Joe said:Dane Buson said:BigPurdueFan <[email hidden]> wrote:
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:All of that is a far cry from carrying a week's worth of groceries for
five or more on a bike.
Oh, is that all? I generally do that while carrying my two daughters
with me. I don't have an up to date picture with the front child seat
mounted, so you'll have to take my word for that part.
http://members.arstechnica.com/x/zuvembi/Xtracycle_and_Aixi.jpg
I can carry six full paper bags of groceries in the bags on the back
(and have). If I was really pressed for space, I suppose I could add
some wide loader racks (sold at Xtracycle.com), or put a box on the top
of the snapdeck to carry more. Of course you can always use a trailer,
but I prefer the singletrack ease of use of the Xtracycle.
With the wheels I've built for it, I figure I can carry two or three
hundred pounds over and above rider weight. Of course for really heavy
loads, you'd probably want a StokeMonkey.
http://cleverchimp.com/products/stokemonkey/
What is possible and what is reasonable are very different things.
First off, unless I was on a very empty road, would I have two little
kids on the bike like that.
An empty road is the worst place. Empty roads have cars going too fast
and no witnesses. I ride in the city with lots of cars around with very
little problems. Speeds are generally fairly low and people are used to
watching out for other road users.
Quoted message said:Hell, out here in a car with a steel shell around them, I need them in a
safety seat, belted and if the Dems get elected, helmets.
The statistics for bicycling fatalities are almost the exact same as for
motor vehicle operators. You're more vulnerable, but your speeds are
also much lower. I realize you're not familiar with the accident rates
for cycling, noone would expect you to be.
The end result is: Bicycling is not dangerous, and there is no reason to
act like it is.
Quoted message said:Man the tool maker, for a couple of million years. The tools get better and
better, faster and faster. Why do you want to regress for the sake of
regressing. Lets plow the fields by harnessing your wife to the plow, or a
horse if you can afford it.
Regress? I call it progress. I enjoy cycling and I don't enjoy
driving. Your mileage may or may not vary of course. Why would I spend
a huge amount of money every year upkeeping a car when I can do most
things by bicycle with very little extra bother?
Quoted message said:I really do appreciate your desire to make a statement about conservation,
greenness and over use of technology but keep things reasonable.
Statement?!? Greenness?!? Hogwash! That's about tenth on my list of
reasons to cycle. I certainly didn't start cycling for that reason, and
it's not the reason I continue.
My reasons look more like this:
1. Enjoyment
2. Exercise as part of everyday life [1]
3. Money saving - I save a shedload of money by not having a second car.
4. Ease of parking [3]
5. I enjoy working on my bikes - I'm mechanically inclined
6. The social aspect - I see and talk to people on my bike I would
*never* get a chance to see in a car.[4]
7. It is often faster. In many cases [5] I get home faster from work
than the people driving.[6]
8. Pastry - I eat pastry instead of filling my car with gasoline.
9. Engineering reasons [7]
10. I don't like driving. [8]
11. Greeny-weeny reasons.
Okay I lied, it's number eleven.
[1] I used to weigh 280 lbs, I weigh about 200 now. My father and
brother are both type II diabetics. [2]
[2] Additionally I'm a computer programmer, so my everyday job is very
sedentary.
[3] No joke this. You try and fight for parking at my favorite Asian
grocer with the little old Chinese ladies. F$#% that noise. I roll
up and park right at the front of the store. Parking at Pike Place
market is a dream on the bicycle.
[4] Hi Claire!
[5] Baseball games, snow, heavy rains, wind storms. This last winter
many of my coworkers were trapped for many hours on roads completely
jammed with traffic caused by downed trees and powerlines. One poor
guy spent most of the night in his car. I rolled up to the downed
sections picked up my bike, walked around, and was home about 15
minutes later than usual.
[6] The best case - where the highway was completely empty - it used to
take me 25 minutes to get to work. It takes 40 minutes by bike. 30
minutes extra a day. In return I get 80 minuts of quality exercise
I enjoy. And of course on the many days where traffic was not so
good it could take much much longer in the car.
[7] Using a 3000 lb car to move a single 200 lb person from point to
point is just an inefficient solution. It's always grated at my
engineering sensibilities. Not to mention the huge amount of
infrastructure needed.
[8] I'm far too concious of just how much damage you can do with a car
to yourself of other people. Driving is fine at 2am when I'm the
only idiot on the road, but how often does that happen?
--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
"My country, right or wrong" is a thing that no patriot would think
of saying, except in a desperate case. It is like saying "My mother,
drunk or sober." - G.K. Chesterton, "The Defendant"
