6 ms·

I feel the same.I am more of a casual rider, but when I ride my bike in me feel so good. It is a source of health and happiness. I hope to be able to do it for

I feel the same.I am more of a casual rider, but when I ride my bike in me feel so good. It is a source of health and happiness. I hope to be able to do it for many years. I wish cities in this side of the Atlantic had more biking infrastructure.

the_snooze 2y ago
Bikes are such wonderful machines: they're immensely practical, scrutable, cheap and easy to maintain, and just a joy to operate. There's something really liberating about having the option to bike for short-distance trips (the majority trips in the US are within 5 miles of home [1]) and avoiding the stress of traffic, parking, and gas prices. [1] https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1230-march-21-2022-more-half-all-daily-trips-were-less-three-miles-2021 https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1230-marc...
- atoav 2y ago
  Many people don't know that the bicycle is one of the most efficient means of transporting a humans in terms of energy needed to move a mile. It is more efficient than walking and way more efficient than using a car. https://annex.exploratorium.edu/cycling/humanpower1.html https://annex.exploratorium.edu/cycling/humanpower1.html
  - vancroft 2y ago
    Side note, never heard of the band mentioned in the article but it sounds interesting: Bicycle is "a band that rolls across the country on bicycles and rocks in towns and cities along the way. ... 'Heavy metal folk rap' is how the New York Times coined the band's sound." Unfortunately the link to the band's page appears to be gone, and there's nothing on google about them. Rare to find something these days that has almost 0 web presence!
wozniacki 2y ago
Whether we like it or not some facts: a) Biking as exists in the U.S. / Canada is a leisure-class demographic activity and not a "bread-and-butter" earning activity. If you did a survey of bicyclists you'd find they are of a certain tax bracket nowhere remotely close to low-income. Study after study shows they skew high income earners / well educated. b) The average non-wealthy American wants thinks his tax money is going to keeping the road infrastructure in good repair. c) Outside of well-heeled zip codes we are not going to see bike lane infrastructure be given priority over such more pressing concerns. d) We could all have great things if we were not warring all the time to get small things passed, much less a luxury ( in the scheme of things ) like bike lane infrastructure. I'm not even talking about the opposition from businesses here.[1] [1] S.F. Several businesses along Valencia Street have posted signs in their windows that read, “This Bike Lane Is Killing Small Businesses and Our Vibrant Community,” with a QR code for the San Francisco Small Business Coalition. | https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/inlined03_20231204_valenciabikelane.jpg https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/in... San Francisco Valencia Street Bike Lanes Bad for Business? https://sfstandard.com/2023/12/08/san-francisco-small-business-protests-valencia-street-bike-lane/ https://sfstandard.com/2023/12/08/san-francisco-small-busine... Cambridge, Mass ‘It's a Disaster': Cambridge Store Owners Say Bike Lanes Are Bad for Business https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/its-a-disaster-cambridge-store-owners-say-bike-lanes-are-bad-for-business/30753/ https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/its-a-disaster-cambridg...
- paulgb 2y ago
  > If you did a survey of bicyclists you'd find they are of a certain tax bracket nowhere remotely close to low-income. Study after study shows they skew high income earners / well educated. This line of argument reminds me of the red-dots-airplane meme. In places where bad infrastructure makes cycling impractical as anything but a hobby, of course you mostly get lycra-wearing midlife crisis guys who do it as a hobby. In places where the infrastructure is actually good and safe, you get a whole spectrum of people riding.
  - graftak 2y ago
    To add to this; in the Netherlands where I’m from there’s more bikes than people. Out of all the people I know the only person that does not ride a bike is my middle age father who owns a motorcycle. Even my nearly 90 year old grandma uses a tricycle (for safety) to do her grocery shopping.

the_snooze 2y ago

Bikes are such wonderful machines: they're immensely practical, scrutable, cheap and easy to maintain, and just a joy to operate. There's something really liberating about having the option to bike for short-distance trips (the majority trips in the US are within 5 miles of home [1]) and avoiding the stress of traffic, parking, and gas prices. [1] https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1230-march-21-2022-more-half-all-daily-trips-were-less-three-miles-2021 https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1230-marc...

atoav 2y ago
Many people don't know that the bicycle is one of the most efficient means of transporting a humans in terms of energy needed to move a mile. It is more efficient than walking and way more efficient than using a car. https://annex.exploratorium.edu/cycling/humanpower1.html https://annex.exploratorium.edu/cycling/humanpower1.html
- vancroft 2y ago
  Side note, never heard of the band mentioned in the article but it sounds interesting: Bicycle is "a band that rolls across the country on bicycles and rocks in towns and cities along the way. ... 'Heavy metal folk rap' is how the New York Times coined the band's sound." Unfortunately the link to the band's page appears to be gone, and there's nothing on google about them. Rare to find something these days that has almost 0 web presence!

wozniacki 2y ago

Whether we like it or not some facts: a) Biking as exists in the U.S. / Canada is a leisure-class demographic activity and not a "bread-and-butter" earning activity. If you did a survey of bicyclists you'd find they are of a certain tax bracket nowhere remotely close to low-income. Study after study shows they skew high income earners / well educated. b) The average non-wealthy American wants thinks his tax money is going to keeping the road infrastructure in good repair. c) Outside of well-heeled zip codes we are not going to see bike lane infrastructure be given priority over such more pressing concerns. d) We could all have great things if we were not warring all the time to get small things passed, much less a luxury ( in the scheme of things ) like bike lane infrastructure. I'm not even talking about the opposition from businesses here.[1] [1] S.F. Several businesses along Valencia Street have posted signs in their windows that read, “This Bike Lane Is Killing Small Businesses and Our Vibrant Community,” with a QR code for the San Francisco Small Business Coalition. | https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/inlined03_20231204_valenciabikelane.jpg https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/in... San Francisco Valencia Street Bike Lanes Bad for Business? https://sfstandard.com/2023/12/08/san-francisco-small-business-protests-valencia-street-bike-lane/ https://sfstandard.com/2023/12/08/san-francisco-small-busine... Cambridge, Mass ‘It's a Disaster': Cambridge Store Owners Say Bike Lanes Are Bad for Business https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/its-a-disaster-cambridge-store-owners-say-bike-lanes-are-bad-for-business/30753/ https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/its-a-disaster-cambridg...

paulgb 2y ago
> If you did a survey of bicyclists you'd find they are of a certain tax bracket nowhere remotely close to low-income. Study after study shows they skew high income earners / well educated. This line of argument reminds me of the red-dots-airplane meme. In places where bad infrastructure makes cycling impractical as anything but a hobby, of course you mostly get lycra-wearing midlife crisis guys who do it as a hobby. In places where the infrastructure is actually good and safe, you get a whole spectrum of people riding.
- graftak 2y ago
  To add to this; in the Netherlands where I’m from there’s more bikes than people. Out of all the people I know the only person that does not ride a bike is my middle age father who owns a motorcycle. Even my nearly 90 year old grandma uses a tricycle (for safety) to do her grocery shopping.