THE Bicycle and 'Cycling Thread (merged)

MonteQuest · Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:47 pm Post subject:

I live in the "other" mountain bike mecca of the USA. Moab, UT is first. You can ride anywhere and avoid all the roads. I have a 2001 Mazda with only 26,000 miles on it.

http://www.n2oa.com/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=27
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mindfarkk · Heavy Crude Joined: Dec 07, 2004 Posts: 481

riding a bicycle anywhere in my area is pretty much a daily game of russian roulette. no bike lanes, extremely heavy car congestion, very aggressive drivers, huge overloaded complicated intersections where people are merging left and right across six lanes in a few hundred feet of road. a classic case of either being very quick or very dead. there are other considerations, such as time, but that's a big one.

i do ride a 50cc scooter full time. it is a 2-stroke and pollutes like mad - that's the bad news. the good news is i only use about a gallon of gas a week, compared to 6 or 8. in about 6 weeks i'll have a 500ccish motorcycle. i will still be using about a gallon of gas a week, but i will cut my emissions quite a bit from either car or 2-stroke scoot.

NeoPeasant · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 7:06 pm Post subject:

I ride or walk to work in the hopes that the twenty-somethings at my job will feel like a bunch of pussies when they see a 40+ geezer showing up every day from miles away for years using his own leg power, and be motivated to try it themselves. When the price of fuel for the super-duty crew cab 5th wheel trailer towing vehicle they use to commute with starts to bankrupt them, I will serve as an example of a workable alternative.

If I should be killed by a car while I'm on foot or on my bike, I hope some activist lawyer performs a very public crucifixion of the guilty motorist to serve as a lesson to others.

gwmss15 · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 3:16 am Post subject:

NONE

i walk to station and get on a train if i need to go out

or some times i use a tram at the end of my street

all run of electristy that is powered by coal which mined using electic power not oil as i would hav expected i went to the mine and see how it was done all automated.

so my transport should still be running in 100 years time as it has been for the last 150 years

bentstrider · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 11:33 pm Post subject:

I drive my Bronco II a total of 40 miles each week, and ride/walk a total of 60-80 miles each week.
I do security at local mobile home park and thats where I get 90% of the walking/riding done.
I mean, why ride or walk to work when thats pretty much what you do at work.
Now if my post was just a sit-down, "watch-a-small-perimeter" type of a place, then I would have no problem riding the 8 mile round trip to work.
Another horrible thing about riding in this area I live is that "no road" seems to be "car-free".
Every side street I try to go down, a vehicle always seems to sense my presense. Not to mention this area is also split in three by the I-15, the BNSF railroad, and the Mojave River. The only way to get across them is by heavily congested bridges.
You could bypass the bridge by walking the dry Mojave, but might end up sinking in the sand.
You will get hit by these wannabe NASCAR drivers on 15, and as for the train tracks, them BNSF railroad cops could be real assholes.
So, if you want to ride a bike in the desert, better have some shoulder-fired missiles and roadside bombs available, thats the only way to NOT become roadkill.

Repent · Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:42 am Post subject:

Biking is not a practical alternative in some climates. I live in Winnipeg Canada- the day time high today is -25 degrees celcius and we have 5 feet of snow on the ground. The summer's here are frought with mosquitoes and heavy rains.

You must admit there are some places on Earth where alternate transportation is not viable.

uNkNowN ElEmEnt · Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:45 am Post subject:

I'd like to clairify, I don't ride my bike because I walk everywhere. I only use the car when I have to take the computer into the shop or really heavy load of groceries or going to the doctor.

eastbay · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:08 pm Post subject:

I'm thinking of getting a bike for urban use only. I could use it for short errands rather than the Civic. As with most things, heading out for the lowest price is foolish so the under $200 China-made ones are out. I've not ridden a bike in decades so I'm really out of the loop here. A new style (new to me anyhow) is out I like called a hybrid, with somewhat wider tires than road bikes, but fat like a dirt bike.

Anyone have any ideas. I like the TREK 7300 FX model priced at $380.00 as a nice starter bike.

Any input will be appreciated.

EastBay

mgibbons19 · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Aug 20, 2004 Posts: 1089

I ride. We also own a car. It works.

But partly because we made it work. One can commute from 5 or more miles, but those are car scales and it might not be that enjoyable. I live only .5 miles from work. My wife drives the 2 miles to her work. City planning has as much to do with what is workable and efficient as anything else. The bike is a workable bridge, especially to avoid car use, but the cities really need to redensify. The exact same problem comes with mass transit. You could conceivably ride the bus from oen suburb to another, but most people won't. OTOH, when communities are built around mass transit or cycling, one would expect it to be convenient and pleasant

Transportation solutions have to be realistic enough that regular people want to use them - not just morally committed peakoilers. And in order for these solutions to be realistic, they need to be realistically built into the cities and suburbs. Which brings me to a point I made elsewhere. Urban planning matters a lot here.

Gary · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:35 pm Post subject: Riding a Cargo Trike

I am new here -- first post. Here goes.

A few years ago my family and I went carfree in minneapolis, MN.

Not an easy thing -- our public transportation is pretty bad here.

I started my own business, riding cargo trikes and pedicabs (I've got three now) to be a "sustainable household helper" in homes within a few miles of my home. I do all sorts of work -- handyperson work, housecleaning without nasty chemicals, and such -- from my trikes. I can haul up to four or five hundred pounds with my rigs, but rarely need to haul more than one or two hundred pounds of equipment. There are plenty of hills in Minneapolis, but gearing makes hauling stuff do-able.

Winter can get a bit dicey, but using trikes gives me stability on ice.

I am astounded by the number of people who seem aware of the feo-political, environmental, and ecological crashes our oil-dependancy are forcing us into, but who refuse to do anything about it in terms of the way they live.

We need very rapid, very radical change. My wife recently got a hybrid car for her work, but we use it sparingly. If we are able to do without it again, we will. Meanwhile, we use the car at need but I still rely on my trikes for my work and for most personal errands.

I look for the day when mass transportation helps to liberate us more from oil addiction, but fear it will come too late.

Now i am trying to work out the next steps. Do we stay in minneapolis and try to find/form an urban tribe to deal with the "powerdown" or power crash, or do we try to find/form a tribe of folks to create a lifeboat away from the energy sinkhole of the city?

Relying on a bike -- or on tricycles in my case -- seems like a huge first step. Versions of my trikes can be seen at www.organicengines.com. I ride an SUV (Sensible Utility Vehicle) cargo trike and an SUV Pedicab with trailer. I also have a pedicab from Lightfoot Cycles ( www.lightfootcycles.com ) that I use a bit less.

I recommend that folks crate small bike-based businesses as way way out of the oil addiction quagmire.

Any thoughts?

-- Gary Hoover -- Minneapolis, MN, USA

Xelat · Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 6:32 pm Post subject:

eastbay · Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 7:19 pm Post subject:

Xelat,

Thanks for the tip. Others have suggestd the same thing too but too late. Bought it today. $380 for the TREK 7300 FX. I'm new at this and it seemed to suit me nicely. I test rode it today and I liked it.

Where I live it's warm enuf almost all the time. The streets around here are wider and newer than in most cities. Plus, the store is family owned and local. We got our daughters bike there as well as a few scooters too over the past few years. They threw in a free 60 day service and free minor adjustments for life. To me the peace of mind and reduced hassles are worth mucho.

I can't wait to ride it. It's raining.

EastBay

mgibbons19 · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Aug 20, 2004 Posts: 1089

Congratulations. That's not a bad bike at all. You'll enjoy it. The adjustable stem will let you decide how high or low you want to be nicely, and the 35m tires are perfect for city riding. Pump em up to their max and you'll rock. If you want to go faster, when the time comes, go a little skinnier on the tires and drop the stem. Comfort, stem up and fatter tires. I ran a set of 35s on a commuter-fixie I built for a while. I loved the 1910 look it gave the bike, and I used the bike to keep up with the club roadies. I have since moved to a 28 on the front. I use that fixie for all errands, except those involving family. Ride to work, ride to the pet store out in the china-mart burbs, ride to the liquor store. Just keep it up and you'll do great.

Rock on! And again, congratulations on the new bike. Not much cooler than a new bike. Fresh rubber, smooth glossy paint, mechanisms all working perfectly.

Very Happy

Xelat · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:47 pm Post subject:

I'll echo gibbons . . . that's sweet getting a new bike and all. Unsolicited safety advice - keep it under control while your skills return, and if you make any changes on the machine keep it under control for a while till you adapt to the new feel. I nearly bought it twice recently because I was not well adjusted to my ride.

Ack - El Nino in full effect - I need some fenders.

To respond to Repent - certainly there are conditions in which most people just will not be able to ride making biking an unrealistic alternative mode of transportation. Those winter Winnipeg conditions certainly qualify. However a little warmer and it becomes more feasible. I was recently visiting in the midwest and not once did the temp break freezing and there was unplowed snow on everyones sidewalks. And yet on many of my daily runs I saw multiple cyclists out moving slowly along on mountain bikes. I certainly don't think mosquitoes and heavy rains are any excuse - maintain a speed higher than 5 mph and you'll be safe from skeeters.

After growing up in Michigan I've come to the conclusion that it's not really a place humans should be in large quantities unless they have a damn good reason. It is really difficult to have a low energy lifestyle in that context. I'd say that even more strongly for Canada. It will be interesting to see what happens with heating issues there. Maybe global warming can keep up with the decline in available energy for heating.

mgibbons19 · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Aug 20, 2004 Posts: 1089

And I'll echo Xelat in return. I've often thought the same thing. I have commuted in the winter in the midwest for many years. It sucks. You can almost tell the temp by how gunny your freehub is. <20F and the chain slacks. <10 and the chain slacks annoyingly. <0 and you might as well be riding a fixie.

But, Minnesota, Michigan, hell even Winnipeg reinforce the urban planning aspect of all this. Without a decent truck, those folks need to live close enough to one another that they're not spending heaps of time travelling exposed. Or you stay home. Regualar suburban living in Minneapolis would be quite uncomfortable without a decent sport ute, and Winnipeg may be completely impossible.

On a side note, I visited that town named after a hill north of Winnipeg once in February. Brutal cold.