Best Cities to Ride

In rec.bicycles.misc Gnarlito wrote:

I also lived and cycle-commuted in Salt Lake City. It might be mecca if
you like to ski untracked snow, but it's definitely not a
cycle-friendly town. There wre a grand total of two safe cross-town
(East-West) routes while I lived there, A couple of measly bike paths
down along the Jordan River, and lots of really wide roads that,
unfortunately, are totally unsafe to ride on.

I'm happy to say that SLC proper has improved a lot of late. Bike
racks on all buses, bikes allowed on light rail, and at least four
cross-town bike routes last time I checked. Thanks due to Mayor Rocky
Anderson, one of the state's paltry handful of democrats.
The suburbs still suck, though.

Bill

__o | SUVs are the reason gas costs $2 a gallon.
_`\(,_ | Bicycles are the reason it isn?t $3.
(_)/ (_) |

In article ,
"Claire Petersky" writes:
"Tom Keats" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Claire Petersky" writes:
"Tom Keats" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Tom Keats) writes:

I finally took the rain cover off my helmet a couple of days
ago

... and now it's raining.

At last! Any more sunshine, and I would have been driven insane.

Yeah, it's actually quite a relief. Trouble is, do I
risk making the rain stop by leaving the cover on, or
am I doomed to having wet hair?

We really need the rain -- they've already declared a drought -- so please
keep the cover off, at least for a little longer.

Well, after that last post I donned my rain cape and covered helmet
and took the bike outside. It had stopped raining, and blue sky
was beginning to poke through the clouds. So I doffed the rain cape,
but left the helmet cover on, and rode down to the manpower office to
look at the job bank. When I left there, it was a little drizzly,
there was a good, stiff breeze kicking up, and a large dark cloud
loomed threateningly above. I thought we were in for a thundershower.
On returning home, as I coasted into the back yard I noticed it was
half-assedly trying to hail. I guess we got the edge of your hailstorm.
Now there's a glorious azure sky with puffy, mashed-potato clouds.

So I'll take the helmet cover off again.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:30:09 -0800, ,
(Tom Keats) wrote:

Now there's a glorious azure sky with puffy, mashed-potato clouds.

So I'll take the helmet cover off again.

Thank you. We really do need more rain.
I think I'll wash my bike and hang out some laundry.
--
zk

In article ,
Zoot Katz writes:
Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:30:09 -0800, ,
(Tom Keats) wrote:

Now there's a glorious azure sky with puffy, mashed-potato clouds.

So I'll take the helmet cover off again.

Thank you. We really do need more rain.
I think I'll wash my bike and hang out some laundry.

The cover is off and the sky is overcast again.
This thing is getting scary. Maybe I should burn it.
It looks dorky, anyways.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Although, I avoid riding in the rain here in NYC ( I hate having to
cleanup the bike), if I did get caught, I wouldn't have a wet hair
problem cause I shave my head clean. :-)

Tom Keats wrote:

In article ,
"Claire Petersky" writes:


"Tom Keats" wrote in message
...


In article ,
(Tom Keats) writes:


I finally took the rain cover off my helmet a couple of days
ago


... and now it's raining.


At last! Any more sunshine, and I would have been driven insane.



Yeah, it's actually quite a relief. Trouble is, do I
risk making the rain stop by leaving the cover on, or
am I doomed to having wet hair?


cheers,
Tom

Claire Petersky wrote:

Today I'm at home, nursing a minor cold. It just started to hail like
gangbusters, at the exact time I would have been riding my bike at home.
There's a certain amount of satisfaction in being at home with an afghan on
one's lap and a cup of tea, rather than out there with little balls of hail
going ping-ping-ping, bouncing off of one's jacket.

:-P

Well, at least they were *little* balls of hail. The previous time I
was out in hail cycling it was larger (about pea sized).

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Most rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who
can't talk for people who can't read.
-- Frank Zappa

In article . net,
JoeD writes:

Although, I avoid riding in the rain here in NYC ( I hate having to
cleanup the bike), if I did get caught, I wouldn't have a wet hair
problem cause I shave my head clean. :-)

I've actually been considering that. But at 51+ and no hint
of male pattern baldness, I figure I might as well flaunt my
luxurious (although increasingly salt & pepper) locks.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

At 57+, It's tooooo late for me. :-(

Tom Keats wrote:

In article . net,
JoeD writes:



Although, I avoid riding in the rain here in NYC ( I hate having to
cleanup the bike), if I did get caught, I wouldn't have a wet hair
problem cause I shave my head clean. :-)



I've actually been considering that. But at 51+ and no hint
of male pattern baldness, I figure I might as well flaunt my
luxurious (although increasingly salt & pepper) locks.


cheers,
Tom

Ron,

I am thinking of leaving NYC for a number of reasons. Outside of the
extra cold days like below 25 or the snowy and rainy ones, I don't have
a problem riding here. Since I just retired, I would "prefer" a warmer
climate in a state with lower health insurance and taxes and a city
where I can feel as safe as I do in NYC traffic.


Ron Wallenfang wrote:

"JoeD" wrote in message
link.net...


Hi,

I live in NYC and am thinking of moving out of this area in the future. I
am starting to look now for any city that would be bicycle friendly. I am
leaning towards the Southwest of the country like NM, with its warmer
climate and cheaper health insurance but I am open to any suggestions.
I use my bike to, commute to work (20m RT), local shopping, long day trips
and just getting around even though I have a car. I average about 5k a
year.
Either because I have been careful, plain lucky or a bit of both, I have
never had a serious problem in my 45 years of riding in the streets
competing with the cars, trucks, cabs and the dreaded pedestrians. I am
mentioning this because I am not afraid of city traffic. Highway traffic
is whole nother story since I want to live to ride another 45 years.

Would anyone living in or knowing about bicycle friendly cities, want
another cyclist sharing the roads with them. I would promise to say "Hi"
as I pass you or vice versa.




I regret that almost everyone who has posted has ruled out the "snowbelt."
Your own posts show that the alternatives aren't so attractive. A paradise
like San Diego is crowded. Most warm weather places are beastly hot in the
summer. Some are humid as well. Those that attract retirees have accident
problems. Your life is more endangered by an old man who doesn't see you
than by a discourteous bully - of which I've seen few. That stereotype far
outruns the reality.

Cold weather towns in the US' NE quadrant have fewer snow problems than you
might expect. Among other things, plows and salt trucks are ubiquitous and
arterial roads rarely stay impassable for long. I live in Milwaukee and,
since 1998, haven't lost a single day to bad roads, or anything else except
for one 23 day stretch recovering from an accident, and one day due to
travel. From what I've seen of NYC, I suspect you could do as well there.

Nor is cold a controlling issue. Dress for the weather and I suspect you
can better acclimate yourself to riding in 0F than in 110.