycling since Jan, 2012. I have ridden over 1500km so far ever since I started cycling. Friends who haven’t seen me for a few months said that I look thinner than before. My skin looks better and my face looks younger. Also, I found that my dummy fat has reduced a lot as well. At a point, I had to wear 32″ waist size jeans,and I am now back on 30″. My weight has also gone from 72kg down to 68kg now. I think the best proof is the blood presuress reading. My blood presuress always sat at a boader level which classified between a normal high and high (128/89 – 131/92). After 6 months of riding, my blood presuress has dropped to a ideal/normal level (114/74).

Want to get some health benifits from cycling? join our Causal Cycling Group on Facebook! Contact me for more details!

Ride a bike to work? Yeah I did that finally

According to this http://www.sydneymedia.com.au/html/5047-record-number-of-trips-on-sydneys-cycleways.asp, the number of people ride a bike to work is increasing!

I am one of them now. I found that riding to work is good in a few ways:
1. It saves me $$$ on gym membership. I am actually doing exercise on the way to work and on my way home.
2. It saves me $$$ on car space, petrol and toll.
3. Even I have a car space in North Sydney, It is 15 minutes walking distance away from the office. Riding a bike to work, I can park in the basement and get to the office by a lift. No walking distance!

With more and more cycleways built in Sydney, I am sure more and more people will ride to work. I think I am lucky that where I work provide shower facilities.

Registered the first fundraising event

I was searching for cycling event online and I came across a fundraising event – Ride to Riverstone 2012. This is a fundraising event for Childhood Cancer Research Foundation.

I have just registered and I will be doing the 80km ride. Please support the event by donate some money or register as a volunteer on the date. This will be my first cycling fundraising event.

More information can be found Ride to Riverstone

Please contact me if you wish to donate to support my ride.

Cycling in Sydney

Just before I picked up cycling again, I think I haven’t been cycling for over 12 years ever since I have moved to Sydney.

I remembered when I was going to High School in Hong Kong, I used to go cycling nearly every weekend with my classmates. A group of 4 rent a bicycle at Tai Wai and then headed north to Sha Tin and sometimes even Fan Ling.

Back in those days, we did that for fun. It is not for training or excerise, just a day out have fun with mates. Hong Kong off road cycleways were well established already back in that time, it was safe and no need to worry too much about cars.

I have never riden on a bicycle ever since I have arrived Sydney. Reasons are :
1. I don’t have a bike and I don’t know where to rent one.
2. I didn’t realise there are off road bike path around.

So ended up I didn’t have a chance to get back into cycling. Until recently, a friend who moved into Ermington started cycling nearly every weekends. I was interested on cycling, so I asked him where is safe to ride, and he told me there is cycleway around right next to Parramatta River and Sydney Olypmic Park. The cycleway is just right next to his home!

After knowing this, I went to buy my 1st bike in Australia and it was a Cannondale Quick 3 flat bar hybrid bike. I went with him do a few Laps in the cycleway (mixed with a short section of quiet street). And now I am addicted into cycling and I have upgrade my bike to a dropped bar roadie.

Found a cool Bike Rack for CT200H

I have been looking for a bike rack for my car (Lexus CT200h). Unfortunately, there is not a factory option for bike rack in Australia. So I have too look for other options.

A friend of mine have installed a roof rack on a CT200h, he can put his bike on top of CT200h. but loading the bike up on the roof of the car is not something I want to do.

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Some small change to my Blog

I have renamed the category “Automative” to “Transport”. The reason I am doing this is because I don’t have much to write about “Automative” but I will be writing more stuff about cycling…

Considered opening a new category, but I rather to put them under the same group transport. A car is to take me frm A to B, a bicycle is just the same (with no pollution at all).

Real Life Fuel Consumption on Lexus CT200h

Before I get the CT200h, I have already done some research on the web about the fuel consumption. According to the owners in Australia, they are getting 5.2 – 5.5 L/100km. I also get some information from the overseas forums people in Taiwan and Hong Kong are able to achieve 4.1 – 4.5L/100km. There was an extreme case that someone in Taiwan filled up 44.75 Litre and drove for 1208km.

Now I have got my Lexus CT200h, it is time for me to find out the real fuel consumption. In Australia the official fuel consumption claim is 4.1L/100km. I have done 7000km since I had the car. I have driven that in all sort of situations. My experience of real world fuel consumption as follows:

Freeway drive (Hume Hwy from Sydney to Wagga Wagga) at 110km/h = 5.5L/100km

Metro Area Drive with speed limit at 70km/h – 4.2 – 4.7 L/100km

City Drive with always run out of battery and a lot of start/stop pattern 4.8 – 5.2L/100km

The above figure were my best achievement with Eco Mode and slow acceleration. I tried to minimize to put full throttle all the time and try to keep the car accelerate within the Eco section in the dash (you get blue light when you are within the Eco section).

My friend who drives the same car as me, his fuel consumption read 5.3L/100km. He accelerates normally and using normal mode without paying too much attention to save fuel. The Lexus CT200h can do over 800km a tank if you pay some attention during your acceleration, otherwise, the fuel consumption will be above 5L/100km.

Ever since I have my Lexus CT200h, the worst consumption record per tank was 4.9L/100km. The best consumption I have achieved per tank was 4.2L/100km.