Divorce Your Car --and get into a relationship with a Bike!

brink wrote:
"Arif Khokar" wrote in message
...
Dave Head wrote:
On 17 Jul 2006 15:14:50 -0700, "Arif Khokar"
wrote:
Are you saying you can only average 6 to 7 mph on a bike? I'm not very
fast, but I can average 15 mph on a bike. That means I can make the
commute in about 80 minutes give or take.
Try 20 miles each way in Virginia today. 100 degrees out there.
It was 90 degrees here, but I still rode 25 miles. I'd ride further, but
I really don't have the time on weekdays.

And maybe an expensive ride to the emergency room for heat exhaustion.
I just keep up with fluid intake.

My bike has an IV drip attachment for days like today. Mainline Gatorade
and you're good to go.

brink


I got that topped. It was 112 here today. The local weather guy stated
that all 48 states had temperatures topping the 90's and that it was
supposed to be hotter here tomorrow. 115? Enough. I worked on 3 bikes in
the morning until about 10 then went to take them all for a test ride
and came back sweaty. It was already 92 by 10, and passed 100 at about
12:30 and was still 84 at 11 tonight. I may have to become a night time
rider.
As for the topic, I use a car with A/C to go to my LBS, wonder why.
Bill Baka

"Pat" wrote in message
ups.com...
Welcome to Western New York. 6" of snow isn't worth getting all wound
up about. Happens all the time. Buffalo gets some, but Rochester and
Syracuse get piled on. Figure 10 FEET per year and about 30" per year.
Lot of northern cities gets lots of snow -- and I would guess lots of
cities in the Rockies do to.


Even the school buses in Syracuse run through 6" of snow without thinking
about it. Our children sometimes would even lose their boots in snow drifts
on the way home from school. My wife went out and looked in each step
depression to retrieve their shoes.

"Arif Khokar" wrote in message
oups.com...
John S. wrote:
An interesting but very incomplete analysis of the true costs of
commuting by bike.

Take the average commuter that lives 20 miles from work. To make an
8-4 work schedule that commuter will have to get up at 4:00 to begin
riding at 5:00 to arrive at work by 8:00.


What? The Tour de France averages 25 mph. Why can't we all do that?

"Arif Khokar" wrote in message
...
Dave Head wrote:
On 17 Jul 2006 15:14:50 -0700, "Arif Khokar"
wrote:

Are you saying you can only average 6 to 7 mph on a bike? I'm not very
fast, but I can average 15 mph on a bike. That means I can make the
commute in about 80 minutes give or take.

Try 20 miles each way in Virginia today. 100 degrees out there.

It was 90 degrees here, but I still rode 25 miles.

Barefoot too?

On 17 Jul 2006 10:29:03 -0700, "John S." wrote:

An interesting but very incomplete analysis of the true costs of
commuting by bike.

Take the average commuter that lives 20 miles from work. To make an
8-4 work schedule that commuter will have to get up at 4:00 to begin
riding at 5:00 to arrive at work by 8:00. The commuter then does the
same in reverse and arrives home at 7:00 The times assume he is able
to find a lot of flat and downhill both ways with few traffic and
stoplights.

Incremental cost: New bike every year plus repairs $2,000; Medical
expenses from road injuries $2,000

My $300 Trek 7100 is going on its fourth year, around 14,000 miles.
I've paid about $300 over the years on various tuneups but flats and
chains I handle myself. Not medical expenses.

On days when weather is just too awful to commute by bike, I take a
bus and train.

My commute is 15 miles each way. It takes me, and I'm slow, 80 minutes
each way. I do not, at the conclusion of my ride home, need to go to
the gym. In fact, my cholesterol and ldl, which used to be very bad,
are now excellent. The good HDL, previously low, is now excellent. My
doctor freaked on my first exam after starting biking. Cost of heart
attack, well, I'll hopefully never know.

I don't need to make presentations at clients, but if I do, my company
will arrange transportation.

In article et, george conklin wrote:

What? The Tour de France averages 25 mph. Why can't we all do that?

It's not difficult to average in the 20s with out stoplights on flat
ground with a decent bike. However, you might have noticed the mountains
in the Tour de France... It would be just as valid to compare NASCAR,
IRL, and pikes peak hill climb to regular commute driving.

Brent P wrote:
In article . com, Pat wrote:
Welcome to Western New York. 6" of snow isn't worth getting all wound
up about. Happens all the time.

But does traffic actually move faster than a bicycle? In chicago it
doesn't when 6 inches is on the ground.

I colleage from Westchester was in Syracuse and dreaded leaving an
office at 5:00 to head towards home. He didn't want to sit in traffic.
I told him not to worry about Syracuse's Rush Quarter-Hour.

Seldom to these places have traffic tie-up that would have a bike going
faster than a car. A big part of that is because "no one" lives in
those cities anymore. Everyone uses the expressway and commutes. So
the only tie up is on the way to the on-ramp.


6" of snow isn't all the much and drivers know how to handle it. It
doesn't cause gridlock. It doesn't even cause schools to be closed.

It doesn't cause schools to be closed here either... but there are more
than enough morons and transplants driving to screw up the roads big
time. I don't have a problem driving in snow, I have a problem driving
around in snow with other people.

Biking on packed snow -- especially snow over packed snow -- is very
tricky because the tires aren't formulated for it. The rubber is too
hard. Also, at 100 psi, you don't have enough contact with the ground.
So bikes and motorcycles go away when the snow starts.

I've ridden on ice BTW.... I ride in snow at least once a year. It's a
bit a tricky... the bad thing is the brakes becoming useless with the
snow/water/ice on the rims.

FYI, snowshoes are about useless with 6" of snow. You really need a
foot or more to make then worth wearing -- and then only if it's virgin
snow. They don't do anything on packed snow.

The person I was replying too said fresh 6" on top of snow already there.

dgk wrote:
On 17 Jul 2006 10:29:03 -0700, "John S." wrote:

An interesting but very incomplete analysis of the true costs of
commuting by bike.

Take the average commuter that lives 20 miles from work. To make an
8-4 work schedule that commuter will have to get up at 4:00 to begin
riding at 5:00 to arrive at work by 8:00. The commuter then does the
same in reverse and arrives home at 7:00 The times assume he is able
to find a lot of flat and downhill both ways with few traffic and
stoplights.

Incremental cost: New bike every year plus repairs $2,000; Medical
expenses from road injuries $2,000

My $300 Trek 7100 is going on its fourth year, around 14,000 miles.
I've paid about $300 over the years on various tuneups but flats and
chains I handle myself. Not medical expenses.

On days when weather is just too awful to commute by bike, I take a
bus and train.

My commute is 15 miles each way. It takes me, and I'm slow, 80 minutes
each way.

I do not, at the conclusion of my ride home, need to go to
the gym. In fact, my cholesterol and ldl, which used to be very bad,
are now excellent. The good HDL, previously low, is now excellent. My
doctor freaked on my first exam after starting biking. Cost of heart
attack, well, I'll hopefully never know.

Yeah, I bet you'll feel strange when, year from now, you are laying in
the hospital dying from nothing. :-)



I don't need to make presentations at clients, but if I do, my company
will arrange transportation.

Bill Sornson wrote:
george conklin wrote:
"donquijote1954" wrote in message
oups.com...
"Too bad our economy rolls on four wheels. Many of us are enslaved to
our automobiles.

Many of us are enslaved to our wives too, but that does not mean we
want a divorce. Both are necessary for a normal life.

Wow. So much wrong in so few words. Brava!

Well, at least he doesn't accept the leash!

Pat wrote:
Glad to see a post in this group. It's been dead lately. But please
don't try to impose your view on others and tell us what we need when
you have no idea. You and I live in a different world.

I see. Why don't YOU come up with a bicycle store?


One last example for you to think about. What if you went hunting and
got a deer. How would you bring it back to your house on a bike? 10
miles on dirt roads pulling a deer on your recumbant? It's be fun to
see.

How about asking the indians around how they managed in the
good-ol'-fashoned way? It would be fun too.


Oh, did I mention snow storms. I can't imaging a bike on 6" of
unplowed snow on a packed snow base when it's -20F and windy. Those
car heaters sure come in handy then.

OK, just use it in the mild seasons. When there's a will, there's a
bicycle, you know.