Volt, Schmolt; Get a Bike Instead

it's a long road to hoe to get people to electric cars. bicycles? why don't we just move to china? i'm sure they prefer bicycling to driving. that must be why cars sales are going backward there.

 

Bicycles, shcmicycles. They require nasty aerosol chemicals to clean and lube their chains. Just walk.

 

In all seriousness, bicycles are becoming a more accepted form of transportation. Urban planners are realising that they're a quick and healthful way to get around with a low environmental impact. The funding dollars allocated to cycling infrastructure are still a miniscule portion of the overall transportation budget, but recent increases are significant, and some genuine progress is being made. Concepts such as 'complete streets' recognise that roads are for everyone. We all pay for them, so it's only fair we all get to use them.

 

Almost every major road in my home town, Adelaide has a bicycle lane. I'm guessing that the engineers who design these things don't ride bikes to commute though. Bike routes have too many road crossings and often the parking lanes along side the bike lanes are too narrow so the bike lane becomes a "open your door with gay abandon because the cars are a metre away" lane.

I was knocked from my bicycle twice in a few months back in my 20s. Both times I was riding along side a column of cars stopped in traffic and someone made a right* turn into a side street in front of me through the column of cars. Both times I saw it coming, both times I saw the hand gesture of the car driver stopped ahead of me inviting the other person to turn in front of me while I was travelling down the road at about 60km/h, but couldn't stop or turn in time. I still have knee pain from one of those incidents at 49 years old! Stick the bike where it fits for commuting. Well actually you can stick it where it wont fit and where the sun don't shine.

*remember, in Australia we drive on the left, so for you people who drive on the right picture this as a left turn.

 

Bicycles cause more fuel to be burned by cars! (saying this tongue in cheek).

Was following a bicycle down the road the other day (narrow European road) and I couldn't safely get past him due to cars coming the other way, so I sat behind him at 10 mph ready to blast the accelerator when the way was clear. Soon enough the way was clear and I blasted past him back upto 40 mph using more fuel in the process, which is what the car behind me did and the one behind him etc etc.

Now if the bicycle hadn't been there the cars would all have cruised along that road very efficiently at 40 mph using minimal fuel. So how much extra fuel is used by say 100 cars having to sit behind a cycle and then overtake it as opposed to just cruising along? Would it have been more environmentally friendly for the cyclist to drive to their destination considering the fuel used by everyone overtaking them?

 

And all those pedestrians! Pushing the buttons at crosswalks, making a whole line of cars wait just for them. How selfish can you get? Cities are built for cars, not people! :loco:

 

i have no problem with bicycles as long as they are registered, insured, pay excise tax and their riders have passed a licensing exam and have to obey the same rules of the road as cars.

 

And I have no problem with cars, as long as their owners are willing to pay the full costs of their use, instead of expecting subsidies from the general population and the environment.

 

Since 1972, I have ridden a bicycle to every place I have worked or gone to school. I did not do it every day although I now live so close to where I work I do bicycle almost every day.

In the late 70s, I bicycled from Paris to Warsaw and back and Paris to Athens and back. In the early 80s, my wife and I bicycled on a tandem from Chicago to Peoria and returned to Chicago by way of Wisconsin.

I love bicycling and need to do it more.

My other vehicle is a Prius.

 

I was hoping for better rider behavior than that. Unfortunately, many cyclists are fulfilling your wish by acting just as badly when pedaling as when driving.

 

And nobody has answered my question so I must have been right?

 

Naw - the correct response would be that everyone should have been riding bikes instead of cars. Then there would be no problem and lots of clean air for everyone.

 

Not a hope- have you seen the hills round here?


(The take up of bicycling in my town is very low and we are often compared again the local city of York where cycle use is very popular. Questions are asked why there is such a large difference of bicycle use between two cities only 20 miles apart and what can be done about it. Is it a lack of cycle lanes, is the traffic too heavy etc etc. I can tell them without a multi million pound survey - York is very very flat and my town has lots of steep hills. )

 

Hills? In England? I used to think Vancouver had hills, until I cycled to San Francisco. Even those became much shorter and not so steep, after cycling a few mountain passes. It's all relative. The more you do, the more you're able to do.

 

Bicycles are amazing contraptions. For two years now I've ridden more miles on my bike than I've driven my car. It's kind of a big deal for me, since before this public transportation and walking were the only non-automotive options I'd considered.

I've also cobbled together two restored Schwinns: A black 1965 5-speed Collegiate (the only year it came with French components), all original, even has the original cables! Also a 1962 American middleweight in black, with a rebuilt Bendix two-speed kick back hub and re-spoked wheels. For anyone who likes to collect vehicles, bikes are the best. No insurance, they don't need to be driven regularly if you don't want, don't take up much space, and old Schwinns in particular are lovely pieces of industrial artwork.

I ride everywhere, for work, errands, and recreation. Usually I don't even need a change of clothes, but that's always an option. It's not a solution for everyone, I know, but it's worth consideration.

 

In tht case, Prius Shmius

 

Original cables? Yikes! Historical accuracy is one thing, but if you're going to ride that classic, a few safety upgrades might be a good idea.

 

This thread is lame. Some people have work to get to, that's more than 10 miles away or requires use of the interstate. To look down upon those who don't use a bike is very presumptuous.

Some cyclists are so rude too. They think they own the road, bypassing stoplights using right turns. They don't wear helmets. One time in downtown San Francisco, I saw a cyclist cut off a stopped driver. As he turns he spits on the guy's car.

If people don't want to ride bikes, don't make 'em. We don't need more bitter cyclists.