Volt, Schmolt; Get a Bike Instead

not sure if i did, but around here, it is extremely expensive to convert rail to bike paths and the ones that do get done are strictly for pleasure riding, horses, pedestrians and roller blading, skateboarding, etc. not carrying any significant number of people to a destination and back.

 

Bike lanes which are separate from car lanes and/or run along pedestrian walk ways work fairly well. I've experienced that kind of riding for years back in Germany and it worked quite well to keep me out of dangers way.
At the same time the dangers of getting right hooked at an intersection were still present.

Now from my own experience (trained and tested in Germany for a drivers license and trained? and tested? in Illinois for a drivers license, the differences are like night and day.
Any fool who is halfway blind and somewhat can drive a car can get a license in Illinois.
Not so in Germany, the driving test alone was over one hour long and I almost failed it, because I didn't look right and left when I was crossing train tracks.
Also the theoretical tests consisting of more than 60 questions in Germany puts a lot of stress on the rights of pedestrians and cyclists and how to act when you encounter those 'weaker' traffic participants. Not so in the 20, mostly common sense questions in the Illinois test.

What do I want to say with this? The drivers education in the US is horrible, to put it mildly.

I moved here in '98 and stopped cycling because just driving in Chicago scared the living bejeebus out of me and I hung up my bike for 8 years. One day I just simply decided, I can't let that fear rule me and have started cycling again in 06 and put down between 6000-9000 miles a year. So far I've been lucky and my wife still doesn't have to draw from my life insurance.

Right now I just live with the knowledge that one day I might end up in the hospital or morgue during one of my long rides, but at least I did what I loved doing and that's cycling.

One thing to minimize the chance of getting hit, be visible and be predictable! If I make a left turn for example and I have to wait for the turn at a red light, I slot in with the cars, like I would if I would be driving a car. Accelerate hard through the turn, so not to slow things down too much behind me, then after my turn is done, I move over to the right side again and go my marry way. So when I'm in the middle of the lane while turning or before the turn when the traffic light is red, I am seen.
Now if the light is green before my left turn, I stay on the right and try to make my left turn as wide as I can so I'm not impending on traffic.

It's still takes a lot of skill and luck not to get hit, though.

So, educate the drivers and teach children in school proper traffic rules and behavior would be a good step forward. Also if everyone would be more relaxed and attentive behind a steering wheel, traffic would flow much smoother, but that would take restraint and selflessness, which many people are lacking these days.

Oh, and I really, really, really need to restrain myself from punching people into their mouth when they come up with the dead horse: "Bicycle belong on the sidewalk, because my taxes paid for the roads I'm driving on". Ok, I need to stop here or my blood pressure is going to double just thinking about those ridiculous comments.

 

darelldd makes a great point. A lot of us run shorter errands with our cars, which are the most wasteful of all.

Just today I rode to the post office to send a package and get those cute animal shelter stamps. The lot was jammed with the cars of folks posting Christmas gifts, but there was ample parking at the bike racks, right next to the front doors.

Then to the bank, which is on a busy street and has only a tiny parking lot that's often full. But once again, parking not an issue. The security guard even let me bring my bike inside (it was just barely drizzling) and kept an eye on it, which was an unexpected surprise.

Then to the Natural Foods co-op for groceries; I hauled it all in a messenger bag and two canvas bags which I've tailored to fit my bike.

Then to the vet for cat food; she has to eat that expensive stuff. Two smaller bags of dry food, in addition to everything else, hauled without problem via bicycle.

Finally to the local chain drugstore, to return a box of Christmas lights which I didn't need. If I was smart I'd have done this first, but I forgot.

Covered a bit less than 20 miles with five stops. I'd assert that it didn't take any more time than driving. And this is in an area that's definitely bike friendly, but still sharing the street with automobiles.

If I wasn't going to drive and visit my Mom for Christmas, I could probably go six weeks to two months without starting my car. As it is, it sits unused in the garage. My insurance premiums are lower, and so are my gas bills and maintenance costs. It's a winning situation, and personally far more satisfying than driving to the gym and riding a stationary bike.

 

Oh yes, so many vehicles, so many Internet forums...
I've been wanting to get into CX for a while now, never quite got around to it.
I'm also very inclined to hit on Pinto Girl (jokingly) since she is very likely to physically benefit from being a female cyclist .

I left Seattle before having a chance to ride STP. I regret that terribly.

Daniel, you sound a little like Jared Diamond in his book "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed"

As history shows, you apparently don't need to pass the exam either (but this probably has more to do with Illinois than drivers licensing standards): Key events in the Illinois licenses-for-bribes scandal 11/06/07 | abc7chicago.com

Reminds me of a quote I heard a long time ago: "The most noble bicycle is the one that is used for transportation"

 

I don't ride my bike on errands. Everything is too close to make it worth getting the bike out of the garage. The distance to the post office, bank, grocery store, hardware store, marina, beach, and school can be measured in hundreds of feet. Location, location, location.

Tom

 

when i left for work tonight, it was 27 degrees with 15-20 mph winds and snow/sleet blowing sideways. i almost let y'all convince me to ride my bike, but i don't have life insurance.

 

Aww, shucks...

I agree, thanks for saying so. I don't mean to diss anyone, but when I visit wealthy areas in the Bay Area and see folks driving their fancy bikes to the trail head or some scenic area on the back of a brand new supercharged Land Rover, I wince just a little.

 

Better weather will be here before you know it.

 

Feel free to come back to ride it. Last year more than 1300 riders were from outside WA-OR, and many come from farther away than Chicago. Just beware that the registration limit was reached early, in April.

 

There's a registration requirement, and a limit, just to ride on a bike trail in Seattle??? Here in Spokane we have the Centennial Trail which goes from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene. There are walkers, joggers, cyclists on all manner of pedal-powered contraptions, rollerbladers, skateboarders, basically any form of locomotion that does not involve a motor. In summer, there are people right next to the trail, in the river, on inner tubes, kayaks, rafts, or just swimming. No permit or registration is required.

However, it's strictly recreational since it just follows the river. It does not serve to get you anywhere, unless where you're going from and to are both on the river, or you're traveling between Spokane and C d'A.

 

No, the Seattle To Portland is an organised ride, not a trail. You can cycle the route anytime, though you won't get the pleasure of riding all 202 miles with 10,000 other cyclists.

 

Aha. I didn't realize what "STP" meant. I signed up for a mass bike ride one, the Lung Association ride across North Dakota. I had to cancel when I developed a painful inflammation in my IT band next to the knee that put an end to my bike riding. It's just as well. I was never a steady cyclist. I could not keep a straight line, and I fell down. I'd probably have been killed by a car if I'd done that ride.

 

Nice work, Bisco! You post guess and conjecture about early bicycle usage. And you post your opinion. I counter with a few facts, and ask a valid question - and this is your reasoned response? And Gumpy "thanks" you for this? Thanks you for a comment that has nothing to do with my comment or yours?

How was I wanting you to agree with my opinions? I'm not sure there was any opinion offered. I only wanted you do know some history. And then I asked why you bother commenting on subjects you obviously, and admittedly know nothing about. Were the words I used too big, so you and Grumpy got confused?

Some days.

For the record, my *opinion* is that folks should learn a little bit about the subject they decide to chime in on. No, not everybody should share my opinion on that, and it is true that I really don't want to hear from those who don't share that opinion.

 

well, i did do a little reading up on it. bicycles were never a serious means of transportation in this country. mostly recreational. but, the few years they were used for commuting or whatever were killed as soon as people could afford cars. just shows you that most people are not going to commute on a bicycle until they can't afford a car or there is no oil left. it happens in every industrialized country, some more than others, but most people ride a bike because it's faster than walking. if they can drive? there goes the bike. Merry Christmas!

 

This is the internet, dude! It's bad form to comment on something you know anything about.

 

Yes, bicycles were a serious means of transportation back in the late 1800's. (cycling has *remained* a serious form of transportation in Europe and most other countries since then. I wonder why the people in other countries who CAN afford a car still choose to ride? Think Amsterdam is swimming in poverty?) I guess it comes down to what you consider serious. No reason to debate it really. There was simply a time when bicycling was the main form of personal (non-walking) urban transportation in the US. It really helped relieve the inbreeding and everything. Sadly it is true that it didn't last long, and that the motor vehicle pretty much wiped out the bicycle that is finally enjoying a resurgence over the past 15 years. But that doesn't mean "serious" cycling transportation didn't exist at the time.

Humans are a fickle bunch, aren't they? Left to our own devices, we aren't all that good at choosing what's best for us. Almost over night we switched from whole-grain flour to white flour because we could afford it (used to only be available to the upper crust of society!) - sure it was more expensive and worse for us. But we could finally afford it once we invented the middle class! Chalk another one up to being able to afford something that's bad for us... and making it so popular that it gets cheaper than the stuff that's good for us.

Then when McDonald's comes along... here's food that's worse for us and cheaper! Instead of switching to something more expensive that's bad for us, this time we switched to *save* money and make ourselves less healthy. Chalk one up for saving money right out of the gates while we kill ourselves.

I agree that we do things because we convince ourselves that it is easier or better or more convenient or more like the upper class. What I don't agree with is that this move is always done for practical/logical or even inevitable reasons. At some point we have to consider what's best for us in the long run (well, at some point sustainability will be forced upon us... it'll hurt more by then I'm guessing) Yes people will drive cars if they determine it allows them easier access to the sedentary lifestyle that they view as a "better way of life." And in the short term we can get (and have gotten) away with it - shoving three and four thousand pound machines down the road to move our little bags of protoplasm. But everybody knows that transportation via the private automobile is not sustainable (or wait... maybe that's another one of my opinions). So at some point, things will have to change. But hey! Not in our lifetimes, so let's party!

In the end, I ride a bicycle because I can afford to choose not to drive a car.

 

NO way!

I'm gonna go start a thread on brain surgery!

 

Go for it! You'll have people on other chat boards quoting you as an authority before you can say "L. Ron Hubbard."