On Jan 26, 3:49*am, Peter Clinch wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
But aren't some of the differences explained by the Netherlands' dead
flat terrain and much shorter commuting distances?

Up to a point, but not any further. *Look hard enough and you'll find
parts of the US and UK which are remarkably flat too, and Joe Punter
won't be riding what his Cloggie cousins will be riding. *Far more
likely /not/ to have mudguards, built in lighting or rack and far more
likely the rider will be troubling themselves with a "sporty" rucksack.

Quite why anyone would want to commute a /greater/ distance with a
rucksack as a typical case I'm not sure, but that's what I see on quite
a few folk.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch * * * * * * * * * *Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 * Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 * * * * * * *Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net * *http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

I don't mind riding ~10 miles road with a messenger bag or camelback,
or all day MTBing with a camelback, but for longer road rides I prefer
not to carry anything. On-road, somwhere around 30-40 miles I'm
likely to start leaving clothes at my destination, jamming what I need
in a saddle bag and riding in padded (although normal looking) MTB
shorts. Don't get me wrong, I'll ride 50 miles with a pack on the
rare occasion the need presents itself, but that's so rare it's not
worth setting up a bike for. In the ~1 year I've had a "real" road
bike that's happened once. I've yet to have any reason to ride any
farther than that with anything but my repair kit & a cliff bar in the
saddle bag, water bottles and some cash to refill said bottles. If
I'm riding more than 50 miles it tends to be a recreational ride that
will start and end at my house, or start at my office and end at my
house, etc.