A few weeks ago I came up with a conspiracy theory about Dublin 4
that Google Maps is avoiding me walking up a certain road,
possibly because some fancy tech bros or sisters live there
and don't want me walking up their nice road with their nice houses.
Very clear from this Google Maps image
that the Park Avenue route looks quicker as the crow flies,
and yet it will not suggest that route for me.
So I'm gonna test the theory.
23 minutes is the estimated time.
Let's see if we can beat this.
So I headed off up the Forbidden Park Avenue road
instead of the route Google Maps wanted me to take.
And in order for my science to be 100% accurate,
I of course
checked the pace that Google Maps expects the average person to walk.
I then counted how many steps it takes in order to walk at such a pace.
And I then looked up a playlist on Spotify
which had the exact BPM of the number of steps I needed to make
per minute. With Dua Lipa in my ears,
I was able to take stock of everything that Park Avenue had to offer.
A lot of electric gates, a lot of big gas.
And as I walked, it was becoming clear to me
I wasn't just gonna beat the 23 minute estimation, I was gonna smash it.
I've arrived 10 minutes faster!
10 minutes faster than the alternative route.
If that's not proof of the theory,
That there's a tech bro or sister living on Park Avenue,
blocking people from walking up that road.
For a shorter walking route.
Then I don't know what is.
We have cracked this case wide open. Where to next?