Cycling in America

Danny Colyer said:

Seen elsewhere:
The Bicycle Diaries
<URL:http://www.slate.com/id/2131049/?GT1=7407>

It's an interesting piece, if you ignore the helmet comment.

The mental image of a cyclist "humping an Oven Stuffer Roaster" is a
particularly interesting one.

I'd rather not think to much about that.

While we're on the subject, I don't know if you've seen the following at
El Reg...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/tiscali_hump/

Sorry for being so prejudiced, but isn't writing an article about
"Cycling in America" a bit like writing
about "Cross country skiing in Egypt"?

"Timo" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

Sorry for being so prejudiced, but isn't writing an article about
"Cycling in America" a bit like writing
about "Cross country skiing in Egypt"?

Plenty of cyclists in America, although the TdF organizers seem to wish it
were otherwise. Plenty of great places to cycle, and the cycling facilities
are, IME, a few orders of magnitude better than UK cycling facilities. How
is that like "Cross country skiing in Egypt"?

mark said:

Plenty of cyclists in America, although the TdF organizers seem to wish it
were otherwise. Plenty of great places to cycle, and the cycling facilities
are, IME, a few orders of magnitude better than UK cycling facilities. How
is that like "Cross country skiing in Egypt"?

Well, I imagine there are probably plenty of cross country skiers in
Egypt. Ideal terrain. After all, sand's a bit like snow, isn't it?

--
Danny Colyer (my reply address is valid but checked infrequently)
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"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

"Danny Colyer" wrote

Quoted message said:

Well, I imagine there are probably plenty of cross country skiers in
Egypt. Ideal terrain. After all, sand's a bit like snow, isn't it?

I recall a photograph in an old Patagonia catalog of people skiing the dunes
in Great Sand Dune National Monument, Colorado. I've also skied man made
snow that had a texture remarkably like sand.
--
mark

Quoted message said:

Sorry for being so _prejudiced_

"Ignorant" is the word you wanted there. There are few (if any) places
on Earth where you will see so many people cycling as you do where I
live (coastal California). On a weekend ride it is quite normal to see
several club runs with over 30 people in each (some double that), let
alone the inumerable smaller groups. On the back roads I expect to see
more bikes than cars.

--
Peter Headland

Quoted message said:

so many people cycling

I meant to say "cycling for recreation" there - obviously the utility
cyclists of places like China or Holland are on a whole different
scale, but the "prejudice" seemed to be that the USA is not somewhere
anyone would want to cycle.

--
Peter Headland

mark said:

I recall a photograph in an old Patagonia catalog of people skiing the dunes
in Great Sand Dune National Monument, Colorado. I've also skied man made
snow that had a texture remarkably like sand.

I remember years ago seeing an Australian cross country skier training for
some big event (winter olypmics?) by skiing across the desert near Uluru
(Ayer's Rock).

Graeme

"Peter Headland" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sorry for being so _prejudiced_

"Ignorant" is the word you wanted there. There are few (if any) places
on Earth where you will see so many people cycling as you do where I
live (coastal California). On a weekend ride it is quite normal to see
several club runs with over 30 people in each (some double that), let
alone the inumerable smaller groups. On the back roads I expect to see
more bikes than cars.

--
Peter Headland

See the threads in rbm and rbr about the Colorado State Patrol limiting
organized bike rides to 2500 riders per ride (which I think is a good idea).
--
mark

mark said:

See the threads in rbm and rbr about the Colorado State Patrol limiting
organized bike rides to 2500 riders per ride (which I think is a good idea).

:-o

I'm not sure there are that many cyclists in the whole of the UK 😉

Graeme Dods said:

I remember years ago seeing an Australian cross country skier training for
some big event (winter olypmics?) by skiing across the desert near Uluru
(Ayer's Rock).

Graeme

"Uphill skiers... they're the guys with the really BIG thighs."
Billy Connolly

mark said:

"Peter Headland" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sorry for being so _prejudiced_

"Ignorant" is the word you wanted there. There are few (if any) places
on Earth where you will see so many people cycling as you do where I
live (coastal California). On a weekend ride it is quite normal to see
several club runs with over 30 people in each (some double that), let
alone the inumerable smaller groups. On the back roads I expect to see
more bikes than cars.

--
Peter Headland

See the threads in rbm and rbr about the Colorado State Patrol limiting
organized bike rides to 2500 riders per ride (which I think is a good idea).

Yeah, on holiday weekends, you can get traffic jams of cars all with
bikes on bike-racks - but at least they are going to actually ride them
eventually, unlike the TdF spectators, who seem to need to have a
permanently attached top-of-the-range racer on thier cars.

I had a hard commute a couple of years back when the Prologue started
outside my office, the large number of cars that turned-up for the
event, many with bikes on the back and no consideration for cyclists.

In article said:

mark said:

See the threads in rbm and rbr about the Colorado State Patrol limiting
organized bike rides to 2500 riders per ride (which I think is a good idea).

:-o
I'm not sure there are that many cyclists in the whole of the UK 😉

I'm quite sure there are more than that many in Cambridge. Around 100,000
people in the city, 22% of commuters cycle, so do a large proportion of the
university students.
Cyclists who do organized bike rides is a different matter.

Timo said:

Sorry for being so prejudiced, but isn't writing an article about
"Cycling in America" a bit like writing
about "Cross country skiing in Egypt"?

....or downhill skiing in Dubai?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4491650.stm

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham