On your bike
economist.com
economist.com
full circle.
Addition: I have seen it in my own country. Having a car when a lot people didn't, was awesome. I could go everywhere faster, easy to park, girls take more notice of you... etc.
10 years down the road, now that everybody has cars, it is hard to park, traffic everywhere, not a status symbol anymore.. .etc.
Simply, wealth is a very relative thing.
After 91 everyone could buy a car. My parents got their first car in 96, when traffic was pretty light. I started driving then, and it was awesome. Parking was easy. My high-school friends were impressed. I could go to the beach on my own timeline, and no need to get into a bus, or a van. And enjoy some really nice scenery going to the south.
Fast forward 2007 (last time I was back home), there is traffic everywhere, parking is hard. Lots of shiny cars, that can't go more than 10mph b/c of the traffic. smog/pollution increased . Etc.
I have a friend, that switched to bikes to get to work (he still has a car, but uses it only for out of town trips), and another one that bought a scooter, as they are much more practical.
That's what I use. It does not fold and is slower than most normal bicycles. But very light weight and it's mechanics are easy to understand and repair even for me.
Bike Friday (http://www.bikefriday.com/) and Dahon (http://www.dahon.com/) are popular in the U.S.
In case you don't think folders are "real" bikes, note that they are ridden by many serious cyclists (http://www.bikefriday.com/node/4813).
I have a fixed-gear mountain bike with 700c x 42mm ("really big") tires, and that doesn't really affect speed much either. The wheels very clearly have a sort of flywheel effect, though: once I'm moving, they hold a lot of momentum. (It's excellent for commuting in snow, BTW.)
Still, they're nice: there's really not much to break (or spend time maintaining). They are also incredibly easy to keep stable on ice and snow, provided you have reasonable tires. If the wheels start to lose traction, the pedals lurch, and you reflexively stabilize them.
Also, I ofter hear of people bringing all of their formal clothes on Monday (whether driving or by e.g. bike trailer) and leaving them at the office through the week.
Most bike commuters I know bring batches of clothes to the office and/or wear sweat-wicking business casual (Nike's golf apparel or cheaper). Hopefully you might be able to store a suit/pants with a colleague? They discuss and dissect bike commuting on Bike Forums endlessly. http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=20
When it snows, I wear a coat, a hat, and gloves.
Granted, there are few people who can suddenly become full time bike commuters, unless you happen live in a flat area with a moderate climate. I've been bike commuting full time for about six years, and I did about half time for three years prior to that. I've gotten to the point that when I have to run an errand, I automatically think about hopping on the bike rather than in the car (and this includes errands that requires pulling the kids in the trailer).
Seriously, that's it. Being out in the rain in a temperate zone isn't a big problem. You just need a change of shoes and a dry pair of socks at the office, and things are generally fine.
It probably wouldn't work out if I were, say, a trial layer, but then again, all kinds of things about my personal and professional choices wouldn't make sense in that case. Good thing I hang out on "Hacker News," instead of "PHB News," eh?
I used to have a winter outfit that consisted of a goretex jacket, goretex pants and shoe covers. If it was really wet, a bit would leak through here and there, but I was basically ok riding around over commuting distances, and was always completely dry after 20 minutes or so.
When I lived in Portland, OR, the public transportation was good, so if it was raining hard in the evening, I'd take the bus home and to work the next day, leaving the bike at work.
I have a lightweight rain jacket and a pair of "Rain Leg" waterproof chaps which gets me through my 15-minute ride without getting too soaked.
I do agree about the mass transit in Portland in general -- TriMet is fast, cheap, and reliable, in my experience -- but I have to transfer twice in the 4 miles between home and work, so it's not really time-effective.
As a programmer, the exercise and outdoor activity components are particularly critical. I do some of my best "mental coding" while riding to and from work, and while I may have put on a few pounds in the last couple of years, it's not the unhealthy, inactivity-driven sort of weight gain that would make me worry about heart problems or diabetes.
The health benefits for riding a bicycle are a fantastic reason to start and continue doing it.
But one thing I would just like to point out to everyone - you are going to pay for fuel, either way. You might not be paying for oil when you bike, but you definitely need to pay for food. If you are trying to lose weight and reduce your calories, I guess you can afford to eat less, but eventually you'll need to eat a lot (really, it's a noticeable increase) of food to make up for your exercising. And that costs money - so I really wonder about the savings gained from biking.
This shouldn't detract anyone from riding a bike, I'm just sayin'.
Surprisingly, I feel safer on it than on a bike, because my CG is higher than the roof of most cars. Also, the dreaded "door prize" would be more at thigh level than head level.
It's pretty hard to uni after dark, though, because you need to anticipate bumps and potholes.
Pedals drive the wheel directly (no gears), so to slow down or stop you just pedal slower and then hop off.
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicycle) is pretty fascinating, including these notable unicyclists: Adam Corolla, Donald Rumsfield, and Claude Shannon!
Almost all pedals are 1-1, which is why you want a big wheel. You brake by resisting rotation while you tilt back.
I have a monthly public transportation pass but the bike is by far the best way to get around. Since I value my brain, I wear a helmet and I always dislike when I see the pretty girls not wearing helmets (fashion/convenience over safety).
> Bikeways neither make cycling much safer nor reduce the skill required. They probably do the reverse.
This is not true.
In his book, J. Forester quotes a statistic that roadways are 2.6x safer for bikers than bike paths. Based on this study from Kaplan: http://www.bikexprt.com/research/synthesis/corvallis.htm#kap...
How you ride your bike also depends on your personality - and how much you want your ride to be a videogame... Check out this video of a guy biking through NOLA: http://www.vimeo.com/1918279
From my experience, paths that are physically separated from car's roads that are shared by pedestrians/roller bladers/joggers/baby strollers and bikers on it are not the safest place to be on a moving bicycle. The movement of a pedestrian is not predictable - they might suddenly stop - do a 180, cut in front of you, stoop to tie a shoelace. The skill level of some of the bikers on a path may be beginner (e.g. they do not understand the importance of riding predictable e.g in a straight line). If I do ride a bike on such a path, I'm riding slow and constantly saying 'On your left'. Predictability is very important (see this article about crossing streets in Rome) http://www.worldhum.com/how_to/item/cross_the_street_in_rome...)
Marked bike lanes that are on the side of roads are much safer. You still have to watch out for opening car doors and random-walk pedestrians (again!) but you have room to do evasive maneuvers.
It's tough to ride a bicycle to work with so many cars; It's dangerous when the sidewalks are small and crumbling, and there are no bike lanes. The problem is every dollar you spend on infrastructure supporting cars means more people will use cars. Start diverting money to public transit and biking!
Not really. Just drive your bike like it's a car. Bike lanes and sidewalks are actually more dangerous than just riding your bike on the street. Most accidents are at intersections; drivers tend to only look for vehicles where they expect them, not on the side of the road (bike lane) or on the sidewalk.
On the sidewalk, you have a narrower, less predictable path, pedestrians, curb cuts, more frequent bumps, plus you're basically invisible to turning cars when going through an intersection. Visibility, road quality, and avoiding pedestrians are the biggest benefits to riding on the road.
For reference, I've bike commuted in Tampa, Provo (at the University), Stockholm, Chicago city and Chicago suburbs)
Poor bike lane design is even worse.
Bike lanes are usually very close to parked cars. A door opens, and you are in the hospital.
Bike lanes are poorly striped at intersections. Sometimes they stick them to the right of all traffic lanes, so if a cyclist in the bike lane stays in it to go through the intersection, he is going to get right-hooked by turning cars. Sometimes the lanes are striped so that straight-through traffic is in the right place, but this encourages cyclists to do stupid things like making turns from the center lane.
Finally, the cars driving in the real traffic lanes push all the debris into the bike lane. That means you will be riding over wires, broken glass, etc., and that you will be very susceptible to flats.
Basically, once you are comfortable riding on the road, you will forget that bike lanes even exist. Riding a bike is statistically somewhat dangerous, but if you actively try to stay safe, you will.
(And oh yeah, please get some freakin' lights for your bike if you are going to ride at night.)