There were actually four routes into the centre of town - two of which were designed to show-off the new park and ride services available at two distant points (one ten miles from the city centre). Surely here the buses would come victorious with their bus lanes providing a serene passage?

It seems not. In fact, on all four of the commuter routes into Edinburgh the bikes proved victorious (although the longest stretch was undertaken by a proper cyclist on a carbon Trek), and only once was the car bested by the bus.

At the finish line there was a general consensus that this was the expected result (little did they know about my hangover!) and coffee and pastries were gladly devoured while cyclists did what cyclists do - stood around chatting about bikes and their routes in.

I even managed to get a quick spin for the first ever time on a Brompton.

The only disappointment was the low-key nature of it all. This wasn't promoted anywhere near as much as it should and could have been, with the promised press and tv crews not materialising. A couple of cyclists stopped on their way past the finish to find out why there were all these people standing about with bikes and coffee, and one chap in particular accosted the city council leader Andrew Burns about Lothian buses policy not allowing folding bikes on board, which was fun.

But the honour of the bikes were upheld, and despite the press reporting being only the tiny council press release which was buried halfway through the local paper, a lively debate sprung up in the letters page - generally accusing the cycling competitors or running through every red light and riding on every pavement (probably while not even wearing a helmet) to gain any advantage they could.

Hand on heart, I did none of these things. And merely confirmed to myself what I already new.

The bike is quicker, cheaper and better for me.