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Bicycling for transportation
mvansand76:
Hi guys! I would like to start this thread about bicycling for transportation!
I have never owned a car. This is mainly because I love cycling and Holland is Cycle Country Par Excellence! Also, public transport in Holland is very good. Every morning I cycle to the train station to go to work and when I have to run errands or go grocery shopping, I take my bike!
When I lived in Los Angeles, I did the same thing. I bought an old beach cruiser bicycle, put my laptop in the basket on the front of it and cycled to work, to the beach, to the shops, everywhere! It was so much more dangerous though than in Holland, people in cars are not used to having to take cyclists into account, so you have to be very vigilant!
Do you ever use your bike to go to work or for running errands or visiting friends? Is it dangerous where you live to ride a bike? Have there been initiatives to make your city more bike-friendly?
David In Indy:
Indianapolis is NOT bike friendly Melissa. In fact, I rarely see anyone riding a bike on the city streets. It's just way too dangerous (Hoosiers are notoriously bad drivers). We are not allowed to operate bicycles on the highways and interstates either. It's illegal to do so. Generally people only ride bikes in their neighborhoods, and this is assuming they live on a quiet residential street.
We also don't have much of a public transportations system here. We don't have a subway system and the only passenger trains in Indianapolis are for people heading to Chicago or Cincinnati. We have a city bus system, but it's not all that dependable and since many people here work across town, a trip to work on the city bus would take hours because of all the stops and connections involved.
We really do need our cars here. The city is way too big to walk most places. I envy you all over there because I love riding bikes, but the opportunities to ride them here in Indy are very limited. :)
Interesting thread Melissa! Thanks for posting it! :D
Kelda:
What I noticed when in Holland a few weeks ago, was that noone in Holland wears a helmet which i thought was interesting - cos its so drummed into those riding in thr UK.. I asked my host about this, (and melissa, i think?) and he was just saying - well - we're in the majority - its safe. There's no rela need.
I don't have a bike but was thinking of maybe getting one - but given I live 35miles form where I work I couldnt bike to work if I wanted to. There are cycle and walking paths around my area (that go into the countryside - not really for commuting) so I could do it.
mvansand76:
--- Quote from: Kelda on August 02, 2007, 04:01:10 am ---What I noticed when in Holland a few weeks ago, was that noone in Holland wears a helmet which i thought was interesting - cos its so drummed into those riding in thr UK.. I asked my host about this, (and melissa, i think?) and he was just saying - well - we're in the majority - its safe. There's no rela need.
I don't have a bike but was thinking of maybe getting one - but given I live 35miles form where I work I couldnt bike to work if I wanted to. There are cycle and walking paths around my area (that go into the countryside - not really for commuting) so I could do it.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, it's pretty safe, but then again, my boyfriend was hit by a car while cycling almost two years ago now and he was lucky that he didn't have any brain damage, he didn't wear a helmet. So it's easy to say that it's safe enough for us to cycle without a helmet, but it's not entirely true, we're just very lazy like that and don't want to mess up our hair when we cycle to work!
:D
delalluvia:
--- Quote from: David on August 01, 2007, 05:18:12 pm ---Indianapolis is NOT bike friendly Melissa. In fact, I rarely see anyone riding a bike on the city streets. It's just way too dangerous (Hoosiers are notoriously bad drivers). We are not allowed to operate bicycles on the highways and interstates either. It's illegal to do so. Generally people only ride bikes in their neighborhoods, and this is assuming they live on a quiet residential street.
We also don't have much of a public transportations system here. We don't have a subway system and the only passenger trains in Indianapolis are for people heading to Chicago or Cincinnati. We have a city bus system, but it's not all that dependable and since many people here work across town, a trip to work on the city bus would take hours because of all the stops and connections involved.
We really do need our cars here. The city is way too big to walk most places. I envy you all over there because I love riding bikes, but the opportunities to ride them here in Indy are very limited. :)
Interesting thread Melissa! Thanks for posting it! :D
--- End quote ---
Ditto for Texas. We have nice bike trails, but they are all recreational around lakes and parks, but sometimes even that is not safe. :o I was once riding through a path that darted behind some buildings next to a green beltway and as I dipped down out of sight of the street, suddenly a big guy stepped out to stand in the middle of the trail. I was all by myself. It was a week day evening, just before sunset and there was no one around. He wasn't dressed like he was a jogger or working out and there seemed to be no reason for him to be standing there. He was looking at me and I had a few seconds to decide whether or not to stop - since he was blocking the trail - or not take a chance and keep on cycling and if he tried to stop me, run into him.
I made my decision and sped up. I was really flying and I guess he knew I wasn't going to stop and if he tried to stop me, we both would be pretty banged up if not injured. At the last moment, he stepped aside and I went past him. I looked back. He was all alone, no one else around, no car, nothing, nada. No idea why he was just standing there. :-\
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