I doubt it. Pushing water out of the way is never very efficient. A sailboat appears to be efficient because it is harvesting wind power and not counting that.
A bicycle is also harvesting the construction of the road and not counting that. Sail might still be less efficient in the amortized average, though.
A bicycle does not harvest energy from the road.
I think they are saying the bicycle needs a hard, smooth road and that takes a lot of energy to produce.
If a special single-use road was required, then maybe they would have a point.
You would be surprised. I was always astounded by how easy it was to push my friends’ sailboat by hand. With them and their gear on board that boat was around three metric tons.
Power to overcome drag increases at a cube. If you were pushing it a half knot, 10 knots would require 8,000 times the power.
There's no breakout friction with a boat. This means you can move enormous weight with just steady pressure. It doesn't really have anything to do with efficiency.
It depends on the task. What’s the most energy efficient way of getting 20 tons of material from Chicago to L.A.? Is it a peloton with panniers?
Reminds me of Alan Watts - the way is to go with the flow. Instead of building a motor, hoist a sail. Instead of sending a rocket, build a telescope. Etc.
Does require you to limit your goals: what if you want to see the far side of the moon? (Substitute goal: listen to "Dark Side of the Moon")