Why Bicycles Are Better!

[sintax]

-The average American spends 4 of his/her waking hours in his/her car or working to pay for it.

-If 1/4 people commuted 5 miles a week on a bike, the air would be spared 6 million tons of CO2

-50% of all car trips are 5 miles or less

-Cars cause acid rain by emitting 34% of the nitrogen oxide in the U.S.

-Ground level air pollution from cars is estimated to cause 30,000 deaths each year

-Bicycles can move roughly 10 times as many people per hour as cars in the same road space

-Commuter races between cars, bicycles and other travelers in cities like Boston and Washington DC show that bicycling is faster up to 5 miles

-When you add the time you spend earning the money you pay for a car and the time you spend in it your average speed is lower than the speed of riding a bike

[wtmusic]

1. Not arguing

what is the source for your stats?

[sintax]

7. Variety

Transportation Alternatives, NYC

Ecologue, Prentiss Hall Press

Worldwatch Institute

Bicycling Institute of
America

and a few other sources

--In Japan 15% of trips to work are by bicycle, in Switzerland 10%, in The Netherlands 30%, in W. Germany 11%

[wtmusic]

24. thanks

btw join the Bicycling Group here if you haven't already

[sintax]

26. I haven't but now I shall-thanx

i promised myself I would never own a car, bicycled about 200 miles a week for work and pleasure. I broke that promise and bought a Honda Civic and am now moving back into town to get back to bike only living. I know alot of people can't for a variety of reasons that are beyond their control.

For myself bicycling is not only a political statement but more importantly a sense of liberation and rhythmic solitude in an otherwise hectic world.

[tinrobot]

2. I love riding my bike

I do 50-60 miles/week.

I just wish there were more bike lanes in LA.

[wtmusic]

4. Where do you ride?

I'm in Burbank.

[Nikia]

3. Except in some places

You fear for your life if you are riding your bicycle to where you need to go. Some people are not used to cyclists and do not watch out for us or think that it is funny to drive too close.

[kestrel91316]

5. Can't ride my bike to work right now ..................

it was about 110 degrees and 70% humidity yesterday. I don't want heat stroke. I will probably resume in early October when it is safe to exercise outdoors again. It's not even safe to go out in the yard today and move the sprinklers................

Ya gotta love Southern California.........

[CatholicEdHead]

18. It does get tough to bike below 20 in the winter

but some of the best biking is in Jan or Feb around 20 degrees, pitch dark and light snow. Frozen brakes do not really work very well and compressed snow from footprints makes it a bumpy ride.

[mike_c]

6. I cycle commute 17 miles round trip...

...and it's the highlight of my day (especially the morning ride!).

[Squatch]

9. So, you must be in fairly good shape, eh?

I would ride my bike, too, if it weren't for the absolutely insane drivers in SE VA.

[mike_c]

10. I dunno, I'm 50 and I could stand to lose a few more pounds....

But I'm pretty muscular, especially my lower body. I'm not in the shape I was in 25 years ago, that's for sure. My job is pretty sedentary. Most people who see me probably wouldn't guess that I cycle as much as I do.

[seemunkee]

11. Me too

I have two road choices. One has little memorial sites all along it where people have died in crashes. The other is a rural highway with no shoulder.

[Squatch]

12. I've reconned all possible routes to work from home

and they all require a few stretches along highways with absolutely no shoulder. There's no way in hell I am going to share the road on my bike with drivers not paying attention to where they're going.

[RPM]

17. what is that logo in your sig line

does it have anything to do with augsburg germany?

[Squatch]

22. Yeah, it's the soccer team

FC Augsburg

[RPM]

25. i've been to Augsburg twice - that logo evoked my memories

you should talk with JVS sometime - he lived there for 2 years.

great town.

[Squatch]

8. Caloric output for a 5 mile trip on a bike much higher than the

near-basal metabolic rate maintained by a driving commuter.

[sintax]

23. A 10 mile bike commute burns 350 calories

the amount of energy in a few ounces of rice. The same trip in the average American car uses 18,600 calories, more than 4 pounds of gasoline.

[jmm]

13. Umm...maybe another time of year

Not that I don't care about the environment but I'm certain they'd find a reason to fire me if I rode a bike to work in this heat. We use to have major problem with a co-worker last summer at my previous job because even on a 90 degree day he'd ride his bike from Cambridge to South Station and then ride on the often un-air conditioned commuter rail.

[sintax]

14. Gordian Knot

Get people to bike to stop the warming of the planet.

Planet's too warm for people to bike.

Cars causing global warming.

All transportation lanes are geared towards car travel.

Solutions are needed.

[peacebuzzard]

15. I agree!!!100% But you can get killed by drivers in towns w/o greenways,

or by drivers who otherwise are not on the lookout for pedestrians much less bicycles.

I witnessed a near death collision about 2 months ago involving a truck that made an abrupt, nose-dive of a turn off a major urban artery into a parking lot and directly hit a cyclist. The cyclist was on the sidewalk, heading straight forward and was wearing the bright yellows and blues of professional riding apparel. As luck had it for the well toned athlete, he sensed the erroneous maneuver and he literally threw himself off of the bike. The bike ended up underneath the truck. I was pulling out of the lot onto the major artery but stopped. Shocked. And held my hand to my mouth. I believe the driver of the truck saw my reaction coupled w/ what he felt under his truck and he abruptly braked. Asshole got into a one sided defensive rant w/ the poor cyclist who wanted nothing to do w/ this idiot. I am sure he was heaving w/ nerves (as I was) to see his bike a mangle beneath the truck. I was so shocked and relieved the cyclist was ok I , now on automatic drive, just turned into my lane and drove on. It wasn't until a mile later I could have slapped myself. I should have returned to check on the cyclist but I knew he was just relieved to be alive that day. He was really lucky.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. The way some of you talk, you'd think nobody ever got killed

while driving. :eyes:

Car crashes (they're rarely really "accidents," almost always the fault of somebody doing something stupid) kill people so often that they don't make the news unless more than two cars are involved or some prominent person is killed.

[peacebuzzard]

19. This is true, Lydia, however a bicycle or pedestrian is flesh on metal

rather than metal (or fiberglass) on metal (or inanimate material ) on flesh. At least you have some kind of shield. That means some protection in slow moving traffic. Not saying one is worst than the other, however.

It just seems so vulnerable.

[peacebuzzard]

20. Don't get me wrong. I love to ride.

But I feel safer riding in the large urban areas, like NYC or Rio than in a small town like Knoxville, TN. There are protected areas to ride in the urban areas.

[sintax]

21. N. America's most cycling friendly city

of 40,000 or more people is Davis, Calif. where 25% of local trips are made by bicycle.

[peacebuzzard]

29. Of course it had to be in California!

[adamtrask]

39. I live in tucson az

and it is a very cycle friendly city with bike lanes on nearly all the major streets. I have a 12 mile round trip ride to work and the only portion that I don't have my own lane is the neighborhood street my house is on. And believe me I understand what some of you are saying about the heat, but it's a dry heat:9

[sintax]

40. Used to visit Tucson

when I lived in Bisbee. Tucson seemed great for the biker and pedestrian, at least the areas near the University. Even the heat wasn't too bad as long as you kept movin'.

Welcome to DU Here's to biking across the terra firma.

:toast:

[BiggJawn]

27. Bicycles are just the most perfect machine.

I have 12 bikes in my apartment.

I'd like to see some gud ol' boy with "inadequancy issues" do that with F-350's...

A bad day on a bike beats the shit out of a good day in a car.

Cars destroy your health, bikes restore it.

No, I haven't worked up enough nerve to face that 32-mile round-trip commute yet...

And on the DOWN side, my bikes don't have air conditioners. very important on a 100-degree day...

[Deja Q]

28. Trouble is, health conditions prohibit me from biking.

I walk when I can though. :D

[Ladyhawk]

30. I'd kill myself the first week. :)

I never was very good at riding a bike...not much better than *. BUT, I can speak in complete, coherent sentences. :)

[MissB]

37. Whew.

Had me worried there for a minute. :hi:

[SmokingJacket]

31. Can you imagine how wonderful a city designed for safe biking would be?

Shady bikes-only trails from all the major shopping/office areas to the residential areas, kept completely separate from auto traffic. Bikes are very safe, when cars are out of the picture.

Special parking places for bikes and tricycles (for the elderly), with pump stands, water fountains, etc.

I have two kids I bring with me everywhere -- it's almost impossible to bike here, since the streets are hilly, narrow, poorly maintained, and choked with traffic. When I lived in a very flat town with wide streets, we had one of those great carts I could pull behind with them in it. We used to bike everywhere, even to the mall...

[SouthernDem2004]

32. Sorry but its to darn hot and the humidity is 100%. No bike for me. /nt

[sweetheart]

33. Why bycicles are not better

1. They are no good in high winds.
2. Your clothes get all messed up in the rain.
3. They are no good in the snow.
4. For the other 50% of car trips.
5. Bycicles are dangerous when hit by cars. (who gets hurt when humvee meets bike.
6. They don't work for disabled and old persons.
7. They don't take passengers.
8. Young kids are hard to transport on bikes.
9. Bicicles can't carry a full family grocery load.
10. They are too cold below zero degrees.
11. If you fall down on a bike, even a minor fall, your clothes get all
screwed up.
12. Riding over a mile is a bit of exercise, and your sweat can make
your clothes mussed up.
13. Helmets and wind mess up your hair.
14. Mosquitos can bite you.
15. You can't sleep on a bike in an emergency.
16. People who pass you get to gawk at your body from behind.
17. There's no place to sit your coffee cup.
18. You have to breathe the pollution of cars right in your face.
19. Tires slip and falls can easily result in broken bones and deep cuts and rasberries.
20. Cars don't look out for bikes, and sharing the road with cars is
not the safest transport.

[sintax]

34. Between 1974 and 1979

there were 775,257 deaths in motor vehicle accidents in the US more than all US combat fatalities since 1775 and are the number one cause of death for our nations children.

Sounds like we need to get rid of cars and fashion.

I've never been bitten by a mosquito on my bike.

[BiggJawn]

35. 25% of your objections are vanity-related...

Frankly I'd LOVE the idea that someone was checking out my ass in those black shorts, but that's just me...

[MadHound]

36. Let me take a few exceptions with your list of negativity there friend

1. Bikes are fine in high winds. If it is in your face, well then you just pedal more. If it is from behind, bonus tailwind. If it is from one side or the other, lean. Really really simple. I live in the tail end of the high prarie, and we catch winds upwards of seventy mph. Yes, sometimes it is tough, but it can be done.

2. About your clothes complaints, that is easy. Take a spare set with you and change at work.

3. Actually, if you've got a road bike with narrow tire, you can cut through snow like butter. Yes, you have to be more careful, but you can do it.

4. As far as transporting groceries or kids, you can buy a bike trailer.

5. You can easily bike in below zero weather. The key is to wear a a number of layers of thin clothing, and a scarf or other breath warming layer over your mouth and nose so you don't freeze your lungs.

6. Actually it is rather hard for most flying insects to catch up with, much less land on you. I've outridden bees, wasps, mosquitos, and numberous other bugs. It is when you are still that they get you.

7. So what, I hate to tell you this, but people gawk at your body from behind no matter what you're doing. At least if you're biking you're toning up a bunch of muscles that makes your butt look great, and you never know, you could very well get compliments on your rear view.

8. If you bike, you don't need coffee. And the water bottle fits perfectly in the clip.

9. Tires very rarely slip, unless there is something on the pavement. In ordinary commuting and biking about, I have gone for up to a decade at a time without having any sort of accident or fall.

I have a great deal of biking experience, the vast majority of it quite pleasurable and fun. I've raced bikes, gone cross country on them, and use them in ordinary life. While I now live in the country which makes bike commuting all but impossible, I still get out on the moutain bike for fun. Yes, perhaps my experience is a bit out of the norm, but don't go throwing around these falsehoods and this negativity just because you don't like bikes. The vast overwhelming majority of people love bikes. If you don't fine, just stay out of the thread.

[sweetheart]

45. It is not a universal solution

I was making the point, for all the bike lovers out there, that there is
a significant population that cannot reasonably be expected to ride bikes
and that no amount of "lovin" changes that.

I was injured badly by being run off the road by a 18 wheeler in
california on a bike, riding every day for years over 10 miles... there
are some unlucky days, and heavy traffic can be very dangerous. Perhaps
your prairie riding is different.

When i mean high winds, i mean over 100mph. For all the cheek in it,
its not all that safe.

I merely made a few points to show how bicycling is not a polyanna
transport solution, for all the glib love vibes in the thread... and
my comments are not negative so much as realistic. AS one who's spent
years commuting on a bicycle, i can write the downside as much as the
upside, and whilst i agree with all the upside comments, they omit
the comments i wrote.

AS for your threat that i should stay out of the thread, shove it.

[MissB]

38. How slow do you have to bike to get bitten by a mosquito?

:rofl: Sorry, that one tickled my funny bone.

Around here, serious bike commuters (my dh being one of them - 20 miles a day) use panniers that attach to the bike racks. We have a pretty bike-friendly city here. Most health clubs offer a biker's rate for bike riders who want to come in and just take a shower and change into their work clothes (which are rolled and put in the panniers).

Bike manufacturers have caught up somewhat with the trend towards biking. BOB trailers can hold about 4 grocery bags full of food and comes with it's own waterproof bag.

[Stuckinthebush]

41. But I can't use my cell phone on my bike as easily!

How am I going to work if I can't use my cell phone while I go from point A to point B?


:D

[sintax]

42. Enjoy the world around you

and leave the work for another time.

-US costs for imported oil could be cut by about 1 billion a year, if 10% of American car commuters used bicycles. they would each save about a thousand dollars a year in gas costs.

[Stuckinthebush]

43. I was joking

Indeed...enjoy the world around you.

While I have used the phone in the car, I am amazed at the number of people who actually spend all of their driving time on the phone. To me, driving is at least a sanctuary from the office.

One of the good things about the bike is the fact that you can't use the phone easily...if at all. That might be a big selling point to some!

[sintax]

44. I was hoping

But am I touchy about the cell phones? The prevalence of these things is annoying and the sight of the gadget entranced Man/Woman who is always checking there messages in sight of everyone to project the image of self-importance everywhere makes me wretch.

But bicycles are simplistic elegance.