Leave the vegan comrades be. Let us move bravely into the future.
First: This is not an anti-train post. Trains are good. Bikes are better, that's all. A true proletarian state ready to actually address climate change will be designed with thorough bike and train infrastructure.
Bikes are rad. All leftists in my town ride bikes, but there is basically no bike-posting on Chapo. This leads me to believe many of my comrades have not yet heard the good word on bikes.
Comrades: if you are able-bodied and are able to afford a one-time $200 purchase (that will last you years) but don't own a bike what are you doing with your life?
Bikes are fun as hell. The cheapest, coolest way to get around. If you live in a city it's probably the fastest way to get around, and rather than just sitting in a carbon emitter you get to use your dope-ass body to propel yourself. You get to ride down hills that have not got less fun since you were 8. You get to arrive at the party with a healthy glow that makes you look more attractive to your crush, plus your mind is more activated than if you sat on a bus for half an hour staring at your phone.
The benefits are endless. Want to hang out with friends safely during a pandemic? Bike ride. Hate looking for and paying for parking? Ride your bike and park right in front of your destination. Hot day and you know the bus/train is going to be gross and disgusting? Ride your bike and let the air blow across your beautiful bodies.
You want to fight MMA fascists but get winded walking up a hill? Get your bike on comrade, improve your general conditioning so when the day comes that it matters you have a solid fitness base to work on. So go out and build beautiful quadriceps my friends. Get yourself some diamond-shaped calves.
Do it for the revolution, but mostly do it for yourself. Biking is fun. The more you do it the easier it is, so the more fun it becomes and the closer everything in the city starts to become.
Biking is great. Unfortunately the majority of NA cities are openly hostile to them. I try to ride when possible but it's scary out there sometimes. Too many drivers that don't respect my safety and/or get extremely angry that they share the road with me and that I delay their trip by 30 seconds. No real bike infrastructure and no chance of anything being built because everything is a "war on cars." I get why a lot of folks don't want to bike. You have to learn how to ride defensively, look out for common hazards and you have to find the safer routes that might not be the most direct.
JackDecker has only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.
This isn't really an excuse I'm afraid. I guarantee your city has a cyclist advocacy group you can join to push for the development of more bicycle infrastructure. My city has come a long way over 20 years of bicycle struggle sessions. Yes unprotected roads can be scary but in my experience 95% of the time that fear is not directly related to risk. By being out there claiming the space that is rightfully yours you are making it easier for the next cyclist to be brave.
Again, my city was once like yours but it takes brave cyclists to fight for the right to be respected on their roads. If you're not fighting the war against cars you are supporting cars.
I'm an experienced rider. I know what's safe and what is not, I'm not just perceiving risks that aren't there. There are many scenarios where claiming my space is impossible or not helpful. I don't know what that advice is supposed to do for me in poorly designed lanes with zero protection from parked vehicles, pedestrians or right turning vehicles. I don't know how claiming my space on pot hole ridden multilane roads so cars can illegally pass me at 90km/h without giving me a meter of distance is helpful when I could just pick an alternate and safer route. I don't think showing the next cyclist that I can put my life in danger is going to instill confidence in them. My point was that I understand why people feel unsafe on bikes when cars don't respect their safety and many are openly hostile to them even if they do everything they're supposed to do. People die all the time doing everything they were * supposed * to do, like the woman last month who claimed her space to make a left turn at a light. Unfortunately the speeding car behind her didn't care.
Yes, my city has cyclist advocacy groups. The cyclists here are awesome. But we also have conservative premiers that constantly fuck with our districting and suburban voters have an absurd amount of power. And suburban counselors run on "war on cars" platforms, and our counselors don't listen to us. There's only so much I can do and pretending that our roads are safe and putting my life at risk is probably just going to get me killed. I don't mean to sound so defeatist, but the reality is that I can't trust my city or my province to protect my life as a cyclist so I have to take matters into my own hands if I don't want to be a ghost bike chained to a sign post.
Honestly it doesn't sound like we disagree on anything. I just said that shitty infrastructure/bike culture isn't an excuse not to ride your bike and it sounds like you're not using it as an excuse, you ride enough to be an experienced rider.
I also understand why cyclists feel unsafe when some drivers are openly hostile to cyclists, and I still feel unsafe when I'm turning left without a turning lane on a decently busy street even though I'm very experienced riding on busy roads.
All I'm saying is that this is all subject to change, but it won't change if people throw their hands up, give up and say these things will never change. And the more cyclists out there, the more discussions get had about them, the more the idea of road rights gets called into question, the safer a future cyclist will feel compared to you.
Yeah, I'm not saying we should give up, just saying that I can understand why a lot of inexperienced cyclists shy away from it. To me the answer is better cycling infrastructure, it's an uphill battle right now - but it doesn't always have to be. I guess I'm just frustrated and tired of how politicized the bikes vs cars thing is here and I'm venting my frustrations a bit.
There are way more cyclists out here with covid though, so maybe there'll be more pressure for better cycling infrastructure.
Trains are good because you can take bikes on your train and extend your cycling range
but how do you make choo choo arms while holding the handlebars?
checkmate liberal
If this is a sincere barrier to you, you might be surprised at what resources are available. The main cycling advocacy organization in my city holds adult cycling classes specifically for full grown humans who have not yet learned to ride a bike.
Bikes are the most efficient way of moving people but trains are the most practical for moving large volumes over greater distances.
Yeah, having moved to a cold enough place, I underestimated how much ice, snow, and slush can really fuck you with even just a small spattering. This past summer, I discovered how great biking was, and now that it's cold, I am so very sad ;_;
Some people get the fat tires for snow. If you ride in rain, get fenders and good gear (rainproof stuff, good gloves, overshoes, etc.).
Yeah same, I biked for the first time since I was a kid and now it's been too cold and slippery for two months
This is discriminatory towards lazy people like me
One thing.
Dont get a track bike.
As much as the term made me cringe years back, a fixie is a fine form of transportation provided you’ve got an appropriate gear inch for the streets you ride and your general fitness level. Maintenance is simple, as the only moving parts are the bearings at the headset, bottom bracket, and the wheels, many of which are sealed so you dont have to do anything but replace them when they get crunchy.
Dutch city bikes or simply City Bikes, are that platonic ideal of a self powered form of transportation that’s practical. They are usually kinda heavy tho. They have some internal gear magic going on, so you dont have to get sweaty if you dont want to.
Mountain bikes, like SUVs have proven themselves to be reliable go-everywhere transport, if a little slow, they generally have sit upright. Like SUVs, they were kinda sold to you by showing an activity you werent doing.
Everyone makes fun of road bikes, particularly modern roadies. If you look at this segment today, you’ll probably see some hyper sleek carbon fiber spaceship with paper thin tire clearances and the going price or a generous down payment for a car. The good news is many good bikes have already been made and are available for a cheap price and a weekend of elbow grease.
You have Touring Bikes, which were made for long distance rides, which have greater carrying capacity than you’ll ever really need in the day to day.
A track bike, like a road racing bike, is only set up for speed. They generally arent made to hold a rack, have tight wheelbases for super responsive steering, an commonly have toe-overlap, where the steering radius of the front wheel can intercept the clearance for the pedals. I should remind you that they’re fixed gear only. So if your pedal’s gonna collide with the wheel, you cant stop the pedal spin. Not fun if you’re in traffic.
But goddamn do they look so cool. I mean look at that pic, the angle from the saddle to the drops :lenin-heart:
I avoid riding fixies, I end up eating asphalt because my habit of countersteering means a pedal will hit the ground producing less than ideal results.
I just moved to the suburbs. I just bike for longer now, and up more hills.
Clearly you bike imperialists have never lived in a hilly city with wicked air pollution, potholes and homicidal car-owners.
Just as you deserve trains, you deserve clean air and safe bike lanes.
bought an electric bike, and it's awesome, really helpful when you're riding up inclines and against the wind. If you're looking for an ebike, make sure to get one with removable/replaceable battery pack. Those bikes that have their batteries sealed inside the bike frame should be outlawed, the entire bike is meant to be thrown away when the battery life runs out.
