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I live in the Netherlands (Score:5, Interesting)
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I have four bikes. Two push bikes, one for exercize and one for daily use. Two motorbikes, one for daily use, and one for Moto Gymkhana. Oh, and a 40 year old (push) bike I used to do races on.
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I have health problems that prevent me from riding. Sucks, as I used to ride all the time. Then had to sell my bike one day and stop. Still, I wish there was more biking infrastructure around where I live.
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I used to ride every day. But my place of work changed, so now I walk and take the train instead. Around home we generally walk as well, so my bike sits unused for months on end.
Walking is also good exercize of course, but it does limit the range of places to go. I should fix up the bike and start using it again come spring.
Re:I live in the Netherlands (Score:4, Interesting)
I live in Finland too and bicyle to work 5 days a week 11 months a year. Just get winter tires for your bike, don't be a wimp :-)
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I live in England, when the half inch of snow we get turns every road surface into an ice sheet, I just go "meh!" and ride out on the same tyres as I used in the summer: slick fat balloon tyres. It helps when your ride has a low centre of mass. I've fallen off it precisely once, and that was carrying a passenger who distracted me and we hit a four inch snowdrift.
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This is a joke, right?
If true, you can take him to court, you know...
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Re:I live in the Netherlands (Score:4, Informative)
Unfortunately in the Netherlands employers are only required to provide shower facilities if the work itself is likely to get you dirty or sweaty. Employers are not legally required to provide showers just because people might get dusty or sweaty because they cycle to work.
For details, see the Arbeidsomstandighedenbesluit [overheid.nl] article 3.23.
"Free" exercise (Score:5, Interesting)
I cycle to work, which takes about 30 minutes. I don't go fast enough to need to change clothes when I arrive, but sometimes I go faster on the way home.
It's free exercise. I doubt I'd find the motivation to go to a gym, or run round a park, in my spare time. Cycling to work is easy: it's about 10-15 minutes faster than the bus, and at most 5 minutes slower than driving (which can take a *lot* longer if there's bad traffic). It's also a lot cheaper than either of those, even with a nice bicycle.
I do miss not having an obvious time to check email, read the news, read a magazine or book etc — I used to do that when sitting on the train.
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Oh, other relevant things:
- Southern English climate, so a temperature range of about -2 to 30C and relative humidity 50-90%. 30-50% "wet days" (although it's not so frequent for the rain to coincide with my commute, and "wet day" is defined as over 0.1mm rain, which really isn't much). See the bottom of http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2... [bbc.co.uk]
- I rent my home, so it was easy to live such that cycling to work includes about 500m on quiet roads, then the rest on an off-road cycle path. For most other trips I pic
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How many miles? I wonder if anyone bike over 35 miles 1/one way to commute for work. I don't mean electronic types like motorcycles.
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How many miles? I wonder if anyone bike over 35 miles 1/one way to commute for work. I don't mean electronic types like motorcycles.
Google says 5 miles. The off-road path is really off-road, it's not paved -- avoiding the bumps and ruts slows me down quite a bit.
I used to have a colleague who cycled about 40 miles each way around three days a week. There was a fast train parallel with his route, which gave him good flexibility in case of unexpected rain, tiredness etc.
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For the 40 mile trip, I expect he lived in an area which was mostly flat as well. I live most of my life in more hilly areas, and normally can average a speed about 10 MPH. Going up hill, takes a lot out of you, and for safety reasons you can't go down hill too fast either, you need to break yourself to a good speed.
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I mixed up my units, it must have been about 40km, with 325m of ascent according to Google [google.co.uk].
I don't know if that counts as mostly flat. I didn't know the man very well, it's possible he only cycled one way each day and took the train back (either alternating cycling to work or from work, or taking the bike on the train).
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Yes. There's a group of people that rides from San Francisco to Google in Mountain View; roughly, it's 42.5 miles, though it's a bit different for each person, because most riders: 1. don't live at the coffee shop(s) where they meet up to start the ride, and 2. don't necessarily work at Google. Once they get to Google, smaller groups branch off in the directions of all the other area tech companies.
Just from hearsay, though; I've never ridden it myself (my commute is a bit tamer), though I've considered try
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Where I live is mostly cities, freeways, lots of vehicles, traffics, etc. :(
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That description basically sounds like the San Francisco Bay area to me...
If you're interested in riding, find someone else who does it, and they may have helpful tips on where to ride. As you get more experienced, you might find yourself more comfortable sharing the road with cars - but certainly initially, most people prefer to take quiet residential streets or sidewalks. (Personally, I think sidewalks are a terrible idea for bikes - nobody is looking for you, and there are lots of driveways and obstacles
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Nope, wong side of CA. L.A. with hot weather, smog, crazy traffics, etc. ;)
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I did that once or twice a week for a while. It takes time to build your body to do that kind of exercise daily. Most days I would take the train.
I used a closed recumberent (a Quest) for those trips.
Now I bought something at 10 minutes biking from work.
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Ah. Too bad the train systems here suck in the city and none where I live.
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If I lived in the major city where I work (instead of commuting
Re:"Free" exercise (Score:5, Interesting)
it's about 10-15 minutes faster than the bus
Me too. This is the one thing that I wasn't expecting when I started.
When you add up:
Walking to the bus stop.
Getting there a few minutes early just in case.
1 transfer between buses.
Walking from the last stop to my destination.
riding a bike is actually faster for me.
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...in the Summer (Score:2)
I don't go fast enough to need to change clothes when I arrive
It's usually cold enough and dry enough that I don't need to change clothes when I cycle in to work. On the downside though you really cannot cycle in the winter - the river valley park I cycle through has ~0.5m of snow which they don't plough and the temperatures can hit -40C which is a bit nippy for cycling (although so do do it!).
On the plus side the summer is warm (20-25C) and low humidity usually which is ideal cycling weather and there is far less rain than a British summer - even those in East An
Re:"Free" exercise (Score:5, Interesting)
I live in Auckland, New Zealand, so the climate is perfect for cycling - never too hot and never too cold (even on that one day in 2011 where it snowed, a singular event, the temperature barely reached zero).
My ride is about 6km, and takes 20-25 minutes depending on route and traffic (I have 5 reasonably direct routes, one includes a mountain-bike trail). Auckland is hilly, so I always end up sweating and have a shower when I get to the office. The commute, including shower, is about the same as public transport (bus or train), but slower than driving (which is about 15 minutes door to door in rush hour). I was offered a carpark, but turned it down.
The only time I avoid riding is if it is raining, it's just not much fun.
Free exercise, cheap-as transport, reduced carbon footprint, less wear'n'tear on the car. What's not to love ?
Re:"Free" exercise (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm in Tauranga and have started cycling to work every day it's not raining. It's 20km to work and back, but that's all on the flat so it's easy going. The goal is 100km+ a week. I've learned that if you want your weekend days to last, go for a 15km ride first thing in the morning. By the time 2pm comes around it feels like it's 5.
Re:"Free" exercise (Score:4, Funny)
I don't go fast enough to need to change clothes when I arrive,
Try going naked with your clothes in the panniers. You'll be cooler and faster
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Depends on what you mean by "cooler".
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I do miss not having an obvious time to check email, read the news, read a magazine or book etc
Yeah, but you can purchase open headphones with which to listen to the radio (or music) while you bike. The 'open' part is important as you can still hear your surroundings with those, while you can't with 'closed' headphones and it's dangerous to bike deaf. I recommend the Jabra Sport.
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I'd ride to work every day too if it wasn't for the 100m height difference. But geez that was a fast ride home the few times I did.
A work colleague used to do the same regularly the other way round, only he lived 300m higher than the city. He'd come in as fresh as a breeze even in hot weather, but say he got really good exercise on the way home!
Changes based on the Season (Score:5, Insightful)
When the sides of the road are lined with piles of snow and the temperature is in the double-digit negatives, the answer is "never."
In the summer it's "A few times in an average week."
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This!
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Re:Changes based on the Season (Score:4, Funny)
Last year I slipped on ice with my bike and broke my arm. Still hurts.
I was one the way do demo a software system to my boss. He said that usually the program crashes in a demo, not the programmer..
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That's what gyms with stationary bikes are for. There's no way in hell you'd get me out in this miserable, fuck-all, if-mother-nature-were-an-actual-person-I'd-skin-her-alive weather.
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That hasn't been my experience. After doing some real cycling after a winter of spin classes my average speed on the road bike was much better than it had other times when starting out in the livable seasons.
If I'm going to man the hell up, then I plan to do it by moving to a place with a reasonable climate and experiencing enjoyable cycling all year round.
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I used to ride a hybrid in the snow with nearly-bald medium-width tires (28-32 or so, I moved narrower over several years). I usually avoided the 8-mile commute when it was actually snowing and cars were sliding around everywhere, though. Only fell twice on those skinny tires; both were when I tried to make ~90 turns at low speed. At higher speeds, the bike still wants to stay upright, even if there's no traction.
Layers are good, but nothing helps when the temperature is negative (F) and you start breathing
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It depends where you live. If you have to share a small street, made smaller by piles of snow, with cars, then biking may become significantly more dangerous in the winter. If there are dedicated bike lanes, then the story will be different.
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For warmer weather (10C is warmer), get some good gloves. For colder weather (around -10C) buy some pogies. Here's a good brand [45nrth.com].
(I envy your nice weather in Norway. Its just my luck that my ancestors left for somewhere that was actually colder. :p But I can tell you that it's usually about -20C when the bike itself tends to stiffen up - it gets harder to go fast. But some people to the north go in weather far colder than that
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Stationary bikes (Score:4, Interesting)
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Just for comparison's sake, the average cyclist might be able to produce ~200W of useful power (after metabolic losses), an athletic cyclist can sustain about ~400W.
So if you cycle for an hour to produce 0.2kWh of energy, that's about 2 cents of energy you can produce at the going rate of 10 cents per kWh on the grid.
Now, a large smartphone or tablet might have a 4000mAh battery. With a 5V charger, 200Wh of energy would give about 10 charges (before electrical losses, so practically maybe 3-4 charges).
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That's not too bad if you don't have an electrical power grid handy.
What if you don't have a pedal generator handy either?
Why would I lug such a thing around when I could lug a large solar panel for about the same effort and not have to pedal it? I think I'd rather use my feet to move my body and lift things rather than make electricity.
If I had a pedal generator up at my cabin, I would immediately look at making a waterwheel for it.
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Oh, just trying to put an upper bound on what kind of power generation is possible from a human body.
I did lug one of those small $100 Goal Zero solar kits with me on a 10-day hike. After each day, it didn't really give me enough to maintain a charge on my 2200mAh Nexus 5, but it did give maybe half a charge on my 1500mAh iPhone 5s, which was enough to keep taking pictures.
Not that I'd be willing to pedal for 15 minutes to charge a phone after hiking 10 miles in the mountains. But there might be some circ
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but they're really not.
I have an encapsulated panel that cost all of £15, it not only charges any phone I plug into it, but at least in the case of every phone I have had plugged into it while taking a call, will maintain the power level as well.
Incidentally, I also have a solar array on top of my helmet box on my bike and another on the roof of the trailer. The bike one is connected to a regulated 5V bus, the trailer does 5 and 12. The trailer does a wonderful job of charging my netbook. Total cost:
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I don't have crank generators in my shed. It's mostly shovels and lawnmowers.
but my shed is weird, you'd be as likely to find a model airplane engine that can run on methanol/ethanol. Which is nice because you can make and distill ethanol if you're got a lot of time on your hands. (in a primitive location for months).
ps - yes, I usually run nitromethane in my glow engine, but it is known to run on methanol & castor oil mix. just needs more air to run without it and the performance suffers at altitude.
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besides creating heat
They make a lot of noise too.
I ride a recumbent trike (Score:2)
My balance is gone due to several illnesses, so a two-wheeler is no longer safe for me. Instead of a bike, I now ride a recumbent trike. I go for at least a short ride around the neighborhood most days when it's not raining. Since I live in Florida (near Tampa), I ride year round except on exceptionally cold days, i.e. below 60F (or so).
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except on exceptionally cold days, i.e. below 60F (or so).
That sound you just heard was all the Canadian readers falling over from laughter ;^)
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60F is an Indian summer for me, you insensitive clod!
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That sound you just heard was all the Canadian readers falling over from laughter ;^)
And the rest of the world wondering how cold a Farad is.
My "bike" has eight wheels (Score:2)
I really only bike when it rains or rain looks imminent. Otherwise, I skate. Almost every day. Like today: I'm headed to work.
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Now you've got my interest. What is it, some kind of pedal snow tank?
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More like 6 days a week.. usually.. (Score:2)
bicycles are too dangerous (Score:2)
I switch to motorcycles. (seriously)
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blowing past cars with right turn signals on at a light on the right side
That's one big danger when blindly following a bike path. If the bike path is on the road, you can at least avoid doing that if you're not careless ; if the bike path is on a sidewalk or well segregated now it's the cars that ram into you on your left side, unless maybe you get off the bike (or stop) and cross like a pedestrian.
Often times, best is for the bike rider to use the "car lanes" to overtake that turning car on the left side. A bike even belongs on the leftmost lane if it wants to turn left.
It dep
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I don't run red lights, or blow through stop signs.
I will make a left turn from the left lanes, as that is fitting, proper and legal ( where I am, anyway ).
Otherwise, I keep to the right and make sure I am predictable, and try to be courteous to all.
It is still dangerous.
I agree completely that a cyclist should obey the rules of the road. It annoys me when they don't, as a cyclist, as car drivers seem to take a "all cyclists misbehave, so I can run them over" attitude. But that is all window dressing. Ri
It depends on what you call a bike (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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It depends (Score:2)
While i used to ride a bike everyday when i lived in California. When i moved to Georgia, I only ride while at work. Due to the large size of the studio.
Nice Bimodal Distribution (Score:3)
I like the bimodal distribution [wikipedia.org] in the results; people who don't ride peak on "A few times a year", then there's a valley, then people who do ride peak on "A few times a week." Matches intuition nicely.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, (Score:2)
The uBike system in Taipei is great (Score:2)
Too much traffic (Score:2)
I used to ride bikes all the time as a kid, but that was in rural Oregon...
The last time I tried bicycling was in urban India and it was just too frightening trying to negotiate traffic. I was with an Indian friend who was comfortable enough (beyond being on a bicycle instead of a motorcycle) but he'd zip through intersections and I'd be left behind, not ready to run a red light, unsure whether to go to the left or the right of an oxcart and afraid of hitting pedestrians...
Now I live in NYC and I'm often t
Couple times a week (Score:2)
I'd like to ride to work (Score:2)
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The roads (Score:2)
I have a moped (Score:2)
And it's sexy. Vintage Italian bike. 49cc, tagged for Boston. Picked it up on my last trip back east. Takes me where I need to at about 30 mp/h in style baby. Soon as the weather gets a little better, I'll be riding it all the time.
Bike culture (Score:3)
There are 3 things I adore about the Netherlands:
- bicycle culture [and infrastructure!]
- parks and gardens [this is a country-garden!]
- the civil liberties package
More than a decade I live here and a day does not pass without riding a bike. I never owned a car. And here, people do not stop for the weather, otherwise we would stay at home for most of the year:) There is always wind and often rain. Show and ice are somewhat scarce in recent years.
I find it somewhat strange that the Brits, for instance, are so crazy about protective gear, helmets and what's not, but once I saw the Top Gear episode where they raced across London I realize that they have almost no infrastructure. But helmet will not help in a frontal encounter with a bus [I was afraid for Ricard, really]. The best safety is achieved by separating as much as you can the cars from the bikes from the pedestrians. I always take pleasure when someone from home visits me and they see the roads in my district. 4 lanes for cars, 2 double size bike lanes on the side [effectively just as generous as for the cars] and two wide lanes for pedestrians. "Wat the hell's that?" is the usual reaction:)) Only in parts of towns where they want to preserve the architecture and cannot build wider roads is the bike lane painted on the car road. But then the drivers here are very well aware of the bikes.
No doubt that I am faster than any public transport bar metro and trains. Going out in a Dutch city with a car is idiotic. You'd spent long time in jams, pay a fortune for parking [if available] and cannot drink. What a drag...
A continent of difference (Score:2)
Re:I wish I could ride a bike (Score:5, Interesting)
Where I live in Illinois there are no bike lanes and no shoulders large enough to allow for safe cycling.
Cycling infrastructure didn't appear in countries like the Netherlands by itself, it took a lot of campaigning. There's a summary here: http://lcc.org.uk/pages/hollan... [lcc.org.uk]
I'd like to see something similar in the UK, perhaps based on childhood obesity rather than road danger. There's some progress in some areas, but nothing national.
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It's easy to promote cycling where it's COMPLETELY FLAT.
I rode a bike in Oregon for 8 months out of necessity. F-that. I drive everywhere now.
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I'm single, so carrying enough food isn't difficult. I have some panniers for my bike. I'd guess many more people live within a few minutes walk or cycle to a decent shop in the UK than the USA. Mine is about 2 minutes out of my way when I'm on my way home. (And I'm not in the middle of a city, I'm in monotonous London suburbia.)
I was more impressed when I visited a friend in Sweden a couple of weeks ago for a party his parents put on. His mother had bought food for the week + for the party in one bicy
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I live in Austin. If you can get access to the north/south backbone and the hike/bike trails, it isn't too bad. However, get on roads past that... and things get real dicey, real quick, mainly due to the fact that Austin is at a low boil when it comes to road rage, combined with no significant road improvements (other than toll roads) since 1995.
What type of bike you take is also important. If you are on a bus line to and from UT, don't even bother to assume that there will be a slot free on the bike rac
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Now that's hot.
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